The ride this Sunday, 03 December 2000
It was the first ride after the race last week. It was also my first ride in Penang since our anniversary ride two months ago. You know lah, riding at the same old trail is kind of boring. We decided to pay K3 a visit again. Little did I know that I was having so much of trouble to finish the climb in one breath! It seems like my weekday ridings in Batu Kawan have been wasted!
We all gathered at ST's place at 0730hours. We had eleven riders showed up at ST's place. There were supposed to be three newbies joining us. But they never showed up even though we decided to postpone our departure time fifteen minutes later. We later found out that they "lost" ST's number and decided to do Mt. Erskine, hmm...
We reached the foothill at 0900hours, after we had our breakfast at 1997. Air Itam town was as busy as before. It was very difficult to pass through the thick crowd of pedestrians, buses, cars that all went in one direction - the Air Itam wet market. Sometimes I wonder how the hell do the residents in Farlim manage to wrestle out from this god forsaken grid lock! Luckily, Roger managed "discovered" a detour to avoid the jam pack traffic at the wet market!
It was my first time to climb up to K3 with my SPDs. The initial climb was okay. I could feel the climb was easier than using normal shoes and platform pedals. Someone told me before that using SPD would boost thirty percent more pedaling power. I don't know if it were true or not but I sure felt easier to climb than before. Thing became interesting when I rode passed the Cremetorium and started to tackle the first steep climb. I could feel that every pull I made my thighs got more and more painful. It was apparent that the pulling used different sets of muscle on my thighs, which I had never used them when I was still with my platform pedals. It never happens when I was tackling the climb off road. But it was totally different on tarmac. It did happen before when I was climbing at K2, but I dismissed it as I wasn't in a good mood to ride that day. But it happen again with SPD? Something was wrong man!
By the time I finished 2/3 of the climb, the pain became unbearable. After seeing there were few riders in front of me stopped for a brether, I decided to stop and took a rest. My thighs were shaking like they were going to shed the flesh away! Gosh, it was the first time I experienced such thing. It clearly showed that I would have to change my way of weekday riding session at Batu Kawan. I would have to wear clipless shoes during my weekday rides to get used to them and train the biceps of the thighs so that they would be able to withstand the abuse of pulling the pedal!
I finally reached the top after the agonizing 30 minutes climb. Other riders were surprised to see me suffer like hell. I couldn't say a word without gasping for air like I were a fish that was washed to the seaside. "Aren't you riding in Batu Kawan everyday one meh?" "Come on lah, you beat me in Batu Kawan and K2 left and right one. How come today you are so bad?" I did not know the answer, that was for sure. I was dead tired, and it was embarrasing to see that I was defeated by the easier climb at K3!
Seeing that I suffered like hell after the climb, the group decided to cut the ride short. We returned to the foothill after we reached the Hilton hut. Again, as usual, the descent from Hilton hut to the foothill was a kamikaze ride on tarmac. Since Oon was free from his SPM commitment, he never left opportunity to race with me whenever I was riding with him downhill! It was a fast ride to hell! I was blocked by other slower riders while Oon was already no where to be seen! I think we averaged 78 or close to 80kph on the twisting tarmac! Crazy? For someone who is now over thirty years of age? Hey life's too short okay?
Anyway, it was another good weekend ride on Sunday. The size of riders was just nice, eleven riders! What are we going to do next week? Well, some say Tiger Hill, some say Sungai Ara. It will depend on the if there were any newbies us! Tiger Hill is definitely going to kill the newbies!
Stay tuned!
P.S: I later tried climbing Batu Kawan with clipless shoes on the next day. I couldn't even finished the half climb! Man, am I that weak??? Or have I used an incorrect method to pedal? Not pulling but just pushing only? How come I have no problem to climb in Sungai Sedim's Gunung Bintang Utara singletrack, which in some sections are steeper than Batu Kawan? I am puzzled!