Happy New Year to all!!!!

would like to wish everybody a Happy New Year!!!

woot! woot! woot!

new stuff installed yesterday

an APP slotted front rotors to replace the worn stock rotors. the circular lines are not scourings and hope they'll stay that way and survive a few track days. the blue housing bell really suits the car's paintwork and elevates the car's 'fast looking' factor a few notches up ahahahaha

later at home, found out the stock rotors were at the minimum thickness already. phew, luckily nothing bad happened when using them. but boy, those rotors are damn heavy! i'm not kidding!

Last one, enough already

The last track session in 2008, well for me at least. On last Sunday 21 Dec. Enough already! Was it 5 or 6 times this year? Wow!

Tracking is a load of fun, but this is what it'll do to your car.

Bad 'graining' on the tyres, and,

Bad scouring on the brake discs. *ouch*

Setelah 8 1/2 tahun bekerja...

... akhirnya aku ambik MC buat pertama kalinya

Semalam kene cirit-birit yang teruk sampai totally dehydrated. Masa pegi klinik dah terlampau teruk dehydration sampai dah tak larat nak berjalan & naik tangga. Baring pun badan menggigil, even aku tak demam.

Hari ni pun still sakit perut lagi sikit² now & then.

Not your average Sunday 3!!!

What? Sepang again? Hehehe yes.

Received an SMS on Saturday of the open track day and since I didn't drive last week, and was so itchy seeing my friends enjoying the wet session, decided to go. Again, went with Fahrein. Arrived a bit late at 2:30PM. Managed to do 3 laps before the session was red-flagged. Then all of us had to endure this:

It was raining cats and dogs. And it did not stop for more than an hour. The track was only opened again around 4:20PM. Even then, we had water running across the track at a few spots. But how enjoyable it was! In trying to keep my post short, I'll put in highlight points form.

- 1st spin at the high speed downhill T5. Tried to take it in 4th gear. Big spin, almost into the gravel.

- 2nd time off at the same T5. Managed to catch it but still skidded to the run-off area

- Spun at T14 while exiting under power

- Spun at T10 under braking (!)

- Almost lost it a few times while exiting T4, but managed to keep it under control

- Surprising amount of grip available under braking to T1 and T15...

- ... but kicked off the ABS many times under braking to T7

- four wheel drifting around T3 and T8 was huge fun!

- Absolutely zero front-end grip around T1 & T2

It was great fun & a good learning experience. Still not brave enough to press the throttle earlier. Have to learn to catch oversteer. The tyres are quite bad in the wet, thinking of different brand for my next set.

Welcome to Negeri Sembilan

Last Saturday, for the first time, cycled up Genting Peres. Actually, it's kind of ironic since this route is very popular among cyclists, but after close to 3 years, I have never done it. Went with 3 other JomKayuh friends, Faris, Ajoo & Abang Zack.

After a short 'detour' (read: lost), I reached the RV point at Bt.14 Langat around 8:15AM. Quite late already. Planned to start by 7:30AM. The first few kilometers of the ride was quite dangerous. There were many earth movers (read: lori hantu) on their way to the nearby quarry. And knowing these group of drivers, they're among the most reckless drivers you can find on the road. So we had to be really careful.

After 5 km, things changed. We have passed the quarry and traffic was getting really sparse. The climb have begun. It started off just like that. The road suddenly turned sharply skywards and did not let off a single bit for the next 3 km or so. Underestimating the climb, I charged way too fast and had to stop twice on the way to the peak. Silly me.

But the downhil was just superb! An average of 60km/h to the bottom. A car who was trailing us also did not manage to keep up. At the bottom, met a few other cyclists passing by the area. Later I learnt that I just climbed the dreaded Bukit Hantu which is famous among cyclists for it's hard climb.

After a few more kilometers, stopped for about half an hour to fix my rear tyre puncture. Damn! I think it was the 3rd or 4th time I had a puncture on the same tyre. Need to send it to the shop for checking.

Then on to the next climb. A 10km climb to Genting Peres. Actually, it was really similar to Genting Sempah. With the Orang Asli village along the way, the road snaking around the hillside with long and steep drop on one side. But, this route is a bit more open and exposed to the sun i.e. hot & warm. The climb is gentler compared to Bukit Hantu so we did not take any stop along the way.

At the top, I saw the famous 'UMNO Jelebu' signboard which marks the end of the climb. We stopped there for rest and of course, took photos.

Then it was another superb downhill to the bottom back to Bt. 14 Langat. But the only thing is, from the bottom of the climb to the RV point, we had to endure about 10-15km of laborious and boring rolling hills. It was not fun. And it was already getting very hot. Made worse when you have a ride buddy who doesn't want to share the work and let you stay in front & pull all the way. All when the body has already shut down after the downhill and the long-ish rest stop.

All in all, I would rather do Genting Sempah. Similar, longer climb. Cooler. Have the option of going to Janda Baik or all the way to Bentong. No need for a boring rolling hills on the way back. And it's easier to get to as well. I actually had to endure a 2 hours traffic jam going back from Langat since I had to go through the bloody congested Ampang area. Not fun when you have spent a few hours on the bike saddle, in a bad need for food and rest.

But anyway, we made it back in one piece.

In the mail yesterday

... was this

Actually, I have forgotten that I'll get a certificate for the race. It's now posted on the notice board at my cubicle hehehe