14.12.2014: Umar Rides!

Umar rides!

Two weeks ago Umar asked me to take out the training wheels on his bike. Perhaps spurred by how his cousin Ainin could swiftly cycle on two wheels, as he witnessed during our short visit to her kampung. And so I obliged, and more. I took out the pedals as well and lowered the saddle, et voila, it transformed into a cheap balance bike. However he was not that keen to practice.
Anyway, the setup did not last long as he insisted to have the pedals put back on (perhaps to him like any bike should be). Last night while everyone in the house were cycling outside, with pedals reinstated he relentlessly practiced balancing and pedaling at the same time.

The major obstacle that he's struggling to get over with was looking down to locate the pedals. Not having the eyes looking forward resulted in him losing his balance and automatically bringing down his legs down to support for a fall. No matter how many times I tell him to keep his eyes looking forward, he kept on looking down at the pedals.

However, he was relentless and one who does not easily give up. I thought he would eventually as his leg should've felt tired from repeated cranking, stopping, repositioning on the pedal and supporting from falls. There's not a single sign of frustration, only a display of steely determination to get it right.

It was already midnight when I called everyone to get in the house. By this time, Umar was still not getting the hang of it yet. He refused to stop until I promised him that we would continue the next day. Judging from his determination, Umar would pretty soon cycle on his own very, very soon.

struggling with eyes and feet

Today evening I took Umar to a back road nearby our housing area for him to continue his practice. He was still struggling a bit with his feet kinestesis.

Perhaps learning bit by bit after so many attempts, he eventually got it. He could locate the pedals without looking, kept his feet on them and completed several cycles of cranking along a straight path on the road; with eyes looking forward. Check out the videos below.

showing commemorative scars from inevitable falls

And so, Umar finally got the hang of it - both balancing and pedaling. All by himself, being persistent and relentlessly keeping himself on it. And perhaps most importantly, not being frustrated of failed attempts.

 

fall and rise

Umar's first ride

 

"saya dah pandai...", says he to kakak and abang

Adam Rides - straight line :)

Adam on his bike - one day after learning how to ride

Well done, only after a day learning how to ride. I was surprised when I came home from work yesterday and saw him pedaling quite fast in front of the house.

The next step: cornering, and proper braking/stopping.
:)

More photos here.

29.12.2010 Adam Rides!

After braving himself up, and I helped with lowering down the saddle on his bike, he pedaled on two wheels yesterday evening. I can understand the feeling of falling down while learning to ride the bicycle without training wheels. Almost all of us got through that phase, hadn't we? Well, if you're learning to use clipless pedals, that's another phase, right?

 

It took us about half an hour going back and forth on the tarmac in front of the house. He balanced himself, me holding his saddle on the back while walking, and at last he made it. Just like my neighbour Jamsari taught me when I was 9 (yes, that's quite late), I held the saddle for a few runs. Then quietly I let go and Adam cruised by himself for a short distance.

 

It's nice to see him getting his confidence, and motivation ensued. When he broke the news to his Mak, he even mentioned of getting swimming lessons after this.

 

As a father, a tiny lesson there:

1. you have to let go.

2. you have to see him fall to get it going.

 

Adam as the student, I can see a few things in him:

1. he's brave enough to learn, in the first place

2. he's brave to take a fall

3. motivated after clearing a phase, and ready for the next

 

The missus was happy with the progress. This evening, the fun would continue. Oh, and a whole lot more, as has been drawn up by wifey. Bike excursions, etc., you know...

 

Well, one revolution at a time.

 

Have a great weekend, y'all.

And a happy new year.

May our future be blessed, insyaAllah.

Video: Mash SF + Lance at Austin, TX

Don't get me wrong. I don't really support fixies entirely, but this is Mash SF riding with Lance Armstrong around Lance's town.

Danny MacAskill - Way Back Home

Starts with a front flip, and ended with another.

Breathtaking, with the background music and awesome Scottish landscape.

Danny MacAskill's Way Back Home vid, by Red Bull.

Sit back, with a cup of tea (or coffee), and enjoy the serenity. Just in case, have a hanky handy in case you salivate.



The vid's link, at Red Bull's site.

Danny MacAskill - pure skills

RTW 16.12.2009 - the 'no sweat' ride

As planned, alhamdulillah, I did the 'no sweat' ride this morning. Well, I didn't manage to make it without sweat. Albeit, I enjoyed the cooling effect when coasting downhill and leisurely rolling on the straight paths.

 

With only a plain, white tee and padded shy shorts, I pedaled from home quite early. The average speed is at 18 km/h much lesser than the usual 20. So, the total ride time is more than 40 minutes this morning. Of course, helmet and cycling shoes were also put on. I stuffed the multitool, keys, patch kit and spare tube in the wedge bag. The hand pump stowed on the downtube.

 

I tried hard not to strain the leg, as I felt I could go faster. All the time I felt the temptation to rush, which I successfully denied.

 

Perhaps the weather is a bit humid this morning following last evening's downpour. Or perhaps I need to lower down my speed. Or get a lighter bike for commuting to get the speed at 18 km/h average. I'm starting to picture a practical commuter already - 7x3 speed, rigid fork, pannier rack.

 

One more thing. Although if I do make it, RTW sans sweat, I don't think I could ride from home ready with work clothes on. My t-shirt's sleeves and front smell of exhaust fume. Sleeveless? Nope, not me. Too risqué.

 

Stats today:

Out from home	0646	hours
Arrive office	0733	hours
Ride time	41'38"	(47 mins DTD)
Distance	12.45	km
Ave. speed	18.0	km/h
Max speed	34.1	km/h
Odometer	2893.4	km
Horny doggies	5

octalink crankset removal - the solution

I noticed that local readers and from faraway lands visiting this humble bike blog are looking for solution on a problem posed by Shimano: how to remove octalink crankset.

You need a special tool for it. Shimano's TL-FC15.

If you don't have it, you can machine it yourself. Atuk from Seri Alam did just that. I borrowed from him to remove my LX crankset. My problem solved.

We are not fortunate enough like Atuk, having a lathe machine at his workplace to machine bike parts during lunch hours. Heck, he also machined a metal bashguard for himself. That's another story altogether of course.

Rejoice, everyone, for we have the help of engineering marvel. And hardware stores.

You can use a bolt in lieu of the special tool. Okay, you can shout 'yay!' now.

Yes, a bolt. No, not that Disney's dog. Just a humble bolt from your local hardware store.

Go find yourself a bolt with the head diameter of about Ø16mm. No bigger, and not much smaller. Also take note that the height of the bolt head should be as minimum as possible. Height of about 13mm would render it useless - you would not be able to screw in the crank removal tool onto the crank thread.

I hope this helps. If it does, do come back here and tell us your story (in less than 100 words). This tip was given by BC Kelolo many moons ago.

clipless

Yesterday's ride was a 2-in-1 event for me:

• Brothers and sisters from MR MoBiC came riding with us (along with local riders from around JB - lost count how many of us actually went in).
• I pedaled clipless offroad

Well, not all the way, and not all the time. Still in the learning stage. Most of the time I couldn't attach the cleat on my right foot. Only the left foot was attached to the pedal, and that was after struggling a bit to get it right. I need to adjust the setting of cleats on my shoes, especially for the right one, to get it right. Right? Right on...

Errr.. shoes? Yup! Finally got hold of 'em shoes. A pair of SH-MT41G. Thanks to advices from Dino, BC Kelolo, and Panjang, I got a good pair of shoes to begin with. I'm happy with the purchase, and even more happy to experience the clipless riding.

What awed me was the really light feeling when climbing up. Bukit Panjang felt a short distance uphill, and my bike felt a bit lighter. That was with only my left leg 'clipped' onto the pedal. I wonder what it'd feel if both are secured to pedals. Looking forward to that.

And perhaps also I should get a pair of clipless pedals to replace the pair of 'training' pedals I'm currently using: VP 2-in-1 clipless/platform pedal. Crank Brothers Mallet or Candy are on top of my list.

Aiyahh... would there be any end to this biking stuff? Anyway, for now, it IS getting more exciting.

Marsya rides!

my heart leapt to see her riding her bike all by herself.

Only a few weeks earlier she begged me to take of the training wheels on her red bike. She was adamant (and confident) that she could ride the bike on two wheels, having ridden it for many short trips to the playground in our housing area. I have my doubt, but seeing her with such confidence, I couldn't say no.

It followed with a few rounds of back and forth on the street in front of our house. Me guiding her with her first foray into two-wheeled balancing experience. Of course, not much progress on the first try. Perhaps too, I'm not that good a teacher. After that, I was a bit busy and couldn't attend to her acquiring the balancing skills.

She kept on trying, though. One day she came in the house and showed her chest red with minor scratch and bruise from a bike fall. Her tone was unlike asking for a sympathy. "Macam Ayah dengan Adam luka jatuh basikal", she said, sounded almost like an accomplishment.

And she told me she could already ride her bike. Assisted by the boy next door Rahul and his sister Natasha, she learned how to ride. Thanks, guys.

Marsya on two wheels

And last Saturday, I watched from upstairs for the first time, Marsya riding her bike - on two wheels. I smiled.

Single Speed-ing

Yesterday evening while riding back home from work, something suddenly came to mind:

• to ride casually
• use a fixed gear
  

Thus I rode in a very relaxed way, and at the same time emulated a Single Speed bike. With a freewheel, still.

Heart not pumping as hard, not much sweat, and I enjoyed the route (albeit being the same old route). The bigger plus: I felt really relaxed when I'm home. I mean, mentally and physically.
It felt great! I felt as if I could do anything else. No need to take some time to relax or anything like that. To my surprise, I reached home 40 minutes after I started from the office. That's about the same time I would take if I rode 'aggressively'. With the high feeling and having some time before daylight ends, I intended to clean the RTW bike. A chat with the neighbour and the missus asking to go to the pasar malam with her, I was short of time. Managed to only clean the chain.

On second thought, it felt like being a Bangla riding on the road to and from work. I don't care much, anyway. I felt very good. That's the revelation I had yesterday, on riding casually.

On the SS, it was a surprise for me. I used a combo of middle ring for front, and 14T for the rear (that's the 3rd smallest on the cassette). I could climb the hill up the crossroad traffic light from Taman Mawar to Masjid Jamek Pasir Gudang. Either I'm getting fitter, or it's just simply the matter of fact that I hit the right combo of gearing.

Today on the way to work (yes, on a Sunday morning), I used the same SS setting and rode casually too. The mission is to gauge the time and exhaustion (if any) that I would reach. Same results - not that tiring, and about 40 minutes ride.

Elated.

Considering a proper SS bike? Not yet. I love the extra gearing options that I have for now. The weight saving really is interesting, though...
Hmmphh... perhaps there are 5 speed cogs available for sale? Cheap?

Rvlatn Wk - Ride 2: offroad in LTM with Kelolo and the gang

25th. October 2008 | Saturday

Early morning, drove from Jalan Tun Razak to Caltex Selayang petrol station (just next to Pasaraya Warta - the most prominent landmark in the whole Selayang).
Reached the rendezvous point much earlier than agreed with Kelolo. We are going to Bandar Tasik Puteri (BTP) in Batu Arang, near Rawang. It's been quite some time since the last time I've been to Rawang. Anyway, that's not the thing I'm excited about this morning. It's been a few weeks since my last offroad ride. And I'll be riding with Kelolo in his playground.

A little bit after 8:00 am, Kelolo arrived with Ummu and their girl Farihah. Kelolo's boys are not following us, for the Unser is cramped with 4 bikes and 3 pax. Apparently, the boys were left at home, sad with the fact that they couldn't come along. I should've gone to his house and take them along in Avanza instead of meeting at the RV point.
Faris, Farhan, and Fadlan: I'm very sorry for that one. Forgive me ya.

Following from behind, we drove towards Rawang along Jalan Ipoh. Passing by Hutan Lipur Kanching, memories crept in. I had my first camping with JBS WP there. Oh, and how can I forget the hilly road, especially at the point towards the HLK entrance. Was 13, with a steel Raleigh road bike, pedalled uphill with friends on the way to Sungai Bil in Tanjung Malim. Several times we conquered this hill. Precious memories.

1.3 Avanza had a hard time following the 1.8 Unser, most of time speed was about 100km/h. I followed still, and soon reached Rawang. The only landmark that I remembered was Lafarge Cement on the left. Pretty soon, we were entering BTP in Batu Arang and reached the parking lot. A nice warm Saturday morning, the stalls lining up the brim of the parking area were full with customers, getting their breakfast. What a nice leisurely Saturday.

We unloaded the bikes out from Unser and prepped up for the four of us. I was truly amazed with how he could neatly cramp 4 bikes in there. Still there's ample space for riding paraphernalia - helmets, floor pumps, et al.

Much to my surprise, we are not going to ride with BBB riders this morning. I thought we were already late, as Kelolo were driving fast all the way from Selayang. It turned out that we were to have a leisure ride in Ladang Tuan Mee (LTM) in BTP all by ourselves. Cool, then.

waiting for Daniel

After a pack of nasi lemak and warm Milo for breakfast, we got ready for our ride. Kelolo asked Hashim Degawan of BBB for his GPS, and he lent us his. The biggest unit I've seen - in a form of a 10 year old boy. Well, the youngest guide I've known, then. We waited for Daniel to finish his breakfast, and off we went.

We cycled to the starting area called 'block 6', and waited for another rider to join us. Kelolo and I killed time practicing log hop on the tarmac while the rest were resting under the shade of a hut. Convinced that it's a no-show, we went in only the 5 of us - Ummu, Iyyah and Daniel went in a bit earlier.

The welcoming entrance to LTM is uphill an 'open naked barren rutted red earth climb', as Kelolo puts it. I wondered how do we get down this if we were to end our ride here. Nevermind, just enjoy the offroad ride for now. First destination: Teres 3. Then we'll go to the 'Playground' and to Teres 2.


Daniel the robust GPS

First revelation: riding a hardtail is cool (compared to my T-Bolt). It is light, climbs uphill steadily, agile and fast. With Marzocchi shocks on his Element, Kelolo's hardtail that I used felt awesome. I guess the 'Zocch's plushness added confidence too. This, and the responsive Quad hydros on board.

LTM is a palm oil plantation. Much of the trees are young. Fronds are put together and kept to the sides. Very neat and well kept with only little vegetation between the trees.

While going down the terraces of T3, Daniel easily cruised and jumped through, literally child's play to him. Really. Kelolo assured me that this area is Daniel's, week in and week out riding in here. I was simply amazed, still. The fall I took in February still haunted me. But that was a different kind of ride. Going down terraces requires a different set of skills - timing, agility and guts (at least for me).

I took the challenge, and succeeded going down T3. It's a set of small successive mild drops, bringing you down the hill. Not that steep, but the last drop was not that mild either. The closest to it that we have in Plentong is called the 'jongkang-jongket' (see-saw). The difference between these two is that jongkang-jongket' has mild drops over a longer distance, and not as steep. You just glide down and enjoy the fast ride downhill.


Daniel Iyyah

Ummu Kelolo

The most challenging for me in T3 was the two succesive descend off-camber carving steep terraces. I don't know what's the height, but enough to make me shiver. Daniel again made it look easy. At that point, I thought his advantage is because of his low center of gravity (COG). Anyway, if you're not brave enough, COG wouldn't matter at all. And so I gathered my mental strength and courage to take on this experience. I succeeded, and man, the feeling is out of this world!

We headed on towards the Playground. Had to climb up mossy doubletrack. This, I like very much - the triumph after the slow and steady pedaling uphill non-stop. Playground looks harmless and innocent. It provides nice gentle drops on the terraces for you to practice your riding skills. Pedaling up a small mound, going down successive drops - gliding or jumping. And like most playgrounds you see in housing areas, this Playground could be dangerous too, if you're not careful. I fell down when doing a successive drop. Minor bruises only. Well, as the Malay saying goes, 'tempat jatuh lagi dikenang' - I'll definitely remember this Playground.



Next was to Teres 2. Kelolo in front, followed by Daniel, me, Iyyah and Ummu. A mishap happened on the way. Kelolo took a tumble - fell acrobatically on a palm tree about 2 feet down aside the ledge that we rode on. His front tire flipped sideways when riding on a palm frond lying on the unkept ground. I didn't witness the accident, but Daniel gave a good account about it to all of us.

While falling, Kelolo was twisting his body a la Moero Attack (except that he's going down instead of jumping up). He's the only one with a camera, and so no photos of him crouched on the ground beneath his green ogre, flanked by the ledge and the stupidly still palm tree. Well, during that time the situation was a little bit tensed. If I do have a camera, I don't know whether it is okay to snap photos, instead of helping fellow rider. Apparently, it is not easy to witness Kelolo taking a tumble. So, woohooo! I had!
:)


re-enactment of the bedepek

After nursing the cut, taking photos, doing the re-enactment, and a little rest, we moved onwards T2. We were actually going uphill, right to the top. And then again going downhill through the terraces. Heck, there was one descend that's actually a set of small steep staircase. Still, Daniel went through it like savoring his breakfast. I hesitated, and opted using my biceps - carried the bike down.



Back to the Playground, and then home towards block 6. Uh oh, we'll have to go down the 'open naked barren rutted red earth'. Kelolo went first and stopped midway to take photos and videos. Iyyah and mUmmu went down next, quite cautiously and in slow motion. When Daniel's time came, he went down like it's nothing. Boy, this guy should've gone to KLD. I went down last, gently reached the bottom and with Kelolo we regrouped with the earlier riders. By that time, it was already Zuhr. And time for lunch.

We went to the parking lot riding leisurely. Passing by a school, Daniel took the chance to run down the staircases of the school's bus stop. 'Pantang jumpa tempat turun'. Reached the parking lot and we sat at Hashim's stall. Savoured his plain homemade cendol and laksa Perlis. The cendol was very good, in fact, the best so far I've had - not too sweet, not too mushy, not too hard either, and the shaved ice was very fine. No, not because it was on the house by Hashim.

Helped Kelolo to pack the bikes into his Unser, and got myself ready to go. We parted our ways from the parking lot, and headed for the highway towards KL. I went straight to Crown Princess, had my shower and such. Quite tired, and it's a bit late but still managed to go to Mak Ngah's for Kak Liza's kenduri. Nubhan and Toi were there, but they already took off by the time I reached Kg Pandan. Nevermind. Mak Ngah's house would be crowded if they're there, anyway. I wanted to relax. Had a plate of laksa Johor and chat with my cousins. Next: fetch Naza, mak and kids from Puduraya and spend the night at the hotel with my family in KL.

What a day. Bike ride, adrenaline, cendol, laksa Perlis, revelations, friends, family, laksa Johor - all in a day.

Thanks Kelolo and family, Hashim Degawan and Daniel.

Pics taken from Kelolo's photo album.

mtb beginner: mazhab berbasikal

http://www.dieselbikes.com/articles/article_00002.htm

khas untuk yang baru nak menceburi aktiviti mtb.
(aku pun masih belajar lagi...)
sebelum ambik keputusan untuk beli basikal, cuba baca artikel kat atas tu dulu.
sekurang-kurangnya, tau la jugak nak bezakan mazhab-mazhab berbasikal nih.

Ang, thanks for the link.

Power and Cadence

(excerpt from The Elegant Solution - Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, Matthew E. May)

Run The Numbers : Lance Armstrong

Following his bout with testicular cancer, Lance Armstrong found that his physiology had changed. he was lighter, with a diminished musculature. The way his body most efficiently produced power had changed. He needed a new way to ride the bike in order to compete at the elite level.

He examined the power equation:

Power = Force x Velocity

where:

• Force = the force applied to pedals
• Velocity = leg speed, or pedal cadence

He did the math, looking at the variables.

If it takes 200 watts to move a bike at 20 mph, what were the possibilities? What were the differences of pedalling 70 rpm, versus 100 rpm?

Lower cadence requires higher force applied to each pedal stroke, which means more work for the leg muscles, and quicker fatigue.
Lower force to the pedals required higher cadence, which meant more work for his heart and aerobic system.

Given his stronger aerobic engine, he switched to spinning lower gears at a much higher cadence. It ran counter to widely accepted practice of driving big gears while seated. But it worked. No one could touch him in grueling mountain climbs of the Alps and Pyrenees.

Personal note:
Cadence was the the first thing I learnt about from a friend, Zaidi. He noticed I was using big rings while testing his hardtail (a very lightweight hardtail), and taught me about cadence and power.
It's with cadence that you could sustain long rides as with XC.

Well, I'm applying, and still learning.