More (Yawn) Bike Stories

My boy turned 8 yesterday, and he also came out 3rd in his term exams, so what did I do to reward him amidst this raging recession and BN's recent humiliating loss? (Is this Perak's and Kedah's "gift" to the newly-crowned First Lady?)

I bought him a scaled-down replica of former world champion Thomas Frischknecht's race machine: A Scott Scale JR 20.

The "20" means twenty inch wheels when adult-sized bikes are 24 inch. So it's a kid's bike. But a serious kid's bike armed with Revo Shifters, front and rear derailleurs,front fork with 55mm travel, the whole works.

Come visit my other blog for more of this insanely inane, stupendously mundane and lame ho-hum stuff.

On Cloud Nine Pt. 2 - "V009" actually made 9th!!!

That's right, folks. I was "upgraded" to 9th!

Damn the organizers, or praise 'em, rather? - because the official race classification came in almost a week later!

Slackers.

This is something akin to what happened to Jarno Trulli in the opening F1 season on the same day as my race. Lewis Hamilton was eventually disqualified from his third placing and Trulli bumped up to third from fourth.

Apparently legendary Pat "Pig Pen" Brunsdon (V012) and "Ironman" supremo Wan Shahidan (V019) had jumped the gun. In Pat's and Wan Shahidan's case, there were so gung ho on starting (a bit like being kiasu laa) that they started off at the first flag-off in the Open Class.

They were supposed to start off with us, about 10 minutes after the Open flag-off. It was a bit chaotic I suppose since there are hundreds of us jammed on that small lane waiting for the Pajero to lead us on a rolling start. The Pajero had some dudes in the rear holding a huge Selangor flag ready to "drop it". So these two decided to trail the Open pack I guess, thinking the Vet class race was going to be on a slightly different and shorter route. In Pat's case the marshalls made him go on the longer Open Class route (see note above), Buy why Wan Shahidan was positioned 18th I wouldn't know. He must have committed a bigger sin like failing to pass a checkpoint (shortcut?) or something when he actually had the fastest time.

In any event I'm a happy puppy.

Like everything else in life, we should play by the rules and hope to "get lucky" sometimes.

On Cloud Nine

My smile says it all...

Folks, today I surprised even myself. The presence of expat Pat "Pig Pen" Brundson, Gary Choong of CycleWorx Singapore, Farizul, and some hard core athletes like Wan Shahidan did not deter me one bit. Back in '06 Gary made top 50 in the International Tour of Thailand (ITT) and will make some piss in their pants. And he made Top 50 IN THE OPEN CATEGORY, not some piss-ant "Veteran Class" shit. I was only nine places behind number one (Wan N). And seven places behind Gary. Yeee-haaa!

You heard that right, folks! Mat Salo with race number "V009" made tenth place. I was shocked. Which means I smoked some of 'em rider-athletes-cum-super-heroes that were once featured in newspapers...

After crossing the finishing line in almost two hours (there's one portion where you had to push up the bike up a 45-60 degree slope for 1 km, with no way to ride it, what with 200+ cyclists bottle necking the single-track - that's why it took so long) the marshalls at the finishing line said I came in tenth. I couldn't believe it so I grabbed the list to be sure.

Too bad there's no prizes for coming in tenth but knowing that I smoked some of 'em super-established guys?

It is indeed sweet, folks.


After crossing a small stream halfway through the race the whole bottom lip of my clipless shoes' got snagged. I had to look for some 'tali rafia' to hold it in place. If it had stayed intact - could I have been on the podium? Excuses, excuses...

Pre-Race: Leaving the house at 7.00 a.m.

Pre-Race in Sg. Buluh... all suited up.

My 15-year old first-born in the Open Class. He "DNF'd" at the last checkpoint due to a broken chain...

Pre-Race: Marshalls zooming past on their motocross bikes while I don my gloves and say a little prayer...

Me and Le Tua's pro Lim Yew Meng who came in second in the Open Class. Of course Yew Meng's in the same team with Indonesia's Number 1 and 2 rider Samai Amari and Tonton Susanto - participants in the recent LeTour DeLangkawi.

Strollin', Strollin' ...past the finish line...

Main sponsor's tent: Ng Joo Ngan's son- imcyclist.com

A Man In Mid-Life

Mat Salo in (poor) post training form, March 26, 2009. T minus 3 days to Race Day this weekend.

I guess like all men hitting the "magic 50" they start to do something "crazy" - and I'm certainly no exception to the rule.

Some take on mistresses or an extra wife, some will purchase a low-slung two-seater sports coupe, or a Mark Levinson (yes, Kim Catrall's hubby) hi-fi, or a big plasma TV. I wonder if going to umroh or haj is a consequence of mid-life too?

Back in '04 - GP Speda Race Series - note the "boghoi" factor

Me? As soon as I came back from Indonesia I decided to do something that I had not done since 2004: enter a goddamned MTB race. Back in '04 when I was not quite 45 I managed to complete 100 k on a road-bike. But that was five years and tens of thousands of sticks of cigarettes ago.

And I've also piled on the pounds, in case you haven't noticed.

Mean, but not-so-lean-nor-trim in '04

So this weekend I'll be competing in the men's "veteran" class (45 and above, of course) but for old-timers like us who couldn't get it up more than once a single night, the course is only over 15 km when normal UCI sanctioned cross-country MTB races would be at least 24 km or 4 laps on an average 6 km loop.

So why am I doing it? I don't really know dudes and dudettes.

Perhaps like all men in mid-life, we all start "losing it"?

Wish me luck this Sunday the 29th, eh?

If you're keen, it's near the old leprosy hospital in Sg. Buloh. Go here for directions.)

Brand New Shimano XT "clipless" installed at Joo Ngan yesterday.

Transferring "clipless" cleats from new to old shoes...

LDTL Stage 5 - The Curve to Genting (Mat Salo's favorite sport!)

This is my third live LDTL event, the previous two a couple of years back. I'm not often home in Malaysia so I was lucky as hell that Stage 5 today started at my front door - literally!

The Petaling Jaya to Genting Stage kicked-off right between Ikano Power Center and The Curve, in front of co-sponsor's VW Malaysia's spiffy showroom to be exact. So all I did was to get on my hand-made Santa Cruz Superlight, a full-suspension mountain bike with my trusty D300 and 18-200 VR II lens slung across my shoulder, my pack of Dunhill's and headed off to The Curve to witness the start.

Did I tell you back in '04, at almost 45 years of age, I borrowed a RM 10,000 road bike and entered a UCI-sanctioned 100 km race in Perak? I finished fourth in my age category, barely missing the podium. But I was at least an hour behind the leader's though! I think there's hardly a sport greater than cycling, imagine day-in day-out going flat out for hundreds of kilometers a day until the end of the tour. The Tour De France, of course is the greatest of all - covering 3000 km in three weeks. How can anyone possibly do it? Doping? Naaah...


Yesterday's Malacca to Bangi Stage Winner - young upstart Samai of Indonesia who clocked an average of 42.08 km/hr for the 221 km run - that's faster than most non-rempits's kapcai I gather.

Wishing Anuar Manan of Team Malaysia well...

Lim Yew Meng and Indonesia's Samai, pros for Le Tua Cycling Team

Stretch 'em, dudes...

Samai acknowledging the crowd when called to the podium to "encore" yesterday's performance with teammate Jeremy Yates of New Zealand.

One of my all-time favorite Iranian cyclists - Ghader Misbani. He's done this since the inception, always posting impressive results.

Le Tua's Razif Salleh, nursing some stitches and abrasions from recent crashes.

Don't look let the "toy boy" look fool you. This Jap is a serious contender!

And they're off!

South African's Nolan Hoffman, yesterday's Malacca to Bangi Green Jersey holder checkin' out his rear...

Yanks Euser and Duggan of Team Garmin Slipstream (in blue, flanked by Team China) discussing whether they can ever be the next Lance Armstrong.

Made a new friend today, canine lover, TheStar's columnist, wheelchair activist, and get this - merangkap MBPJ councillor Anthony T who came as a VIP guest.

Anthony T demonstrating to me the workings of MBPJ's "mobility van". Thanks, bro'.

Columbian Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez, today's eventual Genting's conquistador!