More than 15 years ago when I was still a teenager in high school with no access to any means of private transportation, I picked up cycling. Mountain biking to be more exact, I had a Mongoose mountain bike with cheap front suspension and many other mods on my bike. It was my ticket to freedom, imagine, as a teenager, I could go almost anywhere I like.
The whole modding obsession started when I was a kid, with mountain bikes and trust me, there are just so many things we can mod on those bikes. Shimano dominated the scene and once a while (due to lack of the internet in those days), bicycle magazines especially mountain bike ones were rather scarce and very expensive.
In my cycling journey, I used to cycle from Bandar Utama to Sungai Buloh using an old shortcut through the side of Tropicana and then end up at the roundabout near the old Subang Airport. Back then, there were no roads, so it was already an off-road course, we squeezed through old rubber estate roads passing by the occasional tractor or so. Then from the roundabout, we would cycle all the way through the main roads, avoided getting hit by cars, motorbikes and lorries only to reach a hill at Sungai Buloh where the bunch of us would again risk our lives cycling incredibly (we thought it was fast in our heads) downhill.
Another route we used to take was to cycle through Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, pass by the Penchala village and only to emerge at a quarry near Kepong. From there, we would cut through Menjalara and through the main roads towards the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia or FRIM for short.
In all the routes I took, it was both a mix between residential areas, off-road and highways. The scariest bits were the highways and getting past them was no easy feat especially during peak traffic hours. Hand signals and side mirrors became my best friends getting me from one end of the road to the other end.
Fast forward to the present and here I am driving on the highways and driving on the smaller routes such as through Route 68 or through Ulu Yam town where we often pass by cyclists on our “spirited” drives. It seems that the cycling boom is back again and this time around we will meet a lot of them on the roads and even on the highways.
All I can say is be aware of them and try to avoid hitting them. Be courteous to them and they will in kind be courteous to us. The road is a public road and is for all to use. I know how it feels to be on the other end as well.
At the same time, cyclists should also be aware of oncoming cars and try not to block the road. If there are dedicated bicycle lanes, use them. There has been far too many accidents and deaths where cyclists get hit by cars. I hope that once everyone is a lot more safety conscious, it will be one step closer to safer roads for all users.
