Happy Chinese New Year Kuala Lumpur; 30/01/2011 to 3/01/2011

Because of the rain the bike ride never materialized so instead Richard took me to a market which opens at 6am and closes at 10am. Why would a market open these hours? Because they were illegal, nobody had a licenses and Richard told me if he was to have a pair of shoes stolen from his house this is where he come to get them back. Through the course of my time staying at Richards home with his family, he took me everywhere I think possible in Kuala Lumpur,  we visited the Batu Caves where monkeys run free and if you walk 272 steps (rough guess) you get fantastic view of KL and see what the caves are about.  I was shown round Chinatown which in KL is a pretty good place to be, Bukit Bintang Road which is an incredible shopping street of KL. One evening he showed me up to look out point where there was restraints situated with amazing views over KL,  the time there I thought this is one place where you would impress on a date (unless of course they had already been there).  With the upcoming Chinese New Year which for the Chinese is a big celebration Richard had invited me to stay till the first day as after that the traffic on the roads would be much quieter and much safer to ride on, of course I agreed, I was interested to see what the fuss was about. On the 2^nd of February I was just about oraganised ready to leave the next day but not before I went for a quick shopping trip to Tesco’s. This was my little bit of England and wasn’t to be missed.  After getting a few bits for the road I began to cycle back to Richards house, on the wrong road disaster struck, flying down a hill maybe around 40 to 50kmph I spotted a grill in the road (here instead of putting the grill cross ways incase someone on a bicycle hits it the put it long ways so all the crap goes down with the water thus not a cyclists friend) no time to break or change direction I jumped the front wheel to stop my self and bike becoming road kill but this meant my bike wheel took the full impact with a huge thud. Instantly I knew I was in the crap and slammed my back brakes on. Inspecting the back wheel there was a humongous dent where the main impact had ben and a rather sizeable area where the wheel was now flat.   

If any has wondered why a wheel is circular and not square I will tell you. Trying to cycle the 10kms back to Richards house on a bike that jumps and thuds every revolution of the wheel is neither comfortable nor (if you try and sit down) good for your manhood. Trying to ride this on what is all but a motorway is also not sensible, in order to prevent further damage I rode slowly about 20kmph when everything around me is going 100kmph, the danger comes when you get the exit/entry ramps when you have to pedal like mad to get across before becoming a permanent  part of the road, every time I did this the back end would bounce about like crazy sometimes even getting air and risking the possibility of falling before the car manages to knock me off.  I survived and made is back to Richards house alive, bonus, where an hour before the Chinese new years eve party was about to begin I needed a bike shop. Without thought or hesitation Richard got his son, also called James to take me to the only bike shop open where hopefully I’d get a new wheel.

Hopefully was the main word as the owner of the bike shop first try to sell me a racing wheel which contained 16 spokes maximum (apologies for the bike talk, those who don’t know bikes, the more spokes you have the stronger the wheel, my wheel had 36 spokes, very strong, 16 spokes is only suitable for racers). I instantly lost respect for the guy after this, I heard he’s the mechanic for the Malay national side so I believe he knew what he was talking about, this means he was blatantly trying to rip me off!! Refusing to accept his advice he then brought me another wheel a few more spokes but still from what I could see only suitable for racing and certainly not what you’d want for touring. He then went on to tell me my wheel very cheap, and very weak, after 8500km with no buckles and no broken spokes I strongly disagree. The guy was  really F*#&ing me off a lot, he began to speak Malay to James, before he announced he had a tandem bicycle wheel. Designed to carry the weight of two people this would be perfect. I thought why didn’t this moron try sell me this first, after being massively ripped off for the wheel I left only to discover the hub axle on tandem bikes is about 145mm, whereas my bike is made for 135mm axles.  To every problem there is a solution, with all the decent bike shops being shut for a week for Chinese new year I was praying for a solution. As there was a crowd of people round, mainly the rest of Richards family, sons daughters grandchildren in-laws I decided not to dwell on my problems but to do what I come to do, find out what the worlds about.

From the next couple of days I found out and experienced more about Chinese culture and the meaning of Chinese new year more than what I every would sat in a backpackers talking where you from, what’s your age etc….Chinese new year is best describe as a mixed up Christmas and new years, its about family, Richard has a huge family, eating lots of food you only eat once a year, there is not the exchanging of gifts as there is in Christmas but they do have the red envelope in which the married couples will fill with money and give out to all the single young ones as a sign of prosperity, I did ok out of it. Richard being the selfless person he is took himself away from this in order to solve my wheel problem, as the wheel I bought doesn’t sit into my bike, he found a bike shop open about 45minutes drive away, they didn’t have a wheel but did have a solution, change the axle with a smaller one. Only problem with this is the wheel then needs aligning when sat in the bike. Fixing this problem myself I hope my bike is bodged enough at least until I can make it to Bangkok. Staying with Richard and his family has been an amazing time, I discoved new foods like soya bean curd different sides of KL your average tourist doesn’t see, had my first Chinese new year and rediscovered old fashioned values of the west burn stronger in the east, that family is important. For showing me around KL and introducing me to your family Richard I take my hat off to you, this is what I dream of when traveling.

Next I head to the Cameron Highlands, bike fixed but I’m not fully confident it is, my knees are still rooted, in fact my left knee only appears to be getting worse, ignore a problem and it soon goes away, or is it the other way round?!?!!?