Cycling 800km to raise funds


FOR A GOOD CAUSE:The ride along the East Coast by 15 expatriates was also to promote Malaysia as a safe, rewarding cycling trail

FOR the love of cycling, 15 expatriates living in Singapore pedalled 800km in 43 hours from Thailand to the Malaysian Embassy here.
The trip, known as the Trans Malaysia Express (TME) bike ride,  kicked off from Sungai Golok in Thailand to cover the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor ) before finishing in Singapore.

The ride is a collaboration with Tourism Malaysia to promote Malaysia as a great and safe cycling trail.

Sponsor Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd brought cyclists and their bicycles to Kelantan from here.

It was night when the cyclists started their journey.

They were led by two traffic police officers on Honda CBX 750 motorbikes, and escorted by a police car, a civil defence ambulance, as well as the organiser and members of the media along the journey.

They were cycling continuously at  32kph.  Every two hours, they would stop for a 10- to 15-minute break.

The team took care of each other by alerting members about potholes or other dangers, encouraging each other to keep going, and having toilet breaks together at roadsides.

After nine hours of cycling, dawn  broke in Terengganu. Cyclists and their ntourage had nasi dagang at the wooden stall near the beach.

During  the breakfast break, Malaysian cyclist Lawrence Loh told Streets that his passion in cycling  began seven years ago and  recently took part in the 1,200km Paris-Brest-Paris ride.

"We apply the 'anti-clockwise' strategy  to rotate each cyclist's position to maintain the required pace.

"This is because of the different fitness  levels among us," said the 27-year-old accounting student.

Loh said the TME might  be faster than the four-day Paris ride.

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch senior vice-president David Kolpak said the difficulty of the ride was more  being sleepy than tired.

"The night ride is  easier because it is colder and we sweat less, but it can also be dangerous because of the limited visibility," said the 54-year-old.

It was a quick breakfast before the team continued  to cycle another nine hours to reach Pahang.

Despite  the deadline to reach here within 48 hours, the group had requested the organiser to stop for an hour to  respect Muslims' Friday prayers.

They made the request when they spotted many cars and people at the mosques  in Cherating, Pahang.

At the esplanade opposite  Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, which is about two hours ride from Cherating,  10 cyclists from the Pahang Cycling Club accompanied the TME riders up to the Indera Lake Resort .

Pahang cyclist Faizal Aziz said his team applied the drafting technique to cycle in front of TME cyclists.

"The technique helps in reducing wind  friction and rain resistance.

"We need to race before them  to 'push' the exhausted cyclists forward," he added.

On the second day, the cyclists stopped for a break at Indera Lake Resort for six hours.

"The stopover was to allow the cyclists to bathe, have a laid-back dinner and  sleep.

At the stroke of midnight, the endurance cyclists were ready to race towards Johor Baru through Rompin, Pahang.

The eager-beavers looked fresh and were raring to go when it was time to continue the journey.

The final phase of the trip was considered  the most challenging route as it was hilly with reduced visibility.

The route that cut through an oil palm plantation was foggy.

Despite the difficulty of the route, the cyclists reached the Malaysian Embassy before 5pm.

At the finishing line, they were welcomed by  the Malaysian deputy High Commissioner Kamsiah Kamaruddin, and Malaysia Tourism Singapore director Zalizam Zakaria.

Zalizam said at the closing ceremony that the TME bike ride was a new record in Malaysian cycling history, and  marked the new beginning of safe cycling tourism in Malaysia.

Cyclist Richard Thevenon added that the ride had raised up to USD90,000 (RM285,821) for the A New Vision organisation. 

A New Vision organisation  restores sight to  the poor.
cycling
Cyclists eating energy bars and bananas at the roadside.

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