Kuala Lumpur : Ampang Yong Tau Foo Ride

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Kuala Lumpur - Ampang Yong Tau Foo Ride
Pudu to Hulu Langat Batu 14 : 20th August 2012

Medium-sized Group Ride from Pudu > Ampang > Batu 14 Hulu Langat & back.

Distance covered : 44.27km.
Starting Time : 7:40am
Time Taken : approx. 2:35:42hrs. (excluding stops)


PRELUDE

Ampang Yong Tau Foo Ride Map  (click for Map Link)

This would be an interesting and challenging ride. Interesting because we will be stopping by to eat the renown Ampang Yong Tau Foo. And challenging because it will be the first time that I will be riding two major rides almost back to back - I had just rode the Batu Arang Ride two days back and was hoping that my recovery from that ride would be fast enough for me to take on this ride. And I have taken up cycling only these past 45 days!

So when Jimmy Chow created the event Monday Ride on FaceBook and invited people to participate, I signed up and at the same time noted that many of my new biker friends were attending too!

The Ride

In addition to taking the customary photo of the ride group at the start point (Lorong Yap Hin), it was a extra happy occasion for more memorable photos to be taken. Our fellow rider, Ch'ng Kai Nie would be getting her new bike. Prior to this, she had been riding a XDS foldable bike - a heavier one at that!

A happy Kai Nie receiving her new Ori bike from Jimmy Chow to the cheers and claps of the other riders. She had patiently waited for this bike whilst riding her old one.

"See how light this bicycle is!" - the smiling proud owner lifted the bike effortlessly. The Ori bike was from Folding Bike Malaysia.

With that happy occasion fresh on our minds, we started off riding towards Jalan Yew. Malaysian flags were already put up for the forthcoming Merdeka Day. Jimmy led the way and Khaw Lye Hock elected to be the sweeper.

We reached the Pekeliling roundabout, expecting to turn to Kampung Pandan per our original posted ride route. But Jimmy led us onward towards Jalan Tun Razak instead. Hey! Why are we not following the planned route! Unclear about his plans we just followed on.

Even though Jalan Tun Razak is normally a very busy through-fare, riding during this public holiday and earlier in the morning, the road was clear and smooth.

At Jalan Tun Razak, we rode on passing some nice high rise office building. So this is why Jimmy is using this route. Kampung Pandan would not have these majestic structures.

Reaching the Tun Razak-Ampang junction we prepared to turn right into Jalan Ampang, this will lead us to our first destination, Foong Foong Ampang Yong Tau Foo for a short nice breakfast.

At Jalan Ampang, we stopped for a quick re-grouping. A concerned Jimmy doing a head-count. Ok, everybody is here, let's go!

As we reached the Jalan Ampang-Middle Ring Road 2 interchange, some riders seeking more challenge, rode up the fly-over ramps. Others continued leisurely to the junction below.

With us today were Andy and Daisy, riding their foldable Bike Friday tandem bicycle.

Soon we were off the busy main roads and riding along the roads of Ampang New Village, our first destination just round the corner.

At last, we reached Foong Foong Restaurant, renown for it's delicious Yong Tau Foo. The place was crowded with cars and push-carts stalls parked all over. Finding a place to park our bicycles was a problem.

We managed to park our bikes just at the restaurant's entrance, aligning them so as not to obstruct entry to the place. Concerned for the safety of their bikes, some folded down their handles while others just turned their bikes upside down!

Taking our seats and occupying several tables, we made our orders. Wanting to make the most of the visit here, some ordered more. Others, bearing in mind that a long ride is still ahead, just ordered enough.

Our orders came, looking delicious! I haven't had Yong Tau Foo here in ages as I live across the other side of the city. It was a memorable meal for me (see food blog - Foong Foong Ampang Yong Tau Foo).

After finishing at Foong Foong, part of the group decided to discontinue their ride with us - perhaps some came just for the Yong Tau Foo or maybe they had other rides to go to. The rest of us crossed over the road and continued on.

We rode on to the end of Jalan Ampang and turn right into Jalan Taman Putra. Sin located himself there as a Marshal to ensure that none missed this turn.

Here the road started sloping up, the leisurely part of the ride up till Ampang was over. Now begins the crunch.

Riding pass Carrefour Ampang, the residential area was beginning to thin off. We are heading into the "wild".

Further along the road, we turned left into Jalan Hulu Langat. I was most surprised that Hulu Langat and Ampang was just adjacent to each other, I guess a newbie like me have lots to pick up on cycling and also on riding routes.

The slope started getting steeper and steeper. Is this what the seasoned bikers call the Climb?

The climb was harder for tandem riders - although taking a break, it was still thumbs up from Daisy Lee.

We stopped for another quick regroup, as the more seasoned riders where way ahead.

Near to Ampang Look Out Point, I took this panoramic view the Kuala Lumpur city skyline. In the hazy sky, one can barely make out KL Tower and the Petronas Twin Towers.

When I returned to my bicycle after taking that shot, I found this curious wasp hanging on to my handle. I tried to shoo it off, but it kept on returning to the handle. It was another five minutes before it lost interest in my bike and flew off - much to my relief as I was already much behind the rest of the group.

The slope seemed never ending, we thought "round the next corner, round the next corner it will start sloping down..." But it was not, and some of us were too tired and just pushed our bikes.

Finally we reached the Ampang Look Out Point and stopped to have a good rest!

And a long, long, long invigorating drink to quench our thirst.

After that the ride was all down slope till we reach Batu 14 Hulu Langat.

At Batu 14 junction we took a right turn, crossed a small bridge (over the Langat River) into the small town.

Where we stopped at this small coffee shop, for a well-deserved rest.....

..... and drinks!

With that good rest and drinks, we went back to our parked bikes and was ready to set off on our return journey.

Batu 9 Cheras Police Station

Crossing that little bridge again we headed down Jalan Hulu Langat towards the Cheras-Kajang Highway. Somehow, the return journey was not that interesting or perhaps tiredness had set in and had worn down our excitement.

Taking the interchange at Jalan Suntex, we were soon at the Cheras Highway.

 The traffic at the Cheras Highway was heavy, after-all it was already close to noon, and we had to be extra careful. Riding single file was a must.

At the Loke Yew-Cheras round-about, we took the underpass biking lanes. I almost slammed into another biker who stopped within the tunnel for some shade. Coming in from the glare of the bright sunlight, I was almost blind inside the tunnel. From this near accident, I made a mental note to myself - don't stop at these dark spots and approach them at slow speed!

Making our way down Jalan Cheras>Jalan Sungei Besi>Jalan Pasar, we were soon back at Lorong Yap Hin. Now we know why Jimmy wanted to start at this place. When we returned, this restaurant - Restoran Siew Ngiap Fei was opened for business. It is well known for it's roast goose, duck and char siew pork.

We sat down and had a feast of Roast Goose & Duck .....

..... and Roast Char Siew Pork

..... and Curry Chicken

..... and Stewed Pig Trotters

..... and Spicy Achad Vegetable Salad

..... and simple but nice Stewed Tofu.

It was a great way to end and interesting ride.

Till we ride again Adios!

Riders

Jimmy Chow  (Leader)

Khaw Lye Hock

Kenny Wong & Sin Tai Lim

Andy Ng & Daisy Lee

Ch'ng Kai Nie

Chris Ng

Chung Tze Yang

David Ong

DrStan Lee

Eddie Tan

Elwin Chong

Gilbert Chee & Claire Kok

Kellie Itoe

Kookkeong Fong

Samuel Mui & K.W. Mui

Sam Wo

Shereen Eng

Siew Yung

Rider

Jotaro Zen
(the AhPek Biker - see FB Page)

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Safety Considerations #1 - Tragic Incident At CFAL4, Malaysia

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SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS #1

A tragic accident at the recent Penang, Malaysia Event -CFAL4 (Campaign For A Lane,Sept.9th 2012) gave pause for me to reflect on the mortality of man, and how fragile we are.
The circumstances surrounding the incident is unclear, how it happened, whether it happened during the ride (some says the poor cyclist was on the way back already) is still subject to some speculation.

Irrespective of how or where, a young man of twenty-eight died while cycling. So let's give some thought on how safely we cycle, and when we drive how much consideration we give to other users of the road, be it another motorist, motorcyclist, cyclist or a pedestrian.

The following is the comment written in FaceBook on 10th September 2012 by our fellow biker Jordan Tan who witnessed and assisted in the unfortunate incident. It gives some details on what happened.

Photo posted by Jordan Tan in FaceBook 

"Hi,
I've decided to write this to remind the seriousness of safety gears and the need for safe riding education for all cyclist after I've witnessed a fatal accident. You might think it's not so vital but trust me,it might save your life. You can't deny that cycling is the "in" thing at the moment and as thing goes,will still be for a period of time. So please take this as a wake up call.
The unfortunate incident happened on Sunday morning 9 Sept 12. As you all know,there was an event on that day, it's called "Campaign For A Lane". The round island event was held to request just for a small narrow lane solely for bicycles and if not granted, at least create an awareness not only to cyclists but to all road users of the importance to share the road. But how ironic;the accident have to happen on that day. There is no finger pointing and blaming others in this. The event was held for a good cause and the deceased is not a registered rider for the event. Let me get back to the accident.

That poor guy was riding down hill from Balik Pulau heading towards Paya Terubong hill road when he lost control of his bicycle (Mtb) and slipped onto the path of a car. He was ran over... It did not end there,another car hit him immediately after he was ran over by the first car.
He was motionless and blood gushing out from both his mouth and nose. At times, he was seen grasping his hand fighting the pain that he had to endure. He was carried to the side of the road by good samaritans. Effort to wake him up failed but he is still breathing. 3-4 minutes later, a passing St John ambulance was waved down. The ambulance stopped,but they are short-handed as there is only the driver and a paramedic. I helped to carry the victim to the stretcher and the ambulance sped off to the General Hospital. I was entrusted to take care of the victim's bike and belongings maybe because i was wearing a cycling jersey during that time. I took down the details of the vehicles involved and headed straight to the GH's ICU. His father was expecting me. He needs me to explain what had happened. His father was calm throughout our conversation and he was so confident that his son will make it through. It wasn't to be,the victim died after an operation few hours later due to head and multiple internal injuries.......
I was dumbfounded upon hearing the news. My heart shattered even though i'm just a stranger to that guy. Imagine the feeling of his family during this hard time.
His father came with an inspector to have the picture of his bicycle taken today and his father again told me he was 100% sure his son will survive when he was wheeled in to the ICU.

This is wrong. Very wrong. Nobody should die doing what he/she love to do. Moreover, cycling is not an illegal activity!
By the way,for car and motorbike rider,cycling is a good thing and it doesn't pollute the air we are breathing as u move. It might not make a drastic change but at least,there is an effort to make the future a better place to live for our children, so please don't unleash your "Tokyo Drift" as u overtake a group of cyclist.
I sincerely hope a safety awareness campaign to be held soon to educate cyclist and a lane will be allocated to bicycles before any more lives taken from their loved ones.

R.I.P

The deceased's funeral will be held at Farlim Mortuary either on 11th or 12th of Sept. You can pay your respect starting tonight 10th of Sept.

Excuse me for the bad grammar and poor command of English."

LET'S US ALL PRAY FOR OUR POOR COMRADE AND ALSO TAKE TIME  OUT FOR SOME REFLECTION.

I post this incident as a blog so that we can always come back here, to reflect now and again.

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Reflections / Safety Considerations #1

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AhPek Biker's Reflections

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                     AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures                   
REFLECTIONS

These are the reflections how biking have affected me,  both generally & personally.
Since taking up biking, some of my ideas have changed, some metamorphosized,
I guess as time goes on, I will have to take pause and reflect again.

Safety Considerations #1

A tragic incident at CFAL4, gave thought to the fragility of being mortal.

Safety Considerations #2

My newbie thoughts on how to improve cycling safety.

Safety Considerations #3

A personal accident along the KESAS Highway leads to more reflections on safety

Reflections #1 - First Experience In Ride Organizing

Planning and organizing our first ride. Pleased to mention that it was a success.

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You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Reflections
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)