As early as 6.30am, the crew were already down at Dataran Bandaraya, busying themselves for the day’s event. While OB with his sleeping toddler, and Lina were by the desk registering riders; Tyrus was seen setting up his booth for curious shoppers. Meanwhile, Abang Joe was doing his PR work, welcoming the RELA guards and police officers just as one man was running up and down, making sure everything were in order. In fact, this man was the ONE and ONLY ONE who pulled the whole show together!
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| While most were already in bed, Stoppa was putting up the finishing touches for the day's event! He was caught on whatsapp until 1.08 am before the chatroom went silent! |
Fondly referred to as Stoppa, there’s little wonder the nickname stuck as there’s really no stopping this man. Watching him approach ministries after ministries tirelessly, everyone’s awe soon turned into respects. A leader by example, he motivated the team to give their very best.
Nobody could have done better than Stoppa! He went to the Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry. He approached Tourism Johor. He sought these departments twice!
His zest did not stop there. He relentlessly sought police permit and managed to secure the prime location; that is Dataran Bandaraya! Not satisfied, he went on to approach local sponsors bringing in Khass Bicycles, Swiss Inn Hotel and Lee Biscuits Pte Ltd!
Credits must be given to the other MBM team as well. Kudos to those who managed to convince Pedal Sports to be our main sponsor. Honours are extended to those who collected the cartons of goodies from IJN and as far as Antabax’s factory at Teluk Panglima Garang; a whopping 53 km away from KL’s City Center!!! Then, there’s personal sponsors as in the case of Iskandar Ahmat, who quenched everyone’s thirsts with bottled mineral water!
If Stoppa is the ONE, then Abang Joe is the mastermind. He choreographed the whole procession from the route, to the ride itself, to the VIP’s that came to flag us off. We were honoured to have Major Azman Hamzah Al Rashid, the Special Task Officer to Johor Bahru Member of Parliament, Tuan Hj Lokman bin Sulaiman, Official Representative of Johor Bahru City Mayor and Mr Denys Tan, Official Representative from Singapore Consulate General in Johor Bahru.
Arranging with Simon for 5 classic Mini Coopers to head the procession was indeed a clever idea. Those loveable match box cars alerted motorists on our approach, paving a safe passage for all! Besides that, having 2 pick up trucks tailing the line, ensures riders with technical issues are not left, stranded.
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| The Mastermind |
This morning, Abang Joe put his life at risk by standing at the trunk of Mr Foo’s Land Rover Defender just so he could maintain a high vantage point. Once, he even jumped out of the moving vehicle just to make sure the riders stopped at the desired spot! As we moved along, he dispensed instructions through walkie talkie to Marshalls on duty to minimize breakaways and ensure safety.
Surprisingly, all riders were cooperative and understanding. None strayed too far away from pitstops and all returned when the call was made!
Kudos must be given to sweepers, Sasee and Lina for their patience! Ideally, we tried our best to bring the newbies to the start of the line so all can follow their pace but somehow it never happened. Hence, these patient saints had to ride with them, ensuring their safety whenever they break away from the main group!!!
JB Foldies’ contribution to the ride was also immeasurable. They were the ones who recced the route and risked riding on the outer lanes, just to make sure riders stayed in line and to stop traffic whenever necessary.
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| We attracted quite a lot of attention from curious bystanders |
It is not easy to navigate around JB’s city center as there are no proper bike lanes except for the 1 km distance on Jalan Wong Ah Fook. Roads are narrow in the old part of town, made worse by truant parking along the commerce centers and religious sites. Having said that, considerations must be made NOT to block royal routes and hospital grounds.
As our 1 km line of moving cyclists can be a huge blockade, the route is viewed as a “city sampler”, skimming past places of interest with only 3 major stops. Passing by the perimeter fencing of the palace grounds, we made our first stop at the Crown Arch before proceeding to the 0km marker, fondly referred to as the starting point of Asia Continent! Later, we stopped for light refreshments at Swiss Inn Hotel, a bike friendly hotel that welcomes all cyclists!
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| Men's individual |
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| Ladies' individual |
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| Men's relay |
The day was turning out perfect with heavy cloud covers but no rain! As we played our games back at Dataran Bandaraya, everyone could cheer for their favourite teams without having to hide behind shades!
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| K3 Team |
For the record, Bromptoneers Fahmi, from Taiping and Rita, from Bukit Mertajam won the male and female individual races respectively. As for the K3 team from Kulai, they swept the men’s relay with the slowest rider going to one of their teammates as well. Throughout all the competitions, the easiest win must have been Said Mokti’s lightest Brompton, weighing a mere 8.18kg!!!
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| Smiling bravely |
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| "Don't worry about me, just take care of my bike!" |
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| Caught on Ah Pek's camera!!! |
With the races, comes the emergency medic team from Asia Medevac Services. When one male rider lost some skin while maneuvering a corner, our friendly ambulance team came to his rescue and boy, were they thorough!!!
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| Waiting patiently for lunch... |
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| Waiting to start the game...the fastest folding bike category... |
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| A Joget before calling it a day! |
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