Roadie Initiation
My vision was blurry as the steam escape through the eyes fogged the spectacle. As I pedal past the bruised and bleeding souls, lying on the side of the road, a fellow cyclist's words echoed in my mind 'Let us just try to complete the ride'. There is a reason why he said that. Wet roads and slick tyres are not exactly a safe combination any sane mind would say! What am I doing here? Well! to explain that I have to go back in time a little.
Ding! The outlook on my laptop notified as a new email arrived in my inbox. It was a mail from the internal cycling club about a race that will happen in a few months time. We discussed over the coffee break and it did not take us much time to convince ourselves to do the race. Registration and payment are done. Now all I need is a bicycle. I sold off my previous bike before moving to work in Singapore. It was Giant Revel 2, a basic MTB, and I was very pleased with its performance so again went for the same brand only this time it will be a road bike. After a few trips to some of the bike shops and hours and hours of browsing finally fixed on to propel Adv 1. It is an Aero road bike but mostly the price is very modest for its built so I was happy I got a roadie which does not cost a kidney!
Beware what you wish for they say! I was new to roadie, carbon frame (which btw they make it sound super-holy that I became consciously conditioned to be careful as if the frame might just crumble upon on my very grip), wear cycling jersey and padded shorts, to ride on roads of Singapore, to ride in a group, to bikers signs, slangs and languages, to the slick 23mm tyres, narrow saddle, and finally the killer among all the cleats and clip-on shoes. Slowly I began being used to the bike and the effects associated with it. We started doing regular group rides once a week and gradually increase the mileage overtime to 30, 40, and 50 KMs. We even did a 55KM casual ride away from Singapore once as a preparatory for the race. Before we know it we were already in a days time and I was in no shape either physically or mentally to ride an 82KM ride.
There are people who do in close to 2 hours. In my fitness level, I could hardly maintain 25 kmph, meaning I have to be on the saddle for a minimum of 3 and a half hours. The race starts at 7 AM which means we have to ride in the sun for a minimum of 2 hours. As per the forecast, the climate should be scorching around this time of the year. But to our dismay, on the day of the race, it rained furiously such that the start of the race had to be postponed by 3 hours without solid confirmation. Luckily we hit a gap in weather with slight drizzles and we were cleared to start off. We stood in the last line at the end of the last pen. I set off in style waving at the camera at the start line. The first 20KM of the route was undulating terrain and within 10KM there was a mild rain and I got soaked but that is the least of my worry. In the next few KMs, especially on the downslopes, we started seeing cyclists sitting or standing on side of the road with bloody and bruised arms and legs and broken bikes.
At about 30KM mark all smiles began to wear off and I started shifting uneasily on the saddle. Relief is, for the next 30 KM the terrain will be flat. Some of the sceneries that I passed by registered in my memory but most of it escaped while I was screaming within myself. We passed through a few countrysides, the people waved at us and they seemed very friendly to the ongoing cyclists. The tarmac rolled past underneath us as we hurried past all these and the sky did not turn much later on. I forgot to apply chamois cream and the padded-leather started scraping away at the soft skin, big toes and most parts of the feet are numb by that time. Water stations were a welcome excuse to get off the saddle as I happily refilled the bottles and stuff away bananas in my mouth as I wait to regroup. Right thigh started cramping up around 60KM and so I tried to compensate it by powering through the left leg.
The last 20KM we had to do the same undulating stretch in reverse to reach the finish line. Soon after both thighs started cramping up and I barely managed to drag myself to the last water point. Some guy was spraying away on his legs and lower back and he was kind enough to lend me a can of his anti cramp spray which I sprayed over the thighs. The last 5KM was the hardest as I had to pedal through it both physically and mentally as well. I had to get off the bike on one of a killer upslope because stomach started cramping up too. I would say the only time I was truly happy after setting off was when I start to see the mile markings in meters. Sprinted through the last few meters and threw my hands up in the air as I finished the race in 166th position. I was in a world of pain but none of it mattered when I bowed down to accept the finisher medal, it was full-on rejoicing!
To summarise, none of the above explains why I did it. It was just a braw decision met with a few moments of insanity, sheer ego not to back away and plenty of blind courage to go with it. Will I do it again? Totally, yes.
Comments
Post a Comment