My Wife is Learning BikeTrials

Yesterday, my wife came out of the blue and said that she wanted to go cycling. I was like, "Er... is something wrong with you today?" Exercises of any sort has never been on her mind... no way! Even getting her to go for a walk around the neighborhood was almost impossible... LOL.

And today she wanted to go cycling! In the end I convinced her to try out BikeTrials, or at least just learn the track-stand... LOL. She told me that she wanted to change her lifestyle and start exercising, and lucky for me, she was convinced that cycling was the way to go... :-)

I told her that learning track-stand will be just as tiring as cycling a few laps around the neighborhood. And so, I took out my old cross-country bike. I was convinced that the center of gravity for the cross-country bike was low and thus, it would be easy for her to learn track-stand on that bike.



She tried to track-stand on the cross-country bike with much difficulty (incidently, it was the same bike I used, when I first started learning BikeTrials). The above video showed how she struggled to even balance for 5 seconds. Btw, if you are wondering why she was using slippers instead of a pair of shoes, lets just say that she was just plain stubborn... LOL.




After sweating and trying to track-stand on the cross-country bike for a while, I decided to let her try the 20" Monty 221PR. I figured, maybe, just maybe she will do better on the 20". If you watch the above video, you will see that she managed to track-stand for about 30 seconds! And this was just one of the many videos which I took that showed her balancing up to 30 seconds... :P

Damn... this was just too damn easy for her... and unfair!!! It took me quite a long time to learn to track-stand properly! And it took her just about an hour to pick up the skill? How come? Time to up the ante!!! Heheh!!

Hmm... lets see how she would do on my Echo Pure; very high center of gravity... will be tough... I thought. So, out came the 26" Echo Pure, and I got her to try it out. Honestly, I was quite blown away. The following video shows her track-stand on the 26" for more than 1 minute 30 seconds!!!!



How come? How come? What is the meaning of this??? I still have not figure it out yet... hmmm... maybe tomorrow, I will get her to try again. Beginner's luck lah... cheh!

Is it Pedal Up or Bunny Hop?

I was back at learning the pedal up again last Sunday. This time, I added an additional pallet, bringing the stack to 4 wooden pallets. The previous Sunday, I was training on 3 wooden pallets.

This time I was pretty single-minded. I did nothing but the pedal up. At first, it was difficult to get on top of 4 pallets, but once I could get up the first time, it was easier after that.


Learning to "pedal up" onto 4 wooden pallets.

After a while, I realised that I could not pedal up and land on just the rear wheel. It felt more like a bunny hop... except that I "pedal up" into the bunny hop, instead of "rolling" into a bunny hop. Did I say that correctly? Hmm...

How the heck do those guys do it? Here is a video of Wong Xu to show exactly what I want to be able to do... LOL.



And here is a video from Trashzen:



While writing this post and watching the videos, I realised that I was going about it all wrong! I should not be learning to pedal up higher, but rather lower, to get the technique correct first. Yes... nail that rear wheel down first!

I think that's what I am going to do this coming weekend :)

Paper Pallets For BikeTrial Training?

Never thought I would be interested in pallets, let alone those that are made of paper, which I thought was pretty damn cool! I saw an advert on this blog that promoted this company called DeFrazer that made compress paper pallets. They have offices in Malaysia and Singapore.

DeFrazer manufactures the Green Pallets, which they described as:

"It is with economically light and high strength quality using recycle paper, glue, and staples (when it is necessary).In addition, the outer layer of GREEN PALLET is made of craft paper and test liner which prevents moisture penetration What is more, we can also include an element that made out GREEN PALLET water proofing. The weight of GREEN PALLET is at approximately 8 to 12 kg which means lighter than wooden (range from 20 to 40 kg), plastic (range from 12 to 45 kg), and metal (more than 50 kg) pallet."



On their web site, they even have a DIY section, where they showed how a Green Pallet can be assembled.







The following photos demonstrated how sturdy and resilient the Green Pallets are:





Now if only I can get my hands on a few of these and test them out with my bike. First thoughts are that the Green Pallet will not last. The fact that the bike will pedal scratch and abuse the pallet with constant hammering and knocking, will probably turn the pallet into paper pulps in a couple of weeks... LOL.

As of now, more than half of the wooden pallets I have, had been repaired numerous times. Some of them have been infected with fungus, slowly eating the wood inside out. With the constant rain, the deterioration just gets worse... :-(

I guess it's time to call up my friends in Kepong to reserve some really nice wooden pallets for me... LOL.

A Sunday Afternoon Learning the Elusive Pedal Up

Last Sunday afternoon was a beautiful day. To me, a beautiful day is clear blue sky with partial cloud cover... LOL, but not the thunder storm-type of clouds. Just enough to provide more than an occasional shade from the Sun. In other words, it is a perfect day for BikeTrials!

I had not been training the pedal up for a long while now. My plan for that day was to get back to it. Up to now, the consistency in the pedal up is still elusive. The last time I trained the pedal up was back in September 2009.

And so that Sunday, I dedicated my time to the Pedal Up. This time, I up the ante a bit. I added another wooden pallet to make it 3 pallets high. But the wooden pallets kept shifting due to the enormous amount of pressure each time the rear wheel landed. So instead of just 3 pallets, I stacked up 8 pallets, 5 pallets at the back to support and prevent the pallets from moving. Check out the following video.


Relentless!

During the training, I discovered that there were two main things that affected my pedal up; the position of the hand brakes and the position of the handle bar. I will explain the details in a another blog post, but they sure affected my performance.


A Sunday afternoon of fun with BikeTrials.

It was a fun and satisfying afternoon. Looking forward to this coming weekend... LOL.

Related Post:

• The Elusive Pedal Up
• BikeTrials at Putrajaya Bike Park
  

BikeTrials at Home on Christmas Day

Finally had the chance to relax and ride some trials. What better day than on Christmas day itself... LOL. I did this in the last Christmas as well... :-)

Kids were excited about going to their aunt's place for Christmas dinner. The sky was slightly cloudy... just enough to hide the sun and provide the shade from the heat to make it a perfect day for trials :-)



After about 40 minutes into the session, I decided to shoot some videos and edit them into a movie.... Hahaha. Not exciting like those on Youtube. But it's still progress for me... LOL.

Tired as hell.... but loving every minute of it... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :-)

The Elusive Pedal Up

There is just no easy way to learn the Pedal Up. I have watched countless videos and read various tutorials from forums around the net. This has gotta be one of the most difficult technique for me to learn in BikeTrial.

I was quite methodical about it. I had surmised that in order to learn the Pedal Up, one must start with the Zap Tap, then the Touch Up (on a 20"... LOL) and then progress to the Pedal Up. They all required one common thing... proper foot positioning on the pedals.

Proper Pedal Footing

I am a right-footer, which meant my right foot is the fore foot on the pedal. And so the starting position for my right foot pedal would be at the 4 o'clock position and my left foot would be at the 10 o'clock position.

Here is a video of a Pedal Up shown to me by Wong Xu (from China). We were riding at the Putrajaya Bike Park two weekends ago and I took the opportunity to ask him to execute the move as slowly as he possible could.... LOL. See the following video, he just made it look so easy!!! LOL.

-----

Since Wong Xu was a right-footer as well, it was easy for me to see how it was done.

Dood! You Gotta be Dynamic

Later that week, I tried to follow the steps shown in the video. I could bring up the front wheel, but I just could not commit totally to pedal kick with my right foot when the time came. It required a very dynamic pedal kick on the right foot to bring the rear wheel onto the wooden pallet's edge.

Chicken Shit and Then Some

I chickened out always at the last moments... LOL. In fact, I had decided to forgo learning the Pedal Up altogether.

Yesterday, I was learning the pedal hops, pedal kicks and basically riding the home-made sections for an hour or so. I did not know what made me do it (I was dead tired and ready to call it a night)... without thinking, I decided to just try the Pedal Up. I managed to bring the front wheel up and committed to pedal hard on my right foot. To my surprise, I managed to bring the bike up and land two wheels on the double stacked wooden pallets.

Stoking the Adrenalin

The lack of sleep (woke up at 6:00am that day), tiredness and whatever fatigues went away that moment... LOL. I had already taken off my shirt and ready to pack it in... and now... I was totally stoked!!! Wow! I felt the motion and the "groove" of the move. I just had to continue. I wanted my body to remember the move!!!! HAhahaha.

And so, I called Joel to bring out the video camera to document my Pedal Up learning progress... LOL. The following video showed only the successful attempts out of probably a hundred failed or pathetic attempts... HAhah.


A two minutes video of a few hours of learning. The still elusive Pedal Up.

Today, I was supposed to go riding with Wong Xu, Syarul and Aris in the Shah Alam Lake Park. But the rain got the better of us and I decided to cancel it. Instead, I went looking for a pair of screws long enough to install the Echo brake booster for my 26" (which had major brake problems).

Anyway, after that I decided to continue learning the Pedal Ups as shown in the video above. Now, I have a bruised buttock, injured elbow and a fistful of blisters and callouses.

Almost got a cramp on my left thigh while writing this blog... need a break. Gonna skip riding tomorrow.... I hope... LOL.

BikeTrials at Putrajaya Bike Park

Last Saturday, I went riding trials in the Putrajaya Bike Park with Wong Xu of China. He had only been in Malaysia for about a month. He found my phone number from the BikeTrial Malaysia website and called 2 weekends before. I could only arrange for us to ride last Saturday.

We met up at the Cyberia Condos next to MMU and headed to the Putrajaya Bike Park. He told me that he was expecting to find a lot of BikeTrial riders in Malaysia. He was quite surprised when I told him that I know of less than 10 riders. Anyway, Wong Xu had been riding for more than 5 years in China. So, I took this opportunity to ask him to coach me on some of the skills.

Rulong Trial Bike. Made in China. Wong Xu has modified his hydraulic brakes to use water instead of hydraulic fluid. Cool!

The Pedal Up

I have been trying to get this right for the longest time, stacking up the wooden pallets, viewing all the related videos, and still not getting anywhere. And so I decided to put off learning and try later. But now I have Wong Xu to explain and show me, I am stoked again... Hahahah.

Wong Xu doing the pedal up as slow as he can to show me the technique.


Here in this video, Wong Xu explained to me how and where my foot should be placed.

The Pedal Hop

I had never really taken this technique seriously as I never had any problem learning it. That is, until riding on undulating or rocky sections... LOL. All this while, I had been learning and practicing on flat and level ground. Now I have a new respect for it!


Wong Xu showing me how I should practice the pedal hop. He said that this would be a very useful technique, especially when used in combination with other techniques. Useful for riding many different types of terrain, especially rocky sections.

Gapping on Rear Wheel

I have been practicing minor "gapping" on stacks of wooden pallets. But my goal was never to see how far I could gap. I was still trying to get comfortable with balancing on the rear wheel and pedal kicking across pallets. Until Wong Xu told me, I had not realised that for long distance gap, you do not actually use the pedal drive train to gain the distance, but rather just simply compressing the rear tire just as you make the jump. I gotta keep that in mind when I decide to try it... LOL.


Wong Xu demonstrating the long distance gapping technique.

All said and done, since that day, I simply did not have the time to ride. This whole week had been super rushed and busy. Anyway, Wong Xu called me up today and asked if we would be going riding this Saturday. I have decided to take him to Bukit Komanwel to ride some rocks... :-)



If anyone of you are interested, please let me know.

Btw, the Putrajaya Bike Park is still under construction. They are still working on the dirt jumps and ramps overlooking the skate park area. We were riding at the skate park area. Quite a nice place to practice.

Some BikeTrial Progress and Video Editing... LOL

It has been hard. After trying to learn the "zap tap" and "pedal kick" for a while now, I decided to up the ante a bit. And so I decided to move the stacks of pallets wider apart and try pedal kicking over the gaps.





Felt very scary at first, but after doing it for a few times, I became more confident. And then I got the idea of playing with different camera angles to try make a video "movie" of me trying to ride a section. Check out the edited and the unedited videos below... hilarious!


This video is made from a few videos I took from different angles and then composite together. This is the first time I tried doing something like this. Lots of fun!


This video shows the four videos before being edited and combined into a "movie".... LOL.

Learning Pedal Kick and Pedal Up Zap Tap

Last Saturday I decided to reward myself by getting a new pair of 661 shin guards from TTDI's KSH Bike shop. My old shin guards (which I have repaired many times over) have saved me from much agony and I felt that aside from the helmet, they were the most important equipment for learning BikeTrial... :-)


My old shin guards, which I have repaired many times.


Yeah, the new shin guards. Easy to wear and remove.

Anyway, while waiting for my kids to finish their replacement classes, I took some time off to practice what I thought was two of the most important biketrial skills after the three basics skills (track-stand, hopping and pivoting). They are the pedal kick and the pedal up zap tap.

Pedal Kicking down the Wooden Pallet

For pedal kick, I was trying to get my arm and shoulder muscles to toughen up... LOL. Then I tried learning to control the pedal kicks to be more precise. At first I tried just pedal kicking on a flat level ground. Then I decided to do it from a stack of pallets. I figured that if I could get use to the height and small gaps, I will be able to handle higher and wider gaps later... without the fear of height... LOL.

Maybe wishful thinking.... but my current goal is to train myself to be able to pedal kick and land anywhere I want just like in those videos I watched on YouTube... Hahaha. The following video shows me struggling with the pedal kicks down the wooden pallets.


I set up the wooden pallets from high to low, allowing me to start from the top and work myself down.



So tired! Learning to balance and pedal kicking down the wooden pallets.

Pedal Up Zap Tap Onto an Obstacle

The pedal up zap tap is one of the more useful skill needed to ride a section. It is necessary for climbing onto an obstacles. To me, it is one of the most difficult techniques to learn. I have been trying this for a month now and I seemed to be getting nowhere. The following video shows me attempting to pedal up zap tap a 2 feet stack of wooden pallet.


A stack of 4 wooden pallets, which I used to practice and learn the "pedal up zap tap".



My noobie step to "pedal up zap tap". I could only do it this way, until I can learn to fully commit, to "fly" up the pallets... which will lead me to learn the "touch up" and the "pedal up" LOL.

From here on until I really get it, I will be learning and training myself to master these two techniques. Hopefully, it will be soon.

Note: Got my terminology wrong... it's not a "pedal up" but a "zap tap" that I was learning. But my direction is to learn the "touch up" and "pedal up" after this... LOL.

Last night, managed to successfully execute the "touch up" a number of times... exhilarating!!! Unfortunately, one failed attempt injured my right knee, right toe and left calf went into a cramp!!! And now I am miserably on the bench!!!! Hate this! - Last updated July 10, 2009.

Forget Natural or Urban, Learn the Techniques First

In my previous blog post I have been talking about setting up a semi permanent BikeTrial training ground using wooden pallets or any other suitable materials. I have been trying to convey this idea to various friends and riders. Unfortunately, most of them do not feel the same way... LOL. But some of the responses were very supportive... :-)

The most common responses I received were that they prefer "natural" obstacles over "man-made" obstacles. I can see where they are coming from. They feel that natural were more demanding and challenging, and I totally agreed with them.

What is Natural?

For the BikeTrial uninitiated, when we say "natural", we are actually referring to naturally occurring obstacles such as tree roots, rock formations, boulders or fallen logs, etc. So basically, a natural section is made up of combination of these "natural" obstacles that a rider needs to overcome to ride and complete the section.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make here is that in Malaysia, we do not have any really experienced BikeTrial riders. There are still a lot of techniques or skills that we do not know (at least based on the number of riders I know of and have ridden with). And I can really see that as being a major hurdle to progress... LOL. We rely a lot on videos from YouTube or BikeTrial forums, etc. and occasionally tips from fellow riders in Singapore to learn the many BikeTrial techniques... LOL.

And so... I strongly advocate having a semi-permanent area setup for BikeTrial, which I think will expedite the training and improve the steep learning curve of the various techniques or skills. I think this is the fastest way for us to learn, where we meet, share and learn from each other as we progressed... hahah.

Only after learning the many skills and techniques to a consistent level, do I think that we can progress to decide if we like "natural" or "urban" sections... LOL. So please dun tell me you like "natural" when I say, lets set up a BikeTrial training area with wooden pallets and such... and I will buy you a teh tarik... LOL.

How many BikeTrial Riders in Malaysia?

Based on my last count, I think there are about 9 proper trial bikes (with 8 riders) that I know of in Malaysia. Kind of pathetic if you ask me... LOL. But nevertheless, in 2007, there was only 1 trial bike (Syarul's bike... LOL). So this is progress indeed.

1. Syarul (Neon Bike 20") - bought from Singapore
   
2. Sean (Echo Pure 26") - bought from Singapore
3. Helmi (Adamant 20") - bought from Singapore
4. Aris (Monty 218 20") - bought from Shah Alam, Malaysia
   
5. Nico (Yaaba 20") - bought from UK
6. Shawn (Monty 20") - bought from UK
7. Jack (Monty 221PR 20") - bought from Singapore
8. Jack (Echo Pure 26") - bought from Singapore
9. Henry (Echo Lite 20") - bought from Singapore

A big milestone this year is that, there is actually a bicycle supplier in Malaysia with the foresight (at least that's what I would like to think... LOL) to import Monty Trial bike from Taiwan. The Monty 218 20". Hopefully, this will play a part to spur the growth of BikeTrial in Malaysia.

BikeTrial is a perfect Spectator Sport?

Another reason for setting up a semi-permanent BikeTrial training ground is that it will aid in the promotion of the sport. BikeTrial is the perfect spectator sport, where anyone watching will be mesmerized by the riders riding the obstacles in the man-made sections. Even the design of the trial bikes will get so much attention... "Eh... what happened to the seat?" LOL

BikeTrial Malaysia has Future?

Anyway, here is a video of how the BikeTrial Champion (Dani Comas) of the World trains with his friends... LOL. Check out the training ground specifically designed for BikeTrial. Maybe one day, we will have a training ground like those shown in the videos below... :-)


Dani Comas and friends

And another...


Nóra Tavasi from Hungary.

Learning the Side Hop

I have been trying to learn the "side hop" for the longest time. Ever since Oct 23 last year, I have been trying and trying and trying... to learn this elusive skill.

During that time, I basically did what I called the "chicken" side hop... LOL. Basically, I just pulled the handlebar up and backward to pivot back, and then hopped onto the wooden pallet. It looked nothing like the Ryan Leech's Side Hop video. I did not have the guts to pedal down to bring up the front wheel... which is why I called it my "chicken" side hop... Hahah.

Anyway, early this month, I decided to try learn the skill again. This time, I concentrated on just pedaling down to bring up the front wheel before extending my arms to bring up the rear wheel, similar to a bunny hop... but as stationary as I could possibly managed.


This video showed me trying to learn by pedaling down to bring up the front wheel before extending my arms to bring up the rear wheel.

I practiced that for about a week, but could only managed to side hop onto a single level of the wooden pallet and rather inconsistently at that. Today, I decided to try a different way to do the side hop. I started in a rear wheel hop position and then side hop onto the wooden pallets. On the first try, I could managed it beautifully!!!

You could imagine how happy I was... Hahahah. I was stoked! I did it a couple more times and decided that I must take a video of this new milestone... LOL.


Joel had to stop doing his homework to help me take this video... I dun think he minded at all... LOL


Far from being perfect, the side hop from another camera angle.

It is quite obvious that I still have a long way to go to master this new skill. From the Ryan Leech video, one could discern how useful this skill would be when riding a rock section. I just cannot wait to be able to side hop consistently and doing the many variations of the side hop.

The day will come when I will be able to put all these BikeTrial skills together in a symphony of synchronized movements to conquer a section!

Setting Up a Semi-permanent Place for BikeTrials Training

For the longest time, I have been repetitively watching a lot of competition videos from BikeTrials.com and one of my favourites was the Bar-H Bash Competition, where they rode man-made sections. That gave me the idea and the yearning to want to set up a mock section similar to that at home.

And so I began collecting wooden pallets, starting with those, which I took from the BikeTrials demo by Walton, Ben and Nelwin; organised by Syarul. I managed to collect enough to set up a section that allowed me to train and hone the basic skill sets of BikeTrial.


The section set up in my house.

Ever since then, I have been thinking about finding a public place that is more accessible to all, to set up a semi-permanent location for training BikeTrials. I have benefited so much from practicing on it, and I think others will too.

I mooted the idea to Syarul earlier this month (March 8th) and ever since then, we have been looking for the ideal location. My plan was to use wooden pallets, logs, tyres and other man-made objects to create mock sections, designed to be ridden using the various BikeTrials skills and techniques.

Having a training location like this will enable newbies to fast-track their learning, guided by more experienced riders. Riders with any type of bikes will be able to test their mettle on these sections.

The following are images I have captured from the videos I downloaded from BikeTrials.com, an American BikeTrial site although outdated, still has a lot of resources promoting trials. Check out the following man-made sections in the Bar-H Bash Competition held in 2006.











Now imagine, if we were to have a permanent place to set up BikeTrials sections like those shown in the above images... Wow!!! LOL...

The plan would be to have a wide variety of sections set up with the intention of challenging riders to pit their skills against the obstacles. And if the BikeTrial community grows big enough, we can have our own little competition where we can invite riders from other places or countries to participate... :-)

So if you have any ideas to contribute or empty land (accessible and not too far... LOL) you want to loan to us to set up a BikeTrial training ground, please let us know... LOL. The ideal location would be the grounds around an old abandoned warehouse, an abandoned car park or a park where they will allow the set up of all these "obstacles".... LOL

Until we find the perfect location... lets keep on riding... :-)

Things I learned from participating in a BikeTrial Competition

First off, why did I participate in a BikeTrial competition? Firstly, I want to see what it feels like to ride a section other than the ones I setup myself... LOL. Secondly, I can learn so much from so many riders by just watching them ride a section, and then trying myself. Thirdly and most importantly, it is just so much fun!!!!

Here is a list of things I learned from participating in the Round 1 of Singapore National BikeTrials Competition this year:

1. Favourite or "chocolate" foot

When first starting to learn track-stand, you have to determine which of your feet is your "favourite" or "chocolate" foot. This is the foot that you place on the fore pedal. My favourite foot is my right foot. I was only able to track-stand consistently with my favourite foot in front. After training for a while, I managed to get comfortable with having the left foot in front, albeit inconsistently.

What I learned during the competition was that being consistent with track-stand using either foot was critical to riding the sections. Because sometimes, you cannot control which foot you need to use for a dab, especially when you loose your balance.

If you are not comfortable with the foot on the pedal, recovering from the dab could be very expensive... LOL. That is, utilising an extra dab to get your favourite foot on the pedal to get back to riding.

During a dab, the position of your bike could be in all kind of weird positions, which may be difficult to adjust, maneuver or recover from. So train yourself to recover from a dab with your trial bike in as many varied positions as possible.

In conclusion, it is important to train yourself to recover from a dab using either foot on the pedal and with the trial bike in any position.

2. Walk The Section Before Riding

I learn from watching the more experienced riders that walking through the section before riding is very important. Half the battle is already won if you can determine the perfect riding line prior to starting on the section. It will also enable you to fully utilise the 2 minutes allocated to finish riding the section.

When walking through the sections try to do the following:

• Identify possible difficult parts of the sections that will require extra effort and energy to ride.
  
• Identify when to use a dab if necessary.
  
• Identify rest points along the sections. Use your tires or pedals to rest if necessary.
  
• Identify and evaluate the techniques to be used for riding the section.
• If possible, see how other riders ride the sections and adapt it to your style and skill level.
  

3. Slow down and Don't Panic

I have a big problem with this. Maybe it is the adrenalin... LOL. You just have to tell yourself to do it. I suppose more competition experience will help here. But I doubt it... LOL.

4. Rest

Take the time to rest while riding a section. Relax, 2 minutes is longer than you think... Hahaha.... yeah right! This is why when walking the section, you need to identify the rest points, where you can use the least amount of energy to rest by using the pedals or tires. (For UCI competition rules, you can't use the pedals to rest.)

5. Breathe

I always see the experienced riders taking hard and deep breaths before they ride a difficult part of a section. The correct way to breath would be in through the mouth and out through the mouth? (Can someone confirm this?)

Anyway, my problem is that I forget to breath when I ride... LOL. This affects my stamina and I am usually exhausted by the time I reach one third of a section... LOL. Som good news is that since then, I have improved quite significantly... LOL. So learn to breath... Hahah.

6. Understanding Bike setup

Understanding how to setup a bike properly for a section is critical. What I learned during this particular competition was that when riding "natural" (natural means sections built from the natural terrains - grass, moss, logs, roots, rocks, etc.) deflate your tires reasonably according to your weight. This will enable you to get more tire surface area contact with the ground, thus giving you more grip.

In my case, I deflated my tire too much and received a puncture on the front wheel when I missed an extend and landed on the edge of a rock as I slipped... LOL.

Another tip I learned was to loosen the screws on the brake lever brackets holding it to the handlebar. This is just in case when you crash your bike, having a loose bracket will prevent your aluminum brake lever from breaking off (and thus ending your competition if you dun have a spare).

7. Understand the Rules

Knowing the BikeTrial rules is definitely important for any rider intending on competing. I definitely need to have better understanding of the rules. Maybe after I get myself trained as a Observer... LOL.

I still need a lot of training in all the above areas. There are probably a lot of other things which I am not aware of, but this is a start.

The competition really made me realised how much more things I needed to learn and I am only referring to the basic stuff. Forget the rest, balancing on "natural" terrains is a big challenge for me. Mostly, I trained on hard concrete and tarmac ground. I was totally not used to the varied combination of loose, wet, slippery and soft ground.

In any case, if you are a beginner like me, I hope that the above points will help you ride better... If you have more points to contribute, please feel free to post your comments. Cheers... :-)

BikeTrials History in Bukit Komanwel Park?

Today, 4 Malaysians (Syarul, Helmi, Wyatt and me) got together to share, learn and ride trials. This has got to be the largest gathering of Malaysian BikeTrials riders (with three trial bikes - Echo Pure, Neonbike and Adamant) in the history of Malaysia ever!!! LOL.

This is indeed a great start to BikeTrial in Malaysia. Lets hope the community will grow from 4 to the hundreds!!!!

Wyatt currently rides a brand new Da Bomb's Tora Bora. Now he wants to sell the XC bike to buy a second-hand trial bike... LOL. He is really stoked and is determined to focus all his energy on learning BikeTrials... :-)

Helmi is the proud owner of the Adamant, which he bought from Syarul a few months back. He is a quick learner. From what I heard from Syarul, Helmi could climb steps almost immediately... LOL.

Syarul explaining to Wyatt about the finer points of track-stand on his Neonbike.

Wyatt getting ready to take a ride on a trial bike for the first time ever.

Wyatt took the Neonbike for a spin. He tried the hydraulic brakes and was shocked at how sticky the brake was... LOL.

We are planning to ride again next Saturday, but yet to decide on the location. Will update later... :-)

10 Reasons To Start BikeTrials

It has been more than a year since I started taking an interest in BikeTrials. Personally, I know of less than 10 persons in Malaysia, whom are interested in BikeTrials, and even less if I count those who ride trials. BikeTrials has been around for so many years the World over.

It is also a cycling sport that is sanctioned by UCI (International Cycling Union). Our neighbours bordering us, Singapore and Thailand, have a much bigger BikeTrial following, with Singapore leading the way. Why is it that out of a population of 27 millions, I know less than 10 Malaysian trial riders?

Here are 10 reasons why I think cyclists in Malaysia should take up BikeTrials:

1. It is a great way to excercise and stay healthy; body, mind and soul!
2. It is the ultimate individual sport on two wheels. Some event organisers are calling it a great spectator sport, because all eyes will be on the rider and machine.
3. You will learn and master the art of riding and controlling a bike like never before.
4. You can ride trials anywhere and anytime, rain or shine! 5 square feet will give you so much fun!
5. You will be part of a select group of people that will help to spread and propel BikeTrials to the rest of Malaysia.
6. You will be able to make so many friends.
7. You will capture the imagination of all your non-cyclist as well as cyclist friends, whom will look at you in a totally new light... possibly "shock and awe"... LOL.
8. Your seat-less bike will always be the center of attention where ever you go.
9. You will never get tired of explaining what BikeTrial is... LOL.
10. You will be so so so filled with personal satisfaction whenever you can achieve a new move or technique.

I am sure there are more than 10 reasons. But I will leave that to your imagination.

If you have decided that you wanna give BikeTrials a try, I gotta let you know that it is not going to happen over night. You should be prepared to dedicate time and effort to it. Watch BikeTrial videos over and over, again and again and again. Train, practice and train... :-)

So where to start... how about here? Btw, learning trials with friends is much faster and more fun!

Practice, Train, Practice

Yesterday... I practiced, trained and practiced.

Ever since the tournament in Singapore on March 8th, I have wanted to really step up to the next level. But it is just so difficult! 

I just have to be Relentless! Right?

My New Milestone in BikeTrials

After 14 months of learning and training the basic skills of BikeTrials, I have decided to test myself on a home-made section.

The design of the section had to be within my current skill level. I remembered a friend from Singapore telling me that, you only need to master 3 basic BikeTrial skills to be able to compete. And they are track-stand, hopping and pivoting.

I dun think I have mastered those 3 skills, probably intermediate level... or less... LOL. The full list of basic BikeTrial skills that I have learned (but yet to mastered) are:

• Track-stand
• Hopping
• Pivoting
• Pedal hop/punch
• Pedal kick
• Rear wheel hop

And so I set out to collect wooden pallets and concrete blocks as materials to create an obstacle course for the section that I personally think would be ridable using only the 3 basic skills of track-stand, hopping and pivoting. From the following photo, you can see the results of my hard work... LOL.


A BikeTrial section that can have many Start and Finsh points, depending on how creative you get.... HAhaha.

When I started to layout the section, I wanted to ensure that it is doable with those three basic skills. But then again, depending on where I set the Neutral, Start and Finish zone on the above same layout, I can make the section tougher or easier.

My First BikeTrial Section

The Start and Finish points of this section was to ensure that I can use the 3 skills of track-stand, pivoting and hopping to clear it. My objective was to clear the section with out any dabs! Yes, zero dabs! "Clean" the section as they say.

When I first setup the section and looked at the ride directions, the first thing that crossed my mind was that it was a piece of cake to ride! Hahahaha... EASIER SAID than DONE!!!! Let me put it as gracefully as possible... I fumbled, fived, blistered, stumbled and almost passed out from loss of stamina.


This photo illustrate where I start and finish. The arrows indicate the directions, where I would be riding.


This is the same photo of the above, but with the "no-ride zone" marked out in Blue and the Neutral "start zone" marked out in Green. If any of my wheels touch the Blue zone, it would be considered a automatic 5... that means you are out!

After trying and trying and trying... I could managed to finish the section in 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 dabs... NEVER zero dab! It was getting more and more frustrating.

So last night, I decided to use my 26" (I was using the 20" all this while) to try ride the section. I did it a couple of times, again missing the elusive zero dab! I was going to give up for the night when I decided to give it one final try and switched to using my 20" Monty.

To my amazement, handling the 20" was smooth and easy (I think after using the 26", moving to the 20", made it easier to balance and ride) I managed to ALMOST reach the Finish line with ZERO dab... WHEN my son came out and called, "Daddy, Mommy calling you!"

Needless to say, I was startled and ENDO-ed at the finished line crashing into the flower pots!!!

LOL... I could not believe it! I almost did it! The front wheel hub almost crossed over the imaginary finish line with zero dab! I was stoked! The fire was burning HOT!

After that I managed to zero-ed the section 3 more times!!! And just so I could sleep better, I did it a fourth time!!! LOL... I was very tired and my arm muscles were aching... but who cares I cleared it!

Variations of the Same Section

I am now contemplating the following ride directions. It would be very much more challenging than the previous configuration. I think here, I would be required to pedal kick off the platform onto the concrete block, precision pedal kick is still a skill I am totally not comfortable with yet.


Different Start and Finish points, changes the skills level required to ride this section.


This is the same photo of the above, but with the "no-ride zone" marked out in Blue and the Neutral "start zone" marked out in Green.

As of now, I have no confidence in finishing this section with zero dab. I think I can clear it with 2 dabs. HAhaha... lets see how it goes. Most likely, I will continue to ride the previous section until I can really ride it at zero dab consistently.

Cheers!

Christmas BikeTrials and Trouble with a Pair of Reebok

Earlier this week I received a text message from Syarul to go riding trials on Christmas day. I had to turn him down as I was not mobile due to a bad car accident a few weeks ago that put my pick-up in the workshop.

My last biketrial outing was to the Shah Alam Xtreme park and since then, I had only been riding in and around my house. I missed a happening MTB hash in Putrajaya and a BikeTrial demonstration event opposite the Tesco in Shah Alam last weekend. I am looking forward to getting my truck back next week.


Learning the rear wheel stand on a stack of wooden pallets.

Anyway, whenever I could ride, I have been focusing my training my balancing on the rear wheel stand in a confined and limited space; and on a stack of wooden pallet.

I rationalised that without a good balance control on the rear wheel stand, it would be very difficult for me to progress properly and consistently to the other related skills. And to make it more challenging, I must not only be able to rear wheel stand in a confined space but also a space that is elevated at least a foot or more off the ground (to let me get use to the height... LOL).

I had been training the rear wheel stand on the wooden pallets for 2 weeks now and I could see progress and improvement in the control of the bike.

And so today, on this perfect weather Christmas day, I got up at about 10:00am and started riding. I decided to try out the new pair of Reebok shoes I bought from Jakarta specifically for biketrial.


Bought this pair of Reebok from Jakarta for only RM95.

After my usual stretching, I warmed up with some hopping and pivoting. Then I started on the rear wheel stand and the first thing I noticed about the new shoes were that the soles were made of a harder compound and I could not get a good grip on the pedals.


The grips on my Echo's pedals were pretty sharp and had been on target to destroy all three pairs of my favourite riding shoes.

I did not know it at first but the Reebok's lack of grip on the pedal had affected my riding. I could not balance well on the rear wheel stand as I could not grip the pedals properly to hop to adjust my balance.


My many attempts at balancing on the rear wheel stand with the new pair of Reebok. (The background Power Puff theme song was hummed by my daughter... adding to the tension... LOL.)

After numerous attempts of struggling with the bike and getting really frustrated, I decided to switch back to my old Bata Power runners... LOL.


The old reliable Bata Power runners.


The sole of the Reebok and the Bata Power shoes compared.


With the old Bata shoe, the difference is obvious... LOL.

After switching to the old Bata shoe, I could immediately rear wheel stand properly. Maybe the Reebok needed to be seasoned. I hope I can worked it into a nice pair of riding shoes. And...


My pair 661 gloves.

... I need to get a new pair of gloves that reinforced the padding around the index finger. I guess biketrials is more demanding on the braking and thus more wear and tear around the index finger. This pair of 661 did not even last a year!

All in all, riding biketrial is an excellent way to spend Christmas day! Here is wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Bike Trial Progress: Beautiful 14

These past 4 days, I have been hard at work training on my trial bike. After work, if there is no jam, I would reach home by 6:45pm. During the drive (about 40 minutes), I would visualise how I would be training, especially the rear wheel hop.

I am still far from getting my balancing dialed. The hopping and pivoting are coming along, but I still feel that my track-stand really needs work. How the heck do those guys do it? Besides, it is extremely boring just practicing track-stands only.

For now, I get the most satisfaction from doing the rear wheel hop. Each time I could hop on the rear wheel, I get motivated. Today is quite historic, I managed to rear wheel hop 14 times! The feeling and sense of achievement was very satisfying. My target was to accomplish 10 hops by June and I have more than accomplished that.

I have learned to slow down the hops and adjust the body weight. I have also tried to keep the hop minimal so that I can conserve my energy.

Again, I really admire and respect those biketrial riders for their skills. They are truly masters of their bikes! Amazing!

Related Post: My Bike Trial Progress: Hopping for Joy!

My Bike Trial Progress: Hopping for Joy!

Today, after 3 days of rest from training trials, I have managed to improve my rear wheel hopping significantly. This is a very important milestone for me. When I first started to learn the rear wheel hop, my target was to be able to reach 10 hops by June this year. And today, I have achieved 9 hops!


Yahoooo! 9 hops on the rear wheel!

After about 2 hours of trying, I managed to get up to 7 hops. Then I was doing about 5 to 6 hops. It was when I decided to shoot the video for this blog that I managed to achieve 9 hops. Oh what a feeling!!!! I feel enormously gratified.

The very first time I reached 6 hops, my body started to remember how to do it. After that, it got easier and easier.

I hope to be able to rear wheel hop consistently. The most challenging part is the balancing on one wheel. The hopping is my reaction to counter the off-balance.

Oh, another significant milestone for me is that I am now able to do the forward hopping using pedal kick.


Hopping forward on two wheels using the pedal kick technique.

Although gratifying, I know that there is still a long way to go for me! But I am really enjoying it!

Video credits goes to my son, Joel Hii. Thanks Joel!