BnB 2010 - Completed on CiOCC Single Speed!
BnB 2010 - Day 1 : Kota Tinggi - Kuala Rompin
Day one kicked off right about 9.20am from Jalan Niaga. The first 70km were tough as we immediately went into rolling territory. I wanted to keep as a group with the rest but as soon as the slopes started we broke up. I had to mash fast up the slope as I do not have the liberty of shifting down......the best way to tackle slopes and minimize the plain is to maintain as far as possible, the cadence on the SS. Soon after doing a few slope, I found myself in a small fast group doing anything between 33-40km/h. The gel helped a lot and I popped in one every hour and coupled with my energy drink and electrolytes and bananas, I survived the first 90km doing 32+km/h average with a crazy ave HR of 172bpm! Right around the 60+km mark....Gary slotted in front of me....wow I thought he was way behind....he must have gone pretty fast to catch up!! We stuck together, waiting form the fabled 72km water point which did not materialize....so we stopped at KFC @ Mersing for some drinks and mashed potato.
Moving off from Mersing, we went moderately as my stupid BB was coming lose and I could not concentrate on riding properly! Had to kick the crank to prevent it from hipping my chainstay every couple of tens of revolutions. Totally irritating and effort defeating! 5km out of Mersing, we saw Ben resting beside the road all by himself. I chose accompany him for a while and Gary went alone by himself. So Ben and Me went on a moderate pace until we saw a water point. I had to stop to fix my BB as it was driving me nuts. The mech was not with this car but they had him on walkie talkie and mentioned they are about 20+km away fixing another bike and will make their way after that. So we waited quite a fair bit....maybe close to an hour before we rode off again. Anyway, the mech did not bring a crank puller (wtf??) so he finger tightened and hacked away at my BB cup with a hammer and screwdriver combi.
Off we went at a moderate pace and then we caught up with Francis, Mark and KL who must have passed us when I was having my BB fixed. We hooked up and I basically decided that I should help to pull this group as I still felt quite fresh at that point. The GU gels are good baby! I expected to be tired but I was not too bad at all. Ben did a good job at not running away and held the group speed for a long while. We basically worked together on this one.
After a good 7hrs on the road, we reached Kuala Rompin. We decided that KL and Francis should have the honours of rolling into the finish line line first but KL promptly sprinted off! What a joker. A herculean effort on Francis's part especially as we all knew that he did not have much saddle time prior to this event. Most important thing was that he finished the leg and did not give up in between so KUDOS! Gary was already nicely bathed la....
Btw....stupid BB cup is coming lose again!
BnB Day 1 : Afternoon Ride
Ben and me set off to Rompin town to find a bike shop. I was elated to find one but they did not have the tools!! They told us some other shop at ENDAU should have it.....great....but ENDAU was the small town we passed 20 km ago....arrrgh..
We stopped by a shop to eat a bit and called the guys to join us for a massage but none were up to cycling to town so we went off by ourselves. It was good 1.5hr massage!!
We reached back at about 8pm....the road to our hotel was like pitch dark! Had a hearty BBQ dinner and promptly went back to our rooms to sleep.
BnB 2010 - Day 2 : Kuala Rompin - Kota Tinggi
It was raining quite heavily when we woke for the day but that turned to a slight drizzle when we finally started. Before that had to get my BB fixed again. Francis decided not to join for this return leg and would play support role instead. He does really does his best whatever it is he is doing! Great first day ride plus great 2nd day support.
It was a slow start, of course there were 2-3 fast groups but we stuck to a 28-30km/h group as the roads were pretty wet.
I went up front to join up with Ben as soon as the rolling hills started right after Endau, I was up front again with a faster group. There was a motivated group that passed me as we entered the forested area and I tried to keep up with them. Promptly lost them after a couple of rolling hills. soon after I was joined with Ben and Alan (a veteran of BnB, who also treated us wan tan mee!). We worked together and rested at wan tan mee area about 10-15km out of Mersing (at Jemaluang). Gary arrived soon after and followed by Mark. Gark mentioned that he was with KL but he opted not to stop.
Wantan mee was ok at best, well, I have standards coming from Ipoh (plus the fact that my maternal grandparents were Ipoh based wantan mee sellers!). Still it was great to join up with Mark, Gary, Ben and chat a bit while having some food. I was anxious for the mechanic to arrive. He did not have the proper tools and again tried to finger tighten the cup. After a while, and the cup still out by quite a bit I decided it was enough as I was holding back the rest. So off we went.
The rolls started again here...I had to go faster up the slope but this time made it a point to not break away by slowing down as I approach the top of the slope. Gary suddenly made a quick ascent and passed me at one of the slope. I assume he would slow down again later to join up but I was wrong he kept going and going and I gave chase. I shortened the gap from 200m to about 50m at one point and could see he was slowing down a bit but as I looked back I could not even see the rest! I slowed down, deciding to move with Ben & Mark instead.
We stopped at a stall in the middle of nowhere (actually its a stop Ben and me made during Day 1 of last year) and i finger tightened be cup myself, this time with the aid of my spare tube to gain some grasp on the cup. I managed to get it all the way to the end! not bad. But this was not to last....with some 20km left to go, the cup was out again and I had to do this at our last water stop.
In a group of 6-7 guys, the masher group took turns to lead; Ben, Mark and me. There was quite a fair bit of head wind and was quite pissed when one of the fitter looking guys on a really light looking tri-bike refused to take the lead. So it was between the 3 of us.
So ends the 2nd year of BnB. It was a good one for me as there were more friends in this event! PLUS great weather on both days!
Statistics:
Day 1 : Really pushed in the first half. I'm still surprised I could hold such a high HR. Good weather, dry but overcast.
Day 2 : Very good weather! Went faster after Endau but tamed down after Wantan mee...
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