Out Playing in Traffic

Ever since a little kid, playing in traffic has been in my bones. Risk, adrenaline, fun, heart-pounding – excitement. The first accident I can remember was not paying attention to where I was going and rode right off a retaining wall to a boat loading ramp and knocked my front teeth out. And it continues… and continues… and to this day, nothing stops me from playing on bikes. Years of mountain bike riding in Aspen, CO, many months of riding the streets of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, two summers of cycling in Chicago (mostly to get to my Bikram yoga classes). Thousands of roadie miles in upstate New York, Connecticut, Aspen and Vail . And now, riding in Malaysia. Down in Kelantan and Kuala Terengganu, things are pretty mellow, but there’s still plenty of congestion to go out and “get skinny” amidst the cars near the central market. Yes, I do prefer open roads and challenging single track, but there’s something magical about squeezing through oncoming traffic while riding against it as opposed to with it.

So, the other day I decided I wanted to pay a visit to one of KL’s premier bicycle stores, KSH Bicycle. And talk about nice people? I am continuously blown away by the manners and mannerisms of the people over here. How to get there when it’s about 14km from my place? Huh… let’s see… On my bike, maybe? Yup, that’s the ticket. Do I know the way there? Nope. That’s what the iPhone and Google Maps is for. Will I be riding on public highways? Who gives a f*ck. Hills? Yes, KL has nice ones; middle ring stuff, for certain, especially for this old guy. Oh well, who’s in a hurry? Right?

So, with backpack, tools, tubes, lights, water and my trusty X-T1/XF35mm/1.4 R combo on my back and my little goodie bag with see-through iPhone holder mounted to the top tube, off we went into the great Malay unknown to go see a bike transport case so I can put my bike on an airplane. That was the main excuse anyway. Bike-porn was the primary reason… love this stuff. Shown above is clunker #2. Clunker #1 broke its bottom bracket after about a month’s worth of near daily pedaling, plus, the drivetrain was abysmal – didn’t shift worth a f*ck. So, I bought a better one, modded it out modestly and things are better. But, I want a *machine* and I’ll get a carbon fiber beauty soon enough.

Made it to the bike shop, but had to have the obligatory Nescafé, which is Malay for coffee mixed with Carnation evaporated milk. As you can see, the four-wheeled slalom gates are out in droves. Hehe… and they move too, making it even more thrilling.

Better than Hustler, better than Playboy… this is where The Juice is. Racks and racks of pre-built alu, ti, composites of every size, config, color, purpose and description. Aye, yay, yay… Hello, Visa? Umm…

Oh, and then there’s the wall of bare MTB frames. All the names are there and the price tags to go along with them.

Then, we got widgets. Widgets on bikes, widgets in cases, widgets in the “please ask for assistance” cases and on we go… knees trembling… drool.

Slobber. ‘Scuse me; where’s the cold shower please?

The banjo bolt on the brake line just about, well, you can figure it out.

Beautiful castings and CNCing. Makes me wanna…

ZZ Top: You sho’ got that right.

But it was this one that put me over the edge. The Eddie Merckx Mourenx 69. I had a Merckx Corsa Extra back in the mid ’90s, hand-made Reynolds 531 double-butted steel with all hand-brazed lugs. Fitted with full Campy record and sew-ups. Remember sew-ups and Tubasti rim glue? Oh, what fun that was; sitting by the side of the road getting this yucky junk all over everything while gluing a new tire to the rim… Nothing like it any longer. Nope. Tubeless, baby. Get out your wallet and call Visa back and start begging.

The good news or bad news, depending on which side of the monetary fence you’re on is the Malay ringgit is at an all-time low against the dollar, so these multi-multi thousand dollar rides can be had for a song over here right now.

And Macs? Hah! 15″ Retina with i7 quads and a 512 SSD? Just under $2k. Sick…

Soft case bike bag with built in internal aluminum frame and super nice wheel bags? $280.00. Thank you, I’ll be back tomorrow.

But the name-brand thing isn’t for me. Sure, I want the drivetrain and brakes, but JP LeMere is doing something different. So different in fact, that I’ll be working directly with him on my ride(s) and having them shipped over here. LeMere Bicycle is a very unique business, similar in ethics and practices to the guys at D2 Shoe. Everything is built to order, one at a time and all done by hand.

Nuts…

Gotta admit; the concussion I had is still messing with me. It’s my equilibrium when walking. Fortunately, with the help of the gyroscopic effect of spinning bicycle wheels, all is well. Haven’t lost any acuity while in traffic on the bike. Still quick, sharp peripheral vision, very light on the saddle. Thank goodness it wasn’t any worse.