What are the chances of this happening?

Julien Simon ascended the top of the podium in the Tour du Finistere decked in his Saur-Sojasun kit on Saturday, April 14. That signaled the Frenchman's arrival on the big stage having turned professional with the former Credit Agricole team in 2008.
Saturday's victory in the Tour du Finistere was the 26-year old Julien Simon's first victory in his home country.
But wait a minute! Julian Simon is the 2009 125cc world champion in motorcycling isn't he?
Well, this is Julien Simon the French cyclist.


And here's Julian Simon the Spaniard who now competes in the Moto2 class of the World Motorcycle Championship.



How about that huh?

The Great Lotus Joke

Well, by now you'd be sure to have known about the DRB-Hicom takeover of Proton, the resignation of chairman Datuk Seri Nadzmi Salleh, then Datuk Seri Syed Zainal the MD...
That put Proton's position as a cash cow for the Dany Bahar-led and Proton-owned Group Lotus up for debate. The first bomb was dropped when it was announced that Lotus were to pull the plug on the much debated title-sponsorship deal with the Genii Capital-owned Lotus F1 Team.
And now we have this flourishing series of quite hilarious insights into Bahar in his currently quite compromising position....

There's a season opener:



A continuation:



Waiting for the next episode...?

Shame garbage trucks can't climb hills

I'd complained weeks earlier about garbage being dumped along Bukit Hantu in Hulu Langat, and that the country's most popular cycling routes continue to be ruined by irresponsible litterbugs.
This picture was taken 200 metres from the summit of the second king of the mountains point at Genting Perez, on Stage Five of the 17th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi on February 28.
That says it all. It was simply embarrassing.
If they'd not considered the climb was part of the Tour's route and cleaned it up before the race, then I guess local cyclists are set to continue suffering from the stench along that climb and the hills close by for years to come.
All I can hope for is that more cyclists make their voices hear if they want to stop their routes from being destroyed.

One of the greatest headlines

"Colnago is known for its iconic ace of clubs logo but the C59 Ottanta has a special head badge: the original ‘Eagle and Arrow’ logo that was created in 1954 inspired by a headline in the local newspaper that described Colnago as fast as an arrow when he won a race." - taken from Colnago.com article describing the C59 Ottanta, a limited edition bike created by the master Ernesto Colnago. Read it HERE.

Again the close-knit relations between newspapers and the cycling world is highlighted, this time immortalised in a recreation of the logo that launched Colnago. The relationship between newspapers and cycling was a celebrated one - most of the biggest races created by newspapers.
It sure isn't a relationship as revered as it was back in the early 20th century. Not anymore.

Breath of fresh garbage

Well I struggled up what is known as Bukit Hantu in Hulu Langat this morning en route to my favourite nasi lemak bungkus breakfast joint in the whole world at Sg Tekala.
This picture was taken on my bike as my heart rate monitor read I was at 85% and needing to pump all the air I could get through my lungs.
This was a good 400-metre stretch along one of the more popular hill climb routes cyclists in this part of the world regularly use.
A couple of weeks ago, as I finished my ride with off-and-on riding buddy Bazly Azmi in Batu 18, Hulu Langat, a man claiming to be the village head stopped by to check out the rubbish dump that place had turned into and gave us a lecture about the Barisan Nasional trying to sabotage the PKR government of Selangor by planting garbage all over the place.
Now, I'm not into politics, neither am I into garbage.
So whoever you are that's supposed to take responsibility should just cut the crap and get the garbage out of our cycling routes. It's not politics, just that these secluded and serene settings have become a convenient rubbish dump for idiots.