Malaysia International Outdoor Challenge 2000, 25/26 November 2000
Hmm, how should I start this? At first, I told the gang that I wouldn't be joining the race(No training lah, never join race just for fun lah etc). And then after tested the racetrack a week before, I decided to join the race. Shit happened. There was a last minute line issue in the factory(internal screw up lah!). So I would have to go back to factory on Saturday to sort things out. Sometimes I wonder what those so-called engineers have been doing in their college time, especially the local college graduates. Don't get me wrong. I am not prejudice against them. "They don't things they used to be anymore", one of my colleagues said when we talked about problems we were facing with the new "engineers". Hmm...maybe it's time for the authority to take a look at the current syllabus of the local universities to find what has gone wrong! Okay, enough of bs. I made to the point that I would not stay in office for more than half an hour. What for? Not OT paid. Why should I stay right? Anyway, I managed to get it done in 30 minutes and off to the Sungai Sedim Forest Reserve!
We had the biggest turnout among the participants. More 20 riders from KOTRT joined the Junior and Veteran categories. I was one of the veteran participants...err...I think it's a good hint to guess how old am I right now right? Hehe... Okay back to the race thing. It was a 20km, two lap race. All categories race at the same distance. The Open category will go first. The Junior, Veteran and Women categories will go together after the Open ones finish. I was waiting in the group when it was my turn to be in the starting line. Were there butterflies in my stomach when I was waiting? Funny though, I felt charm. I even managed to chat with ST and Derek, who also took part in the race. After the roll call, we all set of to go!
It was a fast take off! The front pack must be very much eager to break away! I was with the mid pack. St and Derek were no where to be seen. I did not where were they. But anyway, little did I know that I was actually overtaking other riders and racing towards the front pack!
By the time I past through the first check point. One of the race marshals shouted at me saying I was in the eighth placing! Man was it surprise. I totally forgot about my racing tactic, going my own pace at the first lap and then charging at full in the second lap, but decided to go full speed to chase the front riders. Minutes later I saw cool papa in front of me. I was with him for a couple of minutes until he skidded at a descending slope and fell. I later found out that he was drinking during the descent. By the time I finished the logging trail I was already in the fifth placing! With five more riders to catch up with, I pedaled harder and harder, totally forgot that I wasn't in the condition to push myself this hard!
With no one behind me and the fifth rider was within my eye sight, I continued charging at full speed. No realizing that I was about to go over my limit already, suddenly my Diamondback gave up! The 22 tooth chainring experienced chain suck at the middle of the climb! It was a hand to mouth situation. I was in the middle of the climb. I could not allow to climb down and push my bike. So I tried to back spin and go forward to see if it would solve the problem. It worked for while but the chain suck returned again! Man this god forsaken chain suck thing had wasted a lot of my energy and time. I kept on back spinning and it really slowed down my speed!
Michael finally caught up with me. And then Yeoh was at my behind. The line were getting longer and longer. I still kept on experiencing chain suck. They managed to overtake me after we cross the river! Three riders overtook and in a blink of eyes, they were no where to be seen. I got really nervous but it was too late for me to realize that I had wasted most of my energy in the first eight kilometers! I dropped from the sixth back to the ninth placing! I still tried to keep myself at the ninth placing. The chain suck was getting more and more frequent. At kilometer nine, two more riders overtook me when I had to climb down to push!
So, maintain in the top ten was totally out of the question with the my own and my bike conditions. I was like, "The hell with it. After the first lap I'll quit!" But when I finally rode pass the KOTRT base camp, someone shouted at me that I was still in the top ten(actually I was already drop to the twelfth placing!), it really boosted me and I decided to continue the race! Btw, even though with my chain suck problem, I still managed to finish the first lap under thirty minutes! Not like in the first lap, I decided to maintain my speed. I did not know how fast I went in the second lap but it must be in the sub-20 kph. With no one in sight, I continued pacing myself to the finish line!
It was one hell of the race. I never thought I would be able to complete the race at all. I had a bad cold, and I had not gone for my routine round at Batu Kawan for two weeks. I wasn't in the top form to ride at all. Still, I managed to complete the race and twelfth placing. Was it a good result? Well for a rider who hadn't joined any race for ten years and just climbed back to saddle two years ago, I would say it was!
I gave it a thought afterwards. I was too eager to win and I never set a goal which placing should I maintain. It was the greatest mistake I had made for not evaluating the condition and setting goal in the race. As a seasoned racer, I should have not made this mistake! I am planning to come back to this race again next year. This time I will see to it that I will be in the top ten list! So what are we going to do next Sunday? Hmm don't know lah. Fasting month starts on Monday and the turn out will be much lesser than before. I will what am I going to do with that, so watch out for updates!
Oh yeah, for those who missed the race on Saturday, you miss all the fun!
Stay tuned!