Day 4 - Going to Ride from Seria, Brunei Darussalam to Miri, Sarawak

Apologies on the lack of updates.

For uptodate information on my status please go to www.facebook.com/francisho

I'll update this blog when I find the time and energy! The first 3 (three) days have been hard as the weather has been unrelentingly hot and the route hilly.

... 4, 3, 2, 1!

Yup. It's just four more days to go before I begin my ride on Tuesday 29 November 2011 from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching. I have been busy with work and training for the ride that I have not been updating this blog as regularly as I would have liked. Lots have happended and not recorded. I hope I can redress this when I begin my ride next week and keep this blog updated.

Any Colours Except Red, Blue & Black!

I must confess that I've been feeling a little shaken after my crash last Sunday. I had the stitches on my lower chin removed this morning and although the swelling on my knees have healed a lot after the kinesio taping; it is still a little blue and back and so is the deltoid of my right arm. I'm fine and hope that all pains and aches will have subsided by the time I begin my ride in slightly over a week's time!

Oh! Thanks to a fellow cyclists who does spray paint and body repair works to motor vehicles; my Surly LHT have been repainted! It's now in a brighter and more cheery colour and more importantly it is now hi-vis to give me a little more confidence about safety in getting back on the saddle! Incidentally it also happens to be the official colour of the Federation of Sarawak Life Care Societies. Nice.

Oranges anyone?

Crashed!

I don't look good in red.

I fell off my bike yesterday morning during my usual Sunday morning long rides. We were nearing Muara Tebas fishing village when I hit a speed bump and I must have inadvertently squeezed on the front disc brake of my hard tail just a little too hard. I have not ridden my Giant XTC Team for quite a while now since I started training on my Surly LHT which has cantilever front brakes and which requires quite a strong squeeze on the brake lever to slow it down. A deadly mistake on my Giant XTC Team which has powerful hydraulic disc brakes which only require finger pressure to halt it. Now I’m licking my wounds – to be more precise 3 stitches to my lower jaw, two badly grazed and swollen knees, chipped tooth and various cuts and abrasions to my hands, arms, neck, face etc. And this has to happen with slightly over 2 weeks before the charity ride. Sighs.

Sin Chew Daily - Saturday 24th September 2011

Josephine Ho (no relations) of Sin Chew Daily interviewed me with regards to the charity ride and her article appeared on Saturday the 24th of September 2011's edition.

Unfortunately I cannot read Chinese (shame on me!) even though I can understand very basic spoken Mandarin; so I can't really tell if I've been correctly quoted or otherwise. But thanks to Allen Liew (I don't know him) who alerted me by email on the same day that the web address was incorrect. After some deliberations, I thought that the best solution would be to create another website/blog using the incorrectly published address to direct people to this correct website! Brilliant right? ;-)

 

Note: Thanks to Chris Sim for pointing out to us that the above news is available on-line here in Sin Chew Daily's website. 

My Bike & Me

Surly Long Haul Truck with 26inch wheels in black - 58cm in size.

After much deliberation I decided on the Surly’s Long Haul Trucker, a bike of choice of cyclo tourists for their world wide adventures, for this ride. Touring bikes like this are near impossible to find in Malaysia and I ended up having to order it through a friend in Singapore who also kindly brought it over for me when he came over for the last Rainforest Music Festival in Kuching. It comes in either blue or “blacktacular” in either 700c or 26inch wheels. I ordered the black colour with 26inch wheels in 58cm size. I added a rear Topeak Super Tourist rack, centre kickstand (there’re spare spokes on the rear chain stay which annoying gets in the way of a kickstand if you want to install it there), a pair of Soma fenders which is also hard to find in Malaysia and which I bought in Singapore (the local bike shop which installed this for me broke one of the plastic bracket and never inform me; the bastard! - it's now held in place by a cable tie) 3 bottle cages and a pair of Shimano XT SPD pedals.

I replaced the stock saddle with a comfortable leather Brooks B17 which is definitely worth the expense (I didn’t have to ‘break it in’ as I have read – fortunately for me it felt comfortable from day one), stem, handle bar, the 2 tyres with 1.75inch wide Panaracer Paselas which I find comfortable and rolls reasonably well. The rest of the bike I left configured as stock.

Currently the bike weighs a hefty 15kg and I’m still not used to riding such a heavy bike. By comparison my Titus X-Racer full-suspension is 13kg, my Giant XTC Team hard tail is 9kg while my all carbon road bike is only 7.8kg. It is the heaviest (and slowest) bike in my stable. I feel really slow (arrggh!) on the Surly LHT but then again I am not going for the speed record – I just want to finish the ride without the bike breaking down and for it to carry me and my gear in relative comfort. But it is the most comfortable bike to ride that I have ever owned; and I have owned quite a few bikes!

That’s about the bike.

54 year old poster boy *ahem* ;-)

Me?
I’ll be 55 on the day of the ride and currently weighs a meaty 89kg (I blame the current durians season) but I think it’ll be around 80kg come 11th December 2011 when I complete the ride! And I'll still be 6 feet tall. ;-)

Pledge Form

Inside of the Pledge Form

The pledge form is now ready for printing thanks to the fine efforts of Vincent Bong of Kuching Life Care Society who did the initial artwork that was professionally finished by Jason Chew and team of Events Horizon who volunteered to help as did photographer Davy Choo of Kaki Filem Studio who did the studio shoot of me and the bike (fancy carrying a 15kg bike up and then down 3 flights of stairs?) last night.

A closer look at me in Kuching Life Care Society garb & my unloaded trustworthy steed ;-)

Countdown: Less Than 3 Months to Go!

A quick ride before dinner cut short by a sudden thunderstorm.

Yes! It’s now September and less than 3 months to go before I begin my big ride from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching. It’s the Hari Raya holiday break this week from Tuesday to Thursday which sort of disrupt my normal cycling routine; so starting next week I’d better be more disciplined with regards to regularity and mileage. I really need to get on with my LSD training – long slow distance (not lazy sunday doldrums) and I hope the hot and hazy weather conditions will improve. No excuses though; I just need to get on with it!

Rained On (And Almost Deflated)

I thought the rain had already stopped when I set off for my night training ride. It has been raining very heavily late in the evening and I thought the skies had already emptied during that sudden downpour. But I was wrong.

It started as a slight drizzle and as the kilometres went by it starts to get heavier and pretty soon I was soaked to my socks when I have to ride through puddles upon puddles. Have to, as I have to hold a straight line following the white line so as not to stray into the traffic lane and onto the path of drivers with impaired visibility of the road and the way ahead.

I prodded on regardless eager to complete my training distance and while it’s not exactly enjoyable; it was bearable. And then the front steering went wobbly suddenly and I stopped to check to discover a puncture in the front tyre. I had a spare tube and small hand pump with me but after changing the tube; I decided to call it a night after which the rained eased off and stopped!

The next day as I drove to work; I had another puncture – this time on the rear tyre.

And while these two consecutive punctures did not dampen nor deflate my spirit; the callous remark from an old friend who called me a “weirdo” for doing this charity nearly did! Anymore discouraging or disparaging remarks anyone? *sighs*

Punctured!

A leisurely Sunday morning ride punctuated by punctures ...

Suffering a puncture is what every cyclist dreads but at the back of their mind they know that it is not a matter of if but when! So I trust that I still have my sense of humour with me in the event that I encounter a puncture or two on my ride down from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching and hopefully not on both front and rear tyres on the same day! ;-)

A Thought to Ponder

Where the river meets the sea on a beautiful day out kayaking.

The Dalai Lama was asked,
“What thing about humanity surprises you the most?”

His answer,
“Man because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. Then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn’t enjoy the present. As a result, he doesn’t live in the present or the future. He lives as if he’s never going to die. Then he dies having never really lived."

"Leg Power on Two Wheels to Raise Funds for Charity"

"The Borneo Post" - Thursday 18th August 2011

The Federation of Life Care Society had their first joint meeting in Sibu on the charity ride and called a press conference with regards and makes the news on "The Borneo Post" Thursday, 18th August 2011 issue.

This was also reported in the local Chinese daily newspapers, for those of you who can read Chinese.

 

My Father On A Bicycle

Mr. Ho Ho Lim, my late father a suave young man then in 1951, on his gentleman bike.

I have never seen my father on a bicycle before so I was quite delighted to chance upon an old photograph of him on a ‘gentleman bike’ which was taken in 1951, five years before I was born; otherwise I can say that cycling is in my blood!

And I think it is a really cool photograph and he looks really cool. And I also think that he would be really proud of and supportive of me on this charity ride if he was still alive today. I miss you and mum, dad.

25 accident-prone stretches in Sarawak identified

According to the 'New Straits Times' today, the Sarawak Road Safety Department has identified 25 accident-prone stretches of road in the state. I'll mark this down and will be extra careful when I'm on these stretches of roads. Safety first.

KUCHING: The Sarawak Road Safety Department has identified 25 accident-prone stretches of road in the state, director Rano Alywino Akat said today.

He said the stretches in Kuching were the Sultan Tengah Road, Km7 to Km15 of the Matang Road, the Stephen Yong Road, 7th to 15th mile of the Kuching-Serian Road, Km69 of the Lundu Road and the Tabuan Jaya-Kota Samarahan Road.

In Samarahan, the stretches were Km38 to Km59 of the Kuching-Serian Road, Km86 to Km87 of the Kuching-Serian Road and the Tondong-Bau Road.

In Sri Aman, the stretches were Km6 and Km106 to Km112 of the Sri Aman-Kuching Road, Km20 of the Sri Aman-Sarikei Road and Km16to Km19 of the Simpang Bukit Punda Road.

In Miri, the stretches were Km40 of the Miri-Bintulu Coastal Road, the Bakam-Luak Road, Km9 of the Pujut-Lutong Road, Km5 of the Miri by-pass and Km13 of the Lambir-Niah-Bintulu Road.

In Sarikei, the accident-prone stretches were Km33 to Km38 of the Saratok-Sarikei Road and Km25 of the Bukit Sebangkoi Road; in Sibu, the 6th to 13th mile of the Oya Road and the 32nd to 37th mile of the Sibu-Bintulu Road and in Bintulu, Km23 of the Bintulu-Sibu Road, Km15 of the Kidurong-Bintulu Road and Km30 of the Similajau-Niah Road.

Rano said that over the past three years, there had been a rise in the number of road accidents in Sarawak and road accident fatalities had also risen,from 323 in 2008 to 332 in 2009 and 365 in 2010.

"Sarawak recorded a loss in economic terms of RM4.13 billion between 2000 and 2010 as a result of deaths due to road accidents," he said. -- Bernama

This Is Your Life

This is a great manifesto to live by and I would like to share it. The Holstee Manifesto can be found on their about page.

Now that you’ve read it – all you need is the courage to just do it! But please don’t wait too long; or you’ll get 'old' before then. ;-)

Off to a Great Start!

Thanks to the generous support of the people in Meradong and Bintagor the fund raising for this charity ride is off to a great start!

I received the following post on my facebook wall this morning from Mr. Hung Sung Huo, the founder of Kuching Life Care Society -

The occasion is the inauguration dinner for the new committee for the Meradong Life Care Society. This is great news and very encouraging indeed.

Rear Panniers

From Wikipedia – “A pannier (pronounced /ˈpæniər/) is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket.”

I have been looking for them as I need them to carry what I need for this solo trip but the ones available in Kuching though really affordable are of poor quality in materials and fixing method (cumbersome straps that’s hard to put on and remove) to the bicycle racks.  Of even more concern is that they are not waterproof – I like to sleep in dry pyjamas ;-) The most popular brand that most cyclo tourists uses for their world wide adventures is ‘ortlieb’ which I could order from online but their prohibitive pricing meant that each time when it comes to the checkout; I think about my hard earned money and I hesistated!

Made-in-Thailand Vincita Rear Panniers on my hotel bed and soon on my bicycle rack!

So I was quite thrilled today to come across them at a Thai trade products fair in the hall next to the property expo that I was attending at Mid-Valley Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur. Vincita is a small Thai company specialising in making bicycle bags and accessories for the European export market and are trying to penetrate the Malaysian market after having established a dealership in Indonesia already. Anyway I bought their only pair of black (they are also available in red) waterproof rear pannier that they had on display at a very reasonable RM195/-. That’s one item I can tick off on my gear checklist for this trip! Great.

Proposed Ride Schedule

Tourist Map of Sarawak & Sabah found on the net.
I'll be using latest editions of Periplus Travel Maps that I can find from the bookshops here.

NOTE: The ride schedule has been updated - please refer to " The Route" Page for the latest information : http://kk2kuchingcharityride2011.blogspot.com/p/route.html

Tentatively this will be the ride schedule. But there may be some modifications as I get more accurate information on the distances I have to cover daily in order to complete the ride in a respectable time-frame. Ideally I want to cover around 100kms a day but it would appear that for Day 3 the distance from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei to Miri would be around 160kms. On a cool day without any headwind I should be able to make it in around 8 hours of cycling as the route is mostly flat. With rest stops along the way, it would be at least a 10 hours day on the road!

I will update this schedule from time to time and any information on the distances between the towns/places that I have outlined would be most appreciated!

Date		Day	Daily Destination
28-Nov-11	Monday		Fly from Kuching to KK
29-Nov-11	Tuesday	1	START: KK - Sipitang
30-Nov-11	Wednesday	2	Sipitang - BSB
01-Dec-11	Thursday	3	BSB - Miri
02-Dec-11	Friday	4	Miri - Batu Niah
03-Dec-11	Saturday	5	Batu Niah - Bintulu
04-Dec-11	Sunday	6	Bintulu - Selangau
05-Dec-11	Monday	7	Selangau - Sibu
06-Dec-11	Tuesday	8	Sibu - Sarikei
07-Dec-11	Wednesday	9	Sarikei - Bukit Saban Resort
08-Dec-11	Thursday	10	Bukit Saban - Sri Aman
09-Dec-11	Friday	11	Sri Aman Rest - Serian
10-Dec-11	Saturday	12	FINISH: Serian - Kuching
11-Dec-11	Sunday	13

Announcement (I have to do it now!)

Sane young daughter, crazy old father!

I chose today to announce 'to the world' or rather on my facebook about this charity ride as it is my daughter's birthday today. I hope that she does not mind me posting her photo here which I have 'stolen' from her facebook! And if you are reading this Kim - Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

And I can't back out of this now! ;-)

Introduction - The Adventure Begins ... well sort of!

Wishful wishing for shady rides all the way ... somewhere in Kuching on an early Sunday morning.

www.kk2kuchingcharityride2011.blogspot.com 

That’s quite a mouthful as a name for a website address but it more or less describes what I am planning to doing come 29 November 2011 when I fly up to Kota Kinabalu to begin my ride down to Kuching.

More information will follow as I work out the details over the coming months. Lots to think about and things to get done (including this blog), to make this charity ride a success. It is not easy to juggle work, family and leisure; and there's only so many waking hours in a day. But so what's new. So let the adventure begin! Whatever.