A series of firsts and almost the last

Sat-Sun 16-17 Oct 04:
To Batu Pahat, Johore, Malaysia, 319 km. My first solo round trip abroad. The first time I'm wearing contact lenses abroad. The first time I've logged a total of 15,000 km on my bike. And the first time that I (almost) have enough of cycling.

There's such a thing as too much of a good thing: cycling two American centuries (100 miles) in as many days. In Singapore, the longest distance (round island) is only 120 km. And one can eat and drink almost anywhere. Not so in huge Malaysia; I ride 160 km and I'm still in Johore. And as the fasting month has started, many eating places are closed.

Day 1 The trip starts badly enough, with a gridlock of buses just before the causeway. The thought of being crushed by buses crosses my mind. I see the roadkill of birds, chicken, cat and bat, and I almost join a smashed monkey on the road as I try to avoid it. The journey takes its toll; My speed drops from 30+ km/h to around 20, thanks to an incessant headwind. Also incessant is the thought: "why am I doing this". Riding solo takes mental strength to drown out such thoughts, besides physical strength.

I'm so tired of looking at the distance crawl by on my cyclo computer. I switch to average speed mode; my performance indicator now is not distance, but average speed. The computer tells me it is 23.3 km/h. The series of hills at the end of my century ride mocks me. At Batu Pahat, I feast on mee goreng, one prata and a cup of Milo. All for RM4. That's half the price in Singapore.

Day 2 I'm on the road before dawn. Asking for directions from two persons is a good decision that puts me on the right road. I mock the hills before me with an average speed of 23.8 km/h and follow the road home. Which takes me past two wrecked cars, one on either side of the road. What a smash it was. Nearer habitation, a dog ducks under a gate and runs after me. After Pontian, I cycle non-stop for three hours - the raging traffic around me fills me with adrenalin.

Dodging potholes with traffic whizzing past. One spill and that would've been the end of me. Who says road riding is tame compared to mountain biking? I must've gulped so much, my sore throat is gone. I brake at a junction. The rear wheel protests, my bike shudders and I hear a metallic sound. I pull over the side and note that my baggage has shifted on the seatpost rack. A grain of sand must've gotten into the brake block. And the sound is from my compass hitting the spokes. And I thought a spoke had broken. My waistpouch digs into my back. Back in Singapore, a jerk motorcyclist swerves into my path. Welcome home - as usual, I have to take evasive action in Singapore and not during the hundreds of km in Malaysia.

Alfresco dining

To Admiralty Road West, 39 km. The rain has stopped. It's cool and misty. The dark foreign talent gather after a hard day's work in the shipyard to dine in the open air. Under the trees, on the pavement, on the grass. Unlike their white counterparts in town. This Wed night, I cycle alone as no one is at the rendezvous point. Some motorists try to contact me, including one handicapped driver. At least, I think she's handicapped; she turns her steering wheel, but is incapable of turning on her signal light.

Self-organised

To Choa Chu Kang, 73 km. From different directions they come, dressed in different colours and on different bicycles. At 8.25 am, helmets are donned, bikes are mounted and we're off. "No need for PAP to organise," says one cyclist of the Thomson Sunday Ride. This is my second such ride, the first being on 29 Aug. I'm still in the 30th percentile, but this time, I manage to keep the peloton in sight along Mandai Road. I pass scattered groups along the route. I latch on to a few roadies at Kranji, then shake them off. Soon, I'm alone again. Deja vu. Yesterday, I was among 20 riders who were left behind. Last year, we'd cycled at least 400km for training and on the actual ride for charity. Last night, we didn't make it the few metres up the stage to receive our Commissioner of Police Awards; the ceremony went awry for us. Why am I writing this? Because Flanker and Papa Bear asked me to.

Green-eyed monster

To Choa Chu Kang, 88 km. When we reach the finish line of Hunt on Wheels treasure hunt, we weren't the first. Some of the places and clues are hard to deal with, and we wait for a team member to catch up. Several teams pass us by. Just 15 minutes separate us from the first team (their time 03:07:00). There are six prizes for 30 teams. We're third (our time 03:21:58; six minutes behind second team 03:15:59). Our prizes are so-so; the winning team gets $1,000 worth of prizes, including OGK helmets and CamelBaks. My satisfaction at being third withers when I see the winners with their loot. What a terrible thing envy is. There's reason to be happy: no one got killed or maimed and we did win prizes - including a hamper of cooking oil(!) and airhorns. I learn some lessons on teamwork too:

When you're in the team, you gotta work. It ain't called teamWORK for nothing. We can only move as fast as the slowest worker. Our slowest cyclist is sporting and doesn't complain about the pace; we race for over three hours without rest!
We win as a team, or lose as a team. They made me the team leader. Sometimes, I shouldn't have listened to their advice (they were wrong). Sometimes, I'm glad I listened to their advice (I was wrong). What's important is, we correct the wrongs and (literally) move on.
Keep the goal in mind. We saw the prizes after the race and one of us said: "Should've cycled faster." Yeah.
The race is organised by Yew Tee Zone 11 Residents Committee.

Photo courtesy of pcss38

No, no and no

Sep distance travelled: 508 km

To Tuas, 82 km. No practice ride with NUS centennial ride team (see 5 Sep entry below). No lung-bursting straining to keep up with the Sunday Thomson riders. Today, I cycle with AF, who'd gotten me started on serious cycling in 2003. Today, we're heading for Johore via the Second Link. But it's no go; we're turned back by the police though there's been correspondence from the authorities that cyclists are allowed. What a pity. I practice cycling; it's easy to pedal, but harder to do it right.

4 minutes and 2mm

To Johore Bahru, Malaysia, 54 km. I take the afternoon off to visit the map office. For the first time, I pedal differently based on a one-liner I read in a book. What a difference the one-liner - and my pedalling - makes. Excluding immigration waiting time, I'm across the causeway in an hour. Just in time to see the map office close at 4 pm. I'm just 4 minutes late. "Tolong," I ask but sorry, something about the computer, no help can be given. At least, the tourist office is open, unlike during my visit on 18 Sep. It's peak hour traffice in JB after that, but that's way less scary than peak hour in Singapore, where I have a few close calls with buses and cars.
Tech note I drop by the usual bikeshop to get my headset fixed; it comes loose on a road ride within 10 km. Bikeshop Man adds a 2mm spacer and charges me $2. Now, my bicycle feels like a chopper, with a more twitchy steering. As it's a little higher, it's more comfortable though. What a difference 2mm makes.

North and south

To Johore Bahru, Malaysia, 133 km. I head north to Johore to buy some government maps, for this year's epic ride to Thailand via the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. After a wild goose chase, no thanks to someone who points me in the opposite direction, I find the map office. It's closed. And so is the tourist information centre. I head back empty handed and disappointed, and cycle south to National University of Singapore. I kill two hours successfully, taking a ride down memory lane. I join the training ride for the NUS centenary ride next year. There are a few close calls, one from a cyclist and several from buses. I meet LYC, who'd joined me for part of last year's epic ride to Thailand via the east coast.

Road Race Six

To Nanyang Tech University, 64 km. My first official road race is today. I want to get a decent placing and take a taxi there. There, the racers have team tents, vans and supporters. Me, I'm alone. The last event - MTB category - starts late. So late that I keep extending my warm up until I've logged 10 km. As the race starts, people laugh and joke, going at barely 30 km/h. I fail to rein myself enough. The pack surges past me. First, I'm in front, then there's a gap in front of me, until I lose sight of them. I still can't figure out how they surge past me in Lap 1. I'm disadvantaged after that, since they get to draft while I can't. I catch sight of them in Lap 3. I reckon I'm a few minutes behind them when I cross the finish line. I'm 7th out of 12 who signed up. Some riders Did Not Finish. While my lungs were bursting during the race, my legs don't feel tired and I cycle for home within half an hour. Some roadies overtake me; one flashes a thumbs up. They were spectators at the race. I see them again at Mandai Road and give chase. Only then do my legs feel tired. I'm disadvantaged when it comes to hills.

Road race rehearsal

To Nanyang Tech University, 78 km. I want to take the day off because HR Dept says "use it or lose it". But I'm caught between two rocks and two hard places ... Anyway, I manage to get half a day off and off I go to NTU to check out this Sunday's road race route. It's not a fun ride as I'm still smarting from what happened in the office. And I wonder if I'll be disqualified for being overlapped this Sunday. I see two roadies training. I stop to check a map, then trundle one round. I'm kinda knackered after riding non-stop for 40 km on kinda deflated tyres (training lah). After round 2, I head for home. I spy a roadie (must've flown out of class) and give chase from a standing start. I overtake him but he gives me short shrift after that. What to do, he's young and fresh ...

Tech note I stop by to see Bikeshop Man to true my wheels after the smashing they got at the Subaru race . He won't tell me first how much it'll cost but gets to work. He's a real craftsman and does a better job than another guy who'd charged me $4 to true one wheel. Bikeshop Man asks for $10. He says it's half-price; he usually charges $10 per wheel.

Familiar faces, familiar route

To Tuas, 97 km. Today is my first training ride for the National University of Singapore Centennial Ride to Kuala Lumpur. There are some familiar faces; people I met on 21 Aug during the NUS Cycling Club outing. The route is familiar too: Tuas. As it turns out, I'm in decent company. Bike leader cranks out 25 km/h. We sit on his tail. 28, 29, 30 km/h ... most of us are still on his tail, including a guy with "drumstick-type" thighs, creaky bike complete with kickstand and mudguards. The end of the ride is a free for all, as two of us break away and head back to NUS. I hear yesterday's ride has someone going at 8 km/h.