Enduro 2008

November 09, 2008

354 in 24! Enduro 08

Enduro 08 was one of the most exciting cycling experiences I have ever had. The idea of riding for 24 hours to see how far we could go was daunting enough, however the extra challenges of rain, lack of sleep, strange food intake all combined to make this a very unique and memorable experience. It was only a month-and-a-half ago that we rounded up a team to enter the Enduro 08 24 hour ride which was held in support of the Down Syndrome Association (Singapore) organization. http://www.downsyndrome-singapore.org/

The ride attracted 88 riders which were composed of teams, relay teams and some die hard individuals. Our team, the Tri Blobs, were initially set up as a relay team and later switched to a full blown team by riding the entire 24 hours together (versus individually as a relay team). The course was set up to circle around the entire island of Singapore and was 118km in length.

Over the 24 hour timeframe, the Tri Blob Team managed to fit in three laps, or 354km all together!

The Route around Singapore – more details here:
http://www.bikeaid.org.sg/projects/2008/docs/RouteMap_Final.pdf

The Riders – Tri Blob Winston, Mark and Jeff

Lap 1 – Big legs…and ideas.

The first lap was very enjoyable and we managed to complete it in good time and at a good pace. The lap started at 10:30 in the morning on Saturday so the weather was hot and the traffic was plentiful. During this lap we were developing our strategy on what we planned to do over the 24 hour period. We had come to the conclusion that we could manage four laps over 24 hours, or 472 km in total. This plan became known as Plan A, and it was the one that we would focus on…for a while anyhow. Plan A, the 472km, was going to blow apart my previous one day record of 180km in a day and it was exciting to see how things would work out.

At approximately 110km, after hitting super powerful winds behind Changi Airport, we started to chat and think about how success in this ride really was defined. After all, this is for charity, we were not racing, and we were out to have some fun…right? Anyhow we all started talking about a new plan, Plan B, which involved three laps, or a total of 354km over 24 hours. This plan was devised mostly after the energy sucking windy ride behind Changi Airport tired the three of us out. Plan B was also more social and included a couple of beers before a short nap outside before starting the third (and final) lap we would do for the day. We pulled through the finish line after 118km and rested for ten minutes before heading for a quick dinner before starting lap 2.

Lap 2 – Plan A, B, C, A, B, A – No Way

After a hearty pasta dinner and 1/2 pint of beer at Scruffy Murphys, we set out for the second lap at 4:30pm local time. The weather was getting cooler and we all felt strong due to the white pills Mark kept feeding us all day long. Like good cyclists we did not ask what the pills were, but continued to take them if they made us feel good. The food and 1/2 pint of beer also tasted good after eating so many energy supplements, power bars and drinking isotonic drinks that started to taste horrible after a while. We were all a bit more jovial at this point, knowing that we would take an extended break after this 118km loop which included some cold beers and a chance to sleep before starting our third and final lap sometime early on Sunday morning.

With less traffic and cooler temperatures, we really enjoyed this lap. We grouped up with a group called the STARs and took turns pulling at very fast paces. We all felt amazingly strong (perhaps due to those pills from Mark’s plastic bag) and once again started toying with the idea of trying for four laps again. The STARs group were doing four laps and we were thinking about Plan A again, and how maybe we should do that plan in lieu of the beer and sleep we had planned. Mentioning Plan A again lead the development of Plan C, which we never actually heard details of, but it was something like ‘going home to bed for good’. So we quickly reverted back to Plan B and as you can see took the beers and sleep breaks before starting our third and final lap.

We slept on the event stage for a couple of hours before starting lap 3.
The reason we are all so close is not due to team bonding but mere
sharing of the sole fan on the ceiling of the event tent. Keeps the
bugs away and keeps you cool.

We pulled into the finish line for Lap 2 at 9:15 pm and parked the bikes and grabbed showers in the park. It was nice to be clean again.

After the second lap was complete, we headed back to Scruffy Murphys for a full pint and some non Power Gel foods for dinner. Kim and Audrey had joined us too. While we were out suffering through hundreds of kilometers of riding, most of our riding group was at the American Club tasting fine wines and eating nice food. After our dinner we headed back to the event stage to get ready for some sleep. During the second loop we were discussing how Audrey was a professional masseuse and how nice it would be to have a massage after a blistering 236km of riding….being the good trooper she is, Audrey helped the Blobs by stretching our tired legs out. It was then when she noticed that Winston had a lot of spare capacity in his legs and that perhaps he was not working as hard as he should have been. This was very interesting because with appoximately 30km to go on this lap, I had signalled to Winston it was his turn to come up to the front and pull the gang for a while. As usual, I pulled left, and waved my hand to signal Winston to come up. I waved again. And again….then I had to look back to see where the heck he was. Sitting there smirking he said he was too tired to pull so I had to once again get back on front. Thanks Wins. Anyhow maybe he should have saved some of his energy he wasted on singing songs and kept some for taking his share at the front!

Thunder storms and heavy rain pounded our tent all night long…well for a few hours anyhow. We did feel for the people who were still riding. Probably slept for 2-3 hours on a hard floor.

Lap 3 – Redemption Ride

Started at 5:10am in the pouring rain. Winston could not sleep so he woke us all up at 4:45 so we could get ready and eat breakfast before starting out for the day. Throughout the night it was pouring rain and there were massive thunder storms. After a couple hours of sleep on the hard stage we were ready to tackle the final lap of the 24 hour period.

We decided to stop at the McDonalds near the first rest stop (27km) to get some warm coffee and some ‘real’ food. As we chowed down on our pancakes and sausage, we witnessed probably the most interesting event of the entire 24 hours. A truck was entering the drive through for an early morning breakfast. Unfortunately he entered the wrong side of the drive through, knocking down the drive thru structure, and totalling the top of his truck. Had he gone through the other (correct) side of the drive thru, he may have seen the sign that said ‘Clearance 2.4m’ and only knocked down a sign versus most of the building. Unlucky. Anyhow we hopped back on the bikes and headed back into the rain enroute to the next rest stop which was on the other side of Kranji (Krahnji) Resevoir.

Winston, Mark, Tri Blob Owner and Founder Bill Gentry with Event Organizer, Jeff and Coach Bransby.

The rain stopped after a couple of hours and it turned into a nice day. The ground was wet so our drafting was limited and we rode at slower pace for most of this lap. When things dried up we were able to draft and share the work load which was a good thing. Unlike Lap 2, where Winston was a no-show, he stepped up to the plate in Lap 3 to help get the Blobs home across the line before the 10:30am finish. We actually thought we had a lot of time when we started out this lap, however as we neared Changi Village we realized that we needed to go a lot faster to complete the three laps before the time cutoff. Wins stepped up the pace and managed to pull us around Changi loop at 35-40km/h which helped us cross the line at 10:16am, with 14 minutes to spare.

FINISHED!

Pulling into the finish line…this is what we look like after 354km! Coach B cheering us on.

Supporters

Thank you very much to all of those who supported our team for this race. The support provided to the Down Syndrome Association of Singapore was excellent. The event raised in excess of S$120,000 for a worth cause. For those who specifically supported the Tri Blob team, THANK YOU very much!

Thanks to Bill Gentry, founder, owner and Chief Blob of the Tri Blob organization.

Vicki, Kim, Wins, Mark, Ms. Van Burm, Bill, Jeff, Coach Bransby and Audrey.

Our most ardent supporter was Audrey Gentry. Not only did Audrey support the Blobbers financially, she was also there to cheer us on as we rode, provided masseuse support, dental support (in the form of tooth brushes which we badly needed after eating so many gels, power bars, iso drinks, etc)! All of this support while she was on crutches too! Thanks Audrey!!