Gunung Soga, Gunung Banang Ride

'Needed to do some climbs, and, as — true — mountains are about as common as independent thinkers on this sunny, tropical-island-paradise-with-the-death-penalty, I headed across the Causeway:



Gunung Soga. With an elevation of 820 feet (250 m), technically, it is not a mountain but a hill (hence its alternate name, Soga Hill).





For more than an hour, I rode around on country roads, following confusing signs, written in a language I'm hardly proficient in (Bahasa Melayu), but never quite getting to the "mountain."





After about an hour, I ran into this sign.





After climbing up the hilly estate of Taman Perdana, I discovered, to my chagrin, that the lower half of of Gunung Soga's west face has been razed and terraced for a new housing estate. What remains of the road to the summit has been replaced by a series of steps  :-(





If Mountain 1 won't do, switch to Mountain 2. A view from Jalan Minyak Beku. The transmission tower left of the center of picture denotes the summit of Gunung Banang.





Immediately after Restoran Steam Boat Garden lies the access road to Gunung Banang.





View of the 1402 ft (427 m) summit. Temperature is a not too pleasant 91° F (32.7° C).





Current elevation: 40 ft (12 m). When I last climbed this in 1995 (yes, I'm one old fogey) with UmmaGumma, no one resided at the base of this road. Though dwellings exist today, they only extend to the first 100 meters of the road. Someone measured the road's length to the summit, beginning from the white line.





View Larger Map
Map of the local area.





After 12 minutes of climbing: the first rest spot. It is also the first flat section. Elevation: 675 ft (205.8 m). Distance (from the base of mountain): 0.72 mile (1.15 km).





The hammocks look inviting. It is also cooler at 87° F (30.6° C).





At the 1 mile (1.6 km) mark, the elevation is 785 ft (239 m).

'Brought my iPod Nano along, but didn't need it — I already had a song in my head. As I climbed, it went on repeat:

I hear you're driving
someone else's car now...
She said you came and
took your stuff away.
All the poetry and the trunk
you kept your life in —
I knew that it would
come to that someday...

Like a sad hallucination,
when I opened up my eyes,
the train had passed the station,
and you were trapped inside...
And I never wonder where you went
I only wonder why...

Oh Caroline
Oh, oh, Caroline
Oh, Caroline
Oh, oh, oh, oh, Caroline

Second rest spot. The benches were not here 13 years ago. Distance from the base of mountain: 1.1 mile (1.75 km). Elevation: 865 ft (263.7 m).





Unlike the other rest spots, this one is not on a flat section (they are rare on this road anyway). Temperature: 82° F (27.8° C).





Onward.





Third rest spot. Elevation 1040 ft (317 m).





A short dip provides brief respite.

Well, I hear you're using someone else's number;
She said she saw you in the store today.
It don't matter whose address
you're listed under,
I only know they'll never make you stay

Like a memory in motion,
you were only passing through...
That is all you've ever known of life,
That's all you'll ever do.
There's a dream I have where I sail away;
Looking back, I wave at you,
and I wave goodbye...

Oh Caroline
Oh, oh, Caroline
Oh, Caroline
Oh, oh, oh, oh, Caroline

I just had to take this (distance measured from the base of the mountain, of course)  :-D  Elevation: 1115 ft (400 m).





Fourth and final rest spot. A weather system is moving in, compromising the accuracy of the barometer-based altimeter. Distance from the base of mountain: 1.5 miles (2.45 km). Temperature: 80° F (26.7° C).





The rest of the pictures were taken going downhill as dismounting would render it difficult to get on the bike again.

The gradient gets significantly steeper after this sign.





The last 50 meters can best be described as a religious experience  :-P





Elevation 1402 ft (427 m). Distance from the base of mountain: 1.72 miles (2.75 km). Transmission tower. This is the only picture I managed to take of the summit (and I had to do it on the sly, pretending to take a shot of the downhill). A fenced military outpost lies here. The Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters' Society also maintains a repeater here.





Great, big raindrops fall as I began my descent.

In another life I see you
As an angel flying high,
And the hands of time will free you —
You will cast your chains aside —
And the dawn will come and kiss away
Every tear thats ever fallen
From your eyes...
Behind those eyes,
I wonder

Oh, Caroline... oh, oh, oh...
Oh, oh... Caroline...
Sometimes I wonder...
Oh... Caroline
Sometimes I,
Sometimes I wonder...

Epilogue:
Total distance:  cyclo-computer 45.8 miles (73.3 km)
Total elevation climbed:  Altimeter 3280 ft (1000 m)
Temperature range:  77° F to 94° F (25° C to 34.4° C)

Ride conducted solo.

Devil in red

Char Siew Pao Mei dropped her bike, a Scott CR1 (affectionately dubbed, CF Slut), off for some servicing. For a few days, I had fun tormenting her with wild tales of how I collected enough sand from her bike to build a small sandcastle  :-D





After a thorough drivetrain clean up (chain, rear cogs, chain rings, jockey pulleys), wash and teflon-polish, new fi'zi:k microtex bar tape and K:ium Arione Wing Flex saddle.





Weighing.





The 49 cm Scott CR1's new weight.





Placed beside Cloe, CF Slut risks being mistaken for a BMX bike  :-P


Notes

Saddle Height (fi'zi:k K:ium Arione Wing Flex) measured from top of saddle (along center of seatpost) to center of crank, non-drive side: 63.5 cm

Tip of saddle to center of handlebar (end of handlebar clamp, stem side): 43.2 cm


Ride safe!

:-D

Beyond 29er & panniers not for the bike

Brad rides The Big One™, an unicycle by Corker Cycles. It uses a 36" tire, quite possibly the largest diameter pneumatic cycle tire in the world.

Salty, lugging a pair of Wolf Pack Banzai™ pannier dog packs, accompanies him.

Another view of these curious dog panniers, this time on a trail I occasionally ride back in the San Francisco Bay Area: King Overlooking Coastline.

More on backpacking with your dog.

Hat tip: ling the merciless & maximuz.


Further reading
One Wheel — Many Spokes: USA by Unicycle
Coast To Coast 2K6: 3556 miles across USA on Unicycle

Moonshining Energy Supplements I

As you all know, I swear by GU Energy Gel. It works very well on my body. So well, in fact, I sometimes abuse it to undertake rides I'm not fit enough for  :-P

The spirit of inquiry Curiosity Boredom and a masochistic streak spurred me to undertake an experiment with a homemade energy supplement.

Ride 1 (non-stop)
12:30 AM, 10 January, 2008
Elevation climbed:  1310 ft (399 m)
4 hours 13 minutes 0 seconds
Average speed:  15.6 mph (24.96 km/h)
Maximum speed:  28 mph (44.8 km/h)
Distance:  65.6 miles (104.96 km)
Supplement:  None. 40 fl. oz. (1.18 liter) of plain water.

Ride 2 (non-stop)
1:00 AM, 14 January, 2008
Elevation climbed:  1260 ft (384 m)
3 hours 59 minutes 10 seconds
Average speed:  16.3 mph (26.08 km/h))
Maximum speed:  28 mph (44.8 km/h)
Distance:  65.1 miles (104.16 km)
Supplement:  176 grams of Dextrose Monohydrate + 1/10 teaspoon of Sodium Chloride dissolved in 40 fl. oz. (1.18 liter) of water.

Cost of Dextrose Monohydrate:  SG$1.80 (USD$1.26)
Cost of table salt:  negligible
Energy value:  660 calories

Comments
Compared to Ride 1, I didn't feel as tired in Ride 2 after the 2.5 hour mark. I was also consistently faster at my various checkpoints.

Checkpoint A (Upper Serangoon Road & Tampines Road)
Ride 1:  1 hour 1 minute
Ride 2:  1 hour

Checkpoint B (Loyang Avenue & Changi Village Road)
Ride 1:  2 hours
Ride 2:  1 hour 57 minutes 34 seconds

Of course, this homemade concoction lacks potassium, amino acids, and glutamine. I suspect the muscle aches (which were significant) after climbing South Buena Vista Road, Holland Road, and Clementi Road, were due to that. Of course, caffeine can't hurt  :-P

Effort-wise, apart from the climbs, the pace of both rides was at 60-70% of maximum heart rate as I wanted to burn fat. Tip:  a rough but useful gauge is, if you feel too out of breath to carry on a conversation, you are probably pushing too hard.

Notes
There were no other rides between the 2 rides. The faster timing of Ride 2 cannot be attributed to training (there was none) or weather (weather conditions were largely identical).

While the time difference (between Ride 1 and Ride 2) is very significant in a race, or even a group ride, it is of too small a value to bother when touring. I sometimes take 45 minutes to compose a picture (e.g. waiting for a car, motorbike, or hiker to disappear over a ridge), so saving 13 to 14 minutes mean very little to me. The main point for supplements here would be comfort.

'Missed the target I set with Char Siew Pao Mei (i.e. average speed of 27 km/h), but, all in all, still a rather fun experiment.

:-D

Images from Butterfly Trail

If you return and be quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall your strength be.  (Isaias 30:15)

Is the tree all right?

'Hit 2 trees today.



A sapling (doesn't sound macho enough) skinny (nope) young tree with great growth potential. This time though, I made sure Freddy snapped a pic.





"Is the tree all right?" he asked with some concern.





The 2nd time. Don't ask me how I managed to unclip from the pedals and leave Cloe (the bike) standing there. It's called talent. (Actually, Cloe unclipped herself from me and I kept going, flying sideways into the bushes. Yeah, that's it.)

Today is one of those days I am glad I am not on Shimano SPDs. I would have been satay / shish kebab (see below).

I also got snagged by rattan. Now that hurt.

Freddy came to the rescue (again). Freddy is so nice. Ride with Freddy. Don't ride with me. I only send thunder, lightning, and rain to those around me  :-P

But seriously, thanks, Freddy  ^ _ ^

Swing that Fixie

I wonder if it will work even better if they make it two-wheel-drive  :-D




Swing bike maker bent on it catching on

A hinge allows the cruiser to do things other two-wheelers can't.

By Jerry Hirsch
Los Angeles Times
December 12, 2007

Ryan Beers rides his bike down a stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard in Culver City with the front wheel on top of the curb and the rear wheel down on the street.

It's a neat trick that's impossible for a normal bicycle but a breeze for this oddity called a swing bike. And San Diego entrepreneur Beers is intent on reviving it.

"I had to rub my eyes. It is almost like a horse sidestepping," said Shel Coburn, as he watched Beers' tricks, including his ability to not only turn on a dime, but to also circle on top of a dime.

Beers is one of the founders of Americas Bike Co., a San Diego start-up that has reinterpreted the briefly-lived, banana seat, chopper handlebar swing bike of the late 1970s as a modern beach cruiser.

"It spices up the boardwalk and makes a regular bike seem boring. It really attracts a crowd," Beers said. The 27-year-old former BMX bike racer, with the help of silent partners, is investing $1.2 million in the business, which also includes a line of classic cruisers.

In a standard bicycle, the rider can go only in the direction that the handlebars turn. However, a swing bike has a hinge on the tube that connects to the seat. This allows the rear end of the bike to move independently from the front.

"It allows you to dodge things in the middle of the road, ride on two different levels and do all sorts of wild things," said Shepard Bassett, an Olympia, Wash., resident and one of the many swing bike fans who congregate on the Internet. Bassett still rides a version of the bike he made as a teenager in the late 1970s after seeing television advertisements for the original swing bike on the Donny and Marie Osmond variety show.

"I still ride my bike every chance I get," said Bassett, 46.

Beers, the former manager of a San Diego bicycle shop, got the idea of bringing the bike back after seeing someone ride an old Sting Ray-style swinger along Pacific Beach two years ago.

"We sat down and designed a more ridable, functional swing bike that would be a cruiser and we made sure they were durable," Beers said.

The bicycles are manufactured under contract at a factory in China. They retail for $349. Beers sells the bicycles online at www.americasbikecompany.com and through seven dealers on the West Coast, including WheelWorld Bicycles in Culver City and Woodland Hills.

"Its cool and styling. We are getting a lot of looks and people are testing them," said Mike Moore, manager of the Culver City store.

Moore said the first buyers will be people looking for something trendy to ride along the beaches of Southern California.

Enthusiast Bob Hufford, a Springfield, Mo., computer programmer, said the original swing bike sold for about $100. It came with instructions for organizing slaloms and obstacle courses as well as teaching riders to do tricks such as the famous curb ride that Beers executed, and, of course, the wheelie.

Hufford said the early bikes disappeared in the late 1970s, done in by a wave of bicycle safety consciousness. "I think because of the inherent danger of this type of bicycle, dealers were probably freaked out by it," said Hufford, who maintains a website devoted to the bicycle style: www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9338/swing.html

Mothers, he said, probably were concerned that their children would crash while trying to accomplish some of the tricks. The hinge on the seat tube makes the bikes less stable than traditional cycles, Hufford said.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has not examined the new cruiser-style version sold by Americas Bike Co., but spokesman Scott Wolfson acknowledged that bikes rank among the top products for recalls and malfunctions.

He also noted that the commission advocated the use of bicycle helmets. None of the bikini-clad women or other riders in Americas Bike's promotional materials and web videos wear helmets.

Other companies have ridden down this road before, trying to bring back swingers but failed because it was to small a niche, Hufford said.

So far, Beers' company has made about 600 of the bikes and sold less than 100.

But the swing bike is just one of his product lines. Beers expects Americas Bike's better sellers will be its classic style Rasta line of cruisers decorated in Caribbean yellow, red and green and with paint marijuana leaf accents and a soon to be unveiled lines licensed cruisers in college, fraternity and sorority colors and logos.

Swing bike fans Hufford and Bassett are hoping that Americas Bike will succeed.

"I am glad they are manufacturing the swing bike again," Hufford said. "People will find that they are really fun to ride."

(Source)


Ah, San Diego! I remember that lazy summer with Scooby. Endless beaches and boardwalks; eye-candy bikinis; warm, clear waters; an unexpected book-exchange on a bus through UCSD; tequila, tequila, tequila; Fatburger; Tijuana, friggin' "Mexican Zebras" (stop laughing!); enchiladas, carne asadas, chimichangas...