I was surprised. The weather was blistering hot. Nonetheless, I grabbed my bike, a couple of essentials and off we went for our sushi buffet.
Total distance: 20.3kmTotal distance: 37.1km
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Bro, Team Midpoint
Before I reached the end of my final question, Bro was already bugging me to go for TKD training. It was a long time since I stepped into Ci Yuan CC and I was glad to see the familiar faces.
Working out for the 7th straight day this week was slightly taxing on my body but I managed to garner most of my form. Certainly, my reflexes were slow especially on counter multiple turning kicks but I was glad I could still land 3 mid-air kicks to the target. My judgment was also off-target on several occasions so I have to work to get a certain level of consistency in my sharpness.
Overall, I felt good but somehow drained. I watched Lewis Hamilton maintain the lead but this year’s race was not that exciting as compared to last year’s; and I felt my eyes starting to close. I shall rest tomorrow – as in, not exercise!
The guys soon gathered at the trailhead at BT. The weather was very dry, even scathing hot but at least traction was sufficient enough for me not to slip on every climb. It was real fun to tackle BT again, especially with the guys. I fell once when I got caught on a heavy gear up the trickiest climb of the trail but I was glad to clear it on my second attempt. That part has always been a 50-50 for me.
I met up with Bryan, Zi Kai, Alfred, Kao Jun and Jiashun for dinner. Bryan will be leaving for Cambridge come Wednesday so all the best to him. Dinner was good, the LAN gaming was fairly amusing but the best part was in meeting up and chatting with them. As Zi Kai rightly pointed out when we split ways that it was back to reality, I suddenly felt that time has passed so quickly and many good things have become nothing but deeply etched memories. I look forward to meeting up with them again.
Total distance: 30km (on-road), 15km (off-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Pan, NTU Cycling Team
It’s great that we have cleared a major presentation for IT – credit goes to my team mates for all their effort. I hope this encouragement will spur us on for our next project.
I dropped by at Grandma’s place after school today. It took me just half an hour to cycle from school and I had a very good lunch there. Grandparents really pamper their grandchildren. I was faced with a continuous flow of delectable drinks and snacks after a hearty meal.
Mum and Bro took the MRT home but they stopped by at West Mall to check out mobile phones. Not surprisingly, I reached home earlier than them.
I can’t wait to hit my bed. Just totally tired.
So what made up the vast difference? Road works? That roads are not that straight as usually shown in maps? One can only wonder.
My 280km Batu Pahat vision for the weekend was shattered. Everyone thought I was crazy but then again, it’s unlikely they were up to the mark to make it there and back. Judging from last night’s ride, while Dad’s techniques have visibly improved, his long distance endurance and fitness didn’t. He lost it by the time we were at Changi and past 12pm, showing obvious signs of physical and mental stress.
The weather was cool, almost cold, with the presence of a slight drizzle for most of the way. Our pace was decent, and we took only a couple of short breaks, less the supper stop we made at Tampines.
I was famished when we passed the coffee shop in the vicinity of the mountain biking park and I was glad to have fishball noodles and an accompanying cup of warm tea. I guess my family members tend to be irritated with me for taking them into physically-taxing situations but at the end of the day, it’s for their own good. If they can’t complete such a distance with relative ease, forget Malaysia. Forget a 42km marathon because they will not be prepared.
We were still on the roads at 2am. Somehow, I felt sharper and more energetic after supper. I was glad my muscles didn’t complain at all so it was more of mental fortitude against the dead of the night.
I often play mental games or let my thoughts wander, though I shan’t reveal what goes through my mind here. At 3.30am, after all the washing and cleaning up, I finally hit the bed. It never felt so good.
Total distance: 114km
Money spent: $3.40
Participants: LSH, Dad
I guess everyone will have differing views and it will be interesting to find out how people rank these four terms. If such a survey has been done, I will definitely like to know the findings made.
Personally, I have long decided that the rankings should look something like this:
Family definitely takes precedence over Career in relative importance as Career is nothing more than a necessary tool to support the Family. And if Career conflicts with Religion (very very unlikely), then something is probably very wrong with the choice of Career (doing something unethical or giving rise to guilt in the long run), thus explains my inclination to place Religion above Career.
To date, I still can’t figure if family should take precedence over religion or vice versa. I know a devout believer’s answer but to me, it remains a hugely grey area. Country definitely takes precedence over all. Without the country, there will not be anything else. Someone close who is a devout believer told me that God will understand should a conflict arise (between Country and personal belief) and that we should answer the call to serve the country first.
I will remember his words and believe that loyalty to country should remain steadfast through the most difficult of times. We may get disillusioned but if we can see through the confusion to what we really believe in, I am sure we will find the direction to our problems.
As of now, my doubts will probably remain unanswered.
I guess the whole family was awakened. Dad inherited Bro’s old phone yesterday and to his dismay, found the 0530hrs alarm working perfectly this morning although the phone was switched off. Dad was reluctant to cycle so early in the morning – that was his stand last night and I was all prepared for another solo ride – but as I had breakfast, I found him getting ready to join me for the ride.
The weather was amazingly cool this morning when we left home at around 6.15am. We soon found out why. Flashes of lightning streaked across the dark skies and it was only a matter of time before it started pouring.
Our “wish” was fulfilled as we near Bukit Panjang (10 Mile Junction). The rain got steadier heavier and we were totally soaked. We proceeded down Clementi Road and the rain stopped briefly when we hit the West Coast Highway but the weather was simply not merciful today and we found ourselves battling strong gusts amidst the rain.
The cool weather meant less physical exertion and Dad managed to climb Mount Faber on his Ventura Elite today, which was great. I am guessing the height of his saddle had a part to play too.
The summit was totally void of visitors, less a maintenance worker. I guess most people shy away from the rain as well as the “slippery” road conditions. We took the curves down with more caution, but obviously I was way faster than Dad in wet conditions. Dad voiced the riskiness of a descend in such weather – true, but we need to adapt to cycling in different weather conditions as we can’t expect mountain roads to be always dry. In fact, Genting is usually wet and we were just lucky on our previous trip.
I was freezing cold, in fact shivering, when we descended from Mount Faber. I think the last time I experienced such cold was during the descend down Genting! Back on the roads, I couldn’t help but increase my speed to get the cold out of my system.
We had our second breakfast at the Tiong Bahru Market. I can’t wait to visit the hawker centre again to taste more hawker fare. It was slightly past 9am when we started our return journey via Chinatown, Serangoon and Balestier. It took us about an hour fifteen minutes (of coldness) to get home.
Thus concludes my first post with Windows Live Writer. Out.
Total distance: 66.3km
Money spent: $3.70
Participants: LSH, Dad
After all, it's fundamentally wrong to play "truant" and we should be responsible for any decision we undertake. There's no point complaining of lousy lectures, difficult topics and the supremely fast pace if one does not even bother to put in the basic effort expected of a student.
The roads were largely clear of vehicles when I started my ride home. By the time I passed the cemeteries along Lim Chu Kang, there was no other vehicle in sight, all the way till Kranji. The night was cool, the wind almost chilling and other than the background noise of the jungle, the only other unnatural sound was probably the hum of my tyres against the road.
Lim Chu Kang was eerily quiet and dark along certain unlit parts. I thought I spotted humanly figures ahead but they turned out to be dustbins or roadside signs when I pulled closer. My eyes were playing tricks on me in the night. I nearly jumped when a voice broke into my train of thoughts. In the dark, I couldn't see anyone! Clearly, someone was speaking and I figured it was a foreign worker by the side of the road, perfectly camouflaged in the shadows. I didn't catch sight of him as I continued down the road.
I ran into a friend at Admiralty. He was cycling when he saw a familiar bike (probably couldn't see me in the dark). I felt someone tailing me and turning back, I was surprised and glad to see a familiar face. Yesterday, as I was heading to NTU, I got acquainted with a fellow biker on the road and we ended up exchanging contacts. That's the beauty of cycling.
I have stepped up my flexibility training, resulting in sore and tight muscles these days. I guess that was the main cause of the sudden "pull" I experienced today. It was definitely the worse cramp I have suffered on a sport so far, the first in cycling and hopefully the last. The guys were going real fast and I had to pull out because I couldn't keep up with them anymore.
At that instant when my leg went numb with pain, I thought I was in deep trouble. I couldn't feel anything on the left, hence I took my leg off and coasted to a halt. Home was at least a good 40km away.
Fortunately, the pain was not too bad when I eased the pressure off my left leg and concentrated more power on the right. I maintained cadence and rode at light gears all the way home. Justin was kind enough to see me through all the way to Brickland Road before he headed back to school. Thanks bro!
I reached home at 10pm, approximately 4hrs after I left home for school.
