.... the jackal rides and run....

Did a quick usual 30km route this morning....amazed myself and for the first time i did this solo without drafting with an ave speed of 30.4km/h, completing the route in 59 minutes....so naturally I'm quite please with that. Here are the full results of this 'personal best'....still slow IMHO but just gives me the motivation to improve! OCBC PICTURES HAVE ME IN IT!! On OCBC, found 2 pics with me in it, over the net... thats me with the 'X' and tummy what a gem, someone actually took a pic of me sprinting towards the finishing line..

Here are the results from our 'group' or riders (position and time) ... 255 - 1:09:28 Mr. Doper (Specialized Paris-Roubaix, Carbon 2007, Dura Ace 7800, 'Power Gel') 274 - 1:09:54 Mr. Alu (Pinarello Banesto, Alu circa 1995, Campy Gruppo) 283 - 1:10:12 Me! (Saronni, Steel Circa 1985, Ultegra Gruppo) 360 - 1:12:10 Mr. T (Trek 5500, Carbon 2005/6, Dura Ace 7800) 450 - 1:14:06 Mr. Ti (China Ti Frame, Circa 2005, Ultegra SL Gruppo) 473 - 1:15:03 Mr. Fondy (Fondriest Status X, Steel Circa 2001/2, Dura Ace 7800) 1476 - 1:36:56 Mr. Look (Folding Bike, Injured arm so had to retire from road bike usage..) Average Speeds 34.5km/h - Mr.Doper 34.3km/h - Mr.Alu 34.2km/h - Me! 33.3km/h - Mr.T 32.4km/h - Mr.Ti 32.0km/h - Mr.Fondy 24.8km/h - Mr.Look I think its a pretty decent finish for all of us (even for the foldie!). Some Facts, just for fun..... 1st position timing is 59mins (40.7km/h average) To get into the top 50, the finishing time must be 61.5mins or better (39km/h average) To

What a ride. Did my fastest ride ever and completed 40km within a time unimaginable to me before the event. Mr.Ti, Mr.Alu and me started out from Marine Crescent at 6.15am and headed towards the F1 Pit. It was a good 7km ride just to warm up a little. Many roads leading to there were already closed so it was great to ride with ZERO traffic! At the F1 Pit building, met up with 3 other guys; Doper (Specialized), Mr.FD (Fondriest) and Mr.T (Trek) all on cool bikes! We started off at 7.30am, the crowd was just amazing a good thing was the start was good for us with absolutely no problems. We stayed in line with Mr.Pina leading followed by Doper and myself with the rest tailing close behind. We caught up with a group early on (Uncle Toby group) which was going very fast at 35km/h! I managed to follow and led a little and was going quite fast in the draft group. Upon reaching the halfway point (Sailing Club), I saw opportunity to join an even faster 2 man group on Cervelos. I broke away but

Ok, so I spent even more money since I got the Master Piu..... - Shimano 600 NOS Seat Post from UK (Ebay) - Colnago Decals/Stickers from UK (Ebay) I'm all ready to go and I have a gentlemen's agreement to take Mr.Ti's Ultegra SL groupset (with Dura-Ace shifters!) at a good price. He's changing to Campy....basket! I guess I will be royally flamed for mixing Japanese Gruppo with the Italian frame but hey, I've done it before!

Went alone on Saturday on usual ECP-Changi Coast route. Managed to do a 29.9km/h average over 30km (and that's including starting out from Macs) so it was quite good for me. Overall a 35km ride only, short but intensive. Ave HR was about 170 or so which is quite high! Dropped quite a few groups of riders at Changi Coast until of course a Red Cannondale (in tri position) passed me whilst I was pushing at 35-36km/h! I drafted him for quite a distance, my conclusion is that he was a good rider and maintained 37-38km/h leading me on without faltering. From experience, most pass me and slow down quite a fair bit after a short while (like myself!) but this guy was good and I could just feel he had the reserves to do more. Anyway on Sunday, Mr.Alu joined me for the planned 80km with his new tubulars built on old rims....however, after 4km, his rear got a little warped and I found at least 3 spokes went lose. I called Mr.Ti to bring a spoke tool to see if I can rectify when we meet up at L

Here it is after UPS re-delivered on Saturday afternoon. The packaging is rather poor but despite that, frame and fork arrived in tip-top condition. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the condition of the frame....its still IMHO in excellent condition, some minor nicks here and there but nowhere near what I expected based on the photos on EBay. Paint is still in very good condition and the black-purple paint scheme looks very nice! Here are some pics....okay, the Iphone Camera suck big time so it does not do justice to the actual frame...

Motivated by the achievement by Mr.Carbon and Mr.Doper (Alu), Pina and me did the 30km, determined to get it done below 1hr. And we did just that. This time we timed it as we entered the straight section of Changi Coast Road after exiting ECP. Did 2 rounds of the straight stretch (24km) and then continued on towards ECP until the Food Centre (6km). Initially Mr.Ti joined us but dropped off half way during the first straight stretch...Pina and myself had to do it by ourselves. We changed leaders every 2km, as indicated by my Polar. As you can see from my Polar capture (I set Autolap for 2km), we averaged pretty well! All the 2km laps were completed in less than 4 mins...indicating faster than 30km/h. Also did a manual plot of the journey using excel.... Heart-rate was crazy high....basically averaged close to 180bpm!!! Thighs were really tired after the 30km...Mr.Pina even had little cramps on his thighs! Still, a good effort. Sunday.....I lacked sleep but still went on.....at 5.30am le

Did not find the time to update this last week.... On Sat (31 Jan), I did a longer-than-usual ride starting from Marine Crescent, down Marine Parade road, Bedok Road and then all the way towards Expo. Wasn't sure if I could hit the hills from that road so I detoured a bit at Simei road only to find myself a little bit lost in traffic. Thats ok cos managed to get to Loyang which leads directly to Changi Village. Initially was planning to reach ECP Macs by 7am but not possible. Met up with Mr.Ti at ECP and continued for usual ECP-Changi Coast Road ride....total of 55km for myself. Not sure if I will continue this as I need to get up and ready to leave by 6am....maybe once in a while.... On Sun (1 Feb), Mr.Ti and me did the usual 80km also adding the Mt.Faber route...all was usual stuff until Mt.Faber, where Mr.Ti failed to reach Faber Loop (Morse Road up up up) in one sitting. I told him that I will follow his pace and spur him on...well, and that's what i did....BUT.....I got ev