Poser over future of CFAL

Story by Chan Lilian
Pix by Shum Jian-Wei

THE Campaign For A Lane (CFAL) cycling event may be cancelled in future as the organisers prefer to drop it rather than increase the registration fees.
So, the question is – is the eighth edition of CFAL to be held on Aug 28 the last in the series?
“Our stand is no increase in registration fee and maintaining it at pre-GST prices despite all the depreciation of the ringgit. We will cancel the event rather than increase the registration fees if we cannot meet the budget,” said G Club chairman Datuk Dr. Lim Seh Guan (pix).

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G Club Penang Cyclists organising committee members, who are organising the eighth CFAL, were in the Chief Minister’s office on Aug 1 to hold a press conference on the upcoming CFAL.

“This will be one of the biggest road bicycle events with 3,700 cyclists and about 65% of the participants are from overseas and outstation. The CFAL 8th edition is organised by the G Club Penang Cyclists and supported by the Penang state government and it maybe G Club’s last CFAL,” Dr. Lim said.
It will be a 82km round Penang island ride with two challenging hills at Bukit Genting and another one after Balik Pulau to get to Teluk Bahang.
For the well trained it will be an easy ride and the whole ride can be done in less than 2½ hours.
However for the ill prepared and those not use to riding on hills it will be very challenging.

The cut off time is 5 hours.
Flag off time is at 7 am from Youth Park and everyone is expected to be back by 12pm.
All participants are entitled to an event jersey and a specially designed medal.
Lunch and entertainment will be provided at the finishing line at Youth Park.

“After eight series of CFAL, we are happy to see the state government’s progress in building the basic infrastructure to provide a safer cycling environment for cyclists. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng intends to make Penang a bicycle state by building a dedicated bicycle lane around the island. A 39.3km bicycle lane from Straits Quay to Penang International Airport is currently on its way to completion, with a 12.5km dedicated lane completed (from Queensbay Mall to Gama Supermarket),” Dr Lim said.
“Cycling in Penang has blossomed by leaps and bounds. When I first cycled in 2008, there were only a handful of cyclists on the road. Unfortunately the motor vehicles were very unforgiving and there was no respect for cyclists as the general perception of motorists was that bicycles have no right to be on the road and mingling with speeding motor vehicles,” he added.

As to the question if the eighth CFAL is going to be the last, Dr. Lim left the question unanswered but with a grin said: “We may make it free next time.”
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