Monday, March 29, 2010

Another ride, another broken spoke

Lately, I felt that my effort has been jeopardized. Not that some othe people is sabotaging the effort that I put in, but I have been let down by frequent machanical breakdown.

In March alone, I have broken the spoke on my rear wheel three times. The first time was early March as I was riding from Muar to Parit Sulong, which means my dream of riding thru LTdL was stopped halfway in its track.

The second time was the week before as I was riding back from somewhere along the Kota Tinggi roads towards Kluang. The lack of a good bike shop (wheelbuilder I mean) cut short my bike-work trip to the Railway Coffee town.

The third time in as many weeks was yesterday. As I was riding towards Sweet Lemon, heard that all familiar 'twang', and rightly so, a spoke had broke. Ceh! And this is just 20km into that ride..with some newly found friend (I literally bumped into them as I was looking for cycling kaki).

Is the wheels at the end of its life? Have I grown too heavy for the wheels? Has the wheels not been trued well the first few times? Do I need a replacement wheels? Anybody got extra, cheap, good wheels to sell?

Too many choices ;( But first, need to send the broken member to the bike shop soon. Can't afford to just sit on my wide bum, doing nothing this week..huhuhu

Bummer!

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Friday, March 05, 2010

New day, new place..

The country is gripped with cycling fever. Its that time of the year when LTdL is THE event.

I took the chance to be involved with the road tour this year. I remembered in 2005, with a few friends, drove up to Genting and literary painted the roads ala how its done in Europe :)

I just love race cycling. Its like chess on wheels played by the teams involved. With sprinters and climbers, supported by their trusty domestiques pit their best rider to win each stage. And the buildup to the finish line is highly tactical, and with speeds in excess of 60kmh in a bunch sprints!

This year, I will be joining the tour in Mersing, Muar and PD. We will be bed-hopping daily, moving from one hotel to another by day end. What it also allows me to do is, to ride at different places on a daily basis.

Am so looking forward to it :)

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