Round Island

Remarkable that this was my first round island (RI). 121 km, shortened due to unfortunate incident along EC service road. That was when the C-monster pounced on me and totally consumed me for all of 10 minutes. Not once but twice.

Three contributors. First, hard ride on GF, pulling more than what I should, and with two hard sprints. Second, was trying to stay off salt tables both days, using electrolytes instead. Third, not fuelling up at rest stop. One cereal bar did not cut it. Lessons learnt.

Poor JN had a tumble in dramatic fashion when an inconsiderate driver failed to give the 1.5m clearance when passing. Wishing JN a speedy recovery!

Thanks to EN for pulling me along WCH and viaduct :)

A tragic loss

Read this post about the loss of a fellow cyclist, Paul.

My initial reaction was anger at the attitudes of the young driver and his parents. Then JN reminded me that we met Paul many months ago when we first started out. We were cycling along YCK with our pride and joy (Trek, Specialized and Wilier), and lo and behold, two cyclists on foldable bike (Dahon) overtook us effortlessly on an upslope. We met up with them later at the roti prata shop at Jln Kayu and chatted some.

Paul was quiet and encouraging. He was passionate about cycling. He is a victim of drunk driving.

Rained out Purple Heart

Sunday morning's ride was interesting. We planned on a 90+km ride doing the reverse route to what we usually do. Just four of us, and the route turned out to be nice, especially the part down Lornie (remember the up slopes on our usual route?). We didn't stop until the rain stopped us at Jln Buroh, at the Pandan reservoir. There we witnessed an accident on the opposite side of the road - the car went up the curb and brought down a lamp post. A few good samaritans stopped to help the distressed lady driver. The ambulance came about 15-20 minutes later. (after all the flak on response time along the west coast last week, i think the ambulance service is much improved now).

The cold reminded me of Vancouver in winter. SY's garmin showed 23 deg C, but with the rain and wind, it was colder. After waiting for 90 minutes, we braved the rain and rode to McDonalds for breakfast. Then we grabbed a cab each and went home. :(

Sat's ride was no less eventful. 12 strong, we were glad to be back riding with our friends who did PD triathlon last week. Along Lornie, CT got a flat and a pit-stop temporarily held up. Unfortunately, it was insufficient and CT had to grab a cab home after completing KB.

It was 3.5 loops of KB, with 14 climbs. A tough first 40-50km for all. YP and I rode together most of the way and had a good chat.

It was also great that WL and P were able to ride with us - we were in the steady group. Even more admirable was that this was only P's second ride with us - and we awarded him a purple heart for bravery! WL had improved tremendously - and I wouldn't be surprised if he were to join the fast group before too long!

We also had GP join us for the first time. He's with a trading firm and is training for BnB in September. Really strong rider, and I was glad to be able to keep up with the fast group along Mandai. OKC and YP were true to form - pulling us along!

We all enjoyed mee pok at the end.

Cycling under influence

A few months ago, I offended a friend when I turned down a glass of wine at his place. That was before the Sundown ultra and I had been staying off alcohol whenever training went high gear.

The verbalized reason is that alcohol has a negative effect on my training. There is another reason why I cut down on my drinking.

Two snapshots. (1) A few weeks ago, a car continued past a yield sign without waiting for the last riders in our group to clear. This was early in the morning, around 5 am. Our friend AY was sufficiently quick and deft to avoid the car. We believed the driver was driving under influence. (2) Last weekend, a car ploughed into a group of cyclists along the West Coast highway and 5 riders were injured. How could a driver miss a group of blinkers unless he/she was drunk?

As a cyclist, I am deeply affected by these incidents. I won't want to be cycling when someone is under the influence of alcohol. Conversely, the mere possibility that I might hit a fellow cyclist is sufficient to deter me from drink driving.

So what is to become of the 200+ bottles of wine in my cellar and 4 cases in the wine locker? Well, I would drink them in 2012 - my sabbatical year from racing. By then, the CDPs, Bordeaux Shirazes and Cab Merlots would be drinking very nicely.

And I'll have my fellow cyclists and ironmen to drink alongside. As long as they take the cab home.

The week that was (not)

The week started out pretty well. Easy 8km run and swim on Monday, bike-run brick session on Tue, gym and swim with SportInc on Wed (I actually enjoyed the swim session!). Then came unlucky Thu. Just a casual spin with TC, my good friend from VS who wanted to take up cycling. I had arranged for him to buy a second hand bike, and went down with him to test ride, buy cycling gear, and Thu was supposed to be a confidence booster for TC before he went on the roads.

Silly me decided to go on my tri-bike and was spinning along the PCN wooded park when I hit a depression (which I couldn't see) and down I went. As SC reminded me later, wasn't it Lance Armstrong who said that it is not whether we'll crash, but when. Thank God nothing serious. Some abrasions on the arms and right knee. Just a bloody mess, which my sons squirmed at. The right wrist was a little tender.

The fall meant that I missed the Sat 100km ride (sigh) and two swim sessions and another 12 km run. But on Sunday, I felt good enough to go back on the bike.

And what a ride that was. About 5km into the ride, up along Bartley viaduct, we heard a loud bang. I thought it was my tire, but it was IN's. His second puncture on the 1080s. Good thing CS was on hand to show us how to change a tubular tire (his spare). Took about half an hour. Sounded familiar? Last week we had a puncture as well.

Three loops of KB, and the rest were cursing me for picking this route. Then two more loops of Selarang/Loyang. Of course it was not fair that I had fresh legs. I remembered how dogged tired I was at the end of last week's second long ride.

There were 9 of us in all. The first time we had our two ladies with us. Would have been 11 had JN and Jodan been able to make it.

We cut short the ride to only 75km on account of various factors - tiredness, time constraints, etc. But it was certainly good to be back on the bike, bandage and all.

After breakfast, I discovered to my dismay that my front tire was flat. Two punctures in one day. CS to the rescue again. And this time, he showed us how to use pit stop. We should pay CS for the tire changing lessons!

... we all fall down ...

Ride-a-ride the roads
A pocket full of gels
A-tishoo! a-tishoo!
We all fall down

Freak accident

It wasn't too long ago that I visited a friend in NUH. Today, I was there again to see a friend who crashed while commuting home after a 3.5 hour bike session. He was avoiding the curb, got caught in a depression and fell hard on his shoulder and head. Good thing the helmut cushioned the head, but not so lucky the shoulder. A broken collar bone that required surgery.

He was in good spirits even though his right arm was in a sling, and the aviva race was down the drain. His entire year might be affected, for the collar may take 2 months to heal.

I took to heart the lesson reinforced yet again: Always be alert on the roads, even at low speed.

Now to check whether my insurance policy is still valid...

When skin meets gravel

I suppose one of the perils of road cycling is having a close encounter of the unpleasant kind. We all don't wish it to happen - but they inevitably occur. Last Sunday, DB - a strong cyclist who is training for the Aviva 70.3 - had a freak accident while we were cycling down Woodlands.

We were having a good ride till then through the rolling slopes of Mandai and had a good break. Perhaps we were just a little too complacent and comfortable, conserving our energy for RRR. The traffic light changed to red as we were approaching, and we had to brake. But we weren't going very fast. Unfortunately, DB - taking the rear - braked too suddenly and hard and had a flip.

For a few moments our hearts were in our throat as we saw him motionless lying face down. He was bleeding from the brow and nose. He appeared dazed and didn't respond, possibly due to the concussion. We moved DB off the road to the shoulder island and called for an ambulance. By the time the ambulance came, DB was able to talk and respond.

Imagine our relief when we found out later when we got to the hospital that the scan showed no brain damage, and no broken bones. It was fortuitious that DB suffered only a fractured nose, cuts and two chipped teeth.

Unfortunately, that was not the first accident that our cycling group encountered. A few weeks ago, another accident occured when we were negotiating the turn from Old Thomson Road. Two cyclists had to brake suddenly, and one flipped. The good thing was that the rider was fine while the bike had to go to A&E.

What can we learn from these incidents? The main lesson is that our top priority must and always be safe riding. Guidelines for riding safe:

• Never go too fast and never take unnecessary risks.
• Stay alert at all times, especially late in the ride when fatigue sets in.
• Go to bed early when riding early the next morning.
• Don't drink the night before.
• Tell your group if you have difficulties before and during the ride.
• Be alert to the members condition/state of being while riding.

The second lesson is a technical one:

• Get the right helmut in terms of fit and robustness.
• Set the brake calipers a click or two wider.
• Aim for the cassette of the bike infront instead of the wheels.

Get well soon, DB!