Monday, May 4, 2009

Electcoms Jelajah Malaysia 2009


This post is almost a month over due since the event happened on 4th April 2009. I have promised Mat Salo that I will post it soon after the event but my attempt to do it at My Pasir Mas blog was aborted as I wasn't comfortable with Wordpress especially when a post involves so many pictures. In fact I have uploaded all the pictures into the gallery.

Anyway Mat Salo, this post is for you in mind as you have asked for it.

The small town of Pasir Mas was abuzz with the activity of preparation for the flagging off of the Electcoms Jelajah Malaysia 4th leg from Pasir Mas to Kuala Terengganu. The third leg had ended in Tanah Merah a day earlier and Pasir Mas was chosen as the starting point for the 4th leg. How lucky can we people of Pasir Mas be to have the event in Pasir Mas at our own doorstep.


The price of holding the event is the closure of the main road to Kota Bharu. All traffic to the road to Kota Bharu had to be diverted to go via the Lemal bridge. Locals going elsewhere along this route knows the smaller roads that can bypass this section.



This is where the flag off will begin beside the mini stadium of Pasir Mas infront of the Pantai Timur supermarket.

Here we can see Myvi Perodua cars carrying advertisement lined up for the event.

More of them here.

More of them.

A fleet of the superbikes too.


Traditional music was provided by the Rebana (big drums) and serunai dan gendang ensemble.



Azhar is the local rider and here he is signing autographs for those who asked for it.

If you are into souvenirs from the event, they have a booth for them. Most items are sold from RM30.00 upwards.

Some riders are taking it easy before the event by resting under the shade trees.

Taking it easy.
An international rider was busy tucking his powerbars into his shirt.
Some spare wheels

The Indonesian team
The international riders are very tall.
This bike needs more air.
Handing out the cards.
A pretty face handing out cards to the crowd.
I saw this rider warming up. I like this shot as I managed to blur the background by panning the camera.
This guy is checking his stock.
This shooter is shooting with a Nikon D3. Together with the telephoto lens this camera can cost more than the cost of a racing bike. Care to guess how much is the cost of it?

Having a bite to build up his energy.
Brad is staying cool in the van's shade. The scars on Brad's face was the battle scars from last year.
The master of ceremony.

She came over for Pak Zawi to have a closer look.


Another team waiting for the start which was scheduled at 11.00 AM.

A rider with scars and injury of the previous leg had to be given some kneading by the phsiotherapist.
This is my friend Azmi a local rider. He is not a participant but how he wished he was one of them. He asked to be given the chance to ride behind the other riders but even that wasn't allowed.
The Big Boss of the event greeting 'Apa Khabar ?' to the school children.A rider signing in. This was the last pic I took at the signing as immediately after I was told to move out of the area as I was not an official photographer covering the event.
I went back to Mekasar to catch the riders after the start at 11.00 PM in town.

The big bikers arrived first.
Here they come!

At this point they are still bunched up.

They are getting nearer.
The leader of the pack looked at me as I took photographs of them.
Look Ma, no hands! This is the tail of the pelaton.
A TV camera will definitely draw the crowd's attention. Who knows their faces may appear on TV later that night.

Within seconds we saw the last of them
Ambulance vehicles follow them closely incase of any mishaps.

The backup cars comprising of Proton Wajas came in their wake.
Bro Mat Salo, its better late than never to post this blog.

24 comments:

mamadou said...

Assalamualaikum Ayoh Awi.

Year by year we organise biking events. Hope one day that our team will emerge as a champion. Indonesian team was not as bad as ours. BTW this events very important not only for sport but tourism too. More publicity and wide coverage should have been done to attract more younger to participate in this sport.

Anyway you seems like one of those event photographer. Thanks

Unknown said...

Nice shot,that is great event.I can picture how busy is the photographer try to focus on the subject:)
PS: The panning shot look OK.

Unknown said...

Enjoy the photos. You use your tele zoom lens too ? I was watching from KB town. The road was blocked and jammed. But it was worth waiting. Never been so close. 1st class view ! hehe..

Pak Zawi said...

mamadou,
Malaysian teams are making headway in this sport. I believe we need bigger built bikers so that more energy reserve can be stored in their muscle to oompete in this gruelling event. Yeah the Indonesian team seems to be doing better than us sometimes.
I wish I could fool them by looking like one of their official shooters hehehehe. My Sony is a dead giveaway since their shooters only uses Nikon and a D3 at that.

Pak Zawi said...

Awang,
Lots of distractions hehehehe.
The panning shot is still mediocre. Should have done a better one.

Pak Zawi said...

Lim,
I was using my standard 18 - 70 lens. If you watched them in KB they will just zoomed past you and you wont get much shots. I was lucky they started in Pasir Mas and had ample time to interact with some of the bikers.

Unknown said...

Comeyyyyy weiiiii master of ceremony tuh! Wink.. Wink...!

Pak Zawi said...

Ahan,
Mana tau comey? Separuh dari muka ditutupi oleh kacamata hitam.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Great stuff, Abang Zawi! The pictures you took tell a fine story, indeed! I love how you observed little things like the battle scars and the rider tucking the Power Bars into his jersey. How awesome that you were there to take photos!

Cheers,
CO78

Pak Zawi said...

Ee Lyn,
There were so many photographers around. They were using much more expensive sophisticated and state of the art cameras. I can't be taking the same shots and angles as they were doing so I have to do something different to create interest. Yes the pictures were meant to tell a story just by the sequence of it.
I am so happy if you do grasp what I was trying to convey. That is why I do it on Blogger instead of wordpress as I found it easier to arrange the pictures.
Your comment really made my day.
Please also read my latest post about The Kedah Royal Cup at http://boxxtomoi.blogspot.com

Ahlami said...

pok zawi,
i love reading your blog because now, i can easily know and access what's going on in kelantan.
i'm sure there are many people out there really want to know about kelantan as well. big compliments to you for making this happen!

Pak Zawi said...

Ahlami,
I am glad to hear of your appreciation of my postings about Kelantan. If it has served you I guess it would have served others too who may want to know about our state.
Thank you.

Mat Salo said...

Wadaaw... ma'af telat Pak Zawi. Post yang khusus untuk gue.. makasih.

Love 'em photos!

BTW, I agree with uncle awang, panning shot mantaap Pak.. I like. Takes a lot of practice with different shutter speeds and able to rotate about the axis of your spine comfortably with the moving subject.

Again, thanks for the post!

Pak Zawi said...

Bro Mat Salo,
Having you visit this post means I can move on with the next post as I don't want you to miss it. I am glad you like it.

Mat Salo said...

BTW, Pak Zawi, I too got chased out by police when I shot the recent LdTL PJ to Genting... I know how you feel because we're not "official". Alaa apa lah big deal sangat ya Bang?

Wasallam.

Pak Zawi said...

Bro Mat,
The policeman was doing his duty. Since I was politely told to move out from the area, I sort of don't mind it. Maybe I should be better dressed to pass off as an official cameraman the next time around and perhaps carry a Nikon DX3 to be impressive hehehehe.

LITTLE DEWA said...

salam
uncle tis is sooo kewwwlll... if only we were stil around, wud hav definitely dragged 2 the lil one 2 camp out there witnessing the event.

Pak Zawi said...

Little Dewa,
never knew you like such events too. Lots of shades around the place where they flag off. OK to bring the cute little one along.
Uncle maybe going to Jogja at the end of the year. Have you been to Jogja yourself? If you haven't, maybe you can join us there. Will tell you more when we are definite. Going to Europe this 26th May for a tour.
Take care.

Fadhil said...

Salam Pak Zawi,

I remember the one and only time I was close to the bicycle race was in Dungun, in 2000 I think. I was working in Dungun at the time.

Masa tu mana mampu nak beli digicam, so amik gambar pakai kamera biasa je. Can't remember now where I kept the pics.

Love your pics and the story they tell. One thing I learn from you here - kalau nak nampak pro kena beli kamera Nikon la nampaknya, heheheh. I'm still dreaming of getting my hands on a D80.

Pak Zawi said...

Oldstock,
An event of this stature must not be missed if you are anywhere near them.
A Nikon D80 has become affordable now, why not wait and save abit more and go for the D90? Anyway a
D80 should do just fine if you dont want to spend too much money.

Lee said...

Hello Zawi, long time no see.
Had no link to your pondok...and when going thru my very old postings gt it back.
How are you, my friend.

I love your beautiful photos here, well taken and good shots too.
Like looking at National geographic, ha ha.
Is this a round Malaysia race? Like Tour de France?

You stay easy and have a pleasant weekend, Lee.

Pak Zawi said...

Lee,
Did go to your site but didn't leave any footprints.
The event maybe the replacement for Le Tour De Langkawi which may have ceased due to a change in sponsor. It's a tour of the penisula. I am so happy that you like my photos.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Abang Zawi,

Have a safe, memorable and interesting trip!

Hope you will get to blog from the hotels.

Best regards,
CO78

Pak Zawi said...

Ee Lynn,
Sorry for the late response. Been inactive for so long. Thanks for the wishes.
I will start the blogging of the trip hopefully on a daily basis beginning from today.
Take care.