Melaka Training Camp: Day 6

Day 6

 Today is rest day for us. So we slept till 9.30am. Ryan wasn't hungry and preferred to have more sleep, so I went down alone for breakfast. We cycle out for lunch in the afternoon in our casual wear (so much more convenient than walking). We headed to the bike shop first as I wanted to get a longer stem, but the shop didn't have anymore 130mm stem. Too bad for me.. :( So after some chit chat with Loi (boss of the shop) we headed for lunch somewhere around Plaza Mahkota since Ryan wanted to have a haircut there. We stop by a coffee shop selling Mee Goreng as it was crowded and looks good. But it was way way too spicy for the both of us!! I only managed to finish half the plate! :S After lunch we headed to the Hair Salon we saw yesterday just 50m down the road. Ryan had his haircut plus wash plus style for only 38rm! Very cheap for the standard of haircut. I decided I will go back and get a haircut for myself too before leaving for KL on Friday. On the way back, we randomly bought another dvd "Hangover II" and spent our afternoon watching it then sleeping again till dinner. For our dinner, Loi and Nash brought us out to a nice zhi char restaurant near Nash's Guest house. Food was good and was nice of them to treat us again. So Ryan and I decided to treat them drinks after that at The Shack Cafe just few shops down where we had our dinner last night. Then headed back to our hotel to rest for the night. Tomorrow we will be doing long with rolling terrains. Can't wait to be back on the bike after a rest day! :)

Shack's Cafe

Bridge on the way back to hotel

Melaka Training Camp: Day 5

Day 5

Last night Ryan and I had Korean BBQ where we got "ge tou-ed". Around 215rm for the 2 of us! But I thought we deserved it after some terrible hill climbs in the morning. After that we walked around a shopping mall opposite where we bought a few miscellaneous stuff. We went for a massage after that and then headed back to our hotel. (On the way back I da bao-ed another packet of wanton mee. Hehe)

Korean BBQ

Yummy!

A famous satay shop. Must try one day!

Oyster omelete stall beside wanton mee. Also long queue!

Road side wanton mee stall! :)

Today was more of a free day for us as the Melaka boys had an event to attend. So Ryan and I wanted to do an easy/tempo 2-2.5hrs ride. We decided to join Nash and Loi (bike shop owner) and his group of friends for their sunday "easy" ride. It was like our expo uncles ride back in Singapore. We rolled to Tampin and Alor Gajar where there was a cycling event and apparently the Melaka boys were there to celebrate the event and receive their sponsorship. When we were there we got to know that the group has left and was on their way in the 25km ride. So our pace picked up so as to catch them. Soon we caught up to them and it was nice to see the Melaka boys again rolling at the front of the pack. After that we rolled at a snail pace with our granny gears across the small roads in the kampong, chit-chatting along the way while avoiding the cow dungs. When we are finally back at the event site, the uncles managed to get us a number tag where we are qualified for lucky draw with a chance to win a bike! But we decided that the wait was going to be too long so we gave the chances to the others around and left. On the way back the paced picked up really fast as the uncles all wanted to "test power". I was a little disappointed in a way this wasn't the ride I wanted to have. It was a little messy and no structure to it. I wanted a nice short ride and head back to the hotel to stay away from the Sun as much as possible. But our ride took 5hrs even though ride time was only 3hrs due to many stoppages Nonetheless, it was still fun.

The guy in the middle is Amir, former Sea Games gold medallist in Track event!

Melaka Boys!

Loi, Me and Ryan

After the ride, Loi brought us out for lunch together with Nash. We got to know that Nash owns a pretty nice guest house and charges around 40rm/night. Very cheap compared to our 150rm/night hotel! We are definitely staying there the next time round! We drove around looking for a nice place to eat but all the shops were close. (This is how laid back Melaka is.) So after much driving and stopping we finally settled at a Chicken rice stall. After the meal we headed to Nash's Guest house to take a look and chilled there for the afternoon. We watched "The Mercury Men" for a while before deciding it's too boring and changing to a more crappy one called "Bruno". We were also introduced to one of Nash's guest, a french writer who has stayed in Nash's place for a month already. He's currently writing a book and is hoping to complete it in the next 2 months.

Chicken Rice!

Loi drove us back to our hotel and immediately Ryan sank into the bed. I don't know what time he'll be up but when he is, we'll be going to explore Jonker Street again tonight as the roads will be closed and sure to be crowded! :)

Melaka Training Camp: Day 4

Day 4

Falling off the bike summarizes the whole of my ride today. I was so careless and stupid really. Both times i fell alone. The first one was when i was stopping and could not unclip on time. Fell on my right. Right arm, leg, shifters and rear dee got it. Rear dee started hitting my spokes. Ended up heading to a bike shop to get it fixed before going back to hotel. At least the shop owner was nice enough to change a new hanger for me FOC. Second time was when entering the carpark. Rolled over the stone path and fell on my left side. This time my left arm, leg and shifters got it. Having had a crash free 2011 season, today i fell twice, and on my new bike. Okay at least next time won't heart pain my bike anymore. Just whack from now on! The injuries weren't too bad so a "cheap" lesson learnt to remind myself how easy it takes to go down.

New scars

Pepperoni near the knee

Today we rode roughly 4hrs 45mins. 50km to the foot of a small hill before doing a few hill repeats there. Threshold pace then sprint the last 30m. Pretty much otot. Senior riders supposed to do 10 sets and the junior riders 5. Having done my threshold yesterday, I decided to go easier today and lesser sets. But, easier is relative. With the climb was around 200m in elevation, averaging 10% and some sections as steep as 19-20%, the easiest effort to get up can't get anywhere near "easy". I was grinding my 40x25T gearing and speed down to single digit while i noticed some of them were using compact cranks, if only i got my compact cranks ready for this trip. So after 5 sets, me and Ryan headed to the coffee shop where everyone took a short break before heading back to Melaka. Other than my stupid falls, it was a nice ride today doing some killer Malaysian climbs and riding with the Melaka riders again. Weather was also perfect! :)

Young but no easy meat!

Cheeky boys!

Bike shop in Melaka.Cool fixies!

Melaka Training Camp: Day 3

Day 3

Today me and Ryan did our own ride as it was the Melaka rider's off day. So we decided to do our threshold today. 2.5hrs. We headed out to the same route as we took yesterday. After riding out 45mins we started our 20mins set on a long stretch of road with minimal traffic lights. It was a good route and timing as I ended my set just before entering another small town, where i easy spinned for 10mins before heading back in the direction i came from. Crosswinds were very strong on most sections so i could get my power up. After our sets we stopped by a coffee shop for a short break and drinks as the weather was a killer. Clear blue sky with scorching hot Sun. Must be at least 34-36deg cel. Thankfully Ryan's dad bought a bottle of moisturizer for us when we are back. I got a feeling we are going to get so burnt at the end of this trip with this weather.

Crowded Jonker Street last night

Hungry boy eating junk food! Super "recovery" rings.

Entrance of the small town after my first set on intervals.. :)

Melaka Training Camp: Day 1 & 2

Day 1

So I have decided to skip school for 2 weeks after CNY to come to Melaka with Ryan for a short training camp (25Jan to 3Feb) and then head to KL for a short criterium before coming back to Singapore (3Feb to 5Feb). Ryan will be training for ACC in Feb and I will be looking to improve further by being more focus away from the fuzz and buzz, as well as better terrains to train in. We will be training with the Melaka team with Fairoz as the coach. Travis Woodford (Singapore U23), who is also going for ACC, is also here to train with us. He arrived one day before us. Since I made the decision to skip school, I had better make the best out of this trip!

The first day we arrived in Mimosa Hotel (where we will be staying for the next 9 days) in the late afternoon due to some jam in Melaka. Ryan's dad drove us up We quickly settled down and went out to get what we needed for the next few days (water, food etc.). There were some miscommunication and we had some problem trying to contact Fairoz. But we managed to get everything sorted out and headed out for dinner. Dinner was at a Nyonya restaurant called Bibik Neo. We ordered a mixture of fish, vegetables, chicken, soup and sotong. The food was decent and after hearing we'll be riding for 6-8hrs the next day it had better be! After dinner, we headed to a nearby foot reflexology centre where we got our massage. 50Rm for a 60mins full body massage. Not too bad! We headed back to the hotel to get our stuff ready for the next day and then it's lights off for an early night.

Day 2

We woke up at around 6.15am and changed up before rolling over to meet the rest of the guys at Semabok Inn Hotel. There we introduced briefly while they were having their breakfast. Then it's 7.30am and time to ride! The pace was nice and easy (30-35km/h). We were doing through and off rotation as instructed by Fairoz (on his motorbike with 2 spare wheels and water). Credits to him for following us the whole day watching and stopping the traffic for us as we got through the streets. Besides him, he had another helper (also on the bike) and another jeep that was tagging along behind. We rode 100km to Batu Pahat, took a 15mins break/makan, then another 100km back to Melaka. The Melaka riders are young and some of them are really small in size so it's  quite hard to get the draft at times, and the strong headwinds didn't quite help in those situations. I was actually feeling really good for a 200km ride today besides my feet which started giving me lots of pain after 170km. Time to get some good recovery now! Looking forward to Sunday's 160km ride with climbs! :)

 

 

 

 

Short break at Batu Pahat

Welcoming the new semester!

Well.. It's the second week into 2012, end of the first week of the new semester. I just only attended my first lecture so far. (Oops!) I am not panicking though. After two and a half years living the "Uni life" I kinda know what it would take to get me past the sem, and the first week of lectures are probably not very important, though it lays the foundation and what to expect in the coming weeks. If my appeal goes well, I should be taking 5 modules this semester, not too heavy, but definitely not going to be easy as well. I think my time management has improved over the years and I hope to put them to good use this semester. It's going to be crunched-time all over again!

I believe my performance in cycling is directly related to my academic studies. By knowing my stuff in school would give me a peace of mind when i head out for training and also a reduce in overall stress level. So this semester i hope to put in decent effort into my academics, and with the help of more quality and specific training program, I hope to do well in both!

2012 resolution:

1. To see significant improvement in my fitness.
2. To score above Cap 3 for semester 6.
3. To be more open, humble, and willing to learn.
4. Learn to treasure the ones around me even more.
5. Still looking for my first victory in a bike race! (Will it come?)
6. A podium in National Road Championships would make my year.
7. Top 5 Singaporean in National TT Championships.
8. To help the team, to the best of my abilities, get up the podium in every race we take part.

A happy and selfless team is a strong team. A family.