Mega Mega Ride

I finally clocked a super long ride today, to ease my panicking mind over the impending IMNZ. We started from my house at 5am and rode the 15km to Casuarina to meet with the guys. We had 7 riders this morning - us, Melvin, Gary, Henry, WH, Lee, Eddie and May. All strong riders, I would definitely be dropped. It was a round-island ride, going along the usual Hougang - Tampines - Loyang - Coastal Road. The front guys had disappeared and there was no difference from me doing my weekend rides alone. As usual, my engine refused to kick-start before dawn. Even though I had a peanut butter cheese sandwich, I felt my energy sapping away. By the time we got to B1 (approx 60km) , I was flat. Anyway, that did not matter since I was the slowest and last rider.

Persevere! About 20+ km more to West Coast Mac for a much-needed breakfast. There were several big trucks and long trailers along the West Coast Highway. Traffic was relatively light so they were going very fast. Although they were typically 1 lane away from me (them being in the middle lane), I could clearly feel their draft each time they sped past. My new deep-section wheels caught the wind especially well. Wobble. Finally we reached Mac! Double-fortune-fillet-o-fish, iced-milo and hash brown! :)

Continuing on, we rode to Tuas. The guys brought me to a new extension. We nicknamed it Tuas-selton because it totally resembled the race route in Busselton. Flat, fast, but with strong head and cross winds at some sections. The roads were newly paved and the ride was smooth. There was a stretch without any wind and my wheels gained speed. 37kmh. I was stunned and took a double look to re-check. No mistake. Wow! (Coming from someone who plods along at 27kmh) I slowed down to 32kmh and picked up speed. It steadily and quickly increased... 35... 36... 37... Impressed! Finally, that must be the effect of the carbon wheels. I was initially thinking that I was not strong enough for them and that maybe I should switch back to normal lightweight wheels. The fun ended too soon and suddenly I was hit by a crosswind after a right turn. I could literally feel my bike going sideways, and I had to lean my weight to one side to counter it.

We took another pit stop at SPC along Jln Buroh. 130km. The last segment was to NTU and Neo Tiew before heading home. I managed to do the climb in NTU, and seeing the meter go from 10kmh to 9.9kmh to 9.0kmh,... and still pedaling on. Pant. And then I did not dare to go down the other side so I held on to both my brakes and slowly rolled down. Panic. By the time I got to the Lim Chu Kang cemetery stretch, I was really bored. My legs were just rolling as long as my bike was moving, with no care for speed. 20kmh. Don't care. Just roll. Finishing off at the Kranji junction, we bade farewell and Alber and I continued home instead of going back to Casaurina.

Our usual coffeeshop along Upp Bt Timah Rd was open for business, so we stopped for fresh iced lemon tea and lunch. Getting back onto my bike after that was literally a pain, my butt bones were sore rubbing against the saddle. It was like stopping for a sleep after a 50km run, and trying to restart. Ouch.

Finally made it home. Total 173km. Well ok, we had multiple stops along the way, but I would not have been able to complete the distance otherwise. Could not imagine running 42km after that. Ouch.