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

Rained the whole freaking weekend. Luckily I squeezed in a short ride on Friday morning. Saturday, managed a 5.5km run (low paced in a way as I am still having some problems with my right leg) and went for a 30km ride...was hesitating on the ride at first as KL texted me he was not coming due to the uninviting look of the sky. I went anyway, it started to drizzle and it got a bit more than that as I went along. Only did the usual 30km route, and a little bit cautious during the ride due to the we roads. Btw, braking in the wet on carbons....sucks. Sunday, it rained whole day....and today, monday, as I type, its STILL raining! Thats the post ride pic above. I feel impressed everytime I look at the bike. Its the wheels I believe! I lowered my seat at tad perhaps 0.5cm or so...no adverse effect yet. I've been getting weird joint pains; my knee (but I'm pretty sure its not the knee) and my right elbow. I wonder if its the weather causing some joint problems.....

First and foremost, running. I managed to complete 10km under an hour for the first time ever! Ok, granted not a big deal for many runners but sure is a big deal for me! I set out to achieve this by end of this year but hey, its done in January. Looks like a revision for running goals....below 55mins perhaps by mid-year? I think that's possible, if I shed more fats. But first, its to achieve 25mins for 5km, that will be my short term goal. Took the lee out on Saturday to Faber (I'm loving this place again). Did a pretty decent 2 rounds via Kg.Bahru...about 6mins from bottom to the top. The Hed wheels climb very well too but not really noticeable compared to my DA + Open Pros. KL joined for my 3rd, 4th and 4.5th round. He did very well on the first...maintaining ~10kmh at the steep portions. At one point on the way back he was doing 36-37km/h along Keppel (I was happily drafting behind). At Nicoll, I decided to pull with headwind....managed to go ave of 39km/h for 2km with some

First ride this morning and I broke my previous 'best' for the usual 30km loop. 32.6km/h average vs. 31.7km/h. I was conscious about trying not to push too hard just because I have new equipment and did just that. I think the tubulars roll better than clinchers and the aeroness does help to some extent. Most importantly, FIERCE la.....

Managed to complete 5km in under 27mins (26min 53secs, to be exact....thats a 20s improvement from last best). I set cardiotrainer to prompt every 200m....while it was rather irritating it was very helpful in telling me how far back or how far front I am from the last best time. So, next goal is of course under 26mins....but that will take a while! I'll give myself a month.

Vpost sucks! I took it upon myself to collect the wheels from the post office after days of waiting for the courier! Well here they are : scary deep profile. Fierce looking. The seller (Josh) did not put in the spare pads so I have to source one myself....no riding until that is done. He's offered to refund 15USD for this. Installation was not simple....the brakes *just* managed to open wide enough to let the wheel in and after that, I had to adjust the brake cable again. No joke...these wheels are wide! (28mm apparently...5mm wider than the 23mm wheel sitting on it right now! Very nice though. The brake surface looks ok except for a long streak which does not seem to be a problem. No visible cracks. Rear is pretty true but the front is off by perhaps 1mm or so but thats ok. Weighs light! On the scales, the bike now weighs ~7.5kg, not that it matters but thats still a 300g savings over the DA sets (which now hangs as backup!). My spare evo corsas are here as well...along with the 6

Did Mt. Faber with Ryo and KL on Saturday. Only 4 loops. Can't catch Ryo up the slopes....he does has a distinct advantage due to his size and weight, giving superior power/weight ratio. Still can't outsprint me though (on flat or slight down-slopes) but he's training hard to make that happen, I'm sure. It's kept all inside. Anyway, I do not expect to ride much with anyone these days due to the maid situation, which is alright I guess. I don't mind waking up a bit earlier just to finish up earlier as well. Besides, solo riding, I find, gives me more discipline and its purely me against the elements, whatever it maybe. Somehow, I like that thought. I arranged with Ryo for 80km on Sunday but I only saw his text on Sunday morning (that he could not go because he has no lights, instead he went interval training himself, get the drift?) so I decided to go at it solo. It's not like I've never done it before, in fact I have done solo long loops between 80km-100

So I've not been up for quite a while, months in fact, and with this lighter and faster Z3, I had high hopes. On Saturday I set out at 5.30am and took a leisurely ride to Kg.Bahru approach. Going up the slopes I saw a MTB labouring up, the rider looks pretty fit too and stood up as he hit the turn at the carpark where the gradient goes 10% up. I was a good 50m+ behind him at that point. I pushed myself to chase him down and I did it! passing him about 30-40m before the 'peak'. Looking back at the data, I was doing ~13km/h at the 13-14% gradient stretch, which is good IMO. Normally I trod along at about 8-10km/h at this stretch. Magic of motivation I guess. Well going down hill from there was scary, there was a stretch where the lights were OFF....at that point the MTB passed me and he turned on his super duper trail lights and I followed him down. Thanks man! Did another 3 rounds via Morse and another via Kg. Bahru again, this time, much less aggressive! Did almost the same

So there you have it....I bought one in Nov...and 1 month plus later, KL bought one. When he bought his Colnago, I bought one too, this time he followed me! But nice touch with the colour scheme and Reynolds Attack wheelset. His looks so much better than mine, I think the wheels helped. Well, wait till my Stinger 6 comes, then we'll see again. Already the replacement of the Aliante with the Charge Knife gives a more aggressive look.

But my maid situation has not improved......no time to cycle far and away until perhaps end of the month! Sucks! I received my Evans order. Apart from some of the tools I got, the main thing was the Charge Knife saddle (SGD68 - on offer), it looks pretty good and despite what some people of stated, it looks pretty well made too. My only worry is the stitching which can literally be a thigh sore. Installed it and tested it out this morning. Had to readjust a bit the height (its thinner profile from rail to top-of-seat by 1cm compared to the Aliante). It feels quite good actually with the flatter profile but that was only for a short 5-6km ride around ECP. I will try a hard effort ride tomorrow morning (ECP - Coastal - Loyang - Siglap), another crazy kick-off time of 5am and back by 6.30am. Also, I bought via the Serotta forums (from a real life amateur racer Josh Rennie in Reno) a pair of HED Stinger 6 Tubular Wheelset.....one of the most aero-est wheel you can find currently. Comes wit