Ride recording

When I first seen a cyclometer at the age of 14, it was an excitement to know that we could see how fast we are going. My friends and I were so happy and keep playing with the magnet and receiver which was then a wired system. We never know what else it does besides showing the speed for advance cyclist. I couldn't afford to have such luxury gadget and always keep my distance close to this friend who one the cyclometer. The reason doing so was to find out how fast I am going by check his cyclometer.

In recent day cyclometer was just a gadget which came along with bike. It cost nothing comparing to the price tagged to the bicycle sold. And you can either have wired (cheaper) or wireless depending how much you bought the bike. And for a folding bicycle most shop sales will recommend you a wireless cyclometer because you fold you bicycle without those tangling wire between your cyclometer and receiver.

My folding bicycle do come with cyclometer unfortunately it was wired type. I didn't had much problem with this wired cyclometer because I do fold my bicycle with care. Besides I am glad to have that cyclometer because I was not aware that a cyclometer is so cheap (still had the old memory 10th years ago). Not really know what this cyclometer can do but I basically use it to see my speed. Then later on I notice it could track my total distance travelled as well as top and average speed of each ride. And of course you need to know how to operate it...it took me a while to find out.

After few rides with fellow cyclist, I notice the differences between my cyclometer and other cyclist. I learnt new term like cadence, altimeter, temperature, etc in a cyclometer. Then I started to pay more attention to this gadget by surveying a better cyclometer for my rides. Since my brother's friend left his Gary Fisher Katana (MTB hard tail) in my house I could relocate my wired cyclometer to this bicycle for other use. More I look into cyclometer feature and specification I could not make a solid decision which to have it. It just got complicated by my greed......

Before continuing to conclude my cyclometer story, I would like to share another story which happened during my search for cyclometer. After joining a ride most cyclist would like to share the result of their ride by snap shot their cyclometer result. Some would just shows average speed, total distance (current ride) and time cycled. While other with much advance cyclometer would have more information which he/she could analyse and recap how he/she did. From this data it is possible to input to a website where you can can have history of your rides. And good news is these sites provide free App for GPS enabled phone with mobile internet which will perform like cyclometer. Then I was amaze and thought it would be an alternative for me to use these App without getting a full feature cyclometer.

Later these Apps that runs on GPS enabled mobile phone broaden my search for cyclometer. I have to include another feature to look far in search of cyclometer, Global Positioning System a.k.a. GPS. With GPS enabled we can get many information without actually having other sidekick (sensors) to incorporate to cyclometer. Speed, distance, elevation (altitude), temperature, time etc will be made available with the availability of GPS reception. These GPS enabled device commonly called tracker which will record every coordinate point with all possible information this device can retrieve from. Some of this tracker can incorporate gadget like cadence sensor, heart beat sensor, foot step sensor etc. Apart from those, everyone knew GPS enable device can lead us the way. I can pre-plan my ride with the application on web to route preferably road to go. Just download planned route to my device and it will be my cycling buddy on the road.

With so many choices that come with price that determine type and feature you will get from the device. It is hard for me to determine my liking. I have budget to control thus decision making will have to be tougher. Then came an angle from abroad.....friend (friend is what we need most when we are away, making more friend is part of my routine whenever I am abroad). This friend of mine could help me to acquire a full feature GPS enabled device. With friend's help I could get this device with an extreme good price which I cannot resist from buying. Using it every ride, everywhere, every time....

Bicycle improvement

I begin to strip down those not necessary item from my bicycle after noticing I need a lighter bicycle to move around. This idea came after few ride to work which I prefer not to obstruct my move in case of clashing with the heavy traffic.I take off the front light since I am not going to ride at night.....nothing else I could remove. So I have to think of how to replace with lighter parts.

First cam to my mind was the tyres, Schwalbe Big Apple 20x2.0 got to be replaced. At first no idea what type of tyre I should be getting to have lighter weight. Then thinking of reason to get lighter was to go faster, then I shall look for tyre that can go faster. And it would be easier by just try to find out from Schwalbe since I had Big Apple on my bicycle. After further survey, I decided to go with Schwalbe Kojak 20x1.35. It is sleek which gave me speed, smaller size means lighter and it came with Kevlar technology that minimise puncture.

Next I go for cylindrical parts, handle bar and seat post. Found some attractive bar yet not able to decide which to go with. Then after massive survey I ended up with the choice I and happy with. Having carbon fibre handle bar which is made for MTB. Although the length was longer than original bar but the diameter matched to mounting. Thought I would get carbon fibre seat post but found out it cost more yet not lighter than a Aluminium Alloy. With these two replace I am taking away few hundred gram from my bike.

Later heard a cyclist complaining about original foldable pedal was not good and easily break. Without compromising the feature of folding bike I insist to get a pedal which is easily fold yet stronger then the plastic type I had on the bike. I was not able to find any good replacement except MKS removable pedal. Some may say it is not a good decision to choose removable pedal since you may forget to bring along your pedal after removing it. But to me this is all about how you handle your belonging. Once I remove my MKS pedal I will make sure it is bagged and hang to my bike.

While browsing on Dahon site admiring some other higher end bike recommend by friend, I found out Dahon Pro TT having different type of fork which is made for speed. Further research shows it is not just narrow but lighter with different material used. Immediately without thinking twice I acquire this fork for my bike. When fixing it to my bike found out several problem (just small matter) with the material used to make this fork as well as the length of the mounting rod. I am pretty sure seller in the shop says it fit perfectly on my bike but probably he forgot to mentioned with minor modification. The width of the fork is smaller than my original fork which make removing wheel with Schwalbe Big Apple 20x2.0 a little harder. Since I will be using Schwalbe Kojak 20x1.35 then this is not a problem anymore. The material used (Aluminium Alloy) was softer which is not good when I press hard on brake. This tells me to start learning softer braking as well as earlier braking to avoid accident. The reward for all this is reducing the weight of fork by half!

Last part of my modification which I later decided not to go any further modification was my saddle. It is hard decision to make when a friend offer me his saddle after he got another better saddle. My original saddle was so comfortable unfortunately it contribute lots of weight. After much thinking I make up mind to give this light saddle a try. First ride was not so easy to adapt to this saddle and my body was rejecting this saddle in a very bad way. But second ride was much easier and smoother, even with longer distance ride. With the amount of weight I could remove I could withstand the changes I have to bear with.

There are plenty of part to be replace but some of it was just too much work for me. And furthermore I do not see the point of spending more money for a bike that has a limit of what it capable of doing. Thus final weight recorded on my work on this bike was 10.6kg which I am very happy with.

Events

Event is where you could meet most of the cyclist. You may see many beginner or those just have their newly bought bike like seconds ago. Some will have a bike that equipped with top notch of gear. Other may just ride a old faithful steel bike which serve them well all those years. Besides those fully gear bicycle, you can notice quite a number of fashion enthusiast with the fancy cycling outfit. I am not commenting on their choice but to me it was colourful and really spice up the event. 

Event can be those well organised by a big company which has several tent setup with sponsor and some entertainment going on with a popular deejays from radio station. Some medium event organised by a smaller company will see the fun with the same objective of getting cyclist together in same place. Although you do not feel much of excitement from the event in medium size but the thrill of cycling with those experience cyclist is something you would like to get. 

 Other than those paid event, among cyclist will do a small gathering for ride rather than call it an event. Such gather can have the number of cyclist from 2-3 persons to over 100 cyclist. Most of the participants are those who like casual ride which is not like those racing event where you have to abide to rules and regulation. No fees require to join such event as it is "take it or leave it" kind of event where everyone must take care of your own. Organiser will try to coordinate with some volunteer to make sure everyone within the group without any problem but with limited resources. Although many will said this is "self support" ride yet you won't be left behind because at minimum you will have a ride leader and sweeper. But if a proper ride we may need more than just ride leader and sweeper, eg. navigator, technical support, first aider, marshal, etc. 

In conclusion I like any of these events although may experience some unwanted incidents. These events I join do help me grow as cyclist, make more friends, know more about cycling, know about bicycle...

Disclaimed: Some of photo are copyrighted to respective individual or company.

Day when idea was found.

After much reading on some of the blog and site talking about cycling to a place while on vacation, I am kind of awaken with the idea of touring on 2 wheels. But at that time I am still in day dream stage because a married man who rely on employer for living may not be able to do such touring. Without further thinking whether I can leave my lil' monster at home going for a tour, I decided to get those touring gear for my recent bought folding bike.

Slowly I discovered my ability to cycle on 2 wheels is not enough to fulfil minimum requirement as tourer on 2 wheels. Then I started to cycle more and more and more...... joining all sort of cycling event, trying all sort of cycling route, etc. Then problem arise.....time spent at home is getting lesser.

Then I cam across to knew this guy who inspire me or lighten me with the idea of cycle to work. (This friend of mine ditched his car and go everywhere with just his bike.) That way I could cycle more and yet not compromising my time with lil' monster.