10km TT

53:30.

Just under 58 min at last month's biathlon.

Is sub-50 achievable by year end?

Reflections on a Century Ride

June (not her real name) glanced at her watch. 36 kph. The group had been cruising along at this speed for the past hour, 30km into the century ride. “The easy part is over. Here comes the hard part!” June muttered to herself.

The coordinator had cautioned participants about the slopes starting from 35 km. Not real killer slopes like Cameron or Genting, but sufficiently challenging for recreational cyclists such as June.  The group started to break up as the stronger riders climbed with seemingly little effort. The likes of June and a few of her cycling buddies started to lag behind.

“Time to pace myself.”

Ironically, pacing in cycling is no different from pacing in work. June’s thoughts wandered off to her experience over the past five years, in part to take her mind away from the effort and pain. June could still remember her business trip to Denver, what – more than three years ago?

Had it been only three years? Time flew by. So much had happened since then. It was in 2008 that the company acquired a large portfolio from a major logistic company in the US. With hindsight, it was clear that was a good time to buy. The subsequent IPO (initial public offering) of that portfolio was a huge success. The share price jumped 11% on the first day of listing. That made some people a lot of money.

June surmounted the 8 percent gradient climb. Phew. That was hard work.

Hard work, indeed. One’s work is not done after IPO. In fact, being in the public eye poses even more challenges. Quarterly reporting, investor relations, AGMs, corporate social responsibilities. These were new facets of the job that any graduate couldn’t appreciate until he or she worked for a public listed company.

The downhill segments were just reward for that climbing work. Descending at over 50 kph was a rush, to say the least. One of her friends zipped past her. He had a good 30 kg advantage over June. Life’s fair.

Then came the undulating rolling terrain. June did not mind rolling terrain. Just needed a good rhythm. Of course, one needed to be adequately trained as well. Some of her buddies who did not put in enough saddle time would start to pay the price for the lack of training later on, after the 100km mark. June had seen that happened all too often.

The same principle applied to work as well. If there was one important principle June learnt since her university days, it was to over-prepare. Be it for a presentation, meeting with the boss, business partners, board meeting or AGM, it was always better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

Further on, there was a group of cyclist gathered on the road side. Obviously a crash. Hope no one’s seriously injured. At the water point, June quickly topped up her water bottles and ate a banana. Great support for the event, June thought appreciatively.

Riding was like a debt instrument, June thought. When surging and climbing over long distances, it was easy to go into oxygen deficit if one was not careful. Lactic acid would build up. Without adequate training and hydration, riders would go into muscular convulsions, otherwise known as cramps.

The segment from the third water point due south was with tail wind. The analogy would be good times of low interest rates and cheap equity (before 2008). But as the event coordinator said, “Tail wind on your back means that you’d get head wind on the return.” The financial crisis was the headwind.

Just like some countries used to borrow and borrow more to repay past borrowings. Negative amortization.  Some of these countries are now in financial distress from over-zealous borrowings. Leverage used to be the darling of the industry until the financial crisis. Interesting how deleveraging became all the rage then. The good it did was that companies were now more cautious and prudent in capital management. Today, derisking is the new buzz word.

June silently cursed at the strong headwinds, with her riding speed dropping to the low 20s. The afternoon sun was out in full force. Most riders were now struggling. Some simply chucked their bikes by the road to take a breather under the tree. Riders were digging deep, reaching for their energy gels, bars or salt tablets, looking for that second wind.

Speaking of second wind, June recalled how many companies turned to asset enhancement initiatives to sustain growth in recent years, when acquisition as a growth source became as scarce as hen’s teeth. She worked as the key personnel on one such initiative, managing a team that conceptualized, modeled the incremental cash flows, evaluated the investment proposal, and checking and rechecking the excel spreadsheet, making numerous changes as new information unfolded.

Topping it off, June had to convince the board of the merits of the initiative. Some board directors were tough as nails. Exactly what one needed to grind out the last 50 km of the century ride. By the way, for the uninitiated, this was the imperial century. 100 miles or 160 km. Not the metric century of 100 km. For the faint-hearted.

June was grilled by one particularly nasty director on her choice of discount rate, she recalled. It was fortuitous that she was well trained by her professors on the different risk components that constitute the discount rate. That presentation was probably the most stressful presentation she had ever made.

The last 20 km after the last water point were the toughest – physically and mentally. Mental strength would arguably be more important than physical strength. “What does not kill you makes you stronger!” Yes, June survived that ordeal, and she was confident that she would survive the present ordeal as well.

June’s journal

Kuantan 160

March 25, 2012

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 :)

Kuantan 160

Kuantan 160 is a new event inspired by the Ipoh Century Ride. My main objective is to clock mileage given my lack of training in recent months. EN, JC and GL organized the trip for the FOTR team (a big Thank You!). With some last minute pullouts and substitution, 18 of us gathered for the coach ride up.

It was a challenging ride, with some climbs and undulating terrain, as well as strong headwinds on the return coastal stretch. We started off - 780 cyclists - with a good paceline at 30+kph after the first 4 km. Kept with the steady FOTR group most of the way.

The fun began at 32km, when we hit the slopes. There was one longish climb to about 122m and I was grateful for the recent hill training. Managed to stay on 50-27. The long descent was thrilling.

Synced up with GL and we rode all the way, picking up GC from Globe Spinners after the undulating terrain. Kept HR moderate below 150. At 114 km, GC had a flat and we helped her replace the inner tube. Wished JN was here!

The clouds came in after the third water station, and we felt some drizzle. Tailwind, cool weather. What a great combination. Easily cruising along at 30-32kph over that stretch.

Then we turned left into the rural area and we immediately felt the wind. In addition, we had lots of cow dung for company. Another left into the coastal stretch and it was headwind all the way. Speed dropped to 20 kph, and we did all we could to draft and look forward to the fourth water station. Met up with EJ there. It was getting hotter by the minute and I was counting down the km.

After crossing the finishing line, there was the welcome sight of a fire engine hosing riders down. Nice.

Most of the team had already completed - great finishes by EN (<4:30), JC, CS and SC (all 3 at 5:23). I managed a modest 6:14 (riding time of 5:50 ave speed 27.5 kph).

It was a struggle for some of our friends and for me as well, since I was down with flu and congestion the entire week. The C-monster threatened several times but got spun away :) The experience and camaraderie made it worthwhile.

Here's a great photo at the finish line!

On the event organization: It was a well organized, smoothly run operation! Good briefing, thanks to Dr Jamal, good water support (thanks for the 100plus, water and bananas), wonderful volunteers and marshals. It was particularly gracious of the chief minister to host the pre-event dinner and chatting with us after the ride. Our only suggestion is to patch up the potholes along some stretches.

Last but not least, a heartfelt thanks to my family back home praying for us!

Great video on Kuantan 160:

Singapore biathlon 2012

Have not done a short race for some time and with the emphasis on running and swimming over the past two months, the Singapore Biathlon race was a good event as progress check.

Fellow FOTRers in this race - SC, MT, KP, DC and YP(?). Also my former student ET in his first attempt.

8 am wave, with all the men masters participants. The sea was calm, but the west-east currents slowed me down. Tried the drafting technique highlighted in training tips for the SB:

Drafting a faster and physically larger swimmer can really increase your speed. Tailing directly behind another swimmer will make the water smoother, but the most efficient position to draft is alongside the lead swimmer but slightly behind between the ankles and hips. This allows the drafting swimmer to surf the bow wave.

Not sure if I did it right, but it definitely felt easier. Also easier to see the other swimmer if swimming slightly behind on his side.

A tad disappointed with my swim time of 38 min. Then off for the run. 

Plan was to take it steady for the first 5 km, and then attempt a negative split. Averaged 6:00 pace in the first 5 km, then stepped it up on the return leg. Followed a faster master runner Lawrence Q. Last km at 5:15 pace with HR going off the charts at 187 :(

Swim, transition, checkpoint, 10km run total time:

00:38:58 00:01:47 00:30:46 00:57:54 01:38:38

Good short but hard race. Possibly do it again next year :)

The Climb

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

I have not heard this song before, but the lyrics described the reason for the second trip to Cameron Highlands in 6 months.  Unfinished business - to overcome the dreaded climbs. In particular, I wanted to surmount the 8 km climb from Ringlet to Tanah Rata. It would be at the end of a 70+ km undulating ride and it was my Thermopylae.

The first day's ride from Simpang Pulai to restaurant 88 was the same as last year's. Ascending 1,560m in elevation over 53 km. Clocked 15 min longer cuz I took it easy this time.

The second ride was new - from the T-junction to Gua Musang. Great descent in the first 15 to 20 km. The chicken in me didn't dare let go of the brakes, and I was just happy to enjoy the thrill. But there was sufficient climbing of 1,200 m over 96km. Finished dead last, which wasn't surprising since I had to stop a couple of times during the ride due to a dropped saddle bag and chain :)

The last ride was my nemesis. Heavy rain meant that we started 20km ahead of the planned start point. Muscles were all cold and my enthusiasm was low. Waited for SC to fix his leaking tire and once again, I found myself in a familiar position - the default sweeper.

The slopes were all familiar friends but somehow, they didn't treat me too badly this time. I kinda missed my good friend, the C-monster. I attribute the absence to pacing.

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb


Caught up with a few riders and was reminded how unforgiving the mountain could be if we didn't respect it.

And then, there was Ringlet. After a quick iced coffee and toast with SC and a couple others, we began the final assault. As it turned out, the toughest stretch was actually the road leading out of Ringlet over the bridge, with a max of about 10 pct gradient. A deep breath at the foot of the switchbacks and the "climb" began.

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith

Just keep pedaling, was my mantra. Ignore the traffic, ignore the other riders. Just focus on pacing.

Surprisingly, I didn't have to use the 29 at all, and only occasionally the 27. Mostly on 25, which was sufficient to do the job.

Best view of all was looking down on the switchbacks and realizing how steep it looked from above. My memory played tricks on me as I remembered how intimidating the climb looked from the bus. There and then, it was a strangely different perspective - all I could see was a few meters ahead, and it looked just like RRR or MF =)

As it turned out, the average gradient was about 5 to 6 pct.

Only too glad to see the 2 km marker to Tanah Rata. A short steep slope up to Heritage and SC was there with a big smile. Thanks, SC!

It's all about the mountain and I, isn't it? CH is my mountain top experience.

Day 1: 1,568 m
Day 2: 1,207 m
Day 3: 1,740 m
Total: 4,515 m

One less item on my unfinished business list.

PS: Thanks again to the unwavering support from MBH and family! Couldn't have done it without you. 

Deposits and Withdrawals

"You have to make your deposits before you can make a withdrawal!"

That was the best advice Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of Blackstone Group, received from his high school track coach, Jack Armstrong. It stayed with him all through his career as a successful investment banker.

Now for that extra loop up MF and RRR.