Riding Miss "V" to Penang Bridge International Marathon 2012

In case anyone is wondering.. Miss V is THIS

After my failure to do a Sub-1:40 for PNM HM, I'm giving it another go at Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) 2012 & succeeded tremendously ~ well that almost sums up 90% of the story.

To make things more interesting, I decided to ride my Versys since I haven't really had a chance to use the side panniers; GIVI V35 ~ I sold the thing anyway last week.

My journey took me 421km up North of Peninsular Malaysia *according to mr google maps.

I load both the panniers with almost everything except my wallet & phone and they still have considerable space to be filled. That includes running shoes, sandals, water etc etc etc... Apart from making the bike look good, they could be filled up quite a bunch.

The actual plan was to ride directly to Kampung Sungai Sumun to meet up with my family (they decide to drive) there and have lunch at one of my relatives house there. Initially it was going according to plan, but since I did a speed test with the bike loaded; about 190km/hour, I decide to stop by Bukit Melawati for a short diversion and hopefully reach Kampung Sungai Sumun on time. This decision was largely based on the fact that I have never set foot at the historic site there although I have been passing through the area a handful of times already *I also want to brag to my family that I could divert anywhere and still ride fast enough to catch-up with them!! LOL!!

It turns out that I was late for about 15 minutes.. but hey!! That was good enough considering I manage to stroll around the area and visit the museum!!

After having lunch and a short nap, I went out first and ride towards Pantai Remis to enjoy the sea side view before heading to Changkat Jering to enter the North-South Expressway to Penang.

Upon setting foot in the island, I head out to Queensbay Mall to take my race bib before heading to my cousins house in Bukit Jambul. My memory Serves me well, I ride directly to my cousins house just by remembering the route via google maps earlier in the day back in KL.

This time, my girlfriend also comes to support me. She took the AEROLINE bus from KL with my cousin and her fiancee.

The next day, we (the whole 16 bunch of us) decided to have a quick visit to Pulau Aman to eat seafood and enjoy some natural beauties in the island. Not that enjoyable though.. still worth the visit =p

Some pictures in Pulau Aman.

Now, the race!!

Last minute energy consumption; HONEY!! *My girlfriend and my little sister in pink!

Just after Penang Bridge, nearing 16km water station.

Shots of me by Munzir Alawi of Magic Moments Picture around 16km mark water station.

Last stretch towards finish

Nearing finishing line.

Finished my best Half-Marathon in 1:34 Hours.

Yes I'll definitely come back again next year. It will in at the NEW bridge! Yeahh!

My time is not captured by the system.. Oh well.. what to do..

I sent this out to the organizers to get it fixed.

The ride back took me 354km via North-South Expressway.

The ride back was a bugger. It rains starting from Batu Kawan signboard until about half-hour after Tapah. This is the first time I met a fellow VOG-ians on the road.

I arrived safely in KL about 10pm. Done!!

LOL!!