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

My butt cheek hasn't really healed yet but went ahead with this ride. I am exploring to see if this route is a viable one for an early morning weekday outing starting out at 5am. I adjusted the saddle more to the aft position and increased the post height by just a tad. I might have made it a bit too high and will need to reduce it as I feel tightness behind my legs, a symptom only felt of the saddle is a little bit on the high side. I felt I could not lay down the power as much too. Started cautiously due to my butt scenario but it was ok till the Viaduct. From that point on, it hurt but only on the right cheek. I could feel the soreness and the rawness with every rotation of my right leg....it gets worse when the road hits slight bump. This saddle is hard. It doesn't really flex at all. Really looks a bit like that ass wedge/hatchet KL and Mark have on their bike. Still, I'm going to keep the faith as I do feel that its actually quite a good saddle. The cutout works. No...

Since developing a strange strain at the left gluteus maximus area last Thursday, I've been a bit wary (could have contributed to my right saddle sore perhaps??). Took it easy this morning with a low-pace barefoot run from my place to Fort Road and back. This run comes with a twist; some core muscle training incorporated. Basically, the idea is to do 5 reps of the following, every 1km-1.5km covered running. I would stop at a convenient sheltered rest area and do this. - Push-ups x 10 (I'll call this a 1/2 pushup cos' I can't pushup properly due to lack of upper body strength) - Planking + L/R Side Planking, 30secs each position - Crunches x 20 I did this today and boy it was not easy! The last 2 reps were a real chore and I was basically dripping into a pool of sweat while doing them. I'm hoping to feel some aches tomorrow due to this, if not, then I have failed! This is quite a nice workout that takes only about an hour. It'd be nice to be able to thi...

Ok, it is through pure gatal-ness that I got this. There was absolutely no reason why I should change that magnificent Charge Knife saddle which I've used for 1.5 years and gotten used to. Well here it is, installed and taken out for a 115km ride. Since the ride, I have modified it a bit after the butt pain I got from it. Basically, nose tilt up slightly, post up by 0.5cm and saddle pushed back 0.8cm thereabout. It's a very handsome saddle, though I got it in the WRONG colour. I thought I ordered the black version but apparently I was wrong. Well the white saddle don't look all that bad actually. At least there's some contrast now.....and I really dig the red underbody of the saddle. Matches by bartape! Finally that beautiful Fizik saddle clamp can be appreciated!

The Masher group was assembled ready to do this route on Saturday crazy hour morning but this was not be. It rained the whole Saturday, literally. For me it was mostly a sleepy Saturday. So I just made myself wake up at 4.30am the following morning and hit the road by 5.05am from my place. Target is to complete the 112km Singapore Loop...my personal 'back by 9am' route. This is the first long ride with the Fulcrum Zero and just installed Specialized Romin saddle. 2 firsts on a single ride. For the saddle, I was a bit too ambitious to bring this out for such a long ride....as I discovered in the shower after the ride. Anyway, started out decent. The saddle felt very firm and I had the niggling feeling that it was not well setup. Felt that I should have perhaps not lowered the saddle that much and should have move the fore aft a bit to the rear. The tilt also could do some adjusting. I was determined to complete the ride anyway and did not make these changes while on the road...

Yes! Finally outdid my March 2011 PR of 33.5km/h that was done on aero wheels! 33.8km/h ....... 0.3km/h improvement on the average speed for this personal training route. Average HR shot high but I felt ok and could maintain for quite some time even at 175bpm. I had a bit of tail wind helping me towards the u-turn (33.6km/h average achieved at halfway point) but going back the same route means it would be the same find that I need to fight against. Managed to keep and improve a bit towards the end. Lost a fair bit average speed due to the u-turn and drinking my water...ave dropped to 33.3km/h. Luckily legs and cardio were good enough to gain me back some speed. All this on my conventional alloy FRZ wheelset! Passed a couple of guys at service road and they promptly chased up and passed me. I was not interested in playing with them so I just maintained at my 34km/h average at that point. Sure enough, they lost steam after about 500m and I just passed them with no resistance offered....

Friday was supposedly a rest day for me but since the parents are in town and they wanted to do a ECP slow walk, I thought I just joined them for a while.....while I do a short 5km. I've always wanted to better my 5km speed/time but haven't the chance to do so during the past many weeks due to 'marathon commitments'. I can't say if I'm fully recovered or anything but its sure worth a shot and let's face it : Its 'only' 5km! Started strongly and maintained below 5:00 min/km pace.....I guess I was a bit overzealous and the first 2km was about 4:40min/km. This took me out pretty good and the next 3km pace was to suffer. Fortunately on the average, pace was 4:58min/km and hence got me a time of 24m50s thereabout. This is a PR, beating my last best by about 50s. I had quite a fair bit of aches after this on my butt and legs in general! Saturday was planned as a long ride day. Basically after a month plus of non long distance riding plus the accumu...

Just one day of rest (Monday) and I'm out again. I've not recovered (not even now!) but am itching to just get out there.... Tuesday : Ultra slow 30km ride, with HR average of 115bpm and speed of about 25+km/h. Pleasant ride at the usual 30km route. An accident that killed a cyclist just occurred over the weekend on this stretch. My thoughts were with him and his close family as I passed the area slowly. Saw quite a few groups already up and riding at the time but I had no interest to chase (nor the ability at this point in time). Good to give my legs some stretching over the pedals. Thursday : Actually felt good the previous day but found difficulty in waking up. I did anyway and ran 11+ km. Slow at first but eventually, pushed a bit towards the last 3-4km. It was tough and the legs were heavy. HR was also getting high faster. I still need to recover properly with rest and proper food. Collected my medical report on Monday. Basically a company sponsored Biennial Health S...