It's not as if I didn't spend enough time, especially weekends, away from the family. But I thought it would be good to do a TdB preview by riding stage 1 - 154km with two king of the mountains (KOMs) and several sprint aces. In truth, the mountains are only hills, just that we pitiful cyclists in SG are not used to hills.
Suffice it to say that the Bintan hills were sufficient to cause severe cramping, with no help from the very hot sun. The only consolation was that 6 of us didn't finish the ride, and that was 20% of the group. The other consolation is that I got to see the entire route.
The first KOM is about 25km into the ride. And I'd done it before - in Feb. It was not as bad as the first time. The coastal stretches - for the sprints - were flat and considerably long. But we started late - almost 11 am, and the hot weather took its toll. The C monster popped out without warning - otherwise I could have controlled it - and even after counterpain and salompas, when it reared its ugly head again, I knew I wasn't up to the second KOM.
The second KOM was tougher - according to the others. And then it rained. Fortunately it stopped after 30 min or so. At 4:30 pm, we had to pull MH out since we had a ferry to catch. She'd done about 130km.
CS would later sms me to say that it was the toughest 160km ride he'd ever done. SC and he sat out Sunday's ride, and wisely so. No point in risking injury at this point.
So what lessons did I learn? First, affirmation (?) that I don't do well under hot temperatures. Desaru and Mersing were overcast, and so was the 120km ride in Feb. Second, I still need to train hard riding and climbs. Third, hydrate more and don't try new salt pills. Finally, contingency plans for TdB.
There are 3 cut off points for stage 1. Bail out points. 125 km is the second cut off mark. And since we are in the recreational category, we don't have to do all stages.
TdB will all be about suffering. A huge big two-day sufferfest of the most severe kind.
4 comments:
The TdB course was much tougher than the BnB. Hit the wall after 2.5hr but managed to salvage the ride with Bloks. The rain helped to cool down the legs but it was so difficult to see in the driving rain and thereafter the setting sun blinded us as we climbed more hills. Had to go on small chain ring after 100km and grinded out the rest of the route. At the end, it was fun to complete and a pity that CS and I couldn't do the second day ride as we needed to be back home early.
SC
Hi BFG,
Remember your goals and this is just one of the trainings toward your goals.
Cheers
EN
Enjoy the journey :-)
Loving this line from you; First, affirmation (?) that I don't do well under hot temperatures. Desaru and Mersing were overcast, and so was the 120km ride in Feb. Second, I still need to train hard riding and climbs. Third, hydrate more and don't try new salt pills. Finally, contingency plans for TdB.
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