2012 Kuantan Century Ride
I came into this ride with very low expectations but nevertheless set a target of under 5hrs completion, using last year's Ipoh Century as a benchmark. However, this was not to be! A dastardly puncture, brutal headwinds and just basically poor cycling form gave me a 5hr 28mins elapsed time. Average moving speed recorded was 32.3km/h which brings my total moving time to be about 4hrs 58mins for 160km (In Ipoh, it was 33.2km/h). Participation seems to be just below 1000 riders. 160 riders came up from Singapore and some from Thailand and East Malaysia as well.
Here's a rough km-to-km account of my ride...
0km : Wow, the starting point is just like 500m away from where we were staying (Ben's friend). Had a nice breakfast before setting out at 6.50am.
0km-20km : A short 4-5km round the town for show and we are headed off to the outskirts. Basically for this stretch it was with police escort and speed controlled. This was a bad idea and the police should have let go a bit earlier as there were instances when the huge was jamming the entire 2 lane carriageway. Average speed was between 25-35km/h.
20km-45km : The police released gradually and the group began to string out. At my best point, I was about 100m from the front but those guys are good and very soon, they were out of sight. I was with Ben at this point but as soon as we hit the long slope (about 3% for 2km), I was trying hard to follow his pace up this. I knew this was too fast for him to maintain at this slope (30+km/h!) and sure enough mid point he slowed. I passed him and continued the pace up till the crest. Boy it was long and winding downhill, pretty dangerous corners. I recall a corner where I descended quite fast and right at bottom there was a sandy right turn.....potential spilling point. I hooked up with a group of guys and was working with a fellow from Joyriders and another 2 guys pulling a train until the 45km rest point. There, I stopped for a while, had bananas, 100 plus and red bull (!!). I waited for Ben for awhile but he did not show and I left to chase catch the group that I was initially with. Prior to the stop point saw an Anza guy down being tended to. Hope he is alright.
45km-75km : This area was rolling and I was working with the same couple of guys through the hills. Pretty decent work done by a few of us pulling yet again a train of guys behind. At this point my average speed for the ride kept increasing till to about 33.8km/h. At 73km....disaster! I heard a pop at the rear wheel while drafting the lead guy waiting for my turn. Puncture. I just slowly dropped off the side and took my time for the repair.....mostly because this was demoralizing! About 5 mins later, Ben stopped by dropping off from his group. I told him to continue but he opted to wait. The stop cost me 13mins and the lost of a great group! Went off with Ben and slowly picked up some guys to make a small group.
75km-108km : Hilly areas again with some short steep 7% grades coming in. Lost Ben here for a while and I stopped at the side to wait, leaving my group. Then I saw a huge train coming and I thought, for sure he is drafting behind! I went off slowly to catch their draft as they past......Ben was not there! The train was led by 6 Anza guys. I went up front to cooperate and they were pretty appreciative. Only me and another local rider helped out the Anza guys over here. We controlled the speed and try not to let anyone go crazy over here. It was a 2 column pace line rotating anti-clockwise. The front 8 guys were very tight and we were very close to each other. I kept thinking if only Ben was behind he'd be ok! At 108km stop point, I hoped that we will catch here before the Anza guys left. As we were about to leave, he came and I told him to drink up fast and follow us.
108km-145km : I did work again with the guys. The roads were flat over here with some tail wind BUT it was baking HOT. At one point Ben came up to the lead group to help out but he started cramping. That was the last time I saw him during the ride as he slowed down and told me to move on. As we turned into the coastal road, massive headwinds hit. I led for 2 rounds and I was gone. I basically went "That's it guys, I'm out" and dropped off. My legs, though not cramping just could not keep up with the pace against the wind. Fortunately, it was close to the 145km stop point. I arrived to see the same group I was with just chilling. It was really hot. I emptied one of my electrolytes and filled it with ice cubes and water.....dousing myself with it. Felt much better after that!
145km-160km : I left ahead of that group, on my own, with the hope that they will catch up and I will be drafting them again. This was not to be. I was more or less alone for the final portion....I tried to pick up some guys but they promptly dropped off or did not want to work. Finally, one Ipoh guy agreed and both of us helped each other but due to the massive headwinds, we could only do between 26-29km/h between us. Picked up another 2 KRI (Ipoh) guys with 5km to go and they happily drafted me until a bridge, where they happily sprinted off (even had the cheek to cut me from the inside! what asses! and to think they came from the same hometown as me....shameful). I gave chase and at the finishing line I sprinted against one of them. We crossed together.
Time was not great and to be honest fell far from what I wanted to achieve. What's really setting this apart from my other rides is that I did A LOT OF WORK on this ride and it gave me a sense of satisfaction. I wasn't sucking the wheel of others and responded positively when required to help. Kudos also to Ben who basically completed the final part alone and in the worst of headwinds. This is one guy who never gives up and have a high tolerance for pain (never train!).
This has been a great trip for me. First time in Kuantan (see my road trip blog here)!
EDIT : NUTRITION - took 6 gels with me but only ate one during the ride. I had 4-5 bananas, about 4 red bulls and countless 100 plus in paper cups. Red Bull, truly helps. I didn't need gels on this ride.
Here's a rough km-to-km account of my ride...
0km : Wow, the starting point is just like 500m away from where we were staying (Ben's friend). Had a nice breakfast before setting out at 6.50am.
0km-20km : A short 4-5km round the town for show and we are headed off to the outskirts. Basically for this stretch it was with police escort and speed controlled. This was a bad idea and the police should have let go a bit earlier as there were instances when the huge was jamming the entire 2 lane carriageway. Average speed was between 25-35km/h.
20km-45km : The police released gradually and the group began to string out. At my best point, I was about 100m from the front but those guys are good and very soon, they were out of sight. I was with Ben at this point but as soon as we hit the long slope (about 3% for 2km), I was trying hard to follow his pace up this. I knew this was too fast for him to maintain at this slope (30+km/h!) and sure enough mid point he slowed. I passed him and continued the pace up till the crest. Boy it was long and winding downhill, pretty dangerous corners. I recall a corner where I descended quite fast and right at bottom there was a sandy right turn.....potential spilling point. I hooked up with a group of guys and was working with a fellow from Joyriders and another 2 guys pulling a train until the 45km rest point. There, I stopped for a while, had bananas, 100 plus and red bull (!!). I waited for Ben for awhile but he did not show and I left to chase catch the group that I was initially with. Prior to the stop point saw an Anza guy down being tended to. Hope he is alright.
45km-75km : This area was rolling and I was working with the same couple of guys through the hills. Pretty decent work done by a few of us pulling yet again a train of guys behind. At this point my average speed for the ride kept increasing till to about 33.8km/h. At 73km....disaster! I heard a pop at the rear wheel while drafting the lead guy waiting for my turn. Puncture. I just slowly dropped off the side and took my time for the repair.....mostly because this was demoralizing! About 5 mins later, Ben stopped by dropping off from his group. I told him to continue but he opted to wait. The stop cost me 13mins and the lost of a great group! Went off with Ben and slowly picked up some guys to make a small group.
75km-108km : Hilly areas again with some short steep 7% grades coming in. Lost Ben here for a while and I stopped at the side to wait, leaving my group. Then I saw a huge train coming and I thought, for sure he is drafting behind! I went off slowly to catch their draft as they past......Ben was not there! The train was led by 6 Anza guys. I went up front to cooperate and they were pretty appreciative. Only me and another local rider helped out the Anza guys over here. We controlled the speed and try not to let anyone go crazy over here. It was a 2 column pace line rotating anti-clockwise. The front 8 guys were very tight and we were very close to each other. I kept thinking if only Ben was behind he'd be ok! At 108km stop point, I hoped that we will catch here before the Anza guys left. As we were about to leave, he came and I told him to drink up fast and follow us.
108km-145km : I did work again with the guys. The roads were flat over here with some tail wind BUT it was baking HOT. At one point Ben came up to the lead group to help out but he started cramping. That was the last time I saw him during the ride as he slowed down and told me to move on. As we turned into the coastal road, massive headwinds hit. I led for 2 rounds and I was gone. I basically went "That's it guys, I'm out" and dropped off. My legs, though not cramping just could not keep up with the pace against the wind. Fortunately, it was close to the 145km stop point. I arrived to see the same group I was with just chilling. It was really hot. I emptied one of my electrolytes and filled it with ice cubes and water.....dousing myself with it. Felt much better after that!
145km-160km : I left ahead of that group, on my own, with the hope that they will catch up and I will be drafting them again. This was not to be. I was more or less alone for the final portion....I tried to pick up some guys but they promptly dropped off or did not want to work. Finally, one Ipoh guy agreed and both of us helped each other but due to the massive headwinds, we could only do between 26-29km/h between us. Picked up another 2 KRI (Ipoh) guys with 5km to go and they happily drafted me until a bridge, where they happily sprinted off (even had the cheek to cut me from the inside! what asses! and to think they came from the same hometown as me....shameful). I gave chase and at the finishing line I sprinted against one of them. We crossed together.
Time was not great and to be honest fell far from what I wanted to achieve. What's really setting this apart from my other rides is that I did A LOT OF WORK on this ride and it gave me a sense of satisfaction. I wasn't sucking the wheel of others and responded positively when required to help. Kudos also to Ben who basically completed the final part alone and in the worst of headwinds. This is one guy who never gives up and have a high tolerance for pain (never train!).
This has been a great trip for me. First time in Kuantan (see my road trip blog here)!
EDIT : NUTRITION - took 6 gels with me but only ate one during the ride. I had 4-5 bananas, about 4 red bulls and countless 100 plus in paper cups. Red Bull, truly helps. I didn't need gels on this ride.
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