Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Return To IM Langkawi - Back At The Mountains

Saturday, 21 January 2006 - Good to be back at the mountains. This is my all-time favourite ride. I always come here when I feel down and needed a boost in confidence.

Started the ride from the Orang Asli Hospital (OAH) car park and climbed about 15km to Genting Sempah (Sempah) as my warm up. After a brief stop at Sempah, I started the main climb all the way to the Theme Park Hotel, Genting Highlands- non-stop/ solo. The main climb measured approximately 18km, average gradient of 10% and peaked at > 5000 feet above sea level. It was a sunny day with almost clear blue sky but the high altitude made the climb felt cool thru'out. My lower back started to ache as I approached the Pagoda (2.9km to the summit). I endured the pain anyway and was determined not to stop anywhere except at the top. Re-fueled myself with a packet of PowerGel shortly before Pagoda and felt re-charged. Conquered this monster (i.e. Sempah - Theme Park) in 1:37:52 (PB - 1:33:55 in 2005). Felt completely exhausted at the end of the climb.

Cruised back down to Sempah and added a McD Climb - a steep (10%) 2-tier 1.0km climb at the foothill of Genting Highlands, the same place where I often do my hill repeats (see previous entry dated 1/1/06). I felt strong and was determined to go as fast as I could. I attacked the hill off the saddle twice and surprised myself by logging a decent 4:35 (PB - 4:07 in 2005) despite having climbed Genting Highlands.

Cruised back to the OAH carpark and enjoyed the fresh air at the same time.

Total Distance - 75km
Route : OAH - Sempah - Gohtong Jaya - Pagoda - Theme Park - Pagoda - Gohtong Jaya - Sempah - McD Climb - OAH
Ave HR - 129; HR Zone Pts - 514

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love to ride and to run up to Casino, but listen to your body if you get that pull in the lower back. I used to get that pain above the Chin Swee temple and recently pulled my major back muscle so bad I've been totally out of sports for 3 weeks. and it's only 3 weeks to Langkawi. See you there, but don't try to hard.