Bagan Lalang - 27/5/2008

Last Sunday, I did the unthinkable - at least for me.

In all excitement after getting a road bike, i'd agreed to a bunch of friends to join them for a ride from MTDC, Bangi to Bagan Lalang (Gold Coast?). Yeah, got a 2nd hand road bike from a friend after much deliberation on the discounts part. The road bike was partly financed by someone very special and made my dream came true.

Anyway, as this will be the 1st time riding on a road bike, i had a lot of self-questioning about the safety, the possible mechanical faults, nutrition, fitness ability etc etc. However, in much anticipation, i slept early the nite before after watching MU lost to Chelsea (damn..).

Woke 530am on Sunday morning. Did dawn prayer. Had a light breakfast (oatmeal and 2 bananas), get my gears into the car, and off i went to the meeting point around 630am.

I reached the meeting point at around 7am for some testing, tuning and wheel & gear calibration. You can see in the photo i wasnt wearing a cycling shoe coz i dont have one..!! What have i got myself into.

Later, one by one, the riders came. Except for one person (other than me), the rest of the crowd were seasoned and experienced riders. I was almost pissing in my pants already.

A good friend then borrowed me his cycling shoes cos everyone was making a fun of my tennis shoes..!!

Frankly, any newbie will find it difficult adjusting to the cleat shoes (that's what they called the cycling shoes cos you have to cleat it while riding and uncleat it when you stop). If you forget to uncleat the shoes, be prepared to kiss the ground. Haha...

Anyway, we left the parking lot around 8am with 21 riders altogether, 3 ladies included. If you are familiar with the back road to Sepang, we passed Salak Tinggi town, F1 circuit and others.

Our first stopped was about 33km. An hour later..!! Shaittt. I was cursing when i got there. Cant they stop much earlier? (i thot). We refuelled and regrouped at a Shell Station at the Sepang town junction. Not everyone made it there, about 5 of them made a U-turn before the station and another 3 went back from the station. There were around 11 of us left to continue the journey to Bagan Lalang/Sepang Gold Coast.

We reached the Bagan Lalang beach at about 11am, approx 50km mark. I had a big plate of rice, veggie, two eggs and chicken. It's been awhile since the last time i had so much rice and almost forgetten how it tasted like. Simply delicious.

However, thinking that i need to make another 50km return journey - i better refuel properly. I had a Powerbar too, two cans of 100 Plus and lotsa iced water. After about 40mins of break, we made the return journey.

On the way back, we stopped at the Sepang town, 63km mark cos some of the riders ran out of isotonic drinks. You can see that i was smirking in tiredness. There's still a long way to go. Some of them had even stopped to buy dragon fruits sold by many small time farmers along the way. Unless you're fit like a horses, dont even think of carrying any extra weight. Even the camera felt like a heavy stone and i was trembling trying to keep the camera still while taking pictures.

At about noon, the sun was right on top of our head and look at the shadow. Scorching sun and searing heat. My meter showed 32km/h and 82.58km and counting. It was definitely gonna be my personal best in terms of mileage coverage.

Except for a couple of quick stop for re-fuelling, we continued our journey back albeit the heat. I wasnt easy but it's doable, i thot. By now, it was mental toughness rather than physical ability. Mind over matter. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of finishing something which i 'd started.

By now, i was left alone in between the front pack and the tail trackers. The front pack went at average of 35-40km/h and blazing through the winding road back to MTDC. It kinda hard riding alone but i dont wanna be the last one to reach the finishing line either. I presevered.

Got back to the parking lot at about 130pm. Total tour time was about 5 hours and total riding time was approx 3hrs and 45 mins. Mileage was 98.97km..!! Whoaaa... crazy man. I burned in excess of 7000 calories (another PB)..!! Surprisingly, except for a slight shoulder ache, the rest of the body felt fine. Alhamdullilah. That's a good sign.

One pose for the record with my new babe complete with cycling gears. Can you see the cleat shoes?

It was definitely a historic moment for me having completed a century ride on my first attempt on a road bike. It'd opened and raised lotsa eyebrows among the riders and it even exceeded my expectations by miles. The cycling group was a great, fun and enthusiatic bunch and i look forward for more rides in the future.

My self-confidence is now sky high knowing that there's no limit if you choose to break the barrier and overcome the obstacles. I have a renewed sense of self-believing and hope to soar even higher. To the person who made this possible, i love you so much and you will get your new guy, very soon..!!!