Time to get organise.

It's been awhile since my last post. Have been really busy lately. With assignments, projects, tests.. you name it. Sigh.. Drifting off course a little. I need to get myself sorted in the next few days, re-focus and get myself back on track for the next month. 3 weeks to the start of exams and a month before another semester comes to an end. I will be heading to KL, by bus, on this Friday morning for the Shah Alam Criterium the next day. Hope to make good use of the long journey to get myself reorganised.This will also be the first time I'll be doing the Tour of Friendship (5 days stage race) in Thailand, flying off the day after my last paper. Though not my main priority, I hope to do well in this race. I will be the only rider from Bikelabz in my cat, so GC might be out for me. Instead, I think I will target a few stages and hopefully still end with a decent GC, depending on how my legs feel. So this month leading up to my exams will be crucial. I need to learn from my mistake at Tour de Bintan last year, not to overcook myself.

On the side note, I just got myself a new bike! Well, not exactly new, but a second hand 2010 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX! Been longing to try it. So Im really glad to get my hands on one of those. It really brightens up my whole weekend with its arrival after almost 2 weeks of waiting (these were reallyyyyyyyy looooong 2 weeks!) And what a time to come, after I came back from a 5 hours solo ride feeling drained and moody! When I saw the box lying on the floor, my mood lifted instantly as if I haven done my 5hrs of riding yet. Very excited to race with this mean machine! :)

Not a bad deal, for around $4200 i get:
- Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2010 frameset
- Campagnolo Record 10spd Groupset
- Ciamillo Zero Gravity Brakes
- Ritchey Stem and Seatpost
- Selle Italia SLR saddle
- Zipp SL Handlebar
- M2Racer carbon bottle cages
- Lew Racing wheels with Tune hubs and Near Far Ti skewers
- Shimano Pedals

Complete bike that came in the box!

Life is short.

This is your life.
Do what you love and do it often.
If you don't like something, change it.
If you don't like your job, quit.
If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life, stop. They will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.
Stop over analyzing. Life is simple.
Open your minds, arms and heart to new things and people. We are united in our differences.
Some opportunities only come once, seize them.
Travel often; Getting lost will help you find yourself.
All emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is and share your inspiring dream with them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them.
So go out and start creating.
Life is short. Live your dream and share your passion.

OCBC Super Challenge

After sleeping for 2 hours on Saturday night, I woke up at 2.30am on Sunday morning for the Super Challenge starting at 5.30am. Reason for this? It was Yeow Chung's decision so that we would be at the front of the line when we start the race. It was a good decision as we wouldn't want to risk starting somewhere in the middle or at the back where we might get stuck and spend the first few kms chasing. When we got to the line it was 4.30am and had to wait another hour before the start. We parked our bikes and sat on the road. Ryan, Amir and I past our time by watching some youtube cycling videos. Some guys who turned up later tried to cut our queue and get in the line but was told off by Chung and Dirk. Even the famous Phil Liggett tried to get in our line, but of course, he was an exception. "I always start at the front for every race", he jokingly said. Nice to meet him close up in person anyway.

Buying time while we are waiting for the 5.30am start

Getting ready!

With zero warm up, we went from heart rate of 70bpm to 160bpm(my high intensity zone) from the start. Straight from the gun, Chung sprinted off and I gave chase. Within first km, the front was strung out in one line of orange (DB2-Bikelabz colours). At the first corner, I took a glimpse back and i could see there were gaps behind everywhere and everyone was giving chase. I knew we were doing the right thing and waking up at 2.30am was well worth it. After a few km, the pack snapped somewhere further behind the line of orange. When we hit the Benjamin Sheares bridge, I took another glimpse back and I could not see the second group behind anymore. It seems that we had gained a huge gap in just a short time. Only a few other riders managed to tag along (a few Cyclone riders from HK, one Cannasia rider, one ANZA rider, and a few other ang mohs). We were clearly on the upper hand now and had to decide what was the best thing to do. With the strength of our team, Im pretty sure the other riders wouldn't do a single work at the front. Just as I thought, the Malaysians in our team started launching the attacks. We went in 2s and 3s. Hoping that if we got away, we could work together. And in the next 5-10km, attacks were raining down. Whenever any other riders tried to bridge the gap, someone would sit behind them immediately and not do any work. Whenever the pack slowed, another 2 or 3 of us would go again. The idea here is to get as many of us up the road as possible and time trial away, leaving other riders to work behind to pull the front back while the rest of us just sit in and get ready for another counter. Everything went according to plan, by now we had 8 riders (including Raymond, Ryan and Amir) up the road, together with one rider from Cyclone and another from ThugLife. They had managed to slip away with our guys. There was always nothing to worry about with 8 vs 1 vs 1.

Chung sprinting off!

Behind, I didn't managed to get into the break, so I worked to control the pack, closing any riders who tried to get away and also disturbing the rhythm of the pack by slotting myself in between the train. Soon the front was nowhere in sight and the pack knows it was game over. That was the winning break and the winner would surely come from Bikelabz. The rest of the riders tried to rally together at the front but they were not going anywhere. At the end of the first lap, the second pack caught up with our group. It was a bigger group but the pace didn't change. My female teammate, Serene, joined our group and she was the only female in the group, so she would eventually win the women's category.

It was a big group now and we know we need to reduce the pack before the finish. At the bottom of Sheares bridge, Samuel signaled for all of us to gather at the front of the pack. When we hit the climb Adrian went full gas for 30secs, enough to force a hard pace for the back. Then Samuel took over and went full gas too. By now everyone was almost at their limit. Nearing the top Samuel tapped me and gave me a push. I knew it was time and I went off. A cyclone rider was immediately on my wheel. I didn't managed to get away, but at least i know the pace was hard enough to shed some riders and I was at the front end of the pack entering the city, which had many sharp turns that could prove to be dangerous (as we can see later). On the descend to Rochor Rd, I signaled for the Cyclone guy to take over, and he unwillingly did so. I stayed on the 3rd or 4th wheel. At the 4th last corner, David Gowty of Cannasia went in really fast on my right. His wheel skidded and he went out of control. I braked but my front wheel hit his bike on the ground. Somehow I managed to stay up!! I could hear the Cyclone guys at the front shouting "Run! Run!" in Cantonese. I sprinted hard to pick up pace and latch on to their wheel. Now we have the 2 Cyclone guys and 3 Bikelabz (Chung, Samuel and me) at the front entering the last 2 bends. Before the bend I pushed ahead to the 3rd wheel behind a Cyclone guy and Chung. The HK rider led the final bend before the finishing straight. I underestimated the final bend as it didn't look as tight as it was and was lucky to miss the barriers. But behind me, I head a loud crash! I looked back and saw a huge pile up. Samuel had gone down with a few others. In the last 200m, Chung and I started our sprints and we overtook the HK rider before the line, finishing 1 and 2 from the pack. Up ahead, Saiful (DB2-Bikelabz and Terengganu Pro Asia) had won the race! I should come in around 12th spot.

Saiful our rightful winner!

Remaining of the break coming in..

It was a great race by our team. We had the strength and also the numbers today. Tactically, it was an easy race for us. I was just a little disappointed that the other teams were not present today. That way, there would be more team tactics involved and make the race more interesting. Otherwise, I have to say that the OCBC event this year was a success for DB2-Bikelabz! Our efforts vested in the past 2 months have been worth it! Great racing with these guys and looking forward to many more races with the team in the future! :)

OCBC Mens Open Criterium

At the startline

Time flies. It wasn't long when I just joined Bikelabz and we were focusing on our training in preparation for OCBC in a few months time. It suddenly struck me, when we were lining up at the startline, that this was it. This was what we had been training so hard for as a team week after week.

The waiting time was surprisingly shorter than most of the other races that I've done. Soon we were off! This time I was lucky to clip into my pedals on my first try! Relieved. As usual it was chaos at the start and the first few bends. There were no proper lines and everyone was zig-zagging around trying to get to the front. So many near misses. One crazy guy took the corner in the tunnel from the inside to the outside, almost wiping everyone out in the process. When we're into our last corner heading to end of our first lap, my rear wheel skidded! It suddenly occurred to me that I might be in trouble for the remaining of the race. If the 150psi that I pumped this morning wasn't a mistake, failure to release some air knowing the road will be wet is. And in the next 3 laps, my rear wheel skidded another 3 more times. It was a nightmare! Seriously. My confidence in cornerings also dropped to rock bottom. As a result, I took it slow and wide every corner and had to play the chasing game on the straights. I know it would be too dangerous to even go hard at the front and attack the corners. I know for sure that if I were to test the limits of the tires, it's 100% chance I would go down. This would not only put me in jeopardy, but the rest of my team and riders. So even though the race wasn't over, psychologically it was for me. Not being able to go hard and fast enough in the corners meant that I was spat out from he back of the front pack and reduced to riding alone before I got picked up my the second group.

There were about 10-12 riders in the second group, including Michel (Fuji), a Cannasia rider, a Cyclone rider, a couple of Orbea guys, some ang mohs and Yeow Chung (DB2-Bikelabz). Chung was doing a lion's share of work at the front together with a few others while the rest, including me, just sat in. We were told the front group was just 15secs. The tactic here is not to catch the first group as we already have a number of guys and our main riders in it. To catch them would complicate things as more riders who joined in would want a piece of the action towards the end.

In the second group

Towards the last 3 laps, I moved to the front of the group and stayed in this position. I wanted to win from this group even though there's almost nothing to fight for now. Also in a way to ensure Chung's work in the pack was worth it. On the last lap coming out of the tunnel, the front few guys slowed somewhat. So I used my momentum and went straight to the front. I took the final few corners, with caution as usual, and launched from far in the final straight. There was nothing to think about but to go full gas to the line. So I went as hard as I could, just like our weekly motorpacing/sprint sessions, but extended version of course! I could see an Orbea guy trying to come around me on the right towards the line after sucking my wheel from the start of the sprint. But I kept pushing to the line. I think I came across ahead of him by a tire length. 17th position overall.

Final straight to the line

Finishing ahead of the Orbea guy

After the race, I felt rather depressed. As if I let the team down, not being able to hang on to the first group and help them when they needed an extra guy. With 12 riders, our best results were 2nd, 3rd and 5th. If you look at it, this wasn't a bad result at all. But I felt that only a victory could justify the strength of our team for this race. I guess the strongest guy won today. Tjarco Cuppens of Team Fuji Singapore. So I respect the victory and hats off to him. It was also a good result for his team, my former team. Tomorrow's Super Challenge would be another day and another chance to fight again. Might be a race that suits me better. Trust me to go all out and give everything! Full gas!

Live your life to the fullest!

We never know when would be the last day that we spend on this Earth. So let us treasure every moment while we can and the people around you while they still are! Live your life everyday as if there is no tomorrow and have no regrets!