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Merdeka Ride 16/8/09
16/8/ 07:30
Merdeka Ride will be on third Sunday of August (16/08/09). Don't miss the chance to participate in this spectacular event organised by Lions Club. Register now at Merdekaride!
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Your post is really awesome man. Thanks for sharing it. You really rock.
Regards,
Earvin James - san diego real estate
Thanks Jimmy for your comment and your thoughts on Sunday's ride.
First of all, G Club is not the organiser of the Merdeka Ride but G Club will fully support any ride organised by anyone due to the love of riding. And we will continue to support any future rides. I am sure anyone who loves riding will too.
I read an article before and it was said that even Tour de France do made mistake directing riders to the wrong route !!! We are talking about pro riders here !! So it is not something to be too worried about. After all, most of the riders yesterday are locals and i don't think anyone is going to get lost.
Nothing is perfect and i can understand how does the riders and organisers feel about the whole thing yesterday. We at G Club is in the mist of organising a ride on 25/10/09 and trust me, we know how much hard work we have to put in. The amount of work and time put in by volunteers are just unbelievable and we do not expect it to be 100% perfect. It just can't. What is more important is all riders return safely and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
But being in so many rides ourselves, we hope to learn from mistakes done by others so that we will not make the same mistake.
Finally, i do agree that these rides are NOT for racing and we should go out and enjoy ourselves and appreciate the months of hard work put in by organisers. We are doing it for the love of riding and at the same time create awareness.
I hope 1 bad experience will not stop all of you from participating in future events.
Happy riding and stay healthy.
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G Club had organised a few round island ride and we managed to finish in 4.5 hours with stops at Batu Maung (for toast n half boiled eggs), Balik Pulau (for rest and 100 plus drinks), entrance of Tropical Fruit Farm (to regroup again due to rain) and last stop, T. Bahang kopitiam (another can of 100 Plus)
The above does not include brief stops along the way for "sightseeing".
So to answer your question, if you are able to ride non-stop all the way and averaging 40km/h, you probably can qualify for SEA Games !!! *grin* (and be back to starting point by 9am!!)
Don't worry about beating the clock, enjoy yourself and i guarantee you, you will be able to be back to the starting point in less than 5 hours.
Make safety and enjoyment during the ride your priority.
cheers,G Club
Thanks a lot on your feedback.
I didn't join the ride since I was in KL attending to another MTB event. Anyway, from what I heard from my friend who happened to join the family ride with his loved one, I was given an impression that there are still rooms for improvements when it comes to marshalling. He is a veteran cyclist and has been taking part in marshalling MTBand other cycling related events, so for me if he said there is a concern I would take it that it's really needed to look into if the event organizer decide to host the similar event in future.
I sincerely hope the event organizer will accept the feedbacks from participants with open heart and strife to improve it in the next event. Don't take the comments negatively. They all mean no harm and they do hope it will be improved in the next event.
Just my dua sen...;)
Btw El Kapitan, heard you crashed. Get well and see you in action soon!
Dear Turbosnail,
I really like it when you said, "I sincerely hope the event organizer will accept the feedbacks from participants with open heart and strife to improve it in the next event. Don't take the comments negatively. They all mean no harm and they do hope it will be improved in the next event."
I completely agree with you on that. If the organiser didn't want to take comments with an open heart. it's a shame really. People went for the ride for the love of riding bicycles. They don't mean to condemn. They are just disappointed. Some even told me they won't go for a ride like this again. it's pretty sad to know that. So instead of encouraging, it became discouraging. Excuse me when i say this, but why do people always compared a mistake to another mistake that other people made ? something is pretty wrong there. It's like asking a student why are you getting just 10 marks ? and he said, David got 10 marks also and the other 2 guys are getting just 7 marks.
Many people didn't know that it's a HUGE task to plan an event such as this one. No organisers want a single mistake when it comes to security of the participants, but it is a very big mistake if they compare a mistake to another mistake. Now that's what getting on people's nerves. I'm sorry if i'm being too candid. Just know that i have no intention at all to condemn anyone. Just a two pennies worth of advise so that we don't do what is not right to do.
Pleasant day every body.
Keep the wheel spinning.
As G Club member, i think it is better not comment about what happend last Sunday for the Merdeka Ride. Shall leave it to participants to figure them out what went wrong.
However, i managed to observe many things that went "wrong" on the morning of the ride and i hope to brief G Club and Rotary Club members during our weekly meting before our own big event on 25/10/09
As for me, i am fine. Scratches all over but will be able to ride after a couple of days' rest.
The Captain shall be back !!!
Hi,
First of all thank you for organizing the merdeka ride. My wife , baby and myself did enjoy it very much. As of any events there is going to be pros and cons and hope you guys will not be deterred by some negative comments going on post ride. As a cyclist advocates , a racer and father, I have joined numerous events - racing, rides and critical mass. For a guy who actively race around the local and abroad circuit there's always flawed.. no race is perfect. There always markers that miss out, road that is scattered with debris and glasses from the motor accident the night before. So no matter how many time you recon the route, it changes.
As a father , with a new born trailing on my back safety is my up most concern. And yes I felt the lack of it last Sunday. And in the future more experience marshal really helps in this situation. We did the best we could under the circumstances, we round a couple of experience rider and marshal ourselves through the traffic. That’s what the success Critical Mass ride is all about. When u have hundreds of riders parading on the streets you going to have numerous sub-group in between. That’s when cyclist group together - discipline and marshal ourselves. I felt ashamed when some riders voice their sentiments lightly and negatively.. one must remind oneself that is a Ride to promote cycling and not a RACE!!! You race through traffic lights and intersection then came back complaining the lack of safety in the ride is very wrong, I bet you don’t even do that in your training rides.
Couple with the confusion of 2 major rides coincide and overlapping each other doesn’t help. Ride organizers should collaborate on this. If all riders show up on one events the impact of numbers would be greater for PR. Last word to all the riders out there on last Sunday, if you race enough and ride enough globally, Sprinting for the finish line on an awareness event/ride is way uncool!!
Captain,
Howdy. It's very nice to ehar that you're better already. I talked to a few people who went for the ride. They were all extremely disappointed. Anyway, you're quite hardcore. scratches all over bull will ride after 2 days. ha hah ha ....!! did you watch a Movie called "Easy Rider" before ? starring Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson. Every time when i typed your name i thought of that movie. Peter Fonda was known as Captain America in that show. You must be Captain Penang. It's one of my favourite shows. Beautiful choppers and great songs.
Guys,
Enjoy your ride! I am currently in KL and will join PCC's Presidential Ride tommow. Will post pix!
For theose perticipating tomorrow's Merdeka Ride, please be informed that the 52km "pro ride" to start at the same time as "family ride" @ 8.15am and NOT 7.30am as announced earlier.
I had only found out about it.
According to the organiser, this is to enable them to have enough numbers of cyclist to start at the same time and be listed in the Malasian Book of Records.
If riders were split into 2 groups, they will not be able to break the record and please do not ask me what is the number of riders for current record holder !! I have not even seen the book !!
Please note the flag off time. It's 8.15am for both rides.
Hope the above announcement helps !!
Happy riding and if you are not aware of the chages, "happy waiting" :)
hi Ronnie,
In the last pic, u were at the St. John getting treatment. What happen, are you injured?
Very dangerous for those who brought their little kids along. Was told there was no marshalls at busy junctions, some riders got lost. No water stations for pro riders at checkpoints in QM and SunShine square. Infact there was no markers at every junction and no checkpoint at all.
Ya... what happen, captain?
I totally agree with 'chickens' comments, poorly organised. Even the finisher cert. says 'sijil penyertaan', not even 'finishers' sijil. So lame..
Yeah, there were no water stations and checkpoints in QM and SunShine as stated in the riding map, good thing some of us brought along extra litres of water to share with others. Through out the ride, saw few accidents that involved riders, first one was at the Batu Maung traffic light junction, then Green Lane traffic light junction ... there wasn't any marshalls around t these junctions and split roads to direct the ride, so it was kinda confusing for the riders, not to mention dangerous. Overall it was a very bad organized riding event, and not to mention there are some points at the road (especially at the junctions, busy split roads ) which posed danger to the riders.
Anyhow this ride wasn't intended for racing, but most of us took it as a racing event to compete in speed, kinda put away the danger alertness ...
Way to go Anthony and Alan, the twin who first crossing the finish line.