It was quite an effort getting up early on a Sat especially after 2 days of CNY eating and gambling. But it was also an opportunity for me to go the distance with AAA as I do not have to be home by the usual 10am to take my daughter for swimming lessons. Dragged myself out of bed at 630am, prep 2 bottles of water (1 x Accelerade and 1 x Water) and a packet of Gu-Gel in anticipation of a long ride. Headed towards Longhouse at 650am and had a quick breakfast before moving off. We went on the usual Western route pass Upper Thomson / Mandai / Kranji / Neo Tiew and LCK. As usual, was dropped at the Neo Tiew stretch but was with great company, Janice and Mel, enjoying the scenic route and the fresh air. Took a break at the LCK bus-stop and then the group decided to head towards Raffles Marina to do some "TTT" formation riding. "Huh whazzat?" Never mind, lets just do it!
We began to ride in a two row formation (can't remember the technical term) along Jln Ahmad Ibrahim and Andrew was giving instructions on how to speed up, how close you need to be from the cyclist in front and how not to slow down too much after taking over as first rider. Amazingly, the team together with newbies like myself and Mel managed pretty ok in the beginning stretch and we were cruising in the pack at about 33-35km/h and that was after about 60km of riding. It was my first experience riding in formation and it felt like the group was pulling me along and I felt I needed less effort to cruise at that speed compared to riding alone and having to overcome the wind resistance. When we reached the Raffles Marina stretch, the group decided to push a little harder and this time they averaged 35+km/h and when it was my turn to be the front rider, I had to ride at about 36-37km/h in order to get to the front.
About 2/3 of the way I finally experienced what being "bonked" is. My legs began to not respond to my orders to keep with the group, so I had to pull out...SIGH! My speedometer reading began to drop from 35 to 21 km/h in quick time and for the rest of the west coast route, was barely breaking 25km/h. Took a final stop at the petrol station along west coast road, looked at my watch and it was already about 1030hrs. Decided to call home to let Peng know that I'll be back at 1130hrs instead of 11. Downed a bottle of gatorade and a pack of gu-gel (on hindsight should have taken it at LCK) and off we went towards Binjai Coffee Shop. The last stretch was mostly mind over matter for me - my mind was telling me that what mattered was the yummy Bak Kut Teh and Ice Tea waiting for me at the Coffee Shop just about 10km down the road. Well that worked and I finally reached Binjai but to my disappointment, the coffee shop was closed. AARGH!!!
Looked at my watch and it was already 1115hrs - better get home quick before my 1130hrs curfew. When I reached home, I was as usual greeted by my little cutiepies but what surprised me was seeing Peng on the bike trainer...
WHAT A RIDE AAA!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment