LONG SOLO RIDE AFTER LONG BREAK....

On Sunday May 8, 2011 I got up early and couldn't contain my excitement at deciding to ride to Penang alone...... Well, alone because Ricardo had other arrangements with his friends and none of my friends responded to my 'text' sent a day earlier - asking if they'd like to ride with me up north...

I still have aches in some parts of my arm but I'm just gonna ignore it and vrooooooommmm offfff - a month and a half of being idle is more than I can take.... :)


The feel the sound and the glide of my bike was refreshing indeed - as I was riding, my mind thought of Bro Hadi who had come all the way from Indonesia and have already been a week in Penang. I looked forward to seeing him who was here because his little girl Charity, 6 months old was having stomach digestion problems. His wife Lilis was also here with him at Lam Wah Ee specialist Center Penang.

When I fuelded up at Bukit Gantang, I called Azliena - she will join me at Juru petrol kiosk and we would both ride to see Bro Hadi. While waiting for Azliena to arrive, made friends with a few bikers who were heading off to Cameron Highlands. They asked me to join them but I declined as my priority was seeing Bro Hadi.

Azliena and I found Lam Wah Ee Specialist Center and just as we were about to go up to the wards, Bro Hadi 'found' us at the lobby!! Seemingly Charity had been discharged and they were about to go to the Traders' Hotel. After meeting Charity and Lilis, we accompanied them to the hotel. 













Once they had checked in, we took them to a coffee shop of Azliena's choice for lunch. It was very cosey and we yakkaty yakked till a cab came for Bro Hadi and family to take them back to the hotel again.

Azliena and I decided to take the ferry back to the mainland instead of using the bridge. We almost didn't make it as it was full to the brimm. But the other bikers were so sweet, they made way for us and we just about managed to squeeze in..... it was fun....


Then we waited for Wirda to join us at Mc Donald's. It sure was nice catching up after so long..... After having a drink Azliena and Wirda decided to take me to Pak Su's shop in Changkat Jering. I was game for anything.



At Pak Su's shop we all had something to eat. Time flies when you're in good company - before I knew it, it was 6.30pm!!! Wow time to go indeed....

So Azliena and Wirda rode off north and I rode off south.....


I reached home tired but happy - mysteriously all my aches had gone - the ride had been therapeutic and I'm glad I defied well meaning advise to stay off the bike for another week or two....... :)

Fa Polo
Sunday
April 8, 2011

The road to recovery.....

It's been more than a month and a half since I've taken my FJR for a spin. For a person who rides on an almost daily basis, that sure is a long  long miserable time...

When I fell in Tarutung on the 6th day of the North Sumatera Malindo Tour in March 2011, I fractured the small of my back. I was avoiding a car that was going at a dead slow pace and simultaneously hitting a patch of sand. I survived four days of riding (before returning home) on daily double dose of pain killers. 

But I suspect my beloved other half may have unintentionally aggravated the fracture when he gave me such a bear hug after 10 days of being away from each other :) For 2 weeks I couldn't sleep nor eat well due to the excruciating pain despite my going to a specialist center and feeling poorer from it :( . So from my normal weight of 47kg I went down to 42 - I looked so gaunt it was terrifying.

Next course of action was to go to a traditional masseuse..... it helped but the pain in my arm persisted. But the traditional medicine she gave me helped build my appetite and within a month I gained my lost 5 kg and some more.... My cheeks look filled in  and my clothes didn't fall off me like they used to...

I even resorted to a Chinese Traditional Practioner. He did the tradional physiotherapy plus Chinese medication. The first time I felt relieved somewhat. But the second visit wasn't what I expected - the pain in my arm and back became worse. So I stopped going.

Then I caught hold of my nephew who practices Prolotherapy - it's so difficult to get him as he is always globe trotting. I had to catch him at his house instead of at his center. He gave me 7 jabs in 7 points that hurt the most. That was on Friday May 6, 2011. By May 7 I felt so much better and stronger that I went for a test ride on my bike. I managed to go for a ride to Kota Damansara. I even visited my grandaughter and my son there.

I asked Emma if she would like to ride to Penang with me to visit Pak Hadi Edwanto who had come to Penang since Wednesday May 4. Initially she was game but decided to wait for Pak Hadi to come to Kuala Lumpur on Monday May 9 instead.

I felt sad. Pak Hadi had been so hospitable when we were touring the North of Sumatera. I really wanted to see his wife and baby before they leave for Labuhan Batu. It was the least I could do under the circumstances.

Azliena on her GTR 1400 and Wirda on her PC 900

So I decided that I would ride to Penang alone. I would wait for Azliena ,a female biker friend who rides the Kawasaki GTR 1400, at Juru. She would take me to see Pak Hadi at the Specialist center where his 6 months old baby girl was undergoing treatment for stomach ailment. We would after that wait for Wirda, another female biker friend who rides a Honda Pacific Coast 900).

Yahoo..... though I still have pains in some parts in my left arm and shoulder area, I was pretty set on riding up North on Sunday May 8, 2011!!! Of course Ricardo gave me his blessing - not without a lot of "don't forget this and don't forget that"  plus a lot of reminders. Most important, he didn't say 'NO'

Fa Polo

May 9, 2011