Thursday, October 30, 2008

Friday, October 24, 2008

Pawana Riders In Action

By : K.JAMIS

Rejected by Google AdSense

"Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense.

Unfortunately, afterreviewing your application, we're unable to accept you into GoogleAdSense at this time. We did not approve your application for the reasons listed below.

Issues: - Unsupported language ---------------------"

What the heck! I was trying to insert Google Adsense into Pawana Riders blog, to my surprise, the administrator rejected my application with this lame excuse.

Why can't we have a mixture of language in blog writting. If they think this blog is useless for any advertisement, they are wrong. 60% of mountain bike parts that Pawana Riders are using were from US brand. If that is the case, we should consider support local brand, LeRun.

It seems that my national laguage is actually non-recognise languange! #$%%%#!

Monday, October 20, 2008

BM Jamboree Pre-assessment

While BM Jamboree is just around the corner; alot of training activities had get started in these recent couple of weeks, some may even have a regular daily training.

If you are able to wake up early on weekend morning, then try to spend some time outside, you may observe that nowadays alot more people are going out for a refreshing morning cycling exercise. It is more obvious around the area of Sungai Ara, Balik Pulau, Teluk Bahang, Penang Hill, Air Itam Dam and Mount Eskine. This kind of scenario is very encouraging, where people are more concious about their health and indirectly help to reduce the air pollution; however, please becareful when you are cycling on the road, we are still at the mercy of those Penangites who still do not know the courtesy of the road.

Nevertheless, Pawana Riders has also aggresively arranged for more training with tougher trail and challenging terrain each week. Everyone is looking forward for the D-day to come, BM Jamboree on 9th November 2008.

Questions that we might be asking ourself:
  • How well are we prepared for this coming Jamboree?
  • What can we expect during the race?
  • Is it dangerous?
  • Is it a technical ride or endurance ride?

Pawana Riders may not have all the answers for the questions above; however, as much as we can, we did some studies from the internet as well as from the sharing of those experianced rider who might have been regulary riding around BM. From these information, Pawana Riders try to digest it and share with all. We can not guarantee the accuracy of this information, and it just serve as a reference only.

The intention of the sharing is purely for a better preparation of each riders, so that everyone can safely complete the jamboree with joy and fun.

Below is the terrain view of the upcoming BM Jamboree. The starting point should be somewhere around Jalan Sungai Lembu with the first 5 KM of street cycling before exit from Jalan Kolam into Kampung Teluk Bukit for the adventurous offroad cycling.


From Kampung Teluk Bukit, riders will go thru all the up hills and down hills until they reach Mengkuang Dam, where it is expected to be an easy ride of 5km by cycling surrounding Mengkuang Dam. Even thought it is a flat terrain, but it could turn into a very challenging muddy trail if weather is too weat. In fact, it looks like raining season in Penang recently.


From Kampung Mengkuang Ulu, riders will be entering the next "Twin Peak" adventure. The Peaks reaching most 400m and 325m from the sea level respectively. Usually, this is the time when riders staminal, focus, endurance and knowledge will be tested. The path is learnt to be partly simen rendered and narrow, especially during the down hill.

So, please ensure you select the right tires, effective breking system, great balancing and most importantly respect for each others. Remember, this is just a Jamboree, not a Tournament nor Olympic, please do not put yourself and other rider's safety at risk.

Then, if you are able to pass thru this "Twin Peak", the end point is just a few kilometers away. Don't give up, just complete it. From the very rough analysis, the total distance is around 30km, but we believe it could be more.

We try to put the whole Jamboree trail into a different perspective, hope that it is useful to you and for your better understanding.




There will be more to come as and when we have the latest update.....please stay tuned.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Understanding Mountain Bikes and Tire Pressure




Recently, I bought myself a pair of new Kenda Koyote tire and mounted it on my LeRun mountian bike. The prices is around RM76 (USD 20). My previous tire was from Maxxis, and I still keep it for my street cycling.

Obviously, I felt the differences of these 2 tires, and I tried to surf on internet to get a better understanding of it, however to my dissapointment, I can not locate any Kenda Koyote tire even in Kenda website. I started to worry whether I have bought an immitated copy of Kenda tires....

In my effort of searching, I came across the article below, and I would like to share it with my fellow friends in Pawana Riders. Let's cycle with knowledge, enjoy the reading.

.............. ........................ ........................... ....................... ................ ...................... ........ ....... .... ..

Tire pressure is a very important facet of riding any kind of bike, including mountain bikes. By learning how to set the tire pressure, you can give yourself more control and help to make the ride down the mountain smoother. If the tire pressure is too low, then you will find that it is much harder to cycle and it can increase the chance of a flat, too. Tire pressure that is too high can make your ride very bumpy and out of control, as well.

Tire pressure can vary from person to person, because it is dependent upon the personal preference of the bicycler, the tire’s condition, and the terrain that you will be riding on. The tire pressure can be easily modified simply by using a high quality pump on the tires. A tire pressure gauge is also an essential part of keeping your tires at the optimum pressure.

The manufacturer of the tire will have a recommended tire pressure for your particular tires and this is where you can start. You can then adjust the tire pressure as needed from there. It is best to use the same tire pressure gauge and pump when you check your tires, because you may get different readings depending upon the tire pressure gauge that you choose.

A good rule of thumb is to start with a higher tire pressure for your bike. This means that you want to be around 40-50 psi (3-3.5 bar), and then lower the tire pressure a little at a time to find which tire pressure is best for your particular bike, terrain, and yourself. If you are a little heavier, then you will want to use a higher tire pressure for sure.

Taking a test bike ride is the best way to check the tire pressure. You will want to notice how the tire behaves, how it rides on the terrain, how it slides down the mountain, and how it hooks in the corners. If you have too much tire pressure, then drop it in increments of 5 psi in both tires. If the bike gains grip and is more stable at this tire pressure, then you will want to keep it at this standard pressure. If not, then you will continue dropping the tire pressure in small increments and redoing the test until your bike rides the way you want and need it to.

If you want to determine the lowest possible tire pressure, then gradually decrease the tire pressure until you see how it feels when you ride on almost flat tires. This will help you to learn how it feels so that you can keep your tubes from getting damaged.

If your mountain bike tires are tubeless, then you will want to stay with a lower tire pressure. The advised tire pressure for tubeless tires is between 30 and 40 psi. This is because tubeless tires experience fewer pinch flats and even rim contact occasionally is okay. This is why you can ride on tires with a much lower tire pressure than normal. If the tire pressure is too low, you will find that if you are cornering hard that the tire will roll under the rim.

Another thing that you need to be on the lookout for is rolling resistance. The increased rolling resistance will take more effort, but it will offer you greater control and better traction to allow you to climb easier. For racers who race cross-country, they would rather have a more efficient bike versus greater control, so you have to take into consideration what kind of biking that you will be doing.

Using your hand to squeeze the tire will help you determine what the right tire pressure feels like so that you do not have to rely so much on the tire pressure gauge.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Caxton

Le Tour De Penang......Penang Round Island

After a long break, finally our Pawana Riders member becoming activate again. Last week, we have a good opportunity to cycle around Penang Island

6 youngsters from Pawana Riders made up the team, namely Turbo Raif, Khairi Jamis, Kencho, Zuhai Ida Puteh, and 2 members from Anwar's Territory (Permatang Pauh) which are Lee Roti Canai and Jan GT.

The route is as below:
Relau Shell Station (flagoff at 8:15am) -> Jln Tun Sardon -> Balik Pulau New Market -> Kpg Sg Rusa -> Kpg Batu Kecil -> Teluk Bahang Dam -> Teluk Bahang Market(Refuel at 10:30am) -> Batu Ferrighi -> Tj Bunga -> Tj Tokong -> Bagan -> Greenland -> Bt Urban -> Bayan Baru (destination at 12noon).
If you are not sure how far it is actually, you may refer to the Kencho Route posting.

Below are some pictures taken by Khairi Jamis and Jan GT along the trip.
Jan GT setting up his MTB with the help from Turbo Raif

Top view from Khairi Jamis MTB.

The first 1.40 km

Pawana Riders in pursuing to reach the top of Jln Tun Sardon.

Good down hill trail.

Top of Jln Tun Sardon, our first resting place. It looks so near yet so far.


Group Photo.

The first 10KM in climbing up Jln Tun Sardon.

The view of Balik Pulau Town from the resting place.



Lee Roti Canai and Jan GT

Lee Roti Canai and Jan GT again.

and again..... haiiih!


Khairi with his Jamis X-trail 3

Khairi Jamis again.

and again.....

Zuhai Ida Puteh.

Zuhai Ida Puteh looks relax.
Is time to move......last group photo

Easy ride to Balik Pulau Town, 10% declining

Easy ride

Turbo Raif in action!


me on the ride!
Zuhai Ida Puteh keeping on posting...anyone if loking for MTB modeling, please consider Zuhai.

Khairi Jamis in action.

Reaching Balik Pulau old town.

Durian Farm along the trail going to Teluk Bahang.


Another Durian Farm.
Natural waterfall, the enviroment was very cooling.

At mid way, we stopped a while at Titi Kerawang Waterfall. It is a great tourist spot.

some view at Titi Kerawang.



Khairi Jamis making his remark.

Lee Roti Canai was so happy about it.

As usual, we will post for photo again.

and again.....


Along Titi Kerawang, you will see such shop-lot selling mostly local topical fruits, snack and beverage.
A view of Pulau Betong.

Khairi Jamis...

And again....


Another posting from Zuhai Isa Puteh....he has the look and style right.

Teluk Bahang man-made dam.

Horizontal line dividing dam and sky...

so as usual, we will taken photo again.

We stopped by Teluk Bahang for a late breakfast. Roti canai for re-fuel.


In less than 2 minutes, he finished his roti canai. We was been informed that this is his first roti canai in 5 months time.
Turbo Raif enjoying his food.

The name tells all, Lee making his Roti Canai.... Lee Roti Canai. In fact, this is where he learnt from his sifu how to make it. Learn more about Teluk Bahang attraction from Sam Yeap.

Reaching Tj Bunga.

The Super-condominium costs about 1 million each..


Penang National Mosque.
Along Scotland Road... reaching Greeland soon.


Stopped by Shell Station for natural call.

Is already 67Km.


Batu Urban.
Penang Sole University... USM.
Total distance is about 70KM....

With average speed of 19.1km/hr....

Journey completed in 3 hours 40 minutes..

Well done for all 6 Pawana Riders, everyone safely completed the journey with fun and joy.