Putrajaya Challenge Park : Bike Park Completed

Today's ride was an interesting one. Kelvin, AL and myself rode a bit later than Alan and Gerard because AL has to pick Kelvin up first. I saw Alan and Gerard wondering around with their bike at the bike part building area. I didn't honk them as I was already nearby the parking lot by 1 u-turn.

Right after parking my car, I quickly assembled my bike and went over to meet the guys. Unfortunately, they already left the building area. Without wasting much time, I went on climbing to the first hut for a warm up. I noticed that the is a four-cross (4X) track on my right side. It has been completed! I took some photos while waiting for Kelvin and AL.



Few minutes later, I saw AL's RUSH and I rode on the 4X section down to meet them. It was so scarry for me riding the higher ramps! The whole bike went down fast and then it has to climb up again through the curved, steep ramp making the bike floats in the air.



Trying the ramps yourself and watching those professional bikers @ X-games are totally 2 different things! They can fly-up in the air for few meters (example: Cameron Zink) while you... almost peed even your bike leaves the ground just by few inches. :P



Once all done with the bike setup, Kelvin, AL and I went up to the mountain bike trail where we met Alan and Gerard resting after completing some sections. Another good part about the mountain bike trail is that all the sections are labelled with numbers (in sequence). One can choose to ride full trail length or just few sections only.



AL and I were panting heavily each time we completed a section. I felt so useless. I should ride more often to train myself. As usual, Kelvin will complete his favourite 6 sections without any problem. Now I know that PCP is his playground.

Paintball by Mudtrekker @ Kuang Forest

It was few years back since I played my last paintball game. It was fun @ Subang park organized by TT-Sports.

Last weekend's paint(pain) ball session was really fun and really tiring. We played 7 sets continuously within 3 hours.



It took us almost 35 minutes to get to Kuang from PJ area. Kuang is located near Sungai Buloh. One can find the exit under the overhead bridge near after ING building from LDP toll.



It was still early when I arrived but more than 70% of the team members were not there yet. I dun blame them as it is not easy to find the location. The map provided by organizer really sucks and I had to request them the GPS coordinates [N 03°15'50.0, E101°33'17.2].



The game was torturing as the cheap paintball marker (gun) itself could weigh up to +/-2kgs. When ever the marshals shouted "go", I ran forward to get the best cover before I start firing.



I usually had to fire one or two bullets first before i can target the victim better. This is simply because i really have to get the projection right as the cheap marker can only fire around 200ft per second, thus making the bullets look heavy when they travel out of the nozzle.



Many of us positioned ourselves in so many styles. Some just hid behind walls or barrels, some shooting non-stop for no reason, some just crouch and some prone behind the barrels.



First few rounds was at the battle-field whereby you are surrounded by old car chassis, liquid, barrels, tank-car replica and some walls erected at the base (all the way to the back). Another interesting spot where we played was at the jungle with bunkers, bushes and trees. I could really experience the feeling of those soldiers battling in dense tropical jungle - so scarry. You may hit by bullets at any point of time!



Lastly the game ended after 3 tiring hours. I went home, shower and straight away slept like a pig!

New Fork - Tora 302

I have not been riding for quite some time since the KDCF(Kota Damansara Community Forest) ride. Once a while, I would ride my bike around housing area to test if the bike parts are getting loose.




Recently, I could hear soft clunking sound from the front part of the bike (after the KDCF ride) during evening ride and that really annoyed me! My first guess was the remote lock-out cable that was attached from my handlebar to the fork. I experimented further with the lock-out cable but the result was still negative.

That night, I decided to find out more about the fork sound through forums in the internet. Few sites have quoted about XCR's usual problem after prolonged usage.

The question now is... where can I service this good fork? I can do it myself with he Suntour tuning videos but how about the replacement parts such as seals and sliders?

After going round and round asking about fork servicing, I think it is not worth to gamble for servicing @ unauthorized bike shops. Since RockShox's forks can be serviced by GinHuat(authorized distributor for SRAM's products), I went to hunt one and I got it - a Tora 302 Coil 80mm from northern fella through BBS.



I got my usual pro bike mechanic, Fadhli from RodaLink to replace the fork for me. I could feel that the bike feels more solid now than the previous fork. The reason is simply because the Tora weighs more than my lovely XCR with alloy steerer. Due to this, I felt the handlebar rattles much lesser with Tora - good for trail riding huh due to its solidness?



I am currently happy with both forks and I would still look around for shops that can service XCR forks with genuine Suntour's parts. Now I can ride XC and Trail with Tora!