Riding Kota Damansara Community Forest KDCF

If some of you remember, I've written about KDCF about a year ago and shared it in this blog here. I've ran in this park a couple of times and it provide a good mix of climb and fast sections. However, I've NOT ridden my mountain bike in this park before.

Kenny telling me to Man-man lai.

I decided to join Kenny and his friends for a session in KDCF and I took it as an opportunity to log in some mileage ahead of Xterra and to keep my off-road riding skills in check. I recently purchased a set of cleat pedals and mountain bike specific shoe and need to use them to gauge how comfortable I will be using them.

The cleat/shoe after washing

I used it once when I was taking photos during Newton 25km run. It was alright as I move from the all-familiar cleat on roadbike to mountainbike. The differences were obvious, as the MTB cleats do not produce the distinctive "clip" sound when engaged. The effort to remove the clip is the same - twist the feet outwards and you are free. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

The pedal

Or so I thought.
First, the size of the cleat/metal is small compared to my roadbike shoes. Entering and clipping need some practice. There is no assuring "click" on the combination (pedal+cleat) and I do not know if it's in or out. I was a total noob (newbie) in the trail with the shoes and clips that it was comical. First tumble happened within 20m from trail head as the rider infront could not clear the first root, forcing me to stop and forgetting to "unclip".

Yeap, I was that slow.

Scout, Temuan, Petaling and....SAHABAT.
KDCF now has an additional trail called "Sahabat". It is an additional 2km extension from Temuan trail and Scout trail. Fairly "raw" as it was created not too long (6 months perhaps) and it is still a single trail (or less because certain part was really a tight squeeze). I took along my JVC Adixxion XA2 and mounted it on my helmet. I switched it on and left it to record the trail. Somehow, I stopped the recording after the first tumble and I came back with nothing. So, it is really USER problem. :/ Perhaps it is a sign that I need to return to this trail to ride it again, soon. With Xterra coming up, I believe that will be the intention I have. Here is today's ride map including the Sahabat trail.

Now, compare it to the run I did before Sahabat came up. Distance below is about 9km, which is 2-loops of the pre-Sahabat trails.

The trails in KDCF is in a loop and it is clearly marked. During my ride there (or rather, tumbles), I've noticed YELLOW and ORANGE florescent bands around trees or stumps. You can follow them to move about in KDCF. The trail, I've noticed, is in good condition with certain parts needed repair. I smell a TRAKS trail day soon. With the rain the past few months, a few section looked like need a few water bar. ;-)

Ending Week 12 Ironman Malaysia Training

A few people asked me why I am tracking these mileage and "over sharing". To be honest, I am not sure. This blog serves like an online "diary" for me, for which I can use it as a record of what I did to reach my destination. In short, it chronicle my "journey". What I've not shared yet  are my spending. I am sure some of you may want  to know what cost it takes to do an Ironman race, locally. Time invested is one part of the equation, money is the other portion that can't escape unless I am a professional triathlete, and if that is true, I may have less time to write and should be training, like now as the article is being written.

What started on October 12, 2013 has progressed to solid 12 weeks of training that went according to plan. Never had I been more diligent - and for the purpose of finishing the Ironman Malaysia in good physical condition and able to have fun. 

So, Week 12 ended with a good 8:30 hours in training with 200km worth of mileage. I am not sure how Week 14 and beyond will work out, but Week 13 sound like a good week for easier mileage and allow the body to recover. I am considering to utilise Week 13 with swim and gym work. My hamstring condition has improved slightly with a lot of stretching, but it can be better. More updates on that as we progresses. 
Meanwhile - keep the training up and hope you do not pick up any injuries. Train Smart, then train hard.