Fifty plus, the age to take up sedate sport, definitely not tennis nor sepak takraw, but more probably like golfing. Cycling especially at competitive level is more for the young, but the beauty of cycling as a pastime is unsurpassed. It is a form of sport which can be tailored according to the level of strength that one possess. You can take it as much as you like and at the end of the ride you will be surprised at the amount of distance you have pedaled.
I consider myself as a bike newbie, in spite of having learnt riding a bike since I was nine. In those early years the bike was totally considered as a means of transportation and there was no time to appreciate the art of biking. It was merely used for short hauls, not more than ½ an hour a ride. My bike had the rack carrier at the back, which was used for carrying the school bag and other sundry items and sometimes doubling up as a passenger seat. I remember riding in the early morning heavily impregnated with misty dew, which wholly enveloped the rising sun. Going back from school at noon was no big deal. The overhead sun never bothered me and I would never think twice in venturing into the bright day. Riding at night occasionally I was bewitched by the sound of the small dynamo’s head which turned the magnet to produce a small voltage of electricity to power the head light and the red rear.
Ah those days were quickly over. In my adult life I turned to a new mode of powered transportation. First I had the motorbike. It took me much further than the old bike. I appreciated it very much especially when I was then a young man in a hurry to see as much of the world as possible. The auto came next and I was lost in the materialistic race.
But as I grew older I was persuaded to reassess the outlook of life. From a hunter I turned into a conservationist, from an angry young man into a pondering adult. Part of this change includes the second look at the bike as a leisure craft. From the websites I was enthralled by the bloggers who took their bikes across the globe, cycling from one place to another and looking at the world across and over their handlebars. I imagined I was a member of this newfound tribe and from my couch, participated in their rites and rituals. The lonely roads in China, the rice terraces in Bali and the crossing of the East West Highway in Malaysia, all these and many more, fired my fascination. I just had to join in.
The question facing an overweight and under trained fifty something in undertaking these physical tasks was, are you up to it. Would you fall dead from an overworked heart? Hearing of top footballers collapsing on the field and dying from heart attacks does not inspire confidence in me. On the other hand there are cyclists in their sixties, who have gone around the world without any hint of troubles. Well the proof is in the pudding. Get on the bike and see what next. I happened to have a Raleigh road bike which I bought out of a fancy sometimes back in 1985. After retrieving it from the attic I persuaded my 15 year old to accompany me on short trips, him on the mountain bike. Catching up with him was an ordeal but slowly I got used as to how to conserve my energy to last a 2 hour ride. Doing it on a regular basis gave me the confidence that my body could still absorb the load that came with the motion of pedaling.
The early rides in May 2007 took me on the flat roads around Kota Bharu, Kelantan, my hometown. The terrains around here are heaven sent for cyclists trying to improve their stamina. Mostly there are flattish with just a hint of gradients, that at the most will only take you up to not more than 50 feet above the sea level. In short you can be spending all you time cycling in the largest gear (or is it the smallest). There is no necessity to change as the resistance are rarely met, like when getting out of the gentle river depressions and going over the humps of raised bridges. That explains why the bikes I came across in my younger days were all single speed. Among the longer time I took was, the 4 hour route by doing the road to Bachok and cutting back to Kota Bharu through Tawang, Pengkalan Datu and thence all the way westerly bank to my home in Pasir Tumboh. Leisure stops were done at the roadside provision shops for replenishment of body fluids lost under the blazing tropical sun. The exhaustion that came at the end of the ride was not so much on the exertion but more on the effect of the heat.
The roads being secondary roads are quite cyclist friendly. Although the shoulders are not very wide the attitude of other road users especially the motorists are quite pleasant. I am pleased to report on their willingness to share the narrow space on the road with the slower users. There are quite a number of cars, a large number of motorcyclist but thank god, a negligible count of lorries. Encounter with the lorries anywhere in Malaysia is mostly terrifying. They are giant sized monsters, hogging the roads for themselves and more often than not, have no regards for other road users. A slow moving cyclist will be bearing the brunt of their might, being in no position to challenge them except to move out of the road on to the gravel, if any, and the smirk on the drivers face at your predicament made you swore at them as your life long enemies. I would say, except for the encounters with the speed monsters on the trunk roads, the rides are enjoyable.
I would suggest if you want to try out these rides to start very early in the morning. The cool morning air is refreshing and there are along the roadsides stalls selling Kelantan breakfast like the nasi belauk and nasi kerabu, where you can try them together with the sweetened tea, a bit over the top in starch intake but since you are burning calories at the same time I suppose your body will equalize everything. Finishing around noon just as the sun start to burn, you could top of it off with a heavy lunch and what a siesta to be had later on in the afternoon breeze. Another important item you should do with is the puncture kit. It’s a sin not to have one as your tube can misbehave without warning and spoil your day. Forget about help. There’s hardly any within 2 hour walk, i.e if you have to push your bike with the flat. Anyway carrying the kit hardly slows you down and knowing the basics about tube repairs goes a long way in overcoming the most common hardship faced by a cyclist. However remember to practice the procedure before hand. Doing it the first time under the hot sun can cause you to lose your cool and also your time. There are videos of how to on the You Tube.
This is the route of my first extended ride.
