Monday, January 06, 2014

First Car Free Day 2014 in Kuala Lumpur

Happy New Year! This is my first posting for 2014 and I wish everyone a good year ahead.
Prior to this there was a similar event held on 22 September 2013 covering a distance of 4km and I reckon it was the start of such event in Malaysia. You can see here for the posting of this previous event.
On this Sunday of 5 January 2014, Kuala Lumpur created the first Car Free Day for the Year. Certain roads were supposed to close from 7.30am to 9.30am (but not really).
A group of us gathered to start from Lake Titiwangsa. We joined the official event from Kg. Baru as we could not reach the starting point on time.
The crowd was very encouraging and it was so nice to see the various mix of people. How wonderful if we can do it every weekend instead of every month.
The affected roads were not totally car free in fact some stretches were with moving cars. We hope DBKL will take note of this issue and improve it for future events in the name of safety.
I like seeing skaters on the road just this family, they were having great time on the road....way to go!!!! 
Thank you to all the traffic enforcers for taking care of the traffic.
This was the finishing point and it was also the starting point.... a place & time where friends meet friends. What a wonderful day for the cycling community.
To cycle 6km ride on a beautiful Sunday is definitely not enough.....so we went for more ... starting from the river edge wall mural which is very near to Menara DBKL.
Wow... for the first time I see such a big group here, this picture shows only part of us.....
I hope those visiting for the first time enjoy themselves with this experience at the river edge.
The end of the river side ride, some wanted to go to Petaling Street, some Brickfields, some wanted eat Ampang Yong Tau Foo and some wanted to go back....so we split accordingly. It was so good to see so many happy faces having fun cycling together.
Rolling slowly along the Klang River and enjoying the lovely scenery. 
The grouping for Ampang bound and a total of 18 of us that were gamed for Yong Tau Foo.
After a short & pleasant ride at this favourite canopied lane we stopped here for this memorable shot.
We passed by crowded places like Jalan Silang and Jalan Bukit Nanas before entering the surroundings of KLCC.
We could not resist stopping here for the mother of all KLCC hot spot. 
Photo courtesy of Kook Keong.
Making a crossing with the help of the traffic light at Jalan Ampang & Jalan Tun Razak junction. 
Cycling along Jalan Tun Razak on a Sunday morning.
After a long ride from City centre to Ampang we stopped by here for a thirst quencher...the coconut water was awesome. A place where Hakka speaking people takes control.
Ampang famous Yong Tau Foo @ Foong Foong - our first target for food.
Unbelievably a suggestion was made for another round of food and this time for something that melts in the mouth. So Soo Kee Restaurant was the next target. Cyclists can eat and really eat....
After the two rounds of eating, we needed to shed some calories hence a detour was drawn out on our way back to the city
It was another river side ride, cool and quiet. It was absolutely 100% car free if you compare to the official event.
We were like in another world, the air was cool & quiet.
Let's check it out the mural on the wall.....
Photo courtesy of Rita Wong.
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Cyclists getting out off the small escape opening located beneath Ampang Elevated Highway. Something that was fun apart from the normal cycling.
Photo courtesy of Kook Keong.
These were the friends that extended their Sunday ride for a little extra adventure at one of the nooks of Kuala Lumpur.
Photo courtesy of Alex Moi.
Thank you Kook Keong for this tracking, a route we took on this particular day covering a distance of 35km. Well done my friends we shall do more in the near future.

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