Well something that i have always wanted to join on a big scale event.......joining a bike race. I remember back in secondary when seeing all those TdF and TdL reports........i wondered, when can i feel what its like to be in a race.
Heres the chance now. After registering and paying the fee plus collecting my lucky number 100 tag, Sunday (13/04/08) arrived. My preparation for this was really shallow coz i was busy lately. But then i just went ahead and give all that i have.
Got up at arnd 6.45am and wanted to go there early. To my horror i was drizzling. I did want to wait there.......but i thought it be even better to go there early to get all things sorted out. So what the heck.........i rode in the rain at 7am on a sunday. And mind u, its freezing cold. And the faster u go, the colder it gets...........brrr............i was wishing for a windbreaker badly. Now i know why they need to keep warm in the rain.
I reached the starting point which is at the Islamic School in Gombak. Nice little space for bikes n cars to park. Expected riders to turn up were over 180.......maybe 200 or more. This is a phenomenal sight to see........considering IM IN IT! Haha. Since it was only 7.30am.......just lepak around see who comes in. Lots of vans and cars with bikes all over the place. Banners for Polar heart rate monitors and PowerBar were all over as they are the main sponsors. Thanks to them, the entrance fee was kept real low. And we get 1 free PowerBar as well. ^^
I finally saw Mr Jamil, the first rider i met in KL since i brought my bike. Was good to see him in this race. We really chatted and caught up with one another. And fortunately Benny , store manager for Bike Boutique was on scene as well to provide free bike checkups and tuning. Jamil had a flat tyre........just what the doc ordered.
Time of start was at 8.30. More riders came in.......far as JB and Melaka n Kedah n even EAst coast. Once again i got really excited. Did a few warm up rounds so i didnt get cold legs. Then saw some of my riding mates. Even saw Khalid who came from home. Came here the night before.
Organisers got the field to line up at abt 8.30am. It was suppose to be a 7km rolling start. We dont race until we reach the proper 0km mark after the Orang Asli Hospital. At 8.45......we were let off in one big bunch. We had 5 police bikes to help clear the way and make things easy for 200 riders to cram on one small road. I was still nervous to go in the main peloton as im affraid of crashes. But no sooner than i thought..............the bunch uped the pace to 40kmh! It was suppose to be a slow start. But then they went fast.........and we havent even reached 0km. Haiz.......so early suffer liao. How will i get up sempah with this kind of pace? Boys from the Armed Forces and the National Sports Council were dominating the pack........as well as our own W2R guys. I just hung at the back drafting.
As we crossed traffics lights.........took corners...........people saw us. Wonder what they felt seeing this peloton racing past them. I forgot to set my meter so i was really a bit blur abt my distance n avg speed. But luckily i knw the route well enough.
Suddenly in front the bunch was in chaos as 2 or 3 riders fell. One was at the road side.......looks ok to me but must be a bit dazed. Crashes at 40kmh are not pretty. I can wreck the bike n rider sometimes. i managed to gain some position up the field. We just passed the Hospital and the starting line is just after a small bridge. I heard the air horn go off and we were underway racing. The peloton just kept going ahead. I couldnt follow. I didnt want to follow coz i knw i will get in trouble. I just kept the first few km high pace to catch up some time. Behind me are still more riders esp the Mountain Bikes coz they are heavy and slower. In front a line of riders strung out along the road. Slowy i caught some.
After the first hairpin which where the real climb starts i was alone for a while. Then i caught two guys in front and just followed a while. It was Tabira and another guy actually. So i passed them steady at abt 23kmh. They tried to follow me. I just kept pace and after a while i lost them. There is a section of road abt 3km long which is flat and there i turned up the gears and made like a train on tracks. Soon i caught another two riders. A chinese guy. and then the other i realised was Alim. His pace is as good as mine so i stuck to him. Two guys working together is better.
At this point already a million thoughts ran in my brain. Wheres the peloton? how far are they in front. whats my actualy ride time (i forgot to time n set everything coz things just went too fast to stop and check). i kept pace with Alim around 19-20kmh. Using my second lightest gear to get a nice good cadence. The chinese guy eventually fell behind.....just me and Alim most of the time. My legs were already hurting. I was taking extremely huge breaths of air. My heart rate was almost at max level. And i still had to go on. I pushed really hard. Didnt give into temptation to slow.
Alim really tried to lose me a couple of times. Sudden bursts of sprints. But i manage to catch. But at one point he led me abt 10 meters and i was just keen to keep my own pace. In front we found a few more slow riders. Potong sayur we did. LOL.
In Genting Sempah, if u reach the transmission tower......ur nearing the end but u will be getting the most punishment........ 4 short steep climbs. One is really short abt 30 meters........the longest is abt 100 meters. And these are tiny switchbacks actually. Switchbacks are like hairpins........sharp corners but goes UP in elevation. But i have found a way to tackle these guys and i knew which ones i can attack and which ones i just keep steady.
The first SB i manage to reel in alim........and i was along side him now. Then he went behind me. Now mind u my legs were in deep hot pain by now but i didnt want to slow down. And i didnt want to let Alim get ahead of me. On the second shallow SB i opened up a small gap. we had a girl rider tagging us also for a while after she drafted behind some cars......which was really "main tak aci" aka "not fair". well i didnt mind at all. So 3 of us stuck together. I heard there was abt 2km left to climb and i just sat and conserved energy for the final push. My strategy was to attack on the final corner. To many that is a hell corner coz its steep, but i love it for some reason and i can climb it really nicely. And the last 2 SB's are actually just 200 meters apart. So after the 3rd one i was ahead of alim and the girl. And i kept a distance with some pace. And as soon i got to the last corner i dropped 2 gears to my 21 rear cogset and stood up and mashed the pedals. This time i really split the 3 of us apart and my tactic worked. I had destroyed the small group i was in. Haha. Finally something worked in this race.
And i saw the 1km marker as soon i got to the top............so i pushed some more........i constantly checked back to see if anyone followed me. up until 500 meters i still couldnt see anyone. I kept pushing. There was just one more small bend to go before i see the finish line. I kept at around 25kmh. And soon........the sight i was waiting for........the FINISH line. I took one finaly look back and i saw them 100 meters back. I just sat up as i came across the line. And now i can finally REST.
MY heart pounding. taking lots of air. And i was exhausted. Legs were like jelly. But i made it to the line. Happy to finish a race. Then Alim and some others came in. I found a place to rest waiting for the other frends to come in. One by one they came. Few minits apart. And after was all said and done......we gathered and talked abt the ride, sharing wat we went through and chit chatting. We had to wait for all to finish then only will the prized be given. I got from Alim that his time in was 46minits. So i should be at 45 minits since i was a bit infront. A personal best for me up this 550 meter tall mountain. Its taller than KLCC by 100 meters!
Later i found out the winner was clocked at 33minits to the line. Seriously nuts. And what more since they are National Sports Council riders training under national coaches. There should be an elite category and a general category. Other wise the results wont be really justified.
After all the prize giving and all.........we went back down the mountain. Balik rumah and rested. But later one went to PC Fair with Zhang Song to find a new motherboard for Faiths pc. And then i went to attend church's second service at 5pm. Honestly i was sleepy n tired n dozed off a lot of the time. Sorry God but i was really tired. So i didnt really rest until later at night after the Man Utd vs Arsenal match.
My legs were so damn sore. But anyway...........Man Utd beat Arsenal 2-1.......... wohooo!
So next years KOM i hope to improve my time and postition.
p/s : Official positions and times be out later this week after all things are sorted out with the organisers.
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