Ride with Dad: 60km

Last weekend I rode with my dad.

We had a plan: ride to my cousin's house for breakfast and ride back. They live in Bandar Baru Bangi, and we will start from dad's house at Nilai Impian. I've never rode the route before but dad has - alone, I might add - and he says it's pretty cool.

The first part of the ride took us through Kg Batang Benar. It is my favorite part of the ride. It was shady, veryyy scenic and peaceful. No cars passed by, only motorcycles. No dogs. It was cool and shady, even though we started late (750 am). It was a mostly flat route, no major climbs. In fact, there were no major uphill along the whole route, only 2-3 little rollers that might make your heart beat race a little bit. Nothing major. It was really cool riding with dad. This is my 6th time I think with him and he has improved sooo much. He used to be a really bad roadie. Utter disregard for traffic and cars, not even bother to look back at me and see if I was safe - his own daughter! Even then I still had to remind him to keep to the shoulder of the road as he tended to veer towards the middle of the road.

My dad is an improved cyclist. When we first started he was slow and only fast on flats. That too, would be only for a while. Forget about hills. It was almost shameful to watch him hustle and bustle. I've been too used over him gloating that this old man can beat his own daughter that seeing him choking on my dust seemed... barbaric. But he cycles continuously, during the weekdays he would do a 'sprint repeat' or intervals, just riding at full speed until he tires. He attacks hilly routes sometimes. But those helped. He is now a better cyclist than me - who rides once in a while now. I am proud of him. He's what - 60 years old and still well, roughly fit.

The ride to Bandar Baru Bangi was hot and dusty. Traffic wasn't all bad, none of the cars paid any attention to us. We arrived at my cousin's house more or less on the time we had estimated. She has prepared a sumptuous feast of Nasi Lemak and chicken fritters and iced drinks. What awesomeness.

The way back was even better. It was really hot, and I was dying. We went the shorter way via Bukit Mahkota and there was this one long stretch of an uphill. My dad climbed smoothly while I was too drained to 'fight'. I could see my dad slowly gloating over the fact that he beat his own daughter.

We arrived at 1130 am. And then slept.