Playground

Day in. Day out. Weekend in. Weekend out. Trainings never take a break. That's what I like about signing up for an event. An event. Not events. My life is more structured. Cause there's no time to waste or to haggle on unstructured stuff. Everything is in place according to plan. Week in. Week out. We'll see how it goes. Maintenance workout? I'd rather spend on something more passionate...like enjoying a plate of mandy rice and lamb.

More epic rides coming down the pipe approaching Kuantan Century Ride. Have been on recovery week a week before, meaning it's building weeks again. A month to go. Means 3 rides left before tapering. 

Last Sunday was the start of building week again. I am/we are fortunate to have lovely playgrounds on our backyard. As usual, a short but high intensity ride worked wonders.

Oh! By the way, I've got myself a pretty good bargain for a pair of training wheels. Yep, had to let go my loyal C24 to Mr. New Owner, Ziff. I am pretty much gonna miss those pairs, especially the miles and mountains that it had brought me over and under. Nostalgic. Very good wheels. But I'm migrating to Italian stuff pulak. Fulcrumo pasta. Hehe.

Been hunting high and low for these old model pairs. I don't admire the newer ones. They look cheap but never will. The 2010 are the real steed, with those gorgeously crafter bladed aero spokes, unflanged. Patience brought me tutti frutti result. Mr. Kevin Chan himself, yes Uncle Chan's son and also the new touke for BikeHouz sold me his pair. 

After the snappy spoke issue with the Reynolds, I won't be too ambitious in putting more stress to it especially for  climbings. What I need is a pair of bomb proof wheels. Hence, this is where the Racing 3 comes in.

Back to the building blocks. I planned for a timed Genting Peres climb. Previous attempts (no official timing recorded) was circa 40 minutes from Simpang. The drill was to hit 10 minutes LT with 5 minutes recovery at whatever cadence affordable.

As usual, when big events approaching, Hulu Langat will be a spot for cyclists. Four from BTHO, add 4 more from Batu 9, add 5 more at Batu 14 combined with 10 more. What do we get? A bunch of colourful MAMILs! I guess the kampung folks are accustomed to the scene, hence they don't bother watching Tour de Langkawi on TV1 la kot. Hehe.

Racing 3 was taken for a ride on this one, at least before the biggest thing come next weekend. As claimed and riden before loaned from Azmar's Racing Zero, the hubs were silky smooth you almost felt the absence of friction. The momentum from the power transfer kept the bike moving, and it's climbing some more. I just couldn't protest with the spinning and cracking up Peres with the effort. It was addictive. With the 10 minutes intervals, I could only managed 2 sets up to the peak. But it was worth every second and every breath.

Next was Bukit Hantu. With all those cranking up Peres, I don't plan for a disaster up Bukit Hantu. Hence a slow and casual climb was thrown in. The problem with this superstitious incline, it is cursed. Yep, every time. Even for only a mere millisecond, one still have the heart and regrets for climbing it. But, the most handsome climb of all should be given to Ziff with the gorgeous C24 and spanking 27 cassette Ramlah Ram. Kelas gitu nyah! He was smiling ear to ear. Hehe.

You can do this on climbs...

...but you'll never know the element of surprise

The ride was wrapped with still half an hour to go before Cinderella dropped her glass slipper at the struck of 12.00 noon. Still have time for maggi goreng with Dett, Khai and Ziff before rushing to fetch Amir from his Kumon party.