Greetings to my almost certain dead blog! This is my yearly update of the PCC Interstate ride (Due to request from certain ppl). Otherwise i might be quite lazy to type this out. Lol. Didnt know i had such loyal followers still. :P Anyway.........as always........enjoy the journey i experienced. XD
PCC Interstate 2012 : Briefing and summary
Date : April 28th - May 1st (Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues)
Kajang - Kuala Pilah : 120km (Hilly)
Kuala Pilah - Muar : 130km (Rolling)
Muar - Pulai : 170km (Flat)
Total KM : 420+-
Participants : 400 riders + support car drivers + crew.
April 2012 : Before the actual ride.............
Well its the month 400 people who are working adults, family man, retired employees, housewives, few kids, MD's, young, old and important of all................crazy cyclists are looking forward to : The annual pilgrimage to somewhere most of us never been to. Interstate 2012 by PCC.
Remembering what drama i had last year...........i was really hoping this year it will not happen again. (Read last years IS report if you all dont know by now). So this year, this month in particular i made sure i wasnt going to be in another sticky situation where my ride is on the line. Fortunately........nothing major happened.........EXCEPT a few things.
Cousin Lee will be joining me again this year. Happy to have seen him complete last years long 480km. This years 420km should be relatively easy for him. Though he said he hadnt had training, I was the more worried one. Well, to ease the worry, we both wanted to get some new equipment before the ride. He got a nice set of Shimano Dura Ace C50 carbon wheels. Darn nice wheelsets. Tested it myself and i must say its a good buy. For me? I havent really decided yet
2 Weeks Before IS12
I was literally sick the whole week after doing the 115km Broga loop. I think my body wasnt up to the hard punishing ride. I imagined I would suffer terribly in IS12. Mon - Friday was a mixture of cough, runny nose and fever. The again hectic trip to Johor mid week didnt help. Thank God i recovered almost 95% by Sunday.
And I told BikePro mechanic Lim to reserve a pair of Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL wheelset for me. I wanted those cool wheels for Interstate 2012. *wink wink* New weapon to use in IS i hope.
1 Week Before IS2012
I prayed hard to God that this week I will not have to go to Johor or any outstation trip just before the start of IS this coming Saturday. I tried hard to clear off any outstanding work, get things done and all before Friday so at least im at a peace of mind. And i STILL havent got time to drop by Bike Pro to pick up my wheels..........busy clearing off my work.
Sadly.....one news came to me was......yes..... I had to go to Johor on that Thursday. Well....Thursday is fine. I was determined to make it a one day trip only. Dont want to stay back and i dont care how late i finish my work there. As long as I am back by Friday. Funny though, I drive down to JB, come back up, and then ride back down again. Sounds silly and stupid to me. Why not i just wait there right? Anyway, I was supposed to meet my cousin to go bike shop together during the early week, but due to business, looks like i have to make it on Friday, just a day before IS starts. But its only a pair of wheels. Nothing hard for me la i guess.
Thursday I went down to JB......did all my work like a man possessed. I know the site had lots of problems needed to be rectified, and i knew all the problems and knew all the solutions in my head already. Yes the ppl there made lots of fuss but i didnt care. Im going to get all the things done by hook or by crook. And I did it. I solved all major problems by 3.00pm. Good for me. Did another small favour for the site. 4-5pm I was done on this particular site. 5-7pm I was at a customers house not far away. Done with that. I was so "on fire" to do the work because i really wanted to get back to KL by tonite. Whole day i skipped all my meals, ignored a few phone calls and I hit my target. Had McD for dinner and on the way back to KL just the way i planned.
1 Day Before IS2012 : Day 0
Okay, the final day before suffer fest begins...........so today i have to drop by Bike Pro to get my pair of wheels. Went with cousin Lee during lunch time. And guess what? Wheels sold off to someone else. So I was like, well, looks like nothing for me for this years Interstate. Same old trusty bike Ive been using for the past 5 years to Interstate. Well since I could not get the wheels, maybe I get something else to replace it. Looked around the shop, didnt see anything I was particularly interested in. If its Shimano stuff I can get from a better source but now be too late to get that.
So me and Lee went to the next bike shop in TTDI. Walked around abit. And i stated looking at their road frames. Nice interesting mix : Carrera, BH, Time, Pinarello, Kuota, Wilier. Hmmmm.........Wilier. Looking at their models on sale : Cento 1 - RM10 500. Cento 1 Superlaggera - RM20 000. GranTurismo - RM5500. Imperiale - RM5800.
The salesman named Leong approached and asked if I needed help. I pointed at the Imperiale "Any size for me?". He said size for me was no longer in stock. However , he said, the GranTurismo was on sale at special price. And just the right size for me. "How much" I asked.
RM4950 after discount. He says the usual normal price is around RM8000 but im getting at near 50% off. Deep deep consideration. I looked at my cousin, he looked back at me. "How? Want or not?" I was there thinking just as hard. I was just supposed to get something simple like wheels. Even a groupset be fine. But a frame? At this hour? 1 day before Interstate? I must have gone mad........well like all cyclist.......but this is beyond mad and crazy. Its like suicide to do a frame a day before a big 3 day ride. And this is no ordinary frame.
I asked : "Any cheaper frame than this?"
I was pointed to the Carrera Velano. A nice crafted integrated seatpost frame. But being ISP (Integrated Seat Post) i had to cut the seat post myself , which i am a a little bit worried about cutting wrong length, too short and im dead. I would like the bike shop to cut, but that will take some time, which i didnt have. But the price was 1000 bucks cheaper than the Wilier. But the thing is , Wilier has pedigree. A place in the high end Italian stable of bicycles. And Wilier is a World Champion winning brand - Lampre uses it and Alessandro Belan won the World Championship with a Wilier Cento1. Hence.....all Wilier frames will get the rainbow stripes to mark its World Championship status.
More accolades for this frame manufacturer. More reason to choose? Importantly whether did I like the frame or not? Take it or leave it? But its not everyday I get a good deal like this. My stand on buying stuff has always been that I like to take or buy stuff not normally popular. Wilier is not a popular brand like Scott, Giant, BMC, Look or Pinarello...........but its still there among the bling bling stars of Italian flare. Italian. Why not? So out of my crazydarren mind, I said "I'll take the frame".
I am sooooooo going to..............enjoy???regret??? taking this frame? Btw I had to add a seatpost which cost an additional 450 bucks otherwise I be without a seat to sit on. So the total damage from this out of no where suddenly a new frame shopping spree?
RM5400. And I have to thank my cousin for paying first. I have the money. Just not the card. And the idea of paying 5400 cash is a little bit..........scary. ATM limit is 3000 per withdrawal anyway. :P
So.........................well...................................... I got a new frame for Interstate 2012. I wasnt overly joyed or ecstatic about it. Simply because now i landed myself in another problem : I need to get this whole bike fixed up and ready by tomoro to ride. And I can work on it only after working hours when i get home.
Chucked the new frame in my back seat and continued to work and continued till i clocked off at 6pm. Once my office ends at 6pm.............my Interstate journey begins. A crazy journey.
You think the craziness just stops here right?
Read on more in next part............
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