Guess what I have gotten myself into?

It all started with me declaring myself to be overweight in June this year. Then my purchase of a mountain bike in the hope of using it as one of my means to loose weight.



I spent RM400 on an Exitway - Mr Sub mountain bike, a really heavy "hardtail" (see... now I am talking biking jargons... LOL... must be progress), that I personally referred to as the "Lorry" bike! LOL.

Since buying the bike and riding to so many places these past months, I have discovered some must-buy gears for anyone wanting to go mountain biking on a budget!

One of the things I needed was a bicycle lock to lock my bike when I carry it behind my pick-up. So it was a must have item for me. The lock has seen better days since! The RM25 lock still works, but has lost it's casing after a week! Made in Taiwan! Quality?

I also bought a Cateye tail light for night riding for RM34. Excellent quality!

Aside from the bike, the next single most important thing I bought was the SixSixOne Helmet!



I spent RM120 for this notorious US brand but made in China helmet that after the first day of use, the protective foam just came loose! I think I have a big head... Hahahaha... Check it out below! Quality? Sucks, I guess, but still usable as a protective helmet as long as I fasten the strap properly. I will not recommend anyone to buy this though.



After a few cross-country rides, I realized that a set of gloves would be an important piece of safety equipment to have, especially on downhills!



So I dished out a reasonable RM80 to get this nice pair of SixSixOne gloves, which has since save me from a lot of potentially nasty cuts and bruises on my hands! Quality stuff, yeah! A must buy for all bikers!



Liters of water are a must for cross-country biking. A friend of mine managed to get a 2 liters High Sierra branded hydration back-pack for me from Bangkok, Thailand, for RM110.



On the day I was going to use it, while filling in water, the bloody water bag was leaking profusely at the joint between the bag and the "straw"! Quality sucks big time! Major disappointment!

So now I am just using the back-pack to carry a spare bottle of water! Sad? Pathetic? Hell yeah! Still bloody sore about it! High Sierra sucks man!

About a week ago, I bought myself a nice pair of padded cycling pants! Since I started cycling, I have torn more than 5 pairs of shorts.



For RM110, I have basically reinforced my ass and save myself from a whole bunch of nagging from my wife regarding torn or split shorts... LOL.

A couple of months back, a friend gave me some MTB videos to watch! Man... my first thoughts were, "What? How the heck did that guy do that?" I was referring to Ryan Leech! Man... that guy is inhuman! Ryan Leech is the king of trial riding! Check out this video on YouTube!

Since then, I have been trying to learn track-standing, hopping and jumping on my bike! One of the painful lessons I learnt was that you gotta watch out for your shin hitting the pedals!



Which is why I bought this RM18 shin guard 2 days ago!



Check it out! I have yet to try them on. Probably gonna do it next opportunity I get.



Since I started MTB, I have amassed a whole bunch of stuff, some defective and disappointing and some really lifting and useful.

All in all I have not spent a whole lot of money. Including a child seat, a cyclometer, fixing a crooked crank and a broken headset, and 3 set of punctured tubes, I have spent only a total of RM 1277! (Btw, learning jumping and hopping are expensive if your bike's parts are only good for normal biking. I could have save RM200 if I hadn't tried jumping and hopping like an overgrown clown... LOL)

So what have I achieved since the time I bought the bike? Did I loose weight? Unfortunately, I did not loose weight! So what did I gain? I became a Superhero... that's what! LOL...



Just fooling around after a ride on the KL-Putrajaya highway in Sri Petaling... :-)

Basically, I now have more stamina. I do not feel lethargic from lack of exercise. I feel healthier. But most importantly... now at 44 years old, I can track stand reasonably well, hop like a bunny and jump over speed bumps... LOL.... HAHahhaa..

It's just gonna get better from here on... LOL!