Ipoh Foldies' Open Day - Part 2

A bicycling tour of the greater Ipoh..

One of the newest attractions in Ipoh is the Keledang Sayong nature park located on the outskirts of town.
To get there, we need to cycle past the Manjoi Malay village and Jelapang. 
Basically, this is the traditional route towards Kuala Kangsar, bypassing Tanjung Rambutan.
The park will be declared open by HRH Sultan of Perak next year after his Royal installation.
So, we are just there to catch a glimpse of the new facility and were told by Azam that there are camping grounds including an aircraft wreckage in the area...
"This used to be a Communist bandit's campsite back in the days of the Emergency.
"Archaeologists found eating utensils and other equipment belonging to the bandits sometime back in the hills surrounding Keledang Sayong," explained Azam.
The cycling experience along Gagasan Manjoi itself, was an experience worthwhile.
I witnessed the greater Ipoh like I never did over the years and was really surprised with the beauty of its countryside.
We rode past Jelapang and re-grouped before heading towards the next checkpoint: Keledang Sayong.
To get there, it was a gradual climb towards the gate of the nature park.
The heat and early departure from KL Sentral took a toll on some of the inexperienced riders from the Folding Bike Instant and KL Foldies group.
Nevertheless, they showed great sportsmanship by pushing their bikes towards the rendezvous point.

Cycling along the Gugusan Manjoi

The climb to Keledang Sayong nature park

The cyclists at Keledang Sayong

Re-grouping before pushing off to the town centre..

A fellowship of foldies..

It's simply amazing to watch how organized the Ipoh Foldies were.
Azam, who led the ride, had coordinated with a few key individuals in the group to marshal the visiting cyclists.
They kept in touch with two-way radios and re-grouped frequently to get the party of 50 cyclists in tow.
No one was left behind as the marshals kept a constant lookout for everybody.
Once we got to Keledang Sayong, the cyclists were given bottled water and bananas.
They've gained some really good experience in organizing rides on Tuesday nights around Ipoh.
I guessed that the KL Foldies were impressed by how things were done and wanted to learn from a more experienced and organized groups.
There were also appointed medics with First Aid Kits to assist cyclists experiencing leg cramps. 
In this case, at least one or more visiting foldies from KL were treated for muscle cramps along the way.
With the Sun directly above our heads, our next destination was Ipoh old town.
We were brought to a site were street mural paintings were displayed.
Azam and his team had carried out recce rides prior to the event and made sure that there's ample time to ride along the 30km route before heading to the Ipoh stadium where the workshops were conducted.

Azam, briefing the cyclists about Keledang Sayong

Cyclists rolling out towards Ipoh town

Re-grouping

Jamell of Taiping Foldies Fan taking a video of the ride..

Talking to a stranger in Ipoh about folding bikes

Riding into town..

And when you least expect...

We re-grouped at a petrol station near the Jelapang underpass.
While I was waiting for the rest to roll out, a stranger walked up to me and stuck a conversation.
"You are the dude with the cycling blog right?
"I read about your Tern reviews. I want to get a folding bike, what you think is good for me?," he asked.
What are the chances of meeting some random dude who reads your blog? 
Well, I was surely as surprised as the guy who asked the question.
We talked a bit and he excused himself after filling his car with petrol and drove off.

One for the photo album!

A mural in town

As noon drew closer, we rode to the Ipoh stadium where a bicycle distributor had set up shop to display their ware.

The Sun was directly above our heads as everyone were seen to be pretty worn out from the 30km ride around Ipoh.

To me, it was a splendid introduction to the greater Ipoh.

I guess that everyone has their very own perspective about their hometown and the guys from the Ipoh Foldies had taken great efforts to promote their cycling routes.. Something very commendable.

Ipoh Foldies' Open Day - Part 1

Lending a helping hand..

The Ipoh Foldies are a group of highly-disciplined folding bike enthusiasts. 
There are more than 50 people in the group consisting two smaller sub-groups.
They've merged to co-exist as a larger cycling peer group and is experiencing rapid growth in terms of membership.
I worked with their defactor leader Mohd Azam Azimi on conducting a workshop and ride in order to get the good folks of Ipoh to understand more about folding bikes.

The plan

We have a three-session talk on folding bikes. First-off, folding bike for beginners where I would lead off with a slide show and lecture.
This is followed by an experience-sharing session by my cycling buddy Mohd Radzi Md Nor and the last session is by Master Mechanic Johnny Ng of My Bicycle Shop. His practical session is about bike-tuning.
Azam spear-headed the programme by enlisting some of the Ipoh Foldies members who are staff with the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
We've secured a lecture room at the KBS centre near the Indera Mulia Stadium in Ipoh, which is roughly about a 5km ride from the train station.
To get things going, I booked the train tickets for my team of four, and hotel in Fair Park, with some help from Uncle John Cheong, a cycling buddy of ours.
Unfortunately, due to personal commitments, Uncle John couldn't join us for the ride.

Leaving for Ipoh on the first train

Having a meal on the buffet coach

Ipoh-bound

When the day had finally arrived, I made plans to meet up with Des Yeo, one of our team member at a petrol station opposite Sunway Pyramid.
We then drove down to KL and parked our cars at an open parking bay in Brickfields.
Rather than cycling over, I offered to transport the bikes to KL Sentral.
I packed my Tern Eclipse X20 in a carry-on cover with my other essential gear on an Ortlieb Flight 27 waterproof backpack.
After dropping off Des at the station, I drove back to the carpark and made sure that everything was locked-up before walking over to KL Sentral.
We had to bring some goods for a lucky-draw session at the event, so, there are many things on hand.
When I got to the departure gate, Des told me that there was someone else there with his folding bike.
It turned out to be a member of the Kuala Lumpur Foldies, a new group formed with some help from an Ipoh Foldie member.
We had breakfast at McDonald's and met another member of the KL Foldie group.
Later, when the ETS departure gate was opened, we loaded our bikes onto the coach and waited to receive Johnny and Mohd Radzi at the Kepong Sentral station.

Arriving in Ipoh

A KL cyclist setting up his comrade's bike

There were 16 other cyclist on the ETS heading towards Ipoh.
The group boarded from the KL Railway station. They called themselves Folding Bike Instant.
We met up at the buffet coach where the guys had their meals and indulged in a conversation.
Most are members of the Perodua Alza Club who took up cycling recently.
They rode second-hand bikes imported from Japan and were curious to know more about folding bikes such as Dahon and Tern.

The group in Ipoh

On the coach, I also met Khairul Rijal, a reporter from the NST.
This guy lost his Dahon Speed P8 and bought a Tern Verge P9 to replace it.
We arrived in Ipoh just in time to set up the bikes and re-group with the Ipoh Foldies.
There was already a guy there to help take registration and collect payment for lunch at the KBS centre.
Later, Azam and his team arrived and we went on to the front courtyard of the Ipoh train station to snap a photograph of the three main groups.
From Ipoh train station we rolled out towards Kampun Manjoi and our destination was Keledang Sayong nature park..

Model Kits: A dying hobby..

Facing the generation gap..

I went to a hobby shop located on a basement in Bandar Utama.
It was my lucky day because I met an old-timer who was manning the store.
There, I asked if there are classes for model kit building.
"We hold workshops once a month on weekends, everyone can attend," he said.
Then, I went along, having a conversation with the man.
He told me that in Kuala Lumpur, there are only two hobby kit stores.
One was the Tamiya outlet in Bandar Utama where he is based, the other, a legacy store in Sungai Besi.
Kids nowadays, said the old-timer, are not keen in building hobby kits.
"It's different from our generation, we have move lively hobbies back in the days," he said.

An old-timer at work on his kit

Hobby kit modelling clubs such as this one is becoming scarce

Honing patience..

My late father used to buy hobby kits for me.
Back in the days, I remember building a set of Tamiya British Soldiers (1:35 scale) that he bought for RM3.80.
In the 70s, these kits were quite affordable. At the time, the Japanese Yen was even lower than the Malaysian Ringgit.
As time progresses with inflation, the same kit costs 10 times as much.
My first "serious" kit was an Airfix warplane. 
After school, I spent my time at home building it with a tube of Airfix glue.
That was it. I haven't the skills to paint it.
Later, when I was in Secondary school, the first kit that I built and painted was a Tamiya German Panzar Kampfwagen Ausf F/G.
It was hand-painted and I added camouflage to it. To me, it was a small achievement. Having built something out of box and seeing it take form as a tank.

The British Soldier set

One of the first tanks I built and painted

The reality

Kids aren't interested anymore in hobby kits.
Today, we have the Sony Playstation and X-Box generation.
And at school, kids have tremendous pressure to perform. Right after classes, they head straight for extra classes to prepare for exam.
This was not the case when I was a teenager.
Despite having to fetch my granny from our family shop in Jalan Raja Bot and head home on a taxi to Jalan Genting Kelang, I found time to keep myself occupied.
Even when I became employed, I still have the penchant to purchase a hobby kit.
The last piece I bought, was a Tamiya Early Production Tiger I tank.

I bought a 1:35 scale kit similar to this six years ago

To get the details correct, building a hobby kit can be time consuming.
Straight out of the box, you will be staring at pieces of plastic.
If you put in some effort to paint the parts before assembling it, the components will slowly take shape and form into a miniature military vehicle.
Some people even showcase their skills by taking part in modelling competition. 
They will display a diorama and judged according to their skillset.
Nowadays, such events are unheard of.
It's no surprise that in the years to come, hobby stores will cease to exist...