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

2 days of solids 80km rides with the FRZs and so far so good. Speedwise, for my application, I guess they do not lose out to the HEDs (though I do believe that going 40+km/h and into headwind is probably the HED's biggest advantage but I'm not that 'pro' to take full adv of that!) but bling-wise the deep section carbon look melds better with the entire bike. So as with everything else, there are compromises and since the speed is ok, I've no complaints since I'm getting alloy braking as opposed to crummy carbon braking. Saturday : 80km West Loop with KL. Met KL at 5.45am at AML, as usual and I think we took it rather relaxed. I started to push after Mandai into Neo Tiew, averaging 33-34km/h and there was some headwind..pretty much spent after that but we managed to hit ave 30km/h prior to LCK. Picked up speed at Jalan Buroh and into West Coast highway but it started to rain very heavily as we got into the viaduct. A huge truck was in front of us doing like...

A satisfying weekend of workouts albeit announcement from a dear friend that he won't be cycling with me for a while! Saturday Met up with KL and JM for an extended Eastern Loop. A good 78km or so. Started off pretty slow we pumped up the pace eventually. We managed to hit 30+km/h average speed around Pasir Ris prior to dropping JM off. KL was not at his usual pace that day after having missed a weekend of cycling. This ride also marks the return of my HED Stinger 6. All trued and mounted with Evo CX 25C tubulars. This time, I got it glued at TEF. Boy, that tubular loving feeling that I missed is back. I chose 25C in the hope that this will be more puncture resistant than its smaller counterpart. No tape this time, GLUE is the best. The Evos are some of the best tires I ever rode on.....sure the tape and conti gatorskins were bulletproof and convenient but I was missing that great ride when I first got the wheels : glued with evos 23C. The roll was excellent. Weight increase ...

Finally, managed to complete a 10km run one weekday morning under an hour (58min 52s) at ECP! Forgot to take my HR strap along so I'm not sure how intensive it was but I'm guessing average about 160bpm or slightly under. Felt ok and best of all, legs were ok...no pains thank god. I think this barefoot running thing is great! For the weekend I resumed cycling and went for a lone 80km West Loop early Saturday morning. The alloys feels good and seemingly more comfortable as well bu no less stiff. Hit 30.5km/h right after Manday and thereafter managed to pull it up to 31.0 km/h after LCK road. There was quite a fair bit of traffic so it was a tad slow at Jalan Bahar/Boon Lay where I lost speed. Did well at Jalan Buroh and led a fast group to 38+km/h after the 2nd flyover.....I was spent after the 3rd and 2 guys sprinted off at the final slope. I decided to let them go at the lights as I did not want to draft anyone for this ride. From thereafter headwinds started and only managed...