Something i will always cherish for the rest of my life..... =)
19 May 2009
07 May 2009
Interstate 2009 Seremban – Gemas – Gunung Ledang – Melaka
Hello everyone! Probably some of you have been waiting for this post of my experience for this years Interstate Ride by PCC. No doubt theres a lot to talk/share for this round of 3 days all out ride and I think it wont disappoint you all. So enjoy my story if you don’t mind the length of this post. Pics btw will be posted later on as it is being processed.
Day 0 (April 30th)
Having just finished my last exam paper in the morning, now I can look forward to IS09. I had lots of time to pack and think what to bring along. I brought mostly what I brought last year, but somehow my heart told me to bring along the black duct tape. Hmm. I wonder why. So I just chucked it into the list. Finally getting sorted by 10pm. Now all I had to do was wait for Adrian to come pick me up. I must really thank him a lot for being kind enough to give me a ride to the start point in Seremban. We’ve made arrangements and discussions about a month earlier. But finalized it on Tuesday night during the pre-ride briefing/number collection. Really thanks lots to you Adrian. =)
Day 1 (May 1st)
OK. Big day is here. I just waited on my bed for Adrian to arrive. We planned to leave from KL at 3.30am so that we take a slow drive down to Klana Resort in Seremban where the flag off will be. Adrian arrived spot on time, and we packed and racked all our gear in his little Kancil and drove straight to Seremban. Adrian is really a nice guy in person, and this is only our second meeting. Haha. Facebook does wonders sometimes, doesn’t it?
We had nice solid conversations along the way. And before we knew it, we were in Seremban, wayyyyyy ahead of time. We arrived at abt 5am. With 2 hours to spare before kick off. So, apa lagi? Pegi makan la! (We went to eat roti canai). Being my first time to Seremban, it reminds me of Ipoh coz of the one way roads. Nice town actually. We managed to find Klana resort and got all our stuff n bikes prepped up. Most riders came in last night and slept over in the hotel. Some others arrived just after us. First time I will be riding my Look for 3 straight days, so its going to be interesting seeing its performance. Ride starts at 7am and by 6am activity was buzzing all around the resort. The cool bikes are out, the cool bikers are out, the cool babes are out. My legs were cool too. Its been 3 weeks since my last ride. Yes, haven’t ridden in 3 weeks due to my exams. And the last 2-3 months my riding was really really irregular. I was prepared to suffer all the way for the next 3 days, and maybe go up support car if I have to. All I can pray is God sustain me during this 3 hellish days. Weather forecast was wet for 3 days. Maybe that be better coz it will slow down the pace a little so that I can follow. XD
Adrian was busy prepping his bike as there were some technical issues. Met Vincent Lim in person finally after only communicating tru Facebook. Told you Facebook isn’t that bad after all. Meeting two new brothers in Christ is a good thing indeed =)
I tested out my bike after 3 weeks of not touching it. My ass tried to get used to the saddle again. And I was hoping there will be no technical issues. I also hoped that my messed up biological clock doesn’t affect my ride. For 3 weeks I’ve been sleeping in the day and awake in the night. The last thing I want is falling asleep at the handlebars doing 40kmh.
Loaded my luggage into the luggage truck and now waited for the start proper. Among the friends I see this year were Clarence who is joining his 2nd Interstate after last years participation with me. Jon wasn’t here, banyak alasan till cant make it this year. Bahri my good friend is making his debut Interstate. And he looks excited indeed. Alwin Rahman also was here for his debut. He was the one who gave me a lift back home to Powerman in November. Many other people like Mac, Adeline, Joanne, Lim, the usual suspects were in this year. A total of 198 participants are here today, including support car drivers.
Finally 7am. Chief marshal cars got ready to lead us out. After another short briefing by Ivan Chan (President of PCC) and James Bak, we got underway to our first day of riding. I don’t know to feel happy or feel nervous. Todays distance is 134km to the little town of Gemas. Wonder whats coming ahead today for me. Hope it isn’t something I will regret.
We exited Seremban town, lead by the chief marshal car for the first 10km. After that it was all on our own. I started near the front trying to follow the first peloton. I tried to push and catch up but they instantly went to 40kmh. Err….sorry guys, cant follow you this time around. And Lim (who rides for LeTua team in TdL this year) brought his Scott Spark fullsus mountain bike with 2.1” tires. And he was FAST. =.= Malu nye….. that MTB beats most of the roadies.
The road was basically nice and flat and smooth. The first 29km was okay for me. I already made up in my mind to take my own sweet time this year. Im not going to push nor am I going to bother following a peloton I cant keep up with. Constantly checking my tulips for the directions and I soon got to a nice kampung road. And this road eerily reminds me of last years first day Interstate. It had the same cow dung smell, the same kind of orchards. Then I got caught by Elaine Boey’s little group along with Boon Foo. I rode just behind them for a while. And THEN………I saw infront. Our first climb. And it was ALMOST the same as last years Bukit Putus. Gosh, why so nostalgic? Anyway, we all puffed up this steep hill. I stood on the pedals pushing hard. And just as I thought we were reaching the summit, coz it seem flat ahead with a few support cars waiting, suddenly around the next right hand corner, the most monster climb ive ever seen in my life. It’s a monster when 90% of the cyclists were pushing their bikes up.
I was thinking, “Shit!” Why did I stand up and push so early. Now im in deep shit myself. Well that’s my luck I guess. Im on my 39x27 gear, the lightest gear. And I STILL had a major problem pedaling up! I could feel my lungs and heart wanting to burst. And for the first time in my cycling life, I got down the bike, and pushed the rest of the way up. Yes. That’s right. Shocking, no? Well I haven’t been training so not surprising anyway. Some of the more powerful riders rode up, inch by inch. Vong Vong came from behind pedaling slowly. Even Hsing Ling pedaled up. I looked up front and behind. Almost everyone was pushing their bikes up this monster hill. This hill was much much steeper than Genting’s notorious final 4km. MUCH harder. Its like really going up a vertical wall. And pushing up wasn’t easy as well. Some riders were snaking up.(Termed as such because they would ride in S directions like a snake. Reason is to ride as flat as possible across the gradient, not straight up it, though this means u travel more distance. Now WHY didn’t I think of that previously….)
I got to the top, with much huffing and puffing. Some rested at the top catching their breath. I decided to just sit on my bike and coast the way down the other side. At least im on the move. That hill really killed me for the rest of the ride. And this was just only the first 40+km. We haven’t got half way yet! The roads were winding and lonely. I was alone for a while not seeing any riders in front or behind me. Later a few over took me. And then as I was slowly pedaling, suddenly something poked my ass! I almost jumped out of the bike. I turned and it was Alwin. And he was laughing so hard seeing my reaction. I wanted to curse and swear at him. But I was tired so I made a few death threats instead. He accompanied me for a while. Then 4 more other riders caught us and drafted behind us. We cruised for a while at abt 30kmh. Before long I got tired again and I told them to go on. From this point on I was practically alone for the rest of the journey. No one followed me nor could I follow those who passed me. There was a nice food stop at abt 52km but I went on coz I wasn’t really hungry. Many riders stopped there though.
And now with abt 50++ km done in about 3 hours, the sun began to beat down on me. The next 30km of roads were really flat open roads with some undulations. The hot sun sapped energy from me as each passing km went by. I constantly looked at my meter. And psychologically that made me more tired having thinking I still got to cycle at least another 70 80km. Many times I was riding below 25kmh. Which is SLOW. Sometimes 18-20kmh. My thighs were already hurting. The little undulations in the road may seem tiny to the strong riders, but to my legs they were like mountains. Sometimes I even cycle at 11kmh up those tiny things. Sigh. So much for suffering. I was already burnt on my skin. And my ass wasn’t any better. Many times I got up to relieve it. Then when it sat back down on the saddle, I had to find the exact same spot it sat before. =.= Picky ass.
I really needed to go to the toilet badly. And what most cyclist would do is simply stop by the road side and pee. Well, erm, I wanted a nice spot to pee. And for 20 km I couldn’t find one. Yes I know, JUST STOP AND PEE! Im a little conservative. Lol. Finally at abt 85km I found a nice malay stall with some food. I was hungry and needed to refill water. AND pee. After satisfying myself, I continued on. A few groups passed as I was eating. Then I saw Ivan and Annie taking a break by the side. Well it was a tough day.
At 91km I saw Vong’s group stop for water. Well they waved at me so I thought, stop again lor. Haha. I was happy to stop every few km. And I wanted to get 100Plus to drink anyway. Everyone was looking beat down. And I got my refreshing 100Plus. Sat on the little stool. Then I looked at my shoes. And to my horror, THE SOLE SPLITTED!!!! OMG!!! I didn’t realize it the whole time! It was fine in the morning. Its like a crocodile yawning now! I showed to the guys and they were all amazed to see it. And immediately they commented “You are too powderful la……” (Actually want to say powerful but put it comically). Well, Vong suggested I get superglue right away, and I did. Luckily the shop we stopped at got sell. I got a tube and quickly glued my shoe. I hope I can last till the end. NOW I was wondering if my shoes can handle another two days. So much for my 5 year old pair of cycling shoes. My one and only. Time for a new pair I guess >< I guess they split when I was climbing the monster hill coz it took lots of pulling on the shoes. =P No wonder I felt weird when I pedaled for the last 60km! =.= Zha dao…… This is ONLY day 1.
After our stop we continued on. I could only follow Vong’s train for a while before I dropped again. Really no form at all to even keep up at 28kmh. Even Ivan dropped. Well we are almost done with 40km to go so I will take it slow. Even I pedal at 20kmh I will reach at most in 2 hours. Its only about 11.45am. Hotel rooms will be ready by 2pm so take my time lor. Finally I touched the 100km mark. And then 110km went by. 120km also went by slowly. At 125km I got tired again and I decided to stop under some trees for a while. Its only 10km more. A very looong 10km it will be. Slow and agonizing. After about 5 minutes rest I made my final push to Gemas. After about 20 minutes I finally reach Gemas and the Tropicana Hotel. *phew*. 134km in 5hours 50minutes excluding stoppage time. Not too bad. I arrived at about 1.30pm. All burnt from the sun, and my legs were really flat out of energy. Gemas is a really small town. So our accommodation had to be split. Some stayed at the Gemas Rest House while some at Tropicana. I stayed at the rest house. Didn’t care if it was a run down place, I wanted a bed to rest on.
A very grueling first day. And once we all got together for the photo shoot, we all talked about the first day’s ride. Lots and lots of stories going about here and there. And then Vong came to me abt my shoes, and he suggested I use duct tape to tape it up. AHA! Just when I was thinking why I brought the black duct tape along. Thank God! Adrian and co came in at about 5pm as they rode really slow. Maybe I would have been better off following them. The dinner was nice. Not the best but like everyone knows, im not a picky eater. As long got food, I makan. After the dinner + briefing for day 2 , I went out with Bahri, Clarence , Mac n Adeline for a drink. Then came back and first thing was to tape up my shoes. Used a generous amount of tape to make sure it doenst come off again. The super glue did hold it in place well. Then after that it was time to sleep. I had two roommates, Kevin and Dennis. Interesting people I must say. Day 1 done. Time for rest. And the magic deep heat from Indonesia was really burning my thighs! Btw, Don Chan our road marshal said that today was the 2nd toughest day. Hmm…….that aint good.
Day 2 (May 2nd)
Got up at about 5.30am for breakfast. Ate fried rice at Tropicana. Then geared up for day 2 of riding. Todays distance is 126km, 8km less than yesterday. Our stop today is Gunung Ledang, the famous mountain as depicted in Malay literature. My legs felt fine. Today also I just want to survive the day. As long I reach the Gunung Ledang Resort I will be happy. Today I wore my TdF Yellow Jersey to show some color. Hehe. I was the only one wearing the yellow this year. Last year we did have one guy wear it. Now its my turn.
Ride kicked off at 7am as usual, following the chief marshal car for the first 10km. Today I managed to keep up with Vong’s train for the first 30km. We were actually in Johor as soon we exited Gemas. First time being in Johor. Today we passed a lot of little towns. And lots of flyovers and main roads. We came into Segamat fairly fast in our group of 15-20 riders. The thing abt Segamat is this. LOTS of traffic lights. We stopped about 6 times in the space of 5km. That was good in a way, coz get to rest for abt 70seconds at each stop. Hehehehe. Today Bahri said he would be driving the support car. So we saw him often along the way waiting to support riders.
After we exited Segamat, we were out in the suburbs and the roads had lots of medium rolling hills. And then I couldn’t keep up with the group. Actually I could have followed and catch the KOTRT group ahead. The KOTRT (Knights Of The Round Table) are from Penang up north. They had a team of abt 10 came to ride this year. Anyways I left Vong’s train and slowly went up the rolling hills at my own pace. I didn’t want to burn out again like yesterday , so better I reserve my strength. Behind I saw Adeline and Mac closing in. So I waited a while and followed them. Then we arrived at the critical junction which will take us into a rubber plantation at 49km. It’s a small tarmac road just enough for a car. The road was really nice and shady and cool. Feels like classic off road trails just that its paved. A few ups but manageable using momentum from the downhill. Saw Clarence stop to help with a flat tire of another rider.
After a short 3km trough the shady estate, suddenly I turned behind to check, and I saw Bahri riding again! He waved at me in such a manner that I wanted to whack him nicely. But I shook my ass at him instead. I asked him what happened, so he said Patrick cannot tahan anymore so he went up support car and drove. Well Bahri was more than happy to cycle. But having start 49km later his meter wasn’t in synch with the tulips. He has to stick with me now or he will get lost. Actually there were plenty of signage so even u didn’t have tulips, you will be fine. Its just preferable to have backup. We came to a junction with some shops and everyone stopped there. We joined along to eat and refill. I had my morning bath there too……I think it was only about 9am and already we did 50km. Today was quite fast paced.
After that short rest me and Bahri rode slowly together enjoying the scenery along the way. We came into Labis town together with Team Mayhem from Australia, where also lots of riders stopped to eat. We weren’t so hungry so we pressed ahead on our own.
After Labis town, the roads were also pretty flat, lonely with plantations on each side, and mountains on the far end of the horizon. It is a very nice cycling road actually, if there were not so many cars. I told Bahri I needed to go to toilet. And THIS TIME, I wasn’t hesitant to just stop by the road side and pee. Luckily I had some bushes to hide abit from. Yay, I was peeing out in the open with cars passing by. Up ahead Vong’s group stopped coz of a puncture. They were ok so we continued anyway.
Before long we made good progress and reached 90km. We were now looking for a place to stop and rest and eat. We found a petrol station so we decided to stop there. A few riders were there as well. Then shortly Vong’s group came. Not bad catching up with us. Took a good 15 minute rest. Up till now my legs were relatively OK but still not really in any shape to go fast. As soon as we left I once again tried to hang on to Vong’s group, but then my legs couldn’t take it anymore so I let them go. Bahri went on with them. So here I am all alone again. Well its another 30+km so it wont be for too long. My ass again………..hurts.
From KM100 the road was super hilly! Lots and lots of rolling hills. One after another. There were at least 10 of them, 1 hill per km. zzzzz. This was really really tough on my legs. I went at a snails pace up each hill. Sometimes I even saw 7kmh on my meter. That bad. I even saw some of the riders stop by the road side to have their power sticks, aka cigarettes. Oh well, just hang on and pedal as best I can. And if that wasn’t enough, after this section of rolling hills, came the section of small undulations + heavy traffic + head winds. =.= A few thoughts of regret started to fill my head…… Well sometimes I wonder why am I so stupid and crazy to do this thing. I think if a video camera were to record my face at this point, I might look like a zombie just pedaling the bike.
The final 10km was another tough one and I crept slowly. I manage to catch one rider infront who was also pedaling as slow as me but I didn’t want to overtake him. Just follow his pace a few meters behind. To my delight after much suffering, I saw the final right hand turn into the Gunung Ledang Resort. It’s a waterfall vacation spot actually with some chalets and rooms. Lots of people vacationed there as it was the weekend.
Finally got to the finish point in good time. About 5 hours 30 minutes of riding. Todays weather luckily was fair and I didn’t get roasted. But still no rain. The weather prediction seems wrong. It was still early but many riders have already arrived. Its like about 1pm only. Got my bags and went to my room. Funny enough, my roommate today is Alwin. This is going to be interesting……. Adrian had to be driven in by support car later in the afternoon coz too far behind time.
Since we were early, me and Al decided to dip in the pool for a while to cool off. A few other riders were in there as well so we joined along. Our half naked bodies showing all our tan lines in the pool. Now I know why the two girls at the other end were staring at us. Probably they haven’t seen so much contrast on the human skin in their lives. As we were dipping and settling in, one guy decided to play water polo. We got a ball, but we only had 5 people. We kept ‘ajaking’ others but all didn’t want. Then I came up with this idea. Why not we do penalty shoot out. Their eyes immediately sparkled. So we took turns being the keeper and the err……shooter. And no one can score a goal. THEN another guy suggested, why not we splash water at the keeper to add some difficulty. Well, the first person managed to block, only because the splash was like rain drops. When it came to my turn, I got a snow barrage. I couldn’t see clear and the shooter scored a goal. They all laughed, and I said not fair coz I got more water than the previous guy. Then when Alwin and Daniel came we all splashed so hard at them they even can block the ball. Hahahaha. =P
After 30 minutes or so we got tired and got out. Me and Al went back to bathe then we went to one of the stalls to eat. After that a nice nap. At about 6.30pm I got up for dinner. I was a little groggy still as I walked to the dinner hall. Then I saw a table where PK Yeoh and a whole bunch called me to sit down immediately. They were laughing, for what I don’t exactly know. They sort of wanted to interview me abt something.
Finally its regarding a few ‘SPECIAL’ people in our Interstate. Ehem, this is one of those off the bike tales where it just gets funnier the more we talk about it. The subjects we talked about were referred as No 1 and No 2. Now, Bahri and Clarence had the most luck to encounter No 1. And I didn’t know I already encountered No 2. Lol. As we talked and Bahri shared his hilarious story, we all couldn’t help but make lots of jokes and talk lots abt these interesting subjects, esp No1. Now for safety reasons I shall not mention here. If u are interested to know, ask me in person. XD. The quote of the day is “I can tell u what happened in 20 minutes in 2 hours.” Hahahahaha. They kept saying that they sacrificed a lot for the entire Interstate. And we owed them. LOL! I can see why…….
After dinner, most of the riders went into the bike storage area to check and tune their bikes. Also my chance to do the same thing to my bike. And at the same time got to see some bike porn. Lol. I noticed there were only a handful of Pinarello’s this year. Less than 5. Last year we had like 10. But lots of BMC, Specialized, Scott, Cervelo, Merida, Look and Trek. I didn’t even see Bianchi, Giant, Orbea, Willier, Cannondale, BH. There were only 2 Colnago’s. Well, at least Im the proud owner of a Look so, hehe, part of the majority too. Wakakakaka. Saw some really cool wheel sets, esp lots of Zipps, Campy’s, Lightweight and Reynolds. No one seemed to use the Mavic Cosmic. In fact I think none at all. There was a Zipp 808 on a Cervelo SLC. That was Daniel Lim’s bike. *drool drool*
And then Lynn came over asked my about some bike stuff. She’s Joanne’s friend, quite a cute character too and just met at the briefing. She really needs to change bike coz currently she uses a Trek 2100 size 50 traditional frame. And for her 150cm height, that’s a wrong AND HEAVY frame to be riding. But shes pretty strong for her size. Salute her. =)
After much googoogaga over the bikes, I went to join PK’s table again for another round of erm, story telling. Then it came to say goodnight to Bahri. Yeah, GOOD night. Lol. What happened later was hilarious. Too hilarious to tell here. =)
I too went to my room to rest n try to sleep. Well I turned on the TV to see if there was anything nice to see. Watched James Bond till 12am then slept. Final day is just around the corner. So fast 2 days of Interstate has gone. Well im just as eager to finish it.
Day 3 (May 3rd)
Yes! Last day of Interstate. And I plan to take today’s 102km slow and easy. Nothing to rush about. We started at 7.30am since it’s a short distance. Leaving the Resort we went out into the open roads with some drizzle. Finally a wet day? Nope. For a while only. Today , being the final day, I tried once again to follow the first peloton. I had to do some overtaking though on the outside lane. And I got a small warning but well, who hasn’t eh? Well my 40kmh effort didn’t last much though. These guys were just too tough for me.
Mac was suppose to drive support car today. But then when I saw him overtake me , I saw Alwin in the car! I was thinking why is Al in the car when he rode this morning from start line. Its either bike problem or leg problem. Hmm….I wanted to find out later.
I dropped back and let many more riders over take me. After 14km the right turn that leads to the little town of Nyalas was a little bit undulating as well. But its more of open kampung roads. Nice and quiet. I passed the little village of Nyalas. Many locals were out standing in front of their house to see us. I guess after the first 2 groups went by, they waited for more. Lots of kids waved at me. Shouting at me. And I just waved back.
PK’s group caught me. Razali , Bahri, Chin Hoe, Clarence, and a few more others were in here. And I guess they wanted to have fun today being the last day. So lots of attacks came. Well it was so tempting not to resist, so I joined along. Attack after attack. Then I managed to pull away for a while with Clarence on my wheel at 48kmh. Fun. Then we all basically reached the first stop at km 50. A nice row of food stalls. Many stopped there. We stopped almost 30 minutes. And it was only about 9am. Another fast paced day. I saw Al and Mac and I quickly asked Al whats wrong. He said his shifter cable snapped and didn’t have spare cable. Well I did, just that it is in the luggage truck on the way to Melaka. So that’s Al’s Interstate. Early end for him. But I think he’s even happy to sit in the car and see others suffering.
I left together with PK’s group coz usually PK’s group takes things relatively easy. Even so sometimes I felt like leaving the group and go alone again. Well today I tried to hang on. I was still OK and my legs haven’t reached their max limit yet. Though the sores are there. And the ass just keeps killing me. We went through more undulations. And then it was a flat stretch after leaving most of civilization behind. At 67km we stopped coz someone needed water. We took a nice rest under the bus stop. Lynn and Vincent Lim came up from behind after they split from the group. Then CC Wong also came up with Roger. And they even had time for their powersticks. Lol.
Continued our journey soon after. I went ahead for a while. Then some small rolling hills greeted me but today my legs felt pretty good. I managed to handle them at abt 20kmh. And it sort of got real good to me how my legs felt. Then I saw this long winding flat stretch of road in front of me. My legs felt good, so I thought lets see what I can do here. I got into a TT position and rode steady 35-38kmh for the next 5km or so before I let off the gas. Roger caught behind me and the PK train was just behind me too. At abt 80km we saw Daniel Lim’s dad by the side of the road with his bike on the ground. His tire exploded and needed help. So we stopped to wait for support cars to pass by. Thankfully a few came to our aid and one of them had a spare tire. Changed in like 5 minutes and we were off again together slowly. Just 20km to go. And then JUST before the 83km right turn, Chin Hoe hit a pot hole and had a flat, so………stop again lor. Everyone was happy coz we stop so often. Haha. Flat fixed and we took it slow.
Headed towards Bandar Melaka. We soon reached Bandar Hilir Melaka which was at about KM93 and then guess what? We stopped again! For water and food! This day was the most stops I did through out the entire Interstate. Day 1 I stopped 3 times, and Day 2 I stopped 2 times. Today already 5! Well, happy bikers we all were.
Then Terry came in with two other riders, one of them has already bonked and hit the wall pretty badly. When a cyclist hits the wall its pretty bad and can get dangerous. Dehydrated and overheat are main causes. Severe fatigue also is another cause. We keep cooling him down and tell him to drink water. I poured a good amount of water on him to cool him off. Luckily its just a short ride to the Baba House Hotel from here. Terry had to push him much of the way after this.
We were underway ourselves. 95km done. 7 more to go! I was about to reach this traffic light in front when I saw 2 motorcyclists rode rather close to each other. I thought they were friends playing around, but soon I realize it was a fight. Obviously the solo ride was not happy with the other ride with a pillion. They even exchanged kicks and nearly crashed. I quickly laid off the pace and rode a good 15 meters behind, watching as drama unfolded. I hope nothing bad happens. At the traffic light they went separately, luckily. Even PK’s group saw what happened behind. I was a little nervous as well at that time.
Well that being over, we all just wanted to reach the hotel! Now we were all told that Day 1 was the 2nd toughest and Day 2 was the 3rd toughest. Today the toughest? But it didn’t seem tough at all since 0km till now. That was until after we passed the Melaka Prison and up the Bridge to Masjid Tanah. The headwinds were FANTASTIC. My bike kept going side ways the entire time. Up the bridge was even worse, its like a hurricane up there. So bad were the winds we dragged at 20kmh. Going up a bridge with wind pushing you back down is hard. Thank God it wasn’t head winds for 100km. That be really my day.
We followed all the signs and at last, we reached the Baba House Hotel. The Interstate has ended officially for me. We did the 102km in just a little over 4 hours. We all shook hands. I congratulated Bahri on completing his first Interstate. Vincent Lim also. We were all smiles. I thank God I made it this far. Checking my meter, my total trip distance was 366km. Its 100km less than last year, but still a tough ride. With out wasting much time, everyone wanted to go eat, and suggested cendol. Well, after all the hard work, we deserve some sugar don’t we? We went to the famous Donald and Lily stall just 100 meters from out Hotel. The Baba House is actually just located behind Jonker Street and near to the Clock tower and A Famosa fort. Tonight we are definitely going to party! And the weather predictions were out the window, no rain at all for 3 days. Never bother to trust the weather man anyway these days.
Adrian’s slow group came in at abt 3.30pm. I happen to be at the hotel balcony when they came in. And they were also happy to have done the Interstate in one solid piece. There was a tandem with a guy and his young (approx 12 year old) daughter. I think she rode the whole journey too. Not bad at all, a new star in the making. And the high fives broke out everywhere.
My second Interstate completed in succession. I didn’t have to go up the support car. I nearly wanted to give up, but I didn’t. That’s will power I suppose. Some might say Im strong. But I will reserve all the praise to God for sustaining me these 3 days. The final dinner we were treated to Melaka dishes and it was nice. Melaka people love hot spicy food. Lol. And as every dinner we had the past 3 days, there were photo presentations of the days ride’s. My face came up a few times.
After the dinner me and Adrian and co went out to Jonker Street for a walk. Ate the local satay celup which was interesting. Then had the local ice kacang. This was way different than KL one coz they put really lots of “stuff” in the ice kacang. Nice. After some walking about we went back to the hotel and I wanted to sleep. Just watched some shows on TV before I turned off the lights.
Day 4 (May 4th)
Got up at 7.30am for breakfast. Nice western breakfast. Then Adrian and me n the gang went out to A Famosa for pictures and a walk. Then I tried the famous Melaka chicken rice balls. The rice is rolled up like balls. And it tastes really nice.
Today also I got to know that a few guys (namely Vong, Elaine Wong and Adli Dahlan) will be riding back to Klana resort in Seremban. Salute them man. Though its abt 80km ride, I wasn’t interested to follow at all. I’ve had enough already. They left at about 8.45am. So hopefully will get to see them in Klana together.
I got back to the hotel at 9.30 and packed my bags and bike. The bus will pick us at 11am so we all were busy packing. 2 buses came at 11.20 and by 11.50 we were on the way back to Klana Resort, Seremban. About 30 of us took the bust home. Most riders went back the night before or early in the morning. In the bus were some interesting conversations, Japanese fetish for used ladies underwear and nude public baths. Hmm, made the ride home interesting. Hsing Ling was also in the bus. She was supposed to ride back to Klana but decided not to. Had to handle the other 3 fella’s luggage instead. Reached Klana Resort at about 1.20pm. And just the right timing, Vong, Elaine and Adli arrived together. They even got warning from the traffic police for riding too fast. Zzzz. Now that’s something new. Well after unloading all the bikes and bags we all headed home. Adrian sent me home. I got home by 3.30pm. I basically just chucked my bike and bags one side and had a loooong sleep. I was really really tired.
Even as of today (May 5th) lm still feeling the tiredness. Well the butt sore is gone but the thighs are still a little tender. And of course, I get the lovely tan lines as a permanent souvenir. Washed my bike this morning and now I look forward to more rest. Btw thanks to Interstate for helping me reset my biological clock back to somewhat normal. At least I get to sleep in the night and wake in the morning.
As for the technical review on my bike, I find that carbon frames are indeed comfortable on long rides. I didn’t really get tired due to road vibrations. Mostly was due to my under preparation. But all was smooth with out any hiccups. However, this frame, as I have mentioned, does have substantial amount of flex in the chainstay area. I noticed that I needed to put in a bit of effort to sprint and get up to speed. Maybe high profile rims would help. Going down medium hills wasn’t much of a problem. Well, now I know at least what I should be looking for in my next bike, which will be like another 5 years away at the very very least. =P. The ’08 Mavic Aksium wheels were good and stiff. Nice handling. My new Wireless Cateye meter worked flawlessly. Oh and my shoe’s managed to hold together till the end, thankfully. Really going shoe hunting after this and need to save up on $$$. Many riders also asked me to refurbish my paint work. Well it is really in dire need of a face lift. But doing airbrush work costs a bomb. Doing it at the car spray shop would be cheap but not as good in quality and they mostly wont do decals in detail. =( . And I found a few nicks in the paint work, probably from the fall my bike had on day 1 when I parked in on the fence. =(( Oh well…….
So there you have it, my 2009 Interstate. Its nothing short of pure suffering for me but I managed to complete it, even though I didn’t train at all for it. Also I once again would like to really say a big thank you to Adrian for the carpool and everything else. God Bless ya bro! =)
As for next year, I will see if I am able to join once again. Maybe be a support car driver this time after doing twice as a rider. =P Till next years Interstate, see you there and then!
Cherio.
Day 0 (April 30th)
Having just finished my last exam paper in the morning, now I can look forward to IS09. I had lots of time to pack and think what to bring along. I brought mostly what I brought last year, but somehow my heart told me to bring along the black duct tape. Hmm. I wonder why. So I just chucked it into the list. Finally getting sorted by 10pm. Now all I had to do was wait for Adrian to come pick me up. I must really thank him a lot for being kind enough to give me a ride to the start point in Seremban. We’ve made arrangements and discussions about a month earlier. But finalized it on Tuesday night during the pre-ride briefing/number collection. Really thanks lots to you Adrian. =)
Day 1 (May 1st)
OK. Big day is here. I just waited on my bed for Adrian to arrive. We planned to leave from KL at 3.30am so that we take a slow drive down to Klana Resort in Seremban where the flag off will be. Adrian arrived spot on time, and we packed and racked all our gear in his little Kancil and drove straight to Seremban. Adrian is really a nice guy in person, and this is only our second meeting. Haha. Facebook does wonders sometimes, doesn’t it?
We had nice solid conversations along the way. And before we knew it, we were in Seremban, wayyyyyy ahead of time. We arrived at abt 5am. With 2 hours to spare before kick off. So, apa lagi? Pegi makan la! (We went to eat roti canai). Being my first time to Seremban, it reminds me of Ipoh coz of the one way roads. Nice town actually. We managed to find Klana resort and got all our stuff n bikes prepped up. Most riders came in last night and slept over in the hotel. Some others arrived just after us. First time I will be riding my Look for 3 straight days, so its going to be interesting seeing its performance. Ride starts at 7am and by 6am activity was buzzing all around the resort. The cool bikes are out, the cool bikers are out, the cool babes are out. My legs were cool too. Its been 3 weeks since my last ride. Yes, haven’t ridden in 3 weeks due to my exams. And the last 2-3 months my riding was really really irregular. I was prepared to suffer all the way for the next 3 days, and maybe go up support car if I have to. All I can pray is God sustain me during this 3 hellish days. Weather forecast was wet for 3 days. Maybe that be better coz it will slow down the pace a little so that I can follow. XD
Adrian was busy prepping his bike as there were some technical issues. Met Vincent Lim in person finally after only communicating tru Facebook. Told you Facebook isn’t that bad after all. Meeting two new brothers in Christ is a good thing indeed =)
I tested out my bike after 3 weeks of not touching it. My ass tried to get used to the saddle again. And I was hoping there will be no technical issues. I also hoped that my messed up biological clock doesn’t affect my ride. For 3 weeks I’ve been sleeping in the day and awake in the night. The last thing I want is falling asleep at the handlebars doing 40kmh.
Loaded my luggage into the luggage truck and now waited for the start proper. Among the friends I see this year were Clarence who is joining his 2nd Interstate after last years participation with me. Jon wasn’t here, banyak alasan till cant make it this year. Bahri my good friend is making his debut Interstate. And he looks excited indeed. Alwin Rahman also was here for his debut. He was the one who gave me a lift back home to Powerman in November. Many other people like Mac, Adeline, Joanne, Lim, the usual suspects were in this year. A total of 198 participants are here today, including support car drivers.
Finally 7am. Chief marshal cars got ready to lead us out. After another short briefing by Ivan Chan (President of PCC) and James Bak, we got underway to our first day of riding. I don’t know to feel happy or feel nervous. Todays distance is 134km to the little town of Gemas. Wonder whats coming ahead today for me. Hope it isn’t something I will regret.
We exited Seremban town, lead by the chief marshal car for the first 10km. After that it was all on our own. I started near the front trying to follow the first peloton. I tried to push and catch up but they instantly went to 40kmh. Err….sorry guys, cant follow you this time around. And Lim (who rides for LeTua team in TdL this year) brought his Scott Spark fullsus mountain bike with 2.1” tires. And he was FAST. =.= Malu nye….. that MTB beats most of the roadies.
The road was basically nice and flat and smooth. The first 29km was okay for me. I already made up in my mind to take my own sweet time this year. Im not going to push nor am I going to bother following a peloton I cant keep up with. Constantly checking my tulips for the directions and I soon got to a nice kampung road. And this road eerily reminds me of last years first day Interstate. It had the same cow dung smell, the same kind of orchards. Then I got caught by Elaine Boey’s little group along with Boon Foo. I rode just behind them for a while. And THEN………I saw infront. Our first climb. And it was ALMOST the same as last years Bukit Putus. Gosh, why so nostalgic? Anyway, we all puffed up this steep hill. I stood on the pedals pushing hard. And just as I thought we were reaching the summit, coz it seem flat ahead with a few support cars waiting, suddenly around the next right hand corner, the most monster climb ive ever seen in my life. It’s a monster when 90% of the cyclists were pushing their bikes up.
I was thinking, “Shit!” Why did I stand up and push so early. Now im in deep shit myself. Well that’s my luck I guess. Im on my 39x27 gear, the lightest gear. And I STILL had a major problem pedaling up! I could feel my lungs and heart wanting to burst. And for the first time in my cycling life, I got down the bike, and pushed the rest of the way up. Yes. That’s right. Shocking, no? Well I haven’t been training so not surprising anyway. Some of the more powerful riders rode up, inch by inch. Vong Vong came from behind pedaling slowly. Even Hsing Ling pedaled up. I looked up front and behind. Almost everyone was pushing their bikes up this monster hill. This hill was much much steeper than Genting’s notorious final 4km. MUCH harder. Its like really going up a vertical wall. And pushing up wasn’t easy as well. Some riders were snaking up.(Termed as such because they would ride in S directions like a snake. Reason is to ride as flat as possible across the gradient, not straight up it, though this means u travel more distance. Now WHY didn’t I think of that previously….)
I got to the top, with much huffing and puffing. Some rested at the top catching their breath. I decided to just sit on my bike and coast the way down the other side. At least im on the move. That hill really killed me for the rest of the ride. And this was just only the first 40+km. We haven’t got half way yet! The roads were winding and lonely. I was alone for a while not seeing any riders in front or behind me. Later a few over took me. And then as I was slowly pedaling, suddenly something poked my ass! I almost jumped out of the bike. I turned and it was Alwin. And he was laughing so hard seeing my reaction. I wanted to curse and swear at him. But I was tired so I made a few death threats instead. He accompanied me for a while. Then 4 more other riders caught us and drafted behind us. We cruised for a while at abt 30kmh. Before long I got tired again and I told them to go on. From this point on I was practically alone for the rest of the journey. No one followed me nor could I follow those who passed me. There was a nice food stop at abt 52km but I went on coz I wasn’t really hungry. Many riders stopped there though.
And now with abt 50++ km done in about 3 hours, the sun began to beat down on me. The next 30km of roads were really flat open roads with some undulations. The hot sun sapped energy from me as each passing km went by. I constantly looked at my meter. And psychologically that made me more tired having thinking I still got to cycle at least another 70 80km. Many times I was riding below 25kmh. Which is SLOW. Sometimes 18-20kmh. My thighs were already hurting. The little undulations in the road may seem tiny to the strong riders, but to my legs they were like mountains. Sometimes I even cycle at 11kmh up those tiny things. Sigh. So much for suffering. I was already burnt on my skin. And my ass wasn’t any better. Many times I got up to relieve it. Then when it sat back down on the saddle, I had to find the exact same spot it sat before. =.= Picky ass.
I really needed to go to the toilet badly. And what most cyclist would do is simply stop by the road side and pee. Well, erm, I wanted a nice spot to pee. And for 20 km I couldn’t find one. Yes I know, JUST STOP AND PEE! Im a little conservative. Lol. Finally at abt 85km I found a nice malay stall with some food. I was hungry and needed to refill water. AND pee. After satisfying myself, I continued on. A few groups passed as I was eating. Then I saw Ivan and Annie taking a break by the side. Well it was a tough day.
At 91km I saw Vong’s group stop for water. Well they waved at me so I thought, stop again lor. Haha. I was happy to stop every few km. And I wanted to get 100Plus to drink anyway. Everyone was looking beat down. And I got my refreshing 100Plus. Sat on the little stool. Then I looked at my shoes. And to my horror, THE SOLE SPLITTED!!!! OMG!!! I didn’t realize it the whole time! It was fine in the morning. Its like a crocodile yawning now! I showed to the guys and they were all amazed to see it. And immediately they commented “You are too powderful la……” (Actually want to say powerful but put it comically). Well, Vong suggested I get superglue right away, and I did. Luckily the shop we stopped at got sell. I got a tube and quickly glued my shoe. I hope I can last till the end. NOW I was wondering if my shoes can handle another two days. So much for my 5 year old pair of cycling shoes. My one and only. Time for a new pair I guess >< I guess they split when I was climbing the monster hill coz it took lots of pulling on the shoes. =P No wonder I felt weird when I pedaled for the last 60km! =.= Zha dao…… This is ONLY day 1.
After our stop we continued on. I could only follow Vong’s train for a while before I dropped again. Really no form at all to even keep up at 28kmh. Even Ivan dropped. Well we are almost done with 40km to go so I will take it slow. Even I pedal at 20kmh I will reach at most in 2 hours. Its only about 11.45am. Hotel rooms will be ready by 2pm so take my time lor. Finally I touched the 100km mark. And then 110km went by. 120km also went by slowly. At 125km I got tired again and I decided to stop under some trees for a while. Its only 10km more. A very looong 10km it will be. Slow and agonizing. After about 5 minutes rest I made my final push to Gemas. After about 20 minutes I finally reach Gemas and the Tropicana Hotel. *phew*. 134km in 5hours 50minutes excluding stoppage time. Not too bad. I arrived at about 1.30pm. All burnt from the sun, and my legs were really flat out of energy. Gemas is a really small town. So our accommodation had to be split. Some stayed at the Gemas Rest House while some at Tropicana. I stayed at the rest house. Didn’t care if it was a run down place, I wanted a bed to rest on.
A very grueling first day. And once we all got together for the photo shoot, we all talked about the first day’s ride. Lots and lots of stories going about here and there. And then Vong came to me abt my shoes, and he suggested I use duct tape to tape it up. AHA! Just when I was thinking why I brought the black duct tape along. Thank God! Adrian and co came in at about 5pm as they rode really slow. Maybe I would have been better off following them. The dinner was nice. Not the best but like everyone knows, im not a picky eater. As long got food, I makan. After the dinner + briefing for day 2 , I went out with Bahri, Clarence , Mac n Adeline for a drink. Then came back and first thing was to tape up my shoes. Used a generous amount of tape to make sure it doenst come off again. The super glue did hold it in place well. Then after that it was time to sleep. I had two roommates, Kevin and Dennis. Interesting people I must say. Day 1 done. Time for rest. And the magic deep heat from Indonesia was really burning my thighs! Btw, Don Chan our road marshal said that today was the 2nd toughest day. Hmm…….that aint good.
Day 2 (May 2nd)
Got up at about 5.30am for breakfast. Ate fried rice at Tropicana. Then geared up for day 2 of riding. Todays distance is 126km, 8km less than yesterday. Our stop today is Gunung Ledang, the famous mountain as depicted in Malay literature. My legs felt fine. Today also I just want to survive the day. As long I reach the Gunung Ledang Resort I will be happy. Today I wore my TdF Yellow Jersey to show some color. Hehe. I was the only one wearing the yellow this year. Last year we did have one guy wear it. Now its my turn.
Ride kicked off at 7am as usual, following the chief marshal car for the first 10km. Today I managed to keep up with Vong’s train for the first 30km. We were actually in Johor as soon we exited Gemas. First time being in Johor. Today we passed a lot of little towns. And lots of flyovers and main roads. We came into Segamat fairly fast in our group of 15-20 riders. The thing abt Segamat is this. LOTS of traffic lights. We stopped about 6 times in the space of 5km. That was good in a way, coz get to rest for abt 70seconds at each stop. Hehehehe. Today Bahri said he would be driving the support car. So we saw him often along the way waiting to support riders.
After we exited Segamat, we were out in the suburbs and the roads had lots of medium rolling hills. And then I couldn’t keep up with the group. Actually I could have followed and catch the KOTRT group ahead. The KOTRT (Knights Of The Round Table) are from Penang up north. They had a team of abt 10 came to ride this year. Anyways I left Vong’s train and slowly went up the rolling hills at my own pace. I didn’t want to burn out again like yesterday , so better I reserve my strength. Behind I saw Adeline and Mac closing in. So I waited a while and followed them. Then we arrived at the critical junction which will take us into a rubber plantation at 49km. It’s a small tarmac road just enough for a car. The road was really nice and shady and cool. Feels like classic off road trails just that its paved. A few ups but manageable using momentum from the downhill. Saw Clarence stop to help with a flat tire of another rider.
After a short 3km trough the shady estate, suddenly I turned behind to check, and I saw Bahri riding again! He waved at me in such a manner that I wanted to whack him nicely. But I shook my ass at him instead. I asked him what happened, so he said Patrick cannot tahan anymore so he went up support car and drove. Well Bahri was more than happy to cycle. But having start 49km later his meter wasn’t in synch with the tulips. He has to stick with me now or he will get lost. Actually there were plenty of signage so even u didn’t have tulips, you will be fine. Its just preferable to have backup. We came to a junction with some shops and everyone stopped there. We joined along to eat and refill. I had my morning bath there too……I think it was only about 9am and already we did 50km. Today was quite fast paced.
After that short rest me and Bahri rode slowly together enjoying the scenery along the way. We came into Labis town together with Team Mayhem from Australia, where also lots of riders stopped to eat. We weren’t so hungry so we pressed ahead on our own.
After Labis town, the roads were also pretty flat, lonely with plantations on each side, and mountains on the far end of the horizon. It is a very nice cycling road actually, if there were not so many cars. I told Bahri I needed to go to toilet. And THIS TIME, I wasn’t hesitant to just stop by the road side and pee. Luckily I had some bushes to hide abit from. Yay, I was peeing out in the open with cars passing by. Up ahead Vong’s group stopped coz of a puncture. They were ok so we continued anyway.
Before long we made good progress and reached 90km. We were now looking for a place to stop and rest and eat. We found a petrol station so we decided to stop there. A few riders were there as well. Then shortly Vong’s group came. Not bad catching up with us. Took a good 15 minute rest. Up till now my legs were relatively OK but still not really in any shape to go fast. As soon as we left I once again tried to hang on to Vong’s group, but then my legs couldn’t take it anymore so I let them go. Bahri went on with them. So here I am all alone again. Well its another 30+km so it wont be for too long. My ass again………..hurts.
From KM100 the road was super hilly! Lots and lots of rolling hills. One after another. There were at least 10 of them, 1 hill per km. zzzzz. This was really really tough on my legs. I went at a snails pace up each hill. Sometimes I even saw 7kmh on my meter. That bad. I even saw some of the riders stop by the road side to have their power sticks, aka cigarettes. Oh well, just hang on and pedal as best I can. And if that wasn’t enough, after this section of rolling hills, came the section of small undulations + heavy traffic + head winds. =.= A few thoughts of regret started to fill my head…… Well sometimes I wonder why am I so stupid and crazy to do this thing. I think if a video camera were to record my face at this point, I might look like a zombie just pedaling the bike.
The final 10km was another tough one and I crept slowly. I manage to catch one rider infront who was also pedaling as slow as me but I didn’t want to overtake him. Just follow his pace a few meters behind. To my delight after much suffering, I saw the final right hand turn into the Gunung Ledang Resort. It’s a waterfall vacation spot actually with some chalets and rooms. Lots of people vacationed there as it was the weekend.
Finally got to the finish point in good time. About 5 hours 30 minutes of riding. Todays weather luckily was fair and I didn’t get roasted. But still no rain. The weather prediction seems wrong. It was still early but many riders have already arrived. Its like about 1pm only. Got my bags and went to my room. Funny enough, my roommate today is Alwin. This is going to be interesting……. Adrian had to be driven in by support car later in the afternoon coz too far behind time.
Since we were early, me and Al decided to dip in the pool for a while to cool off. A few other riders were in there as well so we joined along. Our half naked bodies showing all our tan lines in the pool. Now I know why the two girls at the other end were staring at us. Probably they haven’t seen so much contrast on the human skin in their lives. As we were dipping and settling in, one guy decided to play water polo. We got a ball, but we only had 5 people. We kept ‘ajaking’ others but all didn’t want. Then I came up with this idea. Why not we do penalty shoot out. Their eyes immediately sparkled. So we took turns being the keeper and the err……shooter. And no one can score a goal. THEN another guy suggested, why not we splash water at the keeper to add some difficulty. Well, the first person managed to block, only because the splash was like rain drops. When it came to my turn, I got a snow barrage. I couldn’t see clear and the shooter scored a goal. They all laughed, and I said not fair coz I got more water than the previous guy. Then when Alwin and Daniel came we all splashed so hard at them they even can block the ball. Hahahaha. =P
After 30 minutes or so we got tired and got out. Me and Al went back to bathe then we went to one of the stalls to eat. After that a nice nap. At about 6.30pm I got up for dinner. I was a little groggy still as I walked to the dinner hall. Then I saw a table where PK Yeoh and a whole bunch called me to sit down immediately. They were laughing, for what I don’t exactly know. They sort of wanted to interview me abt something.
Finally its regarding a few ‘SPECIAL’ people in our Interstate. Ehem, this is one of those off the bike tales where it just gets funnier the more we talk about it. The subjects we talked about were referred as No 1 and No 2. Now, Bahri and Clarence had the most luck to encounter No 1. And I didn’t know I already encountered No 2. Lol. As we talked and Bahri shared his hilarious story, we all couldn’t help but make lots of jokes and talk lots abt these interesting subjects, esp No1. Now for safety reasons I shall not mention here. If u are interested to know, ask me in person. XD. The quote of the day is “I can tell u what happened in 20 minutes in 2 hours.” Hahahahaha. They kept saying that they sacrificed a lot for the entire Interstate. And we owed them. LOL! I can see why…….
After dinner, most of the riders went into the bike storage area to check and tune their bikes. Also my chance to do the same thing to my bike. And at the same time got to see some bike porn. Lol. I noticed there were only a handful of Pinarello’s this year. Less than 5. Last year we had like 10. But lots of BMC, Specialized, Scott, Cervelo, Merida, Look and Trek. I didn’t even see Bianchi, Giant, Orbea, Willier, Cannondale, BH. There were only 2 Colnago’s. Well, at least Im the proud owner of a Look so, hehe, part of the majority too. Wakakakaka. Saw some really cool wheel sets, esp lots of Zipps, Campy’s, Lightweight and Reynolds. No one seemed to use the Mavic Cosmic. In fact I think none at all. There was a Zipp 808 on a Cervelo SLC. That was Daniel Lim’s bike. *drool drool*
And then Lynn came over asked my about some bike stuff. She’s Joanne’s friend, quite a cute character too and just met at the briefing. She really needs to change bike coz currently she uses a Trek 2100 size 50 traditional frame. And for her 150cm height, that’s a wrong AND HEAVY frame to be riding. But shes pretty strong for her size. Salute her. =)
After much googoogaga over the bikes, I went to join PK’s table again for another round of erm, story telling. Then it came to say goodnight to Bahri. Yeah, GOOD night. Lol. What happened later was hilarious. Too hilarious to tell here. =)
I too went to my room to rest n try to sleep. Well I turned on the TV to see if there was anything nice to see. Watched James Bond till 12am then slept. Final day is just around the corner. So fast 2 days of Interstate has gone. Well im just as eager to finish it.
Day 3 (May 3rd)
Yes! Last day of Interstate. And I plan to take today’s 102km slow and easy. Nothing to rush about. We started at 7.30am since it’s a short distance. Leaving the Resort we went out into the open roads with some drizzle. Finally a wet day? Nope. For a while only. Today , being the final day, I tried once again to follow the first peloton. I had to do some overtaking though on the outside lane. And I got a small warning but well, who hasn’t eh? Well my 40kmh effort didn’t last much though. These guys were just too tough for me.
Mac was suppose to drive support car today. But then when I saw him overtake me , I saw Alwin in the car! I was thinking why is Al in the car when he rode this morning from start line. Its either bike problem or leg problem. Hmm….I wanted to find out later.
I dropped back and let many more riders over take me. After 14km the right turn that leads to the little town of Nyalas was a little bit undulating as well. But its more of open kampung roads. Nice and quiet. I passed the little village of Nyalas. Many locals were out standing in front of their house to see us. I guess after the first 2 groups went by, they waited for more. Lots of kids waved at me. Shouting at me. And I just waved back.
PK’s group caught me. Razali , Bahri, Chin Hoe, Clarence, and a few more others were in here. And I guess they wanted to have fun today being the last day. So lots of attacks came. Well it was so tempting not to resist, so I joined along. Attack after attack. Then I managed to pull away for a while with Clarence on my wheel at 48kmh. Fun. Then we all basically reached the first stop at km 50. A nice row of food stalls. Many stopped there. We stopped almost 30 minutes. And it was only about 9am. Another fast paced day. I saw Al and Mac and I quickly asked Al whats wrong. He said his shifter cable snapped and didn’t have spare cable. Well I did, just that it is in the luggage truck on the way to Melaka. So that’s Al’s Interstate. Early end for him. But I think he’s even happy to sit in the car and see others suffering.
I left together with PK’s group coz usually PK’s group takes things relatively easy. Even so sometimes I felt like leaving the group and go alone again. Well today I tried to hang on. I was still OK and my legs haven’t reached their max limit yet. Though the sores are there. And the ass just keeps killing me. We went through more undulations. And then it was a flat stretch after leaving most of civilization behind. At 67km we stopped coz someone needed water. We took a nice rest under the bus stop. Lynn and Vincent Lim came up from behind after they split from the group. Then CC Wong also came up with Roger. And they even had time for their powersticks. Lol.
Continued our journey soon after. I went ahead for a while. Then some small rolling hills greeted me but today my legs felt pretty good. I managed to handle them at abt 20kmh. And it sort of got real good to me how my legs felt. Then I saw this long winding flat stretch of road in front of me. My legs felt good, so I thought lets see what I can do here. I got into a TT position and rode steady 35-38kmh for the next 5km or so before I let off the gas. Roger caught behind me and the PK train was just behind me too. At abt 80km we saw Daniel Lim’s dad by the side of the road with his bike on the ground. His tire exploded and needed help. So we stopped to wait for support cars to pass by. Thankfully a few came to our aid and one of them had a spare tire. Changed in like 5 minutes and we were off again together slowly. Just 20km to go. And then JUST before the 83km right turn, Chin Hoe hit a pot hole and had a flat, so………stop again lor. Everyone was happy coz we stop so often. Haha. Flat fixed and we took it slow.
Headed towards Bandar Melaka. We soon reached Bandar Hilir Melaka which was at about KM93 and then guess what? We stopped again! For water and food! This day was the most stops I did through out the entire Interstate. Day 1 I stopped 3 times, and Day 2 I stopped 2 times. Today already 5! Well, happy bikers we all were.
Then Terry came in with two other riders, one of them has already bonked and hit the wall pretty badly. When a cyclist hits the wall its pretty bad and can get dangerous. Dehydrated and overheat are main causes. Severe fatigue also is another cause. We keep cooling him down and tell him to drink water. I poured a good amount of water on him to cool him off. Luckily its just a short ride to the Baba House Hotel from here. Terry had to push him much of the way after this.
We were underway ourselves. 95km done. 7 more to go! I was about to reach this traffic light in front when I saw 2 motorcyclists rode rather close to each other. I thought they were friends playing around, but soon I realize it was a fight. Obviously the solo ride was not happy with the other ride with a pillion. They even exchanged kicks and nearly crashed. I quickly laid off the pace and rode a good 15 meters behind, watching as drama unfolded. I hope nothing bad happens. At the traffic light they went separately, luckily. Even PK’s group saw what happened behind. I was a little nervous as well at that time.
Well that being over, we all just wanted to reach the hotel! Now we were all told that Day 1 was the 2nd toughest and Day 2 was the 3rd toughest. Today the toughest? But it didn’t seem tough at all since 0km till now. That was until after we passed the Melaka Prison and up the Bridge to Masjid Tanah. The headwinds were FANTASTIC. My bike kept going side ways the entire time. Up the bridge was even worse, its like a hurricane up there. So bad were the winds we dragged at 20kmh. Going up a bridge with wind pushing you back down is hard. Thank God it wasn’t head winds for 100km. That be really my day.
We followed all the signs and at last, we reached the Baba House Hotel. The Interstate has ended officially for me. We did the 102km in just a little over 4 hours. We all shook hands. I congratulated Bahri on completing his first Interstate. Vincent Lim also. We were all smiles. I thank God I made it this far. Checking my meter, my total trip distance was 366km. Its 100km less than last year, but still a tough ride. With out wasting much time, everyone wanted to go eat, and suggested cendol. Well, after all the hard work, we deserve some sugar don’t we? We went to the famous Donald and Lily stall just 100 meters from out Hotel. The Baba House is actually just located behind Jonker Street and near to the Clock tower and A Famosa fort. Tonight we are definitely going to party! And the weather predictions were out the window, no rain at all for 3 days. Never bother to trust the weather man anyway these days.
Adrian’s slow group came in at abt 3.30pm. I happen to be at the hotel balcony when they came in. And they were also happy to have done the Interstate in one solid piece. There was a tandem with a guy and his young (approx 12 year old) daughter. I think she rode the whole journey too. Not bad at all, a new star in the making. And the high fives broke out everywhere.
My second Interstate completed in succession. I didn’t have to go up the support car. I nearly wanted to give up, but I didn’t. That’s will power I suppose. Some might say Im strong. But I will reserve all the praise to God for sustaining me these 3 days. The final dinner we were treated to Melaka dishes and it was nice. Melaka people love hot spicy food. Lol. And as every dinner we had the past 3 days, there were photo presentations of the days ride’s. My face came up a few times.
After the dinner me and Adrian and co went out to Jonker Street for a walk. Ate the local satay celup which was interesting. Then had the local ice kacang. This was way different than KL one coz they put really lots of “stuff” in the ice kacang. Nice. After some walking about we went back to the hotel and I wanted to sleep. Just watched some shows on TV before I turned off the lights.
Day 4 (May 4th)
Got up at 7.30am for breakfast. Nice western breakfast. Then Adrian and me n the gang went out to A Famosa for pictures and a walk. Then I tried the famous Melaka chicken rice balls. The rice is rolled up like balls. And it tastes really nice.
Today also I got to know that a few guys (namely Vong, Elaine Wong and Adli Dahlan) will be riding back to Klana resort in Seremban. Salute them man. Though its abt 80km ride, I wasn’t interested to follow at all. I’ve had enough already. They left at about 8.45am. So hopefully will get to see them in Klana together.
I got back to the hotel at 9.30 and packed my bags and bike. The bus will pick us at 11am so we all were busy packing. 2 buses came at 11.20 and by 11.50 we were on the way back to Klana Resort, Seremban. About 30 of us took the bust home. Most riders went back the night before or early in the morning. In the bus were some interesting conversations, Japanese fetish for used ladies underwear and nude public baths. Hmm, made the ride home interesting. Hsing Ling was also in the bus. She was supposed to ride back to Klana but decided not to. Had to handle the other 3 fella’s luggage instead. Reached Klana Resort at about 1.20pm. And just the right timing, Vong, Elaine and Adli arrived together. They even got warning from the traffic police for riding too fast. Zzzz. Now that’s something new. Well after unloading all the bikes and bags we all headed home. Adrian sent me home. I got home by 3.30pm. I basically just chucked my bike and bags one side and had a loooong sleep. I was really really tired.
Even as of today (May 5th) lm still feeling the tiredness. Well the butt sore is gone but the thighs are still a little tender. And of course, I get the lovely tan lines as a permanent souvenir. Washed my bike this morning and now I look forward to more rest. Btw thanks to Interstate for helping me reset my biological clock back to somewhat normal. At least I get to sleep in the night and wake in the morning.
As for the technical review on my bike, I find that carbon frames are indeed comfortable on long rides. I didn’t really get tired due to road vibrations. Mostly was due to my under preparation. But all was smooth with out any hiccups. However, this frame, as I have mentioned, does have substantial amount of flex in the chainstay area. I noticed that I needed to put in a bit of effort to sprint and get up to speed. Maybe high profile rims would help. Going down medium hills wasn’t much of a problem. Well, now I know at least what I should be looking for in my next bike, which will be like another 5 years away at the very very least. =P. The ’08 Mavic Aksium wheels were good and stiff. Nice handling. My new Wireless Cateye meter worked flawlessly. Oh and my shoe’s managed to hold together till the end, thankfully. Really going shoe hunting after this and need to save up on $$$. Many riders also asked me to refurbish my paint work. Well it is really in dire need of a face lift. But doing airbrush work costs a bomb. Doing it at the car spray shop would be cheap but not as good in quality and they mostly wont do decals in detail. =( . And I found a few nicks in the paint work, probably from the fall my bike had on day 1 when I parked in on the fence. =(( Oh well…….
So there you have it, my 2009 Interstate. Its nothing short of pure suffering for me but I managed to complete it, even though I didn’t train at all for it. Also I once again would like to really say a big thank you to Adrian for the carpool and everything else. God Bless ya bro! =)
As for next year, I will see if I am able to join once again. Maybe be a support car driver this time after doing twice as a rider. =P Till next years Interstate, see you there and then!
Cherio.
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