The ride of 10,000 miles...

... starts with the first push of the pedal. Period.

My first adventure in cycling, is due to necessity rather than love at first sight. I was in uni and lived quite a distance away, so traveling is a bit of a problem. One of my housemate, Muaiz is a former cyclist  so he suggested that I got myself a bike. As he have a XC bike, I opted for a cheap full-sus. It was really cheap (student mana ada duit sangat)

Than Montana was heavy but at least it allows me to reach the school in a much shorter time than being at the mercy of the bus schedule. I could plan to leave the house 40 minutes before class and still have time to shower if I need to. Most of the time, I ride together with Muaiz, if our timetable allows it.

Later, when I was busy rowing, Montana was brought to the Rock Dam. Apparently, cycling complements rowing so Montana was used to negotiate the steep climb to the upper reaches of the Rock Dam in the early morning. By then I use Montana less and less because I got a hand-me-down 18 year old car for commuting to uni, especially for my night classes.

When I stopped rowing competitively, I heard Montana was used by one of my teammates, but i could not really find it. Even if it was cheap, it WAS my first bike. Cycling slowly drifted away while I pursued other interests. It was until a couple of years back when I was finishing school that I got hooked again. I ran into Scotty then, disassembled and broken, after an accident. Built it back painstakingly and it has been with me ever since.

Once I started working, only occasionally I rode Scotty, at times going on a four hours plus, 120 km solo ride, just to test myself and my resolve. I remembered being battered by the wind as I pedal my way to KLIA and back. And I also remembered being broken on the 100 km trip to Ijok, where Yafiz and Lei has to rescue me from my cycling incompetence. I put it down to lack of endurance and training. There is only so far your resolve could bring you, without some preparation the rest is just pure foolishness.

My interest in cycling is rekindled when I ran across CH on his way to work. Now, we manage to influence (Circle of Influence kan Bro Zizan?) a few more of our colleagues to pick up cycling. Big has bought his DaBomb (and seriously considering a road bike), Warimad has started to ride the yellow Scott and actively looking for a bike to call his own. 

Am, Albert and Samba are looking for bike. Someone from Medical is asking around about bikes. LeeMing is planning to bring her bike from KB. I hope by next year we will have a few more colleagues to join us on our twice weekly night ride. I read someone commented on the Net that he plan to ride to work in 2009. Why not? Maybe less incentive due to the lower price of petrol, but health is an important enough aspect of life. 

Like what Bro Zizan's has written, 'Don't wait until your heart beat faster, or your urine tastes sweeter', aptly sums it up. Read Bro Zizan's take on his adventures on cycling to work, here.

Here's to riding more and more in 2009.