.... 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...

Last week was not a good week. I injured my knees (suspected quad tendon strain on the right and the usual I think, Pes Anserinus on the left!). That came right after my 10km run in massive winds and heavy rain which hit unexpectedly. I am not sure what attributed the that but prior to the run I was also coping with sore calves which seemed rather prolonged since the 21km barefoot run the previous week. Since Monday, I've cut back on speed and concentrate on just covering the distance, painfully. Thanks to some googling, I managed to pull through with some self-treatments. Coming into the weekend, I still had to complete a 30km run as part of the MTP. The regime required me to run this 30km in a 'prolonged progression manner', with progression towards Marathon Pace for the last 30mins. I wanted to give my legs some rest before I do this so Friday was a riding day. Friday : 35km-ish ECP-Coastal-Siglap with Ben and KL. Started off tamely at the ECP service road but things ...

Had a short 40km ride with KL and Ben which started at 7am. It has been quite a while since we rode that route together. Pretty much a tame ride except for a quick 40km/h dash across the Coastal Straight. KL started with 40km/h lead, I took over and then Ben....soon after a group 2 guys stormed pass us and we followed. Those guys pulled at 40+km/h. Ben dropped off and later on KL and as I was behind him I tried to him up front to the 2 guys but he dropped off as well. I went in close and managed to stay with them. Towards the last bit, I pulled up front to lead but that was shortlived as they probably did not approve of it and overtook me, so I followed. That was the fun part of the entire ride actually! On Sunday, I rode alone and in my bid to avoid the traffic blockages, decided to do a new route, 50% of which is the 80km west loop and the rest is coming back via Old Chua Chu Kang road towards Bukit Batok and then upper bukit timah road and into the city. It was a tame solo ride fo...

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...

Started out at 5.50am from my place with Ben and met with KL at usual AML meetup ard 6am. It was leisurely pace up till amk ave 1 where I kicked up the pace a little bit. Both followed suit very well and we kept a good pace till right before the hills (from AML, >30km/h average speed). It is great to the distance with a few buddies and of course, really nice to have someone to draft once in a while. At Jalan Buroh, I had a short duel with a TREK bike. He overtook us after the 2nd flyover at 40km/h and I gave chase. I pushed at 40km/h and he drafted me all the way till the last flyover....by then we were only about 35km/h as there were some headwinds at that point. At the base, he attacked and overtook me, I just kicked the pace up to stick to his tail. As expected, halfway through the short slope, he ran out of juice and I sprinted pass him. He did not give chase. I stopped at the traffic lights turn-off into west coast highway to wait for the guys and as TREK guys passed we both ex...

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...