BIKE 192KM LONG RIDE

SUNDAY, 31 DECEMBER 2006>

The last ride of the year. Return to Seremban solo (via Ulu Langat, Semenyih, Broga, Lenggeng & Setul). The last time I did this was back in Jan 2004. Started the ride at my mum's in Pandan Perdana. Had not done so for ages (since I moved to BBP). Felt tired and heavy in 1st half of the ride due to yesterday's 90km TT. Getting to Lenggeng seemed like forever. But the sun was quite kind to me - its remained cloudy for most part of the ride.

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The road after Lenggeng unwound into a climb. The kampung houses and sound of traffic were replaced by jungles (on both sides of the road) and sound of insects & birds. Suddenly, I felt like I was teleported to the climb up Genting Sempah (from the Orang Asli Hospital). But the climb was much shorter here - only about 3 km. The jungles opened up briefly at the summit and there was a beautiful scenary of mountains and valleys that seemed to stretch to the horizon. From the summit, there was another 3km descent to Setul (near Mantin).

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I was some 14km from Seremban at Setul. There was another 3km climb after Setul and after that a long 8km downhill all the way to Seremban Town. As I rolled downhill, I thot of the climb back up later on the return leg. The easy downhill was like accumulating a debt to be repaid later. Was determined not to turn back until I reached Chung Hwa High School (for sentimental reasons - that was where I u-turned on the last visit back in 2004 and the school has the same name as my younger son). By then, my cycle-computer read 96km. Felt puzzled b'cos I remember clearly that it was 104km when I got there back in 2004. Made a mental note to check my training log when I get home later.

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Did not linger too long in Seremban and had a quick sugar cane drink shortly after the u-turn. Must be the recent long hours on the bike, the vendor (middled aged auntie) spoke to me in Malay. She looked surprised and embarassed when I replied her in Cantonese. Later, she asked if I am in the Le Tour De Langkawi and told me (with a proud smile on her face) that she rides a bike too - every morning to the market. She also asked how much my bike cost. I lied to her that Trek cost me 2-3 thousand ringgit only. Did not fill up the bottles there - still had plenty due to cloudy & cool conditions.

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The 8km climb back to Setul did not feel too bad after all. It was not as steep as I thot earlier. Got back to Setul in a breeze and took a short break to pee b4 the climb heading back to Lenggeng. Felt stronger and lighter on the return leg, especially after Lenggeng. Perhaps I was back in familiar territory. Refilled my bottles at Broga and again at 18th Mile Langat much later.

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Then came the highlight of the day. The climb up Bkt Ampang from 14th Mile to the Look-Out Point. Have started and finished all my recent rides from 14th Mile and hence skipped Bkt Ampang Climb. Today, I got to test myself and to see whether I would be up to the task. Surprisingly, I felt quite strong despite the 180km I have logged at the base of the climb. I managed in 14:46. My Personal Best was 12:55 set in 2005 with much fresher legs. The last time I climbed this hill was in August 2006 and I clocked 15:17 but that was after a mere 70km.

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Got back to mum's at around 4.00 p.m. Another surprise - I endured the whole 190km with some sandwiches for breakfast and one (1) PowerBar during the ride. Later, I check my log book and found out that it was indeed 104km at Chung Hwa High School back in 2004. But I started that ride via Leisure Mall, Pheonix Plaza & Suntex Garden, which explains why it was only 96km at the u-turn today.