Cycling in Asia

Logistics Nightmare.  We knew things would be slightly off this ride as almost everything that could go wrong did…and that is even before we finished one kilometer.  It all started the day before when Lundy and I planned to meet at Brewerkz for a carb loading dinner on Friday.  I was waiting with my carbonated beverage enjoying the scenery of the river that flows near the national stadium.  Lundy was in a taxi and saying ‘5 more minutes’ for around 30 minutes and was asking me to order him a beer and anything from the menu.  We did not have a lot of time because we knew we had to get up super early on Saturday morning for the ride- the AUDAX 400km.  Needless to say I finally received a call from Lundy saying ‘are you inside or outside?’  I said let me hold up my hand outside so he could see me…..time passes…hand still up, no Lundy.  Then I realized that I hear a lot of noise in the background from the phone and I asked Lundy ‘hey what Brewerkz are you at?"  ‘Clark Quay’ he replied..well that was unfortunate because I was at Brewerkz National Stadium.  Anyhow I hopped in my car and headed over to Clark Quay (which by the way is farther from both of our respective houses in Singapore)  and we managed a nice dinner.  Saturday was not much better as Lundy was late, Simon was MIA…and even I was a bit tardy..usual AUDAX early morning.

We had nine starters from Longhouse that morning.  Three of us were doing the 400km ride and the remaining six were going to do the AUDAX 300km brevet.

The ride was pretty uneventful for the first 80km. We easily went through the border, the weather was nice and cool, and we pretty well stuck together as one group to the first gas station. AUDAX rides are always interesting because they are long and sometimes people feel good/strong/weak/tired etc.  Therefore you typically get a split of the groups based on skill and feeling that day…everybody there today was a good rider however there was one guy I was not too sure about because he had a ‘David Pan-like’ back pack, beach sandals and big fenders on a brown bike.  I am not sure actually even what his name was but I know he popped off the group a number of times.  To be nice, we waited for him after lunch so that he could start with the group…within three minutes or so he was gone and I never saw him again…to be honest I still don’t know where he is…or what his name is. 

On the way into Kluang where we have lunch I started to get some serious foot expansion similar to what I had in Tour of Friendship.  I visited the local doctor to see if he had any remedy for my enlarging dawgs but he said no and gave me a small tube of Vaseline to rub all over my toes.  I am sure he said ‘toughen up’ in Malay.  Quick Indian vegetarian lunch and off we go to Kota Tinggi – a 90km super boring and steaming hot stretch of the ride.  The groups split and I decided to stick with Lundy ‘Iron Horse’, JFT and Alan Grant who also was super strong.  The heat was unbearable and this was very difficult for JFT and I.  Finally I heard the magic words from Lundy ‘oh oh, JFT is off the back’ which helped us to slow down without bruising my ego .  We pleaded for the Lundy-train to stop for a drink after 45km where I thought I was going to drop dead.  This was by far the hottest time I have ridden in Malaysia – 39 degrees Celsius- and pushing an Alan & Lundy pace was not helping at all.  We convinced the boys to slow it down a bit for the remaining 45km to Kota Tinggi which was good because I still had over 200km to go to finish the 400km.  A quick roti pratta in Kota Tinggi and off we go to Kulai…a few nice hills to wake up the legs. New friendships were sealed in Kota Tinggi (see below) as Simon and Khina planned on attacking in Kulai together.

After crushing the hills of Kulai, we hit the border back at Singapore around the 310km mark. The border crossing was very busy as people were heading to Singapore to party it up on a Saturday night.  This was the point where all the lucky guys doing the 300km would start thinking about the good things in life like real food, cold beer, sleeping etc.   For us 400km guys we still had a long way to go.   We crossed the border and immediately Bran and Lundy started talking about food – I was always talking about food this fine day – and we tried to figure out where to go to eat some good food.   We definitely did not want more Indian food as it would have been the third time that day…Brian made my day by reminding me about Jerry’s BBQ, a delightful place along the route that has US beef, great ribs, and food that is not served out of a gel pack.  When we sat down and ordered a couple of steaks from the menu when I heard more positive news:  we did not have to ride through Kranji again like I thought we did…we had a much shorter distance to go than I thought.  I can survive…well maybe.  Lundy and Brian laughed at me for thinking Kranji was still in the cards!  I was so pleased that it was not.

At Jerry’s BBQ I liked the food and I will let Lundy’s expression tell you what he thought of the food.

After dinner we headed through Ponggol and Pasir Ris to get our final stamp at the Changi 7-11.  We grabbed a couple of coffees-in-a-can to keep us awake as it was now approaching 10:30pm – past my bedtime and it was a long day.  Coffee-in-a-can is horrible.  We shot down the East Coast pathway dodging crazy rollerbladers and horrible cyclists and walkers…I knew once we hit the base of Fort Road we were almost done and would crush the ending in typical AUDAX style.

This ride was like most other AUDAX rides…epic.  I did not feel good all day and there were two times I thought about throwing in the towel..luckily the guys pulled me through the weak spots and I managed to finish along with Brian and Dave.  I am not sure how fast we going at times because my Garmin speedometer is in the shop but I am sure we were hitting 35+km/hour on Changi Coast Road…on Dave’s wheel of course.  This was challenging after more than 360km already completed.  

Great job for the first timers doing the 300km ride and of course another great 400km by the vets Brian and Dave.    Lundy will be back of course with a nicely timed business trip to coincide with either the 600km or the 1000km ride later this year.  And of course he will ride with the Singapore contingent at the 2011  PBP!