6 x 12-storeys Stairs Run

Until I get the broken spokes on my hybrid repaired, I am effectively "grounded" from riding to school. On a bright side, it's a chance to rest and perhaps do more cross training.

The weather was bad when I returned home from school. I was dying for a run but decided to do the stairs instead after my routine "station exercises". 72 floors later, I was gasping for breath and my legs felt like jelly. I called it a day. =)

Revisiting Gunung Pulai

Pictures speak a thousand words. So here we go…

We started our trip slightly past 5am and reached Pekan Nanas before 8am. I have lost count of the number of times I have patronised a certain coffee-shop (in fact, every time I pass the "Pineapple Town") so we decided to try something new this time round. Jasper and Eng Joo sure looked to have floated off somewhere when we stopped at the "Nanas Besar" to take a few pictures.

By the time we reached the foot of Gunung Pulai (654m), it was already close to 10am. We had spent considerable time in town having breakfast, slacking and visiting the bike shop. We met many local hikers and a group of bikers who was waiting for more friends before they cycled to the peak. Everyone was so friendly and encouraging as they watched us suffer on the climbs. Amazing.

The weather was definitely more dry as compared to what I experienced on my previous trip a year ago. As such, the road up was more dry and less cluttered with debris. Also, the hikers have returned (I guess some time has passed since the tragedies and things go back to normal). However, the conditions of the road have remained as bad - road bikes will just get totaled at the huge gaps between damaged drain covers.

The gradient was refreshingly steep. Nothing like what you see in Singapore. I was glad to be climbing again even though more pain lay ahead. I gave myself a challenge - to use no lighter than the 32t (front) - 34t (rear) gear combination. I can't describe how painful it was. I nearly stalled on several super steep sections. My cadence was no longer smooth. Rather, it became a rather jerky two-pronged force-down, pull-up action. My muscles protested in pain, reminding me I was still at least 70km of tarmac away from home. The logical section of my brain urged me to regain sanity and shift down to a lighter gear but the crazier part told me to push on. I let my stamina take over most of the climbing effort.

The weather sure looked menacing at the top of Gunung Pulai. Dark clouds loomed over us and it was definitely much cooler at that altitude. We could not really see Singapore which lay covered by haze in the distance.

Then came the stressful part. We descended the narrow and winding road, hitting speeds of around 60km/h. Just like Genting, I put 100% concentration on the descend. There was no room for mistake. My brakes failed momentarily on a steep turn and I careened towards the edge. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. No roller-coaster ride had ever come close to that moment. Fortunately, I managed to steer the bike back on course. This definitely emphasises the importance of ensuring a functioning bike. My brakes have jammed up twice in recent months and after I did some maintenance work on them, the rear is in need of a re-bleed - the lever is almost touching the handlebar, while the front lever jams for a split second when the bike is moving. I had intended to get the bike checked a couple of weeks from now, underestimating the challenges of Pulai. Bad move.

We had "lunch" at Tesco in Kulai. It was nearly 2pm when we made the return journey to JB.

As expected, there was very heavy traffic near the CIQ. Well, the good thing about bikes is...

Ice kacang at Woodlands was the perfect welcome home gift.

Total distance: 132km
Money spent: RM7.80, $1
Participants: LSH, Jasper, Eng Joo, Solomon

Leisure Off-Road Ride

It’s amazing Bro asked for an off-road ride. Since the Tampines trail is undergoing a revamp, I decided that my “favourite” Bukit Timah was the place we should go. It did not rain in the morning but the past few days of rain had rendered the trail muddy.

Not surprisingly, Track 15 and Bukit Timah were rather quiet on a weekday but it was a good thing too. The ride was short but enjoyable. We reached home in time for lunch.

Saya suka berbasikal ke taman Buikit Timah!

Total distance: 16.5km (off-road); 23.3km (on-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Bro

Sembawang Circuit: 7km run

Please Don’t Die On Me!

When I arrived at my doorstep, I was covered head-to-toe in mud. I stripped off my top, shoes and socks outside the flat but that didn’t prevent the mud from staining the living room floor as I hobbled to the toilet (trying to minimize my muddy footprints). Washing the bike was a pain but servicing was worse!

The gears stubbornly refused to work properly (can shift upwards but can’t move down properly or vice versa) and 2 hours later (close to 2pm), after removing certain sections of the RD shifter cable and re-oiling it, I had only managed to find a “compromise” point. Shifting upwards was not as crisp but at least the chain didn’t jump when I shifted downwards. I believe removing and re-oiling the entire cable was the best option but I wasn’t going to do that considering my wire cutter was blunt and using it would only make matters worse.

Today’s ride was cold, wet and muddy. I ran on super low pressure and traction was pretty decent except on certain tricky corners and climbs. In fact, the 3 laps of Bukit Timah this morning would be very enjoyable if everything had remained prim and proper, Sadly, mountain biking is not for the risk averse and mechanicals are pretty common. I thought my bike had performed pretty reliably on the 3 laps but as I made the final half lap to Track 15, the gear shifting started becoming problematic.

Worse, after the large clearing, I was going at speed and had just emerged from a mud pool when I found myself heading for a brick in my path. No worries. I can just roll over it easily. To my surprise, the force I hit it dislocated the entire brick and flicked it into the air. As it ricocheted against my front wheel and flew upwards in my direction, I could only think of one word. Shit. The next thing I knew, my crank impacted against the damn thing. I was horrified to find a couple of bent teeth on the outer chain-ring and as I touched them, they broke. Now, my crank is toothless (a couple of chipped teeth). I don’t care about the cosmetic damage. I just hope it still works fine.

Total distance: 29.5km (off-road); 23.3km (on-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH

Mileage of Week Starting 15 March 2010

1. 16 March 2010 – Commute to NTU – 57km [P]
2. 17 March 2010 – Commute to NTU – 57km [P]
3. 19 March 2010 – Commute to NTU – 56km
4. 20 March 2010 – T15 / BT (3 laps) – 29.5km (off-road); 23.3km (on-road)
5. 21 March 2010 – Recce to Clementi – 41.4km 

Kota Tinggi – Climb On!

Thomas encountered a broken spoke on the way to Fabian’s place at 3am in the morning hence they had to drop by at my place to collect the Polygon, once again called up for overseas duty. I think it was the fastest I ever serviced a bike and it was ready (less a damaged race crown) by the time they arrived. Still, we were running late.

By the time we crossed customs, it was already past 6.30am and the darkness of the wee hours did not last long. We set a rather decent pace and pulled into Kota Tinggi before 9am, considering the multiple breaks we took along the way. After looking around for the “suitable” breakfast, we settled for bakut-teh – simply delicious!

Fabian and Thomas were reluctant to ride back hence we spent quite some time looking for the express bus terminal (eventually finding it at the original location where it has been all along, but I had forgotten about it). The next express bus timing was 1pm, way too late for us. In the end, I had a chance to practice my Malay and managed to convince a city bus driver to let the two of them onboard (bikes in the luggage hold).

The remaining three of us from the NTU Team set off for Johor Bahru. We beat the bus in the first couple of kilometres before it overtook our peloton and disappeared from sight. We did a wonderful pace back to JB. I was impressed.

Crossing over to Woodlands, Jasper and I headed for the hawker centre where I indulged in my favourite ice kacang before we went our different ways at Marsiling MRT. The rain got very heavy and I suffered the full brunt as I pulled into Sembawang.

The bike was peeing water from the drainage holes and I had to dry and lubricate the sensitive areas. The headset was also loose so some time had to be spent to reassemble the fork. I hope all is fine and ready for the next ride!

Total distance: 110km
Money spent: RM11, $3.80
Participants: LSH, Jasper, Jeremy, Fabian, Thomas

4 Laps of Bukit Timah

This has to be one of the most tiring off-road sessions. After 4 laps of BT, even Track 15 and its new extension was a pain. As usual, I took Mandai Road home and I just seemed to take forever to cover the agonizing distance.

 

Total distance: 36km (off-road); 20.6km (on-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH

Sembawang Circuit: 7km run

Mileage of Week Starting 8 March 2010

1. 10 March 2010 – Sembawang Circuit – 21.6km
2. 11 March 2010 – Commute to NTU – 57km [P]
3. 13 March 2010 – T15 / BT (4 laps) – 20.6km (on-road); 36km (off-road)
4. 14 March 2010 – Kota Tinggi – 110km

12 Laps of Mount Faber

Dad and I did laps on Mount Faber in the morning, with him completing 6 and me carrying on to complete 12. Still, it’s pretty obvious that Genting posed much much of a greater challenge and I expect no less from Cameron Highlands. Mount Faber is too simple and realistically speaking – training there can help a little in honing our climbing abilities but we will never be fully prepared to scale mountains above 1000m (sea level) unless we conduct trainings on-site.

I still enjoyed pushing my physical fitness to fairly strenuous levels and I would say mental strength is very important on long climbs. There were a number of road bikers doing lap trainings too and I passed them on the climbs. They just had to pressure me and since they were dying for some competition, I obliged.

Reaching the peak which was getting really crowded with tourists and buses, I slowed down for a road bike in my path and moved right only to find my path totally blocked off by two buses. Common sense – I had to stop and wait for the buses to clear but I think this really tired biker hot on my heels rode straight into my rear. He made an annoying protest but shut up when he realised the situation was not in his favour. Come on man, why take it so seriously? Just show a little patience in waiting for the vehicles to clear. No, they had to squeeze through a dangerous gap between the bus and the curb. No wonder drivers get irritated at cyclists.

On one of the laps, a road biker shouted at an old lady (most likely a tourist) in his path, attracting a bit of attention. I found that very rude. He just had to slow, let her move to one side before continuing. Ego gets to the better of our senses at times and this is very dangerous. You do silly things and pay a hefty price later.

Did he really need that few seconds on the descends only to lose it all on the climbs? No offence, but I think they better work on their climbing abilities which clearly is the weakness of many a Singaporean cyclist.

Entrance @ Mount Faber Road – Telok Blangah Road – Kampung Bahru Road: 5.1km
Mount Faber Loop: 1.6km

Total distance: 84.8km
Money spent: $3.10
Participants: LSH, Dad

Mountain Biking Bukit Timah

With my workload piling, I decided that the quickest workout would be mountain biking, or rather, disciplined high intensity laps. The weather was very dry, the trail was crowded with hikers but I really enjoyed my 3 laps. There were fewer bikers both on the roads and the trails probably because of the OCBC race on Sunday. I was tempted to go for more but decided that Mount Faber on Sunday was going to wear me out anyway!

  

Total distance: 29.5km (off-road); 20.6km (on-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Ying Han

Sembawang Circuit: 7km run

7km (34min)

Sembawang Circuit: 7km run

7km (33.5min)

Ride with Midpoint

I was running late hence I quickened my pace and got there in time. I was surprised and glad to see Jasper with his road bike. The pace was great – leisure for a good night ride – but we could not help but quickened our pace on the climbs when the others pulled ahead. As usual, I broke off at Sembawang Park.

Total distance: 41.5km
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Jasper, Team Midpoint

Sembawang Circuit Recovery Ride

The weather was bad. We were only halfway through when it poured.

Total distance: 10.4km
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Dad