Hitting the Books

Being somewhat of a nerd, I always read around a subject before attempting it. My re-introduction to cycling was no different. Taking a break from my desktop-warrior research into folding bikes and the world of Dahons, Terns and Montagues, I poked around Amazon to see what I could read on my Kindle (see, nerd).

I was first looking for something that would make me get up an go. Being committed to an urban-riding philosophy, I did not want to become another semi-fitting lycra-wrapped overweight cyclist with the latest Oakley on his nose-bridge. I wanted to ride in normal clothing, wearing normal shoes or even slippers, much like I used to in my teenage days. Neither am I Messenger-bag toting London or New York-ish rider whizzing through the streets with purpose. I just wanted to take my time riding, and preferably alone most of the time, hearing the wind in my ears, before being engulfed by my heaving and shortness-of-breath sounds that would likely happen very soon afterwards.

It was refreshing then to discover Grant Petersen's book so aptly-titled "Just Ride". The reviews from Amazon made it clear that it was for "the rest of us" cyclists, me most possibly included. It has been compared to Michael Pollan's foodie books, and it is perfectly what I was looking for. Full of practical advice easily understood by noobs like me, Petersen's writing style is also honest and hard-hitting where it needs be. After reading this, and finally getting the right price, I went out and bought my Dahon C7S from Rodalink Bangsar and did that - Just Ride!

My beloved wife then bought me another Kindle-download - and this was a very different book. Robert Penn's "It's All About the Bike" title is a play on Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About the Bike" book. Penn's tome traces the Welshman's journey to building his ultimate bike which takes him all over the world to see how his chosen bike-parts were made. During that journey we are educated on the origins of each part of the bicycle, ending up with the manufacturing process of the said part. Detailed, and peppered with the typical wry British humour, Penn's book was a good antidote against Petersen's also-enjoyable hard-nosed utilitarianism.

The third tome is currently in my son's possession as he is also picking up the cycling bug. My intent is to look more into bicycle maintenance, and Howard Zinn's works tend to come on top of the list. At Kinokuniya Orchard Road however, I found Zinn's works too dry and the diagrams too technical and wanted more of a dummies guide. Even the Dummies book did not satisfy my search. Perusing the shelves further, I chanced upon Dorling Kindersley's "Complete Bike Book" by Chris Sidwells, although printed 9 years ago, remains the most comprehensive reference for all things cycling. It was the only book I found to have a reference to foldies, and numerous other types of bicycles that I did not know existed.

So there's the round-up the the books I have been reading on cycling. Some of the other books I am considering are below:

Any book you'd like to recommend me to read?

Take care.


Wan

Maiden trip up the Medang Hill, Bangsar and down to Bangsar Village (with some stops to catch my breath). Now buying dinner for the family to be transported by the Biologic Commuter Bag strapped to the Biologic Cargo Rack. On the way to, stopped by the Lucky Garden fruit stall for some sweet ciku. We're having Thai tonite!

The Start of Exploring Foldies

Peace!

The very concept of a folding bicycle was intriguing to me; I had always been more of an urban cyclist, and to the surprise of many I actually like to cycle in the city and suburbs. There is a different sense of adventure, of even urgency that would be missing from coasting down a meandering bucolic path. It may have to do with the fact that I was very much a city boy, born and bred in the Klang Valley for most of my life. To cycle in the city was a matter of... survival. A slightly perverse sense of high...

I had bought a bicycle rack that attaches to the back of my Kia Sorento for weekend rides at Lake Gardens. The preparation of hooking up the rack and transferring 3 bicycles (one Proton T-Blaze rigid frame Mountain Bike which was my father's, which he received as a result of previously co-owned a Proton retail outlet, an XDS aluminium-frame single-speed boy's bike purchased from Bangi and a Toys-R-Us pink Barbie girls one) from their suspended hooks at the car porch, which usually takes more that 30 minutes, more often than not discourages the thought of even having the excursion. A folding bike, now that's a different proposition! From my desktop research, it only takes some 20 seconds to fold a bike and carry it into the boot! The possibilities beckon...

Folding bikes have had a long history, and it is a little too long to relate it here, but here's a link for those who'd like to know. I focused instead on conducting extensive research both online as well as visiting various shops that had been checked out online. One of my most often referred-to blog site is Sam Cheong's excellent "The Samosaurus Chronicles", probably the most exhaustive folding bike blogs there is, and a Malaysian one to boot. It was through his site that I developed a keen interest for Dahon and Tern bikes. Today, the Dahon name is synonymous with folding bikes after coming out with its first production in 1982 by Dr. David Hon, a physicist; Tern is owned and developed by his son, Joshua Hon; fortunately, the legal dispute between the two companies (one of the impact was that Dahon bicycles were released, for a period of time, as Dr. Hon) was settled and we can now enjoy superb products and new models from both companies.

Polygon Urbano 3.0

Rodalink Bangsar

The only time I really had to visit bicycle shops were lunchtimes, in-between meetings or sometimes on the way back home, so that was what I did. The first was the closest to my father's house in Bandar Baru Bangi called Ogen Cycle, where I saw the Polygon Urbano 3.0 (black) which was pretty appealing, more so than the various XDS folding bike models that they carried, and it even came with a carrying bag. Closer to my house, I had visited Rodalink Bangsar and was impressed by the range of folding bikes that they carried, inlcuding Polygon, Dahon and Tern. Early on, I had my eye on a Dahon Jetstream P8, mainly because of its dual-suspension system although its almost RM4k price was disconcerting. My infatuation with Dahon bikes began.

Dahon Jetstream P8 

Origins! Part II

Peace!

The last post started with the declaration of the cycling bug's return; ironically it is the flu bug that is currently threatening to keep me company!

After my Pertama Complex and Sungai Wang days, I had a 2-year break from cycling, firstly due to taking an Intensive English Programme at KPP/ITM Subang Jaya, and thereafter 2 years of A-levels at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen. However, my entry into St. Catharine's College, Cambridge necessitated a bicycle. How could one not ride in the Fens? Fortunately I did not have to scrounge up a battered bike from the town, as my eldest had brought home a fine silver Trek 1000 after she had graduated from Illinois. The tires hitting the Cantabrigian roads marked the beginning of its service for the next 6 years.

A similar Trek 1000 (image from 3.bp.blogspot.com)

I still remember pushing the Trek for the very first time into Ben Hayward Cycles located just to the left of Catz on Trumpington Street; the guy working on another bike stared at it - there was no other Trek, to his knowledge, that existed in UK at the time, and that was the first time he had seen one! You could certainly guess how chuffed I was, and the swagger with which I walked for the rest of the day. A quick look at the shop's website today would show that they now proudly carry Trek!

Serving Cantabrigians since 1912

In Cambridge it took me to all my normal haunts - the Cambridge Mosque for Friday prayers and Bosphorous' Kebabs or Chicken n Chips soon after, Shahidan's place near the Schlumberger Centre with his apple tree in the backyard, Comics Showcase for my weekly graphics & prose inhalations, and the art shop near Grafton Centre across Parker's Piece for my architectural presentation supplies. The longest trip was when a group of us went to the Imperial Air Museum in Duxford, though the flat Fens made it fairly effortless.

The Trek continued to serve me well in Edinburgh from 1992-1994 although it was really as an urban commuting vehicle. Though the roads in Scotland's most metropolitan city were much more challenging, the Trek was very much up to it, flying often its often-cobbled streets, especially at the Royal Mile. It's lithe aluminium body made it easy for me to carry it up two stories of the semi-hemispherical shaped staircase of my shared flat off East Preston Street, and ended up being used by my housemates once I had left.

After a 20-year lapse, I caught the cycling bug again. Malaysia might well be considered to have non-optimum weather for cycling, as the sweltering sun, high humidity and oft monsoon-like rains ensured that one would only get to one's destination with copious perspiration entrapped within whatever fabric that adorned one's back! So it was with a pinch of amusement that I noted so many cyclist during one of the KL Car-Free days riding various types of two-wheelers; but what really caught my eye was the folding bike.

A Dahon Jetstream P8 Dual Suspension

Origins! Part I

Peace!

The bug has returned, with a rather tentative vengeance.

I had bicycles before, the first being a shared (with my three elder sisters) three-geared Raleigh Chopper  during my Jalan Young pre-school days, which also survived our family's move to Jalan Damansara in 1975. I think that was where I learnt how to ride a bike, often falling every time I hit the root of the Ara tree in the garden whose reach was fairly substantial. My training ground was a narrow stretch of tar which was always reticent of the glowering grass on each side, every ready to pounce and render it invisible. It tries hard to qualify itself as a driveway of the government quarters which we called home, amidst lush fauna, just over two stone's throw away from the historic Lake Gardens of Kuala Lumpur (closer to Panggung Anniversary side - anyone remember that?). This was way, way before the Butterfly Park and Bird Park decided they should co-inhabit there.

The Raleigh Chopper (image from Wikipedia)

Panggung Anniversary at Lake Gardens

Cycling did not figure much after that, until 1994 when my father bought me my very first racer. I was still living at the Jalan Damansara house at the time (which my father named 'Cendana', after his alma mater Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar). The bicycle was a heavy silver steel-framed bike (probably a Raleigh, I can't quite recall) purchased at a bicycle shop opposite the Coliseum cinema on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. With a Shimano 16-speed gear system, I was liberated from only cycling within the neighbourhood; the city beckoned! Interestingly it coincided with my spatial liberation too - for the first time, I had my own 'room', which was actually the TV room with a curtain rail across its width, transforming it into my 'room' after 10pm (after which there was nothing to really watch on the Telefunken 26' anyway).

A similar-looking bike to my silver Raleigh,

A similar Telefunken 26" Colour TV (cutting edge at the time!)

I started cycling to St. John's on Bukit Nanas for activities on Saturdays - it was either voleyball, sepaktakraw or some prefectorial duties. There was a gated bicycle parking space at the side entrance of the school, right beside the lone tennis court. One day, despite being chained to the adjacent grill, it was stolen - my heart sank! I half-skipped and half-ran down the hill to Campbell Police Station to report the crime - and 3 days later I received a call and they found it! Alhamdulillah!

St. John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur

After that early episode, I decided to go cycling every Sunday (when there were no kenduris). From Damansara, I alternated going to Pertama Complex and Sungai Wang Plaza. Pertama Complex was the main hangout for schoolkids my age at the time - mainly going to Victoria Music Centre (or King's one floor up) to make custom cassettes, as well as stopping by Joo Ngan's bicyle shop (could only afford to look - the only thing I bought there was a chain tool). That and looking for Iron Maiden t-shirts there or at Campbell's. At Sungai Wang I mainly went to the magic shop on the first floor, or just looking for interesting artifacts to be found within that cavernous mall. Riding in KL, I was the king of the road, whizzing between the traffic-snarled cars, occasionally kerb-jumping (on a racer, mind you!)

Sungai Wang Plaza

Shops at Old Pertama Complex

To be continued in Part II