Penang Foldie Night Ride Part 3

You don't get to cycle in Penang at night that often

The airhorn blared. 
In the rain, I can see a stream of cyclists on their folding bikes moving slowly into the rain.
I was riding next to Andrew and told him that I am just doing the ride at a casual pace.
Part of the first section was pretty dark and my Roxim RX-5 headlight actually helped in lighting up my path.
Most of the foldies were cycling with some really small lights, making it hard to see.
The first five kilometres were pretty easy as we made our way down to the Esplanade where the bunch regrouped.
From the rear, I can clearly see that the Dahon X10s were clearly out of the way.
These guys were fast!
Some of the foldies with smaller wheels like the Carryme and JABS were also doing pretty well.
I can see that there is a group from MiniVelo bikes in Penang who are cycling their JAB foldies.
Another bigger group, some sexy aunties were on their Dahon Dash P18.

An interesting ride 
The group came to an abrupt stop near the Esplanade.
There, a young boy fell.
He was okay as we proceeded towards the Heritage Row.
This is an interesting aspect of the ride which I think - should be exploited for tourists like me from KL.
We rode on cobblestones as some of the foldies were cursing.
Since I was on a full-suspension bike, it was a piece of cake!
We slowly made our way back to Burma Road, I can see my hotel and the night activities in the area.
Bit-by-bit, the crowd of foldies slowly made their way towards Jalan Kelawi and turned towards the Penang Plaza.
On my Garmin, the Straits Quay was in the middle of the sea.
This is reclaimed land with some really posh houses.
As I made my way towards the event hall, some riders ended their day by riding home.
The lucky draw offering a Polygon folding bike was the highlight of the day.
My number was drawn and I won a T-shirt which I gave away.
Andrew, En Jamil from Taiping and I took a photo together before parting ways..

Note to self: Never wear white when you cycle on the road especially after a heavy shower...

Touching-base and making new friends: with En Jamil and Andrew at the Foldie Night Ride in Penang...

Well, its over for some, not me...
Andrew rode off with his Dahon MuP8 towards Tg Bungah. 
He lives near a doggy boarding home where we sent Sir Naughty and Dame Queenie during our visit a few years back.
I shook En Jamil's hands and told him to frequent Malaysian Foldies Forums to say hello to the members and possibly hold a short tour of Taiping.
So, as the crowd dissipates, I mounted on my Jetstream.
There was a group of people who were watching from the distance. I waved goodbye to them and these nice folks returned my gesture...


Good, Bad & Ugly

Good - Excellent ride organization and management by the G-Club people. Marshalls were there doing their job, keeping the cyclists in tow and line. Nobody got hurt and well, here's hoping for more of such events in Penang. Kudos G-Club!

Bad - Stuck-up foldies. Some people have the knack of making outsiders feeling left out. While a handful thought they owned the road with their expensive bikes. I guess the Jetstream kinda spoiled their mood! Hahah!

Ugly - Very bad Penang drivers. Some cars just shot out and nearly crashed onto the bunch. There was an Indonesian couple on a motorcycle, riding behind the cyclists, they were cursing. Rowdy foldies. These people thought they meant well, but when you behave like hooligans, you give others a bad rap. There were also some people who cycled in the middle of the road. They do not understand 'Keep Left". 

The bike and gear drying up after a hose-down

The aftermath..
My day concluded with a 8.5km ride back to Tune Hotel in Burma Road.
The ride was smooth as traffic was surprisingly light.
I made my way towards the city area and used several landmarks to guide me back.
By the time I got back to the hotel, the first thing in my mind was a hose-down.
I folded the Jetstream and took it up the room.
After stripping the gear and clothes, I noticed that my bumbag (waterproofed all the way) was filled with sand and grit.
Its black in colour and pretty disgusting.
The first thing I did, was to hose down the seatpost.
A stream of black gunk and sand filled the gutter.
Then, I took the bike into the shower, used a hose to shoot down the dirt.
Now, believe it or not, the high-pressure waterjet helped in hosing down all the dirt. 
My bike looked much cleaner after the much needed clean-up.
As soon as I was done with the necessary maintenance work, I made my way to the coffee shop where I had my early dinner.
There, I ordered a plate of mee goreng and downed it. It was my late supper.
The rest of the night, I stayed up to upload photos and check my emails.
Thankfully, I had my wireless broadband with a wifi hotspot on the Android phone to assist with all the work.
I called my wife and told her that everything was good before hitting the sack.


Ride stats

Distance traveled by car to ride venue: 780km 
Distance cycled: 34.94km
Average speed: 14.5km/h
Top speed: 32km/h
Time on road: 2hr 46m 14sec

Amount spent on this trip

Toll: RM90
Petrol: RM80
Hotel: RM87
Food: RM30

Penang Foldie Night Ride Part 2

A bike dealer setting up some Dahons

People started to fill-up the event hall in Straits Quay and by 6.30pm, the crowd was already swelling.
I met a guy who owns an Oyama bike. 
He said he was the only dude in his peers who rides a folding bike.
Later, I spoke to a couple. They came with their Dahon Dash P18 and an XDS bike that comes with a rear shock.
I met Andrew C, a friend of mine from Tanjung Bungah who rode his MuP8. 
We met earlier on the course during the 82km round-island CFAL3..
I didn't have a chance to strike a conversation with him at the time.
During the Foldie Night Ride, we caught up a bit on bike talk.
Later, Encik Jamil, a cyclist from Taiping in Perak, introduced himself.
"Hello Samo, I've been following you on the Dahon Forums and your blog.."
He was a pleasant guy who stated an interest in getting a foldie.
Jamil also invited me for a tour from Taiping to Pangkor.


A taste of Penang's foldies..
There a few groups of foldies at the event. 
Mostly friends and peers who shared the same interest.
To, individuals like Andrew C and Jamil who came up to me and talked bike actually made my day.
They made me felt at home and being a stranger who traveled 390km one-way to join the event.
As for the rest, I did get some raised eyebrows from the distance.
Some of the Penangites were proud with the Dahon Vector X10s.
These are the most expensive Dahons around and are celebrated for its speed and agility.
I guess they didn't expect a Jetstream EX to spoil the day! hahah!
What I found strange, was the heavily modded bikes.
I saw a Speed TR with souped up components.
There was also a modified Dahon Mu Uno. This one came with a double chainring and a set of rear cogwheels.
Later, a petite lady came up to me and identified herself as a dealer.
"Eh, mana lu dapat ini basikal? Dahon ka?" (Where did you get the bike? Is it a Dahon?"
I acknowledged her by saying that the bike is as rare as it seems.
Some foldies were friendly while a whole lot were aloof. They kept mostly to themselves.

With Andrew C at Straits Quay

Rain and a 15-minute delay
Well, the weather was not kind. 
It poured and poured.
"Hey, you don't have luck with Penang weather la bro.. Everytime you ride here, it rains...," said Andrew.
The organizers said flag-off was delayed for another 15-minutes.
But I can see that the crowd were getting a bit restless.
And after a brief wait, the airhorn was blared as we made our way towards Gurney Drive...

Penang Foldie Night Ride Part 1

The four-hour drive to Penang

I've obtained clearance to head up to Penang to do a piece on the Foldie Night Ride organised by G-Club, a group of cycling enthusiasts.
These are the same people who were responsible for the Campaign For A Lane 3 ride which I attended with my wife on September 11 recently.
I left KL for Penang with my Dahon Jetstream EX at 11:30am via the PLUS North-South Highway.
Only made one stop at Gunung Semanggol R&R area and continued my journey towards the Penang Bridge.
By 3:45pm, I was already on the Jelutong Expressway, heading towards the city area.
My mission was to locate the Tune Hotel in Burma Road.
This took a while as I trying to find my way around. I thought the nearest point of reference was McAllister Road.

Checking-in 
After much struggling, I found the place that I was going to crash for the night.
Initially, I parked the Samo-mobile on the roadside next to a public housing scheme.
Later, when I checked-in a the hotel, I was told that a flat-rate of RM5 is charged for those who want to park in the hotel's compound.
There's just enough space to put 12 cars in the area.
Lucky for me, I managed to score a parking lot, making things easier.
The plan was to change in my 'away' RaceReady jersey and Zoic padded shorts.
For this ride, I brought my Pango folding helmet fitted with a Sigma Micro-R helmet light.

Booster fuel: Mee Rebus!

The ride plan
So, here's how it would go: I ride from Tune Hotel to Straits Quay.
This is roughly about 8km from where I was staying. 
But before that, my intention was to fill up my tummy.
I found a coffee shop serving Mee Rebus.
A friendly lady there prepared the meal at RM4.50 a pop.
After a hearty fill, I made my way to the carpark, set up my Jetstream.
It was drizzling and started to rain.
I set my Garmin EDGE800 on navigation mode as I am not sure of the way to Straits Quay where the ride is supposed to be flagged off.


Wet, wet, wet..
From Burma Road, I cycled towards Mount Erskine. 
This is a light climb and well, a warm-up round and the light drizzle made it a breeze.
After the sloped ride, its a sharp right-turn on Fettes Road before getting back on Tanjung Pinang.
Its started to rain heavily when I arrived at Straits Quay by 5:30pm and rode my way towards the event hall.
Nobody was there stop me as I slowly rolled towards the registration booth.
A lady, who was very helpful screened my name on the registration list.
My bike was tagged with number '0006' and after I was done with the formalities, I made my way to Coffee Bean and ordered a cup of coffee.
At Straits Quay, I met Mr Money, distributor of Strida Folding Bicycles at the event location.
He was going all-out to sell the Stridas.
I looked at another dealer whom I met before at PIPR series 11 in Putrajaya.
The dude was cycling a recumbent bike and was featured in an article published by The Star on personalities with folding bikes.
The man in question was 'Scuba Sim'..

Mr Scuba riding my bike..