Night Ride Tips

I would to share my little (3-4 years) of night riding experience since ECC's Burung Hantu Night Mtb ride is coming soon.

Rear red blinking lights
A must for you to be visible to the cars coming from the back. More lights means more visibility but that is only if you are riding solo or with a friend. I am a supporter of a green environment, so if you have a big group of riders cycling together, you don't have to on all the lights. Just 1 rear red blinking light will do.

Front lights
This is the most important if you are going off road riding.

As pictured below, I have 1 white blinking light on all the time to warn oncoming cars of my presence and another strong bike torch light whenever I hit the dark areas. For me, dark areas means really bad visibility like cycling into the oil palm or rubber estate. If you are on a kampung road, there is usually the street light that is bright enough for you to see the road and I always try to conserve battery life.

Most of the time when I ride in a group, the lights emitted by the other riders is good enough for me to go without switching on mine.

Whenever you need to stop when there is a regroup or traffic jam ahead, remember to switch off the front torch light. This will help prolong the battery life.


If you are planning to ride fast and furious on the off road track, it is better to have 2 strong torch lights beside the blinking lights.

Point 1 nearer towards the front tires (approx. 3 feet) and the other about 8 feet ahead. This will help you see what is coming ahead.

There is always the element of surprise when doing off road night riding. Be alert of your surrounding, the shout of warning of riders ahead of you on dangers such as holes, bumbs and animals. Front riders usually come across birds such as Night Jars, owls, snakes and even wild boars on the tracks.

Batteries
Please try to use rechargeable batteries. Most will give you your monies worth in the long run and you'll be doing your bit for the environment.

Most front bike lights use AAA batteries. If you are using the usual alkaline batteries for the front lights and the strength is not enough to brighten the path ahead, don't throw them away. They will still be good enough to power the rear red blinking lights that uses the same battery size. Maximize the batteries before discarding them.

Hope these tips help in making your night ride pleasant and safe.

Additional points shared by Winston at Midnite Cowboys FB group

- if biking offroad in a group, please switch your back blinking lights to still lights. if not , your buddies behind you will suffer.
- always carry spare batteries and handphones with you
I had this unpleasant experience of the torch light giving up on me when I was leading a ride in the rubber estate! I got the 2nd rider to ride beside me so that I can see where we are heading.
- gauge your fitness and skills, be truthful to your buddies and yourself. you dont want to burden your buddies in the middle of nowhere, even more so while in darkness.
- NEVER ride alone.

Additional points shared by SN
If I may add to your list of lights. While its good to have a set of powerful lights on the handlebar, a helmet light is just as important. If you can, get a powerful light to be mounted on the helmet. The helmet light points wherever you are looking, whereas the handlebar light points only where the bike is going.

When you reach a switchback turn, you will want to look ahead around the turn, which is when the helmet light helps. The handlebar light will only shine straight ahead before you reach the turn, leaving you blind otherwise as to what lies around the turn.

Given a choice, I would suggest having 1 powerful helmet light over 2-3 handlebar lights... Best combo of course, is still both handlebar + helmet lights!

******************************

So far all our night riding in Melaka are always done in a group and it is always "Follow the the leader". After reading SN's comment, I am going to dedicate 1 helmet with a torch light mounted on it and another for the usual day rides. Thanks SN, for the tips.

Sept Hari Raya Hash Ride

This Sunday's (27/9) event, 48 km of beautiful XC trails. Plus, delicious makan after the ride. It is the Hari Raya Hash Ride. Open to all with guest fee of RM10.00 only.

Selamat Hari Raya

To all my Muslim friends who are celebrating this happy occasion,
Selamat Hari Raya!

Upscale Supermarket

Thanks to my friend, Jimmy Tay for this humorous joke. Enjoy.

A new supermarket opened near my house.
It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it
goes on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and the smell of fresh rain.
When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the
scent of freshly mowed hay.
In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks with
onions.
The sound of a breeze in the trees and water in a babbling brook welcomes
you to the fish display.
When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air
filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.
The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread &
chocolate chip cookies.

I don't buy toilet paper there anymore.

Story with happy ending

It is so surreal writing about my stolen bikes. When they got lost, I gave up hope on retrieving them but thanks to my condo management staffs especially the manager, Mr. Gunabalan, helped towards the recovery of both bikes.

Let me share the story.

Saturday (22/8) around 12.00 noon, my wife, who was at home, called me and said about a former night guard with information about my bicycle. I quickly took my motorbike and rushed home. Upon reaching my unit, I saw our current night guard, Jamal and he introduced Saiful, a former night guard. Jamal said Saiful came to the guard house for chitchat on Friday and Jamal mentioned to him about stolen bicycles from the condo. Jamal then showed him the picture of the bicycle that has been put up on the notice board offering reward of RM100.00 for information to the recovery of the bicycles. (Jamal did most of the talking and telling the story). When Saiful saw the photo, he said he bought a bicycle that looked like that about 2 weeks ago.

I asked Saiful if he remembered the seller and he replied he doesn't know who that person was but can recognise if he ever saw the seller again. Saiful said he bought it for RM500.00. Jamal told Saiful to get his wife to bring the bike to Selat for confirmation. Saiful then left leaving Jamal to continue talking to me. Jamal said Saiful was at a warong when he heard about someone selling a bicycle and since he needed some sort of transport as he didn't have any, the bicycle seemed handy. The negotiation started with the seller saying he knows the value of the bicycle is RM2000.00 and is offering RM1000.00. Saiful offered RM300.00 and they settled at RM500.00.

About 20 minutes later, Saiful and his wife came pushing the bike. A quick check on the bike revealed is was my bike minus the reflective stickers, the saddle bag and metal stand. At that moment, I was happy just to get my hands back on the bike and feeling compassionate for Saiful who told me he bought it for RM500.00, I paid Saiful RM500.00. I asked Saiful if he had any information on the other bike, a Schwinn model size 14.5" (suitable for smaller size people) but he said no.

I conveyed my thanks to Jamal and told him I will settle with him later about the reward money. Jamal asked if I had the picture of the Schwinn bicycle and he will help keep a lookout.

- End
A few days later I started to rethink of the event and some things did not make sense.

For instance, how does a guard who earns RM400.00 (basic) buy a RM500.00 bicycle when he is not a mountain bike rider or enthusiast. And if Saiful needed some form of transport, why buy a RM500.00 bicycle when you can easily get a RM150.00+ China made bicycle.

Footprints.
The last time I used the unit was on Sunday 9th August in the evening. I know it rained early in the morning because I sent my children to school on Monday morning and found the grounds wet. I did not open the unit as I did not cycle the whole of Monday. On Tuesday morning after sending my children to school, I decided to move my things out and that was when I found the bikes missing. There was footprint marks on the floor coming from the glass balcony entrance and exiting on the main door (I found it unlock). Boot size 10.

A friend gave his view that a thief will not use boots to commit a crime especially when you have to climb over the balcony. A slipper or rubber shoe would be better. This points to someone on duty or was still in uniform when the crime was committed.
I know many of you will say that I shouldn't have paid any money. Yes, I went through that flaming session when I shared this story with the local riders and friends. What can I say? I am a sucker if you put on a puppy face and tell a sad story.

This transaction was almost 3 weeks ago and the initial hope of recovering the 2nd bike was slowly diminishing as time passed.

My condo manager had spoken to Jamal after I got my Specialized and put it to him that he is to do whatever it takes to recover the 2nd bike. A mind game was set on Jamal and it paid off today.

At 8.30 am today (10/9), one of the day guard came to my unit and said there is a bicycle outside the fence that looked like my bike as he was patrolling the area. I followed him and saw the sight below.

It was an unbelievable sight. My 2nd bike lying at the shrubs waiting to be claimed. I was happy yet wanted to laugh. It just suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Strangely, the front tires and tubes were out of the rim. Did the thief go on a mtb ride before abandoning it there?

Anyway, I am happy to recover both bikes and thanks to all who helped, shared ideas and well wishes.

To the thief, my hope for your "blessings" still stands.

Tribute to an old friend called Specialized

When you have a outdoor hobby like mountain biking, living in a condo with a family with only 987 square feet to move around, it is almost impossible to store the bike with all the accessories.

Unfortunately for me, that is my scenario. Fortunately for me, there is an empty unit in front of my unit that was vacant since the condo was built and is now under bank receivership. Why, fortunately, well, that is where I kept my bicycles. Did I mention "kept" and "bicycles"? We'll start with bicycles.

When my wife and I just got married in 1989, we bought 2 Lerun bicycles to cycle around in the evenings which we are still keeping. When the kids came, we bought 2 children bicycles of different sizes. Then there was another bicycle that was left behind by a tenant that I refurbish to make it ride able.

I got involved with mountain biking in the year 2000 when I took part in the Malacca Mountain Bike Hash and bought my first "high end" Specialized. Cost me RM1,700.00 and I thought it was a bomb. Never thought bicycles cost more than 1K at that time and since then, have upgraded the rims to Mavic, the gears to XT, fork to lockable Rox Shox, pedals to Shimano clipless, crank to Truvative and most recently, change the seat to Fizik.

I bought another bike, this time a full suspension IBIS Mojo SL last year and alternate the usage of both bikes. Bike components are not cheap and I have installed almost all the top range components for the IBIS and would like to minimize the usage and prolong it as much as I can thus will use more of the Specialized. Specialized will see action on every Wednesday and Friday night rides and IBIS will spring to action on weekends and mtb jamborees (ECC members call it the Jamboree bike).

6 bikes of different sizes in the store room.

Penang Kayuh Lasak 2005

This schedule was working out well until yesterday.

The management office had informed us that there were queries on the vacant unit that will be up for auction so I thought we better start clearing our stuffs. Yesterday morning after sending the children to school, I went to the unit and found it unlock. Hemmm..... maybe I forgot to lock it on Sunday after washing the bike that came straight after a hash ride.

I noticed something different, where were was my Specialized? For a moment I thought I might have brought it back to the office. Then I realised my daughter's Schwin is not where it should be. The only bikes left behind are the Lerun and children's bikes.

Then it hit me that someone has stolen the Specialized and Schwinn bikes.

Thank God I decided to keep the IBIS in my own unit after washing it.

On the way to Sagil, Johor for the Gunung Ledang ride

After 9 years of confidently keeping my precious in this vacant unit, never did I imagine losing it this way. A most likely suspect would be someone staying in the same property that has been eyeing my movements whenever I ride the bike out and when and where I keep them. Or else how would the thieve know exactly which unit to break into?

I have since informed the management but I know it is a long shot of getting it back.

Today's posting will be on the mountain bike that has gone many places and brought good memories of rides around Malaysia.

May the thief receive the same "blessings" he gave me in 10 folds.

Here's to my Specialized Rockhopper.

2006 Damai Laut holiday with the family

2008 The Malacca Water Wheel

2007 KLMBH Epic Ride

The safest place, my work room

Gunung Ledang ride with Lee CH

By the Malacca river

2008 Boat ride to Pulau Besar

The cockpit when fully loaded

~ Farewell old friend ~

Happy Hunting Ground

There is a saying that when a native American (in TV language, Red Indians), dies, he goes to the Happy Hunting Ground or Heaven to most of us.

I looked up Wikipedia and it has an interesting quote and explanation for this caption.

The Happy Hunting Ground was the name given to the concept of the afterlife by several of the great plains Native American tribes, as well as the Iroquois, Cherokee and Algonquians. It is an afterlife conceived of as a paradise in which hunting is plentiful and game unlimited.

"I will follow the white man's trail. I will make him my friend, but I will not bend my back to his burdens. I will be cunning as a coyote. I will ask him to help me understand his ways, then I will prepare the way for my children. Maybe they will outrun the white man in his own shoes.

There are but two ways for us. One leads to hunger and death, the other leads to where the poor white man lives. Beyond is the happy hunting ground where the white man cannot go."

Many Horses - Oglala Sioux

That made me think. When a mountain biker passes on, can we say "He has gone to Whistler Mountain Bike Park"?