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

Its been about 10 years since I last ran the MR loop. Used to take a bus from Toa Payoh those days and start running over here at around 7am. The loop took me about 1hr 10mins during that time, typically. It wasn't fast. So when Ryo asked to do some trails (actually, was a little adamant as was still pulling a slightish fever and still on antibiotics) I said 'why not?' but not the brutal 20km of course given my state. 645am. My car reaches MR. I was shocked to so many people over there. I thought there was an event going on but NO....its normal for that as I found out later after the run. The carpark was almost full I think. More asphalt and building at MR park area now compared to then. A much upgraded visitor centre (which did not exist 10yrs ago) and canoe storage area but the path to the trail remains fresh in memory. The trail itself seemed a little wider, but maybe this is just because I've been going to Woodcutters too much! So no problems in getting lost thi...

I was struggling with the idea of whether to catch up on some sleep and not exercise on Friday morning as the past 3 days of early rises have had some effect on my afternoons (sleeeeepy)!. Been toying with the idea of going barefoot again and in order not to be traumatized by blood blisters, I decided that I should go barefoot 'slow pace', with more focus on form running rather than speed.....basically get my virgin soles used to prickly, hard cement ground. I walked to ECP in slippers and only had my GPS/HR watch with me. I ran while holding on to my slippers. It must have looked strange to some people! The pace I settled upon which I found to be ok for my feet was about 6.30min/km. Cardio, no problem....hovering just below 140bpm. As I started, the foot feel was good but somewhere after 5km, I can start feeling the 'rawness' of the sole hitting the ground and picking up coarse sand. The tactic was to run on grass for a while to clear up whatever was prickling the fe...

......just killing off some lunch time that I have still left at the moment. So, I've done a lot cycling in previous weeks. In fact this month is going to be the 2nd highest in a month in terms of mileage covered on a bike. This is a big thing since most of the 'high mileage' months are due to events. This month, there is none. There is some worry that I'll probably burn out soon and my wife has even remarked that I was mad going on on the bike or hitting the road on my pumas nearly every single day. Hey, maybe I am but reallly, nothing matters if you are enjoying it! It cannot be harmful anyways right? Another thing is, the running. I covered so far a record distance on my feet this month and I'm loving every moment AND every step of it. Running on minimalist shoes has been an absolute joy (Thanks to Ryo) and reading the book "Born To Run" has been pure inspiration (and I'm still only halfway through the book!). Last week I ran my first 21km (...

Saturday Started off early at 5.15am on Saturday as the usual hardcore early birds were the only ones available for rides. Ryo, kl and me did the usual Singapore round island covering 112km. Average speed for the ride was 31.2km/h....and we did not draft any groups during the entire ride. Everyone did their part in pulling with some short attacks thrown in as well. Notable section was the coastal straight where Ryo and me could not overtake and lead a solo rider. We were trying to lead the 3 man group (KL was dropped at this stage) but he just refused to allow us to lead. It was all in friendly mood but this guy is impressive! Sunday For Sunday, Ryo and me went for Mt. Faber. We did 6 loops and boy was I drained. As expected, he was quick to leave me behind on the climb. Seems so effortless for him! Best time up Kg.Bahru was 5mins 10secs...still at least a minute slower than my best time achieved early in the year. I attribute this to lack of climb training! Also perhaps th...

I was in the mood for something different after a tiring Saturday ride so I agreed to meet with Ryo and his friends for a 10km run starting at 7am. Took a slow walk from my place to the designated underpass and only Ryo showed up! I was thinking to myself....he's gonna kill me.... Started with an ok pace, I was just doing my best to keep with him. I know he is not even pushing yet! I was ok up till the 5km point where he kicked up the pace a little bit.....by then I was happy to just stay behind him (drafting, not sure if it even works that way!). At times, he would 'drift' further in front and I had to try to catch up....he was kind enough to keep it at around 5.40min/km during the last 3-4km. I was panting and dying behind him but good thing he could not see the humiliating state I was in drafting him from behind! Managed to complete 10km 20secs beyond the hour....not bad! This basically shaved like 8 mins from my last solo 10km run with these thin soled shoes! Would ...

One year on, 'Team Masher' rides again! We looked so united donning our Twin Six Masher jerseys (except for BP!). The ride started from my place at 6am with Mark and Ben. We met up with the rest (KL, BP, Gary, Ryo) at Nicoll highway bus stop. The ride started with a medium pace, with everyone actually catching up a little bit. It has been such a long time since I saw some of these guys in their tight suits. Prefer them much better in this attire. Exhibition of freedom compared to constricting business attire. We kicked up the pace upon hitting West Coast highway (>36km/h, not on the viaduct). Along the way, we picked up the draft of a large group (Sin/Rev?) and they were nice enough to let us join their little pull at post 37km/h speeds! Apparently some of those guys are Cat 2's! They tried to coach us into doing rotation but we did not do that too well.....after a short while, they took over again and we were sucking their wheels once again. Nobody's complaining o...

Finally had a ride with Ben ad KL ....started out pleasant enough until we saw the dark clouds over Loyang area. Decided to just do the straight road and u-turn back. We went pretty speedy on that stretch about 40+km/h but before even reaching the mid point, the rain started. We made a u-turn at the mid point lights. We headed towards Siglap at a leisurely pace. At the kopitiam, KL discovered he has a front flat. No problem. Swapped the tube and still flat! The spare tube had a leak at the valve joint to the rubber. Then it started to really pour! One of the worst I've seen whilst on a cycle outing....luckily we were well sheltered. The rain did not seem to subside even after an hour. At last we could not wait any longer...we left KL and rode the COLD back home. Now to think of it, lucky I did not go for me long distance ride this morning! Apparently this short couple of hours caused floods all over the island nation. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9

Haven't ran since JMFR so decided to go back to the usual 2 x 5km routine for weekdays and 2 bike rides over the weekend. The 2 running activities were not good at all. Pace was 6min/km but I did a new route which is 5.5km iso 5km. These are more as filler activities for cycling. Weekday cycling is too much for me most of the time....waking damn early and take a while to get setup. So on election day Saturday, I went yet again on a round island solo ride (112km). I changed my saddle tilt a bit (flat) and consciously try not to put too much weight on my hands, esp the right one as I'm developing some sort of Tennis Elbow due to cycling. Kicked off around 5.05am and was trying to complete by 9am. Unfortunately, I came in 2-mins after 9am...exhausted. Normally, I will have 1/2 to 1/4 bottle of liquids left but this time around completely finished. It was ok up till around Mandai (30.7km/h average) until the sun came up. It became hot really fast and it was a real struggle maintain...

Previous record was achieved in Feb (31.1km/h) and that was with some help drafting a fast group at Jalan Buroh. Today, I hit 31.6km/h over the same distance. No help this time, in fact, helped a small group vs. headwinds at Nicoll Highway. Initial plan was to get back by 8am (set off at 5.10am) which is normally not an issue but I wanted to hit ave of 30km/h as early as possible. Managed to hit that goal at Neo Tiew (~35km) despite numerous lights from the start, there was a lot of stop and go and the lights but I persevered. HR was higher than normal due to this. Stopped to say hi to Mark at Mandai Shell. He was waiting with group for the rest to bunch up. It was tough up till Neo Tiew and LCK but it got a lot easier after that. After Jalan Buroh, ave was about 31.2km/h and post west coast viaduct, it was 31.8km/h. It started to drizzle a but at the viaduct but fortunately, skies were clearer down east. Tough to maintain the ave speed achieved as a lot of stoppages at Shenton Way. Go...

On Saturday, I repeated the same ride from last weekend and hope that this time it won't rain. Well the heavens heard me. It didn't. However, it did not make me any faster....fatigue perhaps or the bad headwinds from Pasir Ris onwards? Anyway, it was tough enough for me just to try to attain >30km/h doing this route solo. At Changi coastal/CV, I cooperated with 2 rather strong malay rider (in Zipp uniform), they were kind enough to allow me to. They were training or some sort I think...going 37-38km/h into direct headwind. Together, we did well in maintaining the speed above 38km/h. I was spent upon reaching home. Luckily this time I did not have a post-cyclocross situation with my bike. Ah yes guess what? Front tire puncture at ECP! It did not give way but gradually when I felt the front wheel was making some weird noises (later to find out its the rim hitting the road when the tire bottomed out, though it was not completely out of air). I managed to get home safely, no iss...

Usual ride but what a ride it was. I will be away this weekend (no riding then!) so thought I have some bike time this morning. Set off at around 5.05am with the intention of doing the dreaded ECP - Coastal - ECP. Why 'dreaded' you might ask? Well, its a relatively simple and straightforward route, only 30km or so BUT I've this thing going on with this route and it has become officially my personal speed challenge route. Every time I take this route, I'm reminding myself my personal best and should I or should I not try to break it. Well this time around, I started quite strong, and surprisingly after about 100m or so, without warm-up (its bad!) I was doing 32-33km/h 'comfortably'. When I was done with the slow park area, prior to entering Coastal road, my ave was about 32.5km/h...so I thought, hey, I can do this....I can surpass 33km/h easily. And I did. By the time I reached halfway, ave was about 33.6km/h but on-route back I was getting a bit spent but still ...

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.....

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...

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.