Getting Back Into the Groove

This morning, I got up at 3.45am just to make the meeting time of 5.30am for Triathlon Family’s ride into Johor Bahru, Malaysia. A group of about 15 people turned up at the old petrol-station in Mandai, and then made its way to the Causeway checkpoint; most of us took a taxi there as it was situated near the northern part of Singapore. The Causeway is a 1.5km bridge that physically separates Singapore from Malaysia.

There were two rides: 150km or 180km (the new route with more, and challenging hills). Due to rough road conditions, and the erratic drivers, I almost lost my balance with one road hump/bump, and lost my Cat-eye speedometer in the process. Despite these shake-ups, I renewed my passion for riding. I have drifted from cycling for the last two months as I focused my energies on qualifying for the Boston Marathon 2012. With that achieved, I can harness my energies into doing a ride and aggregate PB at Ironman Lanzarote.

We broke away from the main pack at the turnoff to Desaru – where the Desaru Long Distance Triathlon takes place every August – whereupon we headed for our replenishment point at the Petronas petrol-kiosk. Actually, Hui Koon and Ping broke away ahead many minutes before, doing their version of the Shinkansen Express. We had fun climbing the medley of slopes – uncommon in pancake-flat Singapore – and certainly more so, when Matt bought a medium pack of crushed-ice to share. As the heat intensified at about 10.00am, Vijch and Desmond gratefully enjoyed the cold reward by stuffing into their drink-bottles as well as underneath their jerseys. Wilson decided to call it a day as he made his way by cab to bid us adieu; it was his first long-distance ride at Desaru, which is overwhelming for most first-timers. The rest of us swallowed deep when his cab rode off in a trail of dust, but I exaggerate.

Our gang of four arrived at the jetty at about midday, after a short drink refill. Although we booked a bumboat back easily, the journey exceeded the normal hour of travel. I was the bookend and watchful eye for the stack of bikes – two Specialized, one Colnago, and one Elite - for fear that they would be scratched when the boat was tossed by the occasional high wave.

Despite my sore calves from Friday evening’s 90-minute VFF run (and two weeks into my marathon recovery process), I took on this morning’s hills with minimal discomfort. I certainly have more work to do, but it’s has been a very good start. Back to my Monday swim sessions beginning tomorrow to work my anaerobic energy system.

Big Shout Out: Congratulations Charles Teng and Teryn Tham (and the other 30 participants from Singapore) for completing Ironman New Zealand 2011! You did well on an unusually wet and challenging day.
Photo-credit: Vijch GK.