Epic ride: The not so usual Desaru

I was anticipating not joining the ride at all, but it's hard to say no to hundreds of kilometres of rolling hills without traffic lights. Long rides for base training!

I woke up at 4am there about, and the meeting time was 530am. I knew I would need about 1 hour for a slow ride there. I always cut through the Ulu Sembawang Park Connector when going over to Msia, there's no lights there and a little eerie but that's how I like it. You should try riding through!

Once everyone arrived, we set off promptly. Pass the checkpoint and immediately I forget to make a right turn and we waste some time backtracking, and just as we made the original right turn (now a left turn) JY gets a puncture. And I feel a little guilty, maybe he wouldn't have had the puncture if I remembered to make the right turn...

It's where I find out about the Topeak Glueless Patch, application was so fast! I was sold! I'm getting a set! Rough the area with the hole, put it patch on like a sticker, and we are done! No sweat!

Once done, we set off again... Nice hills... Than we decided to take a break at Macdonalds!

The Sun was up, and the rays hit our bikes like it was the spotlight on our bikes. A family feast later we were on our way to Kota Tinggi!

It was relatively easy, and we didn't really need the break but a photo at the spot seemed obligatory:

Right after setting off from photo taking, ZY hit a puncture... Me and JY were up ahead and didn't know, but as we glanced back we didn't see them... So we stopped at a roadside railing with some shade and chatted for a good 15+mins before we saw them again. While waiting, many a Malaysian drivers honked at us and made gestures to ask if we were ok, so friendly!!

Off we go, reaching a right turn onto route 92. From here, JY and ZY decided to try a tactic we talked about during breakfast where you continue pedaling down a decline (instead of coasting) and put some effort on the incline to preserve the momentum and use it to finish the climb a little easier. However, I thought they were doing a little too much... As I continued riding at a comfortable pace...

The road was good, although there was no shoulder to ride on, most drivers gave as a wide berth and were so patient to wait behind us if there were big oncoming vehicles. The going gets tougher as the hills become more frequent and starts to wear me down.

As the sun comes up, ZY gets another puncture. Unsure of what the cause was, I passed him my spare tube as his spare tube didn't hold air as I tried inflating it before putting it in. Must be a faulty tube... Unlucky!

We try to be thorough on checking inside the tire for any debris, but it seems the tires are reaching their end of life... As we continue on, ZY tire seems so suffering a slow leak despite my new spare tube.... Petronas at Desaru seems so far! Hill after hill, the sun blaring just as the end didn't seem anywhere in sight we see "500m to Petronas". Halleluiah.

The Petronas petrol kiosk actually had seats inside with aircon, as we enjoyed cold drinks and some snacks for journey into a small town (Bandar Penawar) for lunch and to decide after lunch if we head for the ferries or U-turn and ride back from where we came.

Lunch at Marrybrown!

Photo taken from aznanie

It was just awesome, fried chicken with cold fizzie drinks, right as the Sun's heat peaks! Great!

After the lunch we topped up drinks at a 24hr mart instead of at a bus terminal we stumbled upon. As we loaded up, we all decided taking the ferry was a better choice since our legs were already complaining! Without much thought about whether we had enough time to make the ferry we set off towards Sungei Rengit.

The way to Sungei Rengit was just insane! The headwind is the single biggest enemy! There were many points on the road was it was downhill and I was going at 22km/h... Downhill! Uphill was a painful crawl... some 11kms later, desperate for a rest from the Sun, (there wasn't much shade by the side of the road) we stopped at what seems like a bus stop. Finally!

As we weighed our options, it was 2.30pm, last ferry at 4pm, we probably wouldn't make... The backup plan was the more expensive commercial ferry, where we don't know the timing of the last ferry but expected it to end rather late.

We U-turned at the busstop, and headed for the commercial ferry... We went faster than usual, as the anticipation of the end of ride usually brings... We soon burnt out as the hills towards the ferry were impossibly steep despite there being no headwinds.

18km in from route 92, to the ferry... it seemed like forever... In Singapore, there distance would probably take 45mins at most, even with hills and traffic lights... But to the ferry terminal it took more than an hour, even with dogs chasing WJ. That was quite amusing...

As we neared the ferry terminal, I saw a car from the opposite direction flashing his lights at me... As I think back... He was trying to tell me something... There were less and less cars as we approached... And once we reached the terminal, we were very reliefed.

Only to find out that we have missed the last ferry that departed a 4pm. The same timing the smaller boats operate! Oh my... god.

The backup plan has failed.

Devastation.


After coming to terms with reality, some of us bought ice cream... (perhaps as a pick me up) and thought the best plan was the head for the small town earlier with had a bus terminal and take a bus closer to Singapore, or we would be look at a total distance of 330+km (including the distance thus far) to home.

We didn't have enough money for taxi home (since we probably can only fit 1 guy on one taxi, at most 2), so bus terminal it is! 5+pm.... when we get out... 6pm... and probably around 7pm at the town.

Alright! Let's do it!

Back to those torturous hills, and out to route 92. Where we had a short break and some sugary treats (that was a life saver btw, ZY! Thank you!!)

And we reached Bandar Penawar just before sky dark, the worse dawned upon us... The bus bay was empty and instead, stood two taxis...We had to ride back.

We had to.

We decided to take a longer break, get some fresh batteries and exchange some spare SGD into RM. We pooled our remaining money together and figured it would be enough if we spent most money on food. As long as there were no more punctures.

Just as we were about to leave, I spotted a bus... And I was like.. Damn wouldn't it be good if we could take a bus... WAIT A MIN. A BUS!!!

JY and WJ rushed forward to ask the bus driver where it was headed.... As they went ahead, the driver flipped the sign from initially "Bandar Penawar" to "Kota Tinggi". And he came down the bus.

What I thought I saw, after much anxious waiting the bus driver decided it was ok for our bus to go up. Lucky! We paid him a little more than the usual to show our appreciation!

And so we took up the back of the bus, had an incredible sense of good fortune and caught up on some sleep on the one hour journey to Kota Tinggi. As we came to, our bodies and cooled down but our jersey were still wet... Shivering and cold we made our way to Macdonalds at KT, chowed down an extra value meal in record time and took a little time to compose ourselves and embark on that final stretch in to home.

The ride back was a blur, from Kota Tinggi to Johor there were only sparse streets lights are traffic junctions, of which i only counted 2. We were riding in the dark with one JY leading the way with his brighter lights and me using my blinkers (surprisingly bight btw, blackburn flea. shall do a review).

Riding with the road lit only with blinkers, is like walking with only the moonlight (there was no moonlight). With a lot of faith and trying my best to concentrate and avoid potholes with <1 sec reaction time we finally hit Johor, where we took a break and agreed that was one scary ride.

I even hit a pothole so deep, my water bottle flew out and I had to stop to retrieve it. Right after I picked it up, i realized how riding with my mates made me psychologically calmer... And so put extra effort to catch up.

Once in Johor, traffic increased and there were many lanes changes required... Somewhere along, ZY had a puncture on a flyover... With zero patches and zero spare tubes... He decided to ride down, and unfortunately warped his wheel. JY passed ZY some money to get a cab back.

We regrouped at bus stop before checkpoint, and just as we cleared customs, JY had a slow leak. Talk about dramatic... Oh btw, JY rides a mountain bike, so he had his own tube.

And after the change, JY clipped on his bike but couldn't pedal off, because he on a high gear and a hump was blocking his way. So he fell.

And he yelled as he anticipated the fall, you know the feeling?

You are clipped in, panic sets in. And you know you just have to fall.



Back to Ulu Sembawang PCN, than when reaching Thomson road... Just had the hunger come in, and so wanted to eat at Hans... But a new eatery beside it seems really welcoming... So there was where he had a really fine meal!

We ate like a boss and I continued home to sleep for the next 14 hours or so.

Review: Nusa-Iskandar MTB Adventure ride 2012

Woke up 4am, had a "as slow as possible" ride to conserve energy towards Kranji MRT. Unfortunately, it included riding through Mandai Road...

Special Thanks to Family that gave some White cards for faster clearing of customs! Thank you Kenneth from PurebikesAsia for the PowerGel, William from TropiCare for Goodie bag storage, Owen from Crest Pursuit Cycling Apparel for organizing the bus from customs to race venue and back! Shout out to SMU riders, Ben from Shimano, Organisers, my fellow NTU Teammates and everyone else that shared the sufferings along the way!

 

Spot the shameless advertisement

Shimano sponsors!

Giant sponsors!

Start line! I'm nowhere near! =(

Crazy amount of riders, some 1040 riders in fact! MAD!

Once the race started, had to wait a little since I was in the middle, than a slow increase in speed to ~35km/h drafting a guy in front. Was wondering if I wanted to increase my speed, but thought otherwise. It was a long ride(68km) ahead after all.

The 5km road start seemed all too short as the whole group of riders came to an almost complete standstill when there was a bottle neck where only one person can move across a narrow bridge. As you can imagine, 1000 to 1 will cause havoc... Eventually people found alternative routes and more alternative routes and it was pretty unpleasant as the people who rode slowly got ahead and choked up the trail all over again.

Afterwards, it was the first climb some 150m in elevation and yet another choke point. But this time i waited about 8minutes to enter a really impossible apparently "World Class" downhill section, I walked through about half of it, injured my ankle, got some vines entwined into the rear hubs that wasted so much time! Once I was on my bike riding and not walking it was really scary skidding about downhill at speed, and to add to my fear, a guy ahead was lying on the floor in pain...

After I got used to the skidding I started to enjoy the downhill only to have it end and a short road section and steep hill and downhill and routes around the palm plantation and again and again!

The pit stops were the highlights of the race, volunteers rush to your side, checkpoint stick, peeled open banana, F1 quick refill of water and off you go! At the third checkpoint I was offered what seemed like a can of redbull and I grabbed it for it seemed too good to be true. I drank half and wondered if I was drinking too much at one go...

My thoughts replied almost instantly as a stitch on my right abdomen started voicing out its concern, I could push my pace anymore and just maintained.

The most torturous parts had to be the insanely steep, long and loose inclines. I knew I had trained for a long ride but was the training sufficient? About two thirds of the way in, I started pushing myself, I wanted to finish the race with nothing left... I overtook many during the climbs, where most were pushing, I wanted to finish badly without pushing my bike and kept telling myself I could do it. Than came a steeper than usual climb where the clean lines were taken by riders pushing up, leaving me with lots of loose ground to climb. 

I eventually spun out, put my left leg down and that leg cramped! The hamstring/thigh muscle that cramps forces your legs to straighten putting me in pain and I had to stop. I put my right leg down and that cramped too! The pain of two of  your major muscles pulling is quite something, so much that it made me tear. I had to stop and take a rest.

Unsatisfied, i continued my way up pushing my bike. Strangely I could still go on at a decent pace but was really careful to not put too much exertion on my hamstrings/thighs. At the base of the next incline, I didn't want to push my luck and ride up, as I wanted to finish the race!! So I just dismounted and pushed. To my surprise up the time I reach the top, my stitch had subsided and happy I could go on.

I took at slightly longer rest at the 2nd last pit with 2 bananas and a drink, and bit down hard to dig deep and find a higher pace. "Botak hill" dawned on me and it was yet another climb, with the sun at it's peak, no vegetation to shield you and as if the ground was reflecting even more sun to somehow melt you. I pedaled on. Granny gear, no one ahead and behind me. It was a lonely climb where I was wondering what about a quote I saw somewhere. was it Lance Armstrong?

Why do you do it(cycling) if it is so painful? -reporter

Are you kidding? I do it for the pain. -LA

Just before the last checkpoint my triceps started showing signs of cramping and I had to stop halfway downhill. Never had so many cramps before! Crazy! At last checkpoint 6! 5km to end point! downhill, left, right, the road! I have never been so happy to see road! Once on the road, i got into "time trial" position and spun that crank so hard. playing mind games again. The guy ahead is number 100th if I overtake him I get a medal! I overtook 5 guys haha. I finished 242nd and was so spent! And just got off the bike and stoned.

The team won 2 helmets from the lucky draw, a picture with Shimano staff and a long ride home later, it was over! Thank you loving family for supporting me when I got home! One heck of a ride!


Oh ya, if you wanna check out the stats of the ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/4095941

Nusa-Iskandar MTB Adventure ride 2012

I'm going for this:

Getting excited! It's more reason for me to ride! I'm now tapering (a term I never knew till recently, which basically means toning down training or resting before a race/event) down...

I have no idea about the conditions of the trails there, the climbs, the people riding, just don't know what to expect. Don't know how I will do in terms of pacing for a 60km offroad ride either. Well, I will blog about it after then!

Epic ride to Malacca

Some 240km away, organised by the most seasoned riders who frequent Malaysia... They decided doing it in a day was the way to do it, meeting at 2am in the morning:

 

12 riders set off into the night!

  Cruising at a modest pace of 26-27km/h, we cleared Johor and followed Route 1 where eventually the street lights were non existent... It made for a dangerous ride as the road quality deteriorated and visibility no more than a 20-30 metres, ave speed dropped to 22-24km/h and I moved to the front and switch my OEM Magicshine to high.

Even in high, not much can be seen, and hills were unidentifiable, playing an effective mind game where taking it easy and simply playing with the gears kept the heart rate stable.

Riding a Time Trial bike for long distances was a crazy choice and the thought was confirmed right after entering Malaysia . Trying many ways to change my riding position to as upright as possible, but doing so meant less control and I didn't want to do anything silly with so much distance to go...

After a short shower from the heavens, and what we thought was going to be a miserable ride in rain, sunrise in the horizon and we made it in to Ayer Hitam. Where there was a small coffee shop, time for food!

Circular bread toasted with Kaya and Butter... Too awesome... Gulped down 100 plus, a small packet of rice and off we went again.

Only for me to witness the most spine-chilling mechanical every cyclist should never ever witness. A rear derailleur going into the spokes.

I immediately knew a single speed conversion was the only way and the journey would get a lot tougher for the rider. A broken rear derailleur hanger was about as rare as it gets...

Looking good! But as we went on, the chain sometimes slipped and changed rear cogs, once the chain even came off.. Probably due to the damaged chain, as the chain was no longer true, bent beyond repair.

We were getting desperate for a solution, and some locals kindly showed as the way to a local bike shop:

The owner was so nice, he made a call and went off in his motorcycle, came back in a car, went off again and only came back some 45mins later where he said he couldn't find a similar rear hanger. Out of luck, the solution was for a new chain and to tension it tight!

Just like that we found new momentum, and enter the rolling hills towards Muar. On this 60km stretch, distance markers became our new found friends as the countdown began, kilometer after kilometer. One of our guys decided not to make take a rest and decided to push on all the way to Muah. Except we weren't going to Muar! We were going to turn right into the AMJ... We realized a little late, and the guy didn't have mobile coverage! I needed a rest but the others looked burnt and the fast guys were dealing with punctures.

Up to me, I sprinted for what seemed eternity and thankfully just before my limit I caught up. You know that if guy A travels at 25km/h and Guy B travels at 26km/h It would take 30 mins for Guy B to catch up with Guy A if Guy A had a head start of 500m.

During the day, hills were that more intimidating  as you look up the see where seems like a easy hill only to by spinning at granny at 10km/h wondering when the damn incline will end.

Anyway, we finally entered the AMJ (It's an abbreviation for the highway name, i think):

It was the last 50km stretch to Malacca, and it's the land of speed cars, smooth tarmac and luckily a decent road shoulder where we can ride two abreast. Probably the best/worse stretch of the whole ride depending on how you see it. Easy smooth flat terrain, or extremely boring sleep inducing road.

First it was the latter than the former, after which darkness came again but this time the body responded and I was falling asleep. Thanks to a Caffeine ball (Worked instantly), I took the lead again with my brighter lights all the way into Malacca.

Glorious food, a great ride there, lots of shopping malls, I should have stayed longer! But I guess there is always a next time!

Most of us took the bus back, but a brave four cycled back... To those four guys! I salute you!

Ride to Desaru.

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Some 180 kilometres later I'm back at home, discovering parts of my leg aching that have never ached before! Thinking back...

I slept at around 2 am, after tinkering with my bike; adding a WOHO classic roll bag, changing my tires to Scwalbe Big Apples inflated to 70 PSI, platform pedals to SPDs, brand new brake pads (after discovering mine were pretty worn out while I was changing the tires which I went down to my local bike shop Chapter 2 Cycle to get), woke up at 3.20am there abouts and made my way to Marsiling MRT cutting through Mandai rd via the new unlighted park connector to woodlands ave 12.



Brake pads: Becareful! Once the indicators are gone(left one has no more grooves right one still has some) would mean serious wear on your rims and much less braking effect!

At those hours, the roads before Kota Tinggi were pitch black and was quite an experience to ride in. We had a brief breakfast and pushed on to try to get to Sungai  Rengit before 12.30pm and push onto to the ferry terminal before 2.30pm to secure a ferry back to Sg.

Can you spot the low lying hazard?

I was clearly struggling to keep up with the roadies and a inhuman guy on a full suspension bike with knobbies, at the junction of Route 92 & 90 a choice was given to opt for a more scenic but longer yet flat route of 35km filled with hard headwinds or a hilly but shorter less scenic 28km route absent of headwind. Every cell in my body wanted to take the easy way out, but dang scenery is everything to me! And that the route was flat had to be a major draw!

The only two MTBs on the journey

In the end, it had to be the toughest ride and had embarked on! The pressure to make it in time, my slow bike, my weak legs, the strong headwind, the scorching sun, everything was out to slow me down. And persevered and thankfully my buddies decided to let me draft them to make up for lost time. We had to the 35km strech in 1.5 hours that would mean a 20km/h average speed. Sounds easy? But thats after I did a 90km ride here!

We made it to Sungai Rengit just before 1pm for a quick lunch, "The Shig" suggested we pass him our passports so he can leave early so as to have a better chance at securing a boat back to Sg. A really wise decision on his part as, as it would turn out we got the last available ferry back to Sg! Phew!

The Boat ride back: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150237952626283&comments

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The Storm had made the waters really chopy...

The longest ride of my life, so far. Shiok!

Malaysia offroad in Skudai! 2nd July

Dead tired from the ride, finally a post! If you are interested in the trail that we went... A word of warning though, we couldn't really follow the marked out trail via GPS... So we just locked onto a direction and rode in plantations! Fun!

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1145623

There were some really nice views, a nice break away from urban Singapore.

Not long before entering the trails, we started to smell something unpleasant... And eventually came across the source...

And the guy herding the cows was riding a motorbike! He helped as clear the way :) Although there were many freshly deployed land mines ahead!

Heading in a direction with no visible trail ahead meant overcoming certain obstacles along the way! Teamwork! Barbed wire fences, steep loose rocky slopes, beautiful moss covered palm plantations, mad dogs that chase you, scorching open lands, etc!

Notice the rubber tube tied around the tree trunk? I used it to help me climb the many slopes we encountered! But little did I know...

I was pricked by this little caterpillar! Many thorns were in my skin and I was screaming like a girl when I pulled them out... One. By. One. Ouch!

The ride was great with good food too! Macdonalds breakfast, KFC lunch, Cendol break, Prata dinner, Nasi Goreng Supper. Covered about 130km according to my friend's speedo! Legs are still tired!