National Day - Bike Out

Venue: East Coast - Coastal Road
Time: 5am
Date: 9 August 07
Distance/Time: 4hrs(target)

I am way short of training mileage for biking. National day provide me an excellent opportunity to put some mileage which i intend to make full use of.

I have to forgo tlr & fd wedding run this morning, it was to much regret, but No choice lah. Fun stuff have to put aside for more serious work.

It is going to be me and the bike for LSD today. I remember when i started running, it is me and my running shoe. It is back to the good old day. I am a newbie when it come to biking.:-P

Intend to start off at 5am, but i was late about 10mins. Still need to be more discipline in the future.

I woke up this morning questioning whether i can slack. I have too much at stake here to even think of anything less. One of those day, JUST DO IT.

I headed towards Coastal Road on a good day for workout. Wind caress my body as i spin along. The intent is to do a slow 4hr ride, not going for speed. The important is the distance and endurance.

Speedometer(Just fixed up last night) is showing slow pace. Is it that i screw up in the calibration? I do not know, i hope not. Anyway, slow also no choice, my focus should be clocking the mileage.

3 sets of coastal road route plus East Coast should be good for 4hrs.

The first set of coastal road was done in darkness. No biker on the road, even cars are few in between. I was sleepy! I had to constantly try to motivate to stay awake! Talk to myself, try some singing(but couldn't do that comfortably), it means i am cycling at a faster pace(not conversation pace = not LSD pace!), i should slow down! I tried. I did doze off a few times....:) On a couple of occasion, almost hit the side of the curb before correct myself. Phew! I do have the tendency of feel asleep during driving, didn't know i can do that during cycling and with HR higher than LSD pace! I think i do fell asleep during running before as well. Hehe...talk about clocking mileage while even in sleeping!

Thinking back on today cycle, it does show that i can cycle LSD not at conversation pace. Hmm... food for thought....*pondering*.

Took a short breather about 1 min at Changi Beach(time check 1hr) carpark and headed off again. 2nd loop more bikers on the road now. The speed have pick up this time round. I almost knock at curbs on a couple occasions as i feel asleep again! I get a shock when i almost ran over a flatted monitor lizard! As i reached nearer to ECP, i felt chill. It was a nice feeling, like cycling in cold weather. I love it. I had this feeling this is the sign that rain is imminent.

I have a few more cold experiences on the return leg towards Changi Beach. Bikers have started to whizz pass me in frequent. It was drizzling when i finally reached the carpark. Time check 1:56hr. Took another min of rest, before heading out on the road.

It got heavier and i stop at nearby bus stop to keep the torch light in the bag which i am concern is not rain proof. Already spent enough $ to uphold the bike leow, don't wish to do it more. The rain got heavier for the next 2-3 mins while i seek shelter. The demon within keep psycho myself to wait for the rain to end and cut short the cycle! I have non of it and bike out immediately. I am not going to stop my training because of rain! I love to train in rain!

The road was sleepy.Braking is a good experience - I skipped on a few times during brake, but still managed to stay straight. I am use to car swaying, but on bike..due to lack of practise(how to control the strength of brake), was fun nevertheless. The rain got very heavy. Rain pierce my skin(remind me of last rain run!). I am soaked wet. It was fun. On a safety note, this is very bad! Car might not see me on the road! Puddles of water gather near the curb, and forcing me to cycle more towards the middle of the lane! I was very tempted to stop(due to safety reason), but i can't find a bus stop or shelter anyway! I keep of padding, the pace is slow(due to water resistance). As usual when the rain recede, i had reached the other of Coastal road. I make a decision not to proceed to do Coastal road as it is unsafe to do it anymore given the conditions. Likewise, it does not mean i can afford to take an easy path to cut short the training(though it is tempting!). I decide to head back to East Coast food centre and do 20km on OSIM Triathlon route.

The rain have stopped. I have to make a bigger loop than OSIM route to make up some distance, as i would love to complete 90km with this trip. During this portion, i realised that both of index toe was cramped on different occasion, i do not know why this is so. It is new to me, but i managed to ride through it.

Slow and steady i managed to reach carpark - 3:54 hr for 91km ride.

Based on Speedometer
Time taken: 3:49:48 hr
Avg Speed: 23.76km/h
Max Speed: 31.05km/h

I am glad that i managed to get this under the bag. It was not easy doing LSD on my own. The challenge that i faced along the way will only enhance my resolute to complete the distance/time i initial aimed for. When the going get tough, Perseverance Yield Success!