Biking my way to goodbye

I'm so glad I got the bike I have now.

Initially I took a look at Faruqi's, the specialist biker's shop and saw this delicious slender speed machine. It was gleaming green. I stroked it, admired it, felt its light-weightedness and thought to myself.. man I can fly with this thing. But when I asked the price, all I saw flying was my hard earned money. RM3700... NO WAY.

So I headed on to good old Tai Fatt Hong where they sell el cheapo bikes. I found it. RM 285. Simple body and wheels, gears that work and well, it LOOKS like a racing bike. With a few modifications, putting on stirrups on the pedals, some flashing reflectors, a cat's eye lamp, and cradle for a water bottle - I got what I needed.

The only thing now is that it looks quite good for a sub300 machine and I couldn't possibly keep it at the ground floor of my flats. I risk inciting the kleptomaniac in the kids that live there and the next thing I know, my bike will be stripped bare, or worse - gone (like my first bike.) So I heave it up 6 flights of stairs down and up, down and up, down and up EVERY time I go riding. That's a muscle workout right there before and after every pedalling session.

Ah. But a small sacrifice for being able to ride like the wind. I have some 12 weeks left in Kota Bharu. I'm starting late, but I still have time to ride to all the beaches and beautiful kampung roads around Kubang Krian. I don't think I'll be able to do anything like that in KL.

I will miss this place for the quiet, unassuming beauty that is kampung life. Sigh.. My last fling with Kelantan, after 9 years... A journey that's about to end, yet a journey that's just started.