Resuming Hulu Langat Training Ride

Charging up that last 800metres

With CS Wee (right) at the summit after a 10km uphill ride

Michelle had suggested that we resume our training ride in Hulu Langat Bt 18.
I agreed on this and posted an invitation on the Malaysian Foldies' Google Group.
We met veteran rider CS Wee at the launch site on Saturday.
He was just behind us when we drove to the starting line beside the balai polis in this village. 
As usual, we took off to the junction leading towards the 10km mark.
Wee sped off and vanished in the morning mist as I worked on my target to get to the Kuala Klawang junction non-stop.
The last 800metres of course, was the toughest ride.
We took our Dahon Curve D3 and SL which were loaded with a pair of ortlieb frontroller panniers.
With the load, I was amazed on how Michelle had taken her 3-speed ride all the way to the state border.
Although we were much slower than the roadies who zoomed past us, we made it. 
The downhill part was fun and for the rest of the day, we rode back to the village and had some late breakfast. 
Wee told us that the hill section in Penang is not as bad as Hulu Langat and that we could make on the 80km round island ride in September.
So, if we keep this up on a weekly basis, we are on track for the 'Campaign for a third lane series 3' ride on Sept 11.

Riding hard!

Riding with the sun over our heads.. It was a hot morning!

I try to get the best out of our Sundays.
And this morning, we rode again around Putra Heights and parts of Subang Jaya.
We did the same loop and ended up in USJ 21 where we had breakfast.
I switched on my Endomondo training programme, but had the settings wrong.
Instead of cycling, the tracker gave running results.
Traffic was a breeze this morning as we worked our way to the usual routes - Section 2 - Giant Putra Heights - USJ 21.
My Dahon Curve SL held up pretty well after getting it tuned by the rodalink guys in Sri Hartamas.


RIDE STATS


Total distance: 21.16km
Duration : 1hr 20mins
Average speed: 18km/h
Max speed: 32km/h

Late breakfast at USJ 21

Chinese tea!

You wanna long-haul, you've got to train!

The climb towards section 2, Putra Heights

We clocked 14.1km this evening - riding towards Putra Heights and back to our home in USJ 26.
With some training, Michelle and I were able to keep up with the undulating terrain in Bukit Lanchong, which is now a barely recogniseable landmark with plenty of hillslope clearing taking place. I guess this is what the rich buggers want in their neighbourhood.
We rode towards Giant and past Kampung Lanchong in Shah Alam before making a break for Section 2 in Putra Heights.


RIDE STATS


Distance: 14.16km
Duration: 45minutes
Average speed: 18km/h
Max speed: 42km/h
Elevation: 81m

Back to training..

Riding along with a group of roadies in formation

Michelle and I had pretty much drawn-in the conclusion that we need to be consistant in our training rides in order to tour places like Chiangmai and Cambodia in the near future.
There are two aspects in which we are most interested in pursuing.
One is strength - we find training in Hulu Langat pretty useful as the hills there are not easy to tame.
The other is endurance - this we would find in Tg Karang - Sg Besar.
Last Sunday, we did a 'quick' ride in Hulu Langat - covering a distance of 11.6km in 39minutes.
We managed to trim 5 minutes from our usual timing with an average speed of 21km/h.
Our folding bikes are limited in terms of speed as the Schwalbe Big Apple tires are really sluggish on tarred roads.
The best we could do was 22km/h at a consistant cadence of 80rpm/hour.
Rather than taking a rest at a farmhouse some 800metres away from the Kuala Kelawang - Semenyih junction, we headed straight for the top of the hill.
Maintaining speed, momentum and energy became the main concern in this stage as the last 200metres was a sheer struggle, but Michelle and I made it.
We felt that we could do better by reducing the travel time by another 5minutes.
On Sunday, there are more and more cyclists on the road. Some are familiar faces with their high-end road bikes.
While cycling back to Nam Wah coffee shop where we have our breakfast, a pair of hybrid cyclists overtook us.
From the looks, these guys are also there for the training stint. There was a young guy and an elderly man on their hybrids.
One of them pulled alongside, gave us a dirty look and sped off.
We later caught up with them and Michelle gave them a ride of their life on her Dahon Speed TR.
At Nam Wah coffee shop, the same guys were having breakfast. They couldn't believe their eyes that a small 20" bike can go the length and distance as their hybrids.
Way I see it, the future is set with our Dahons.