Many many new toys, Many many Kms covered...

its been such a long while.. and all the events that I have posted in February.. did come true.. and the marathon.. what a feeling!

Bought the s1 and then sold it for an incredible offer onthe S3.. bought new wheels, bought shoes, bought tires.. man.. it was buy buy buy !!

So what's in store for 2011??? Well, hopefully, a new Catlike Helmet.. and some new shoes (again?!)

2009 came and went.. and this is the first blog of 2010... fitness wise... i am alot stronger, fitter, quicker...but not a whole lot lighter! grrrr.... dunno why... i think probably have to get back to the diet pills...
running events this year...
1. 2XU .. 12 km over at Sentosa
2. Nike 10km Human Race run
3. Newton Challenge 30km
4. Army Half Mara
5. Stand Chard Mara

was originally planning for the adidas but decided that its too many running events.....

Cycling will be the OCBC ... was looking hard into the other cycling events held by SSC. Will certainly be good to enter a few more of these cycling races...

My 1st 21km/Half Marathon..

Recently, there have been so many deaths surrounding exercising males.. one fellow died during the Osim Tri.. a relay participant from the swimming leg.. apparently, he was suppose to be pretty fit, was a roadie as well and done hundreds and hundreds of Km, and has been preparing so hard for the swim leg.. CEO of some german telecon company, member of chinese swimming club.. well.. dead... apparently, heart cannot take it.. ironically is, his wife said he started to exercise more aggressively because he wanted to live longer... yeah right...

At the end of the day, I will say this.. I train hard, in the hope that I will have the ability to keep up with my young children.. it would always be good for them to see, that they father is a strong, fit and fast man.. I have to be careful to instill in them, that their image of a father is someone who will also be there, dependable, strong and quick.

Therefore, it is still a balance for me, that I should train and still be a father! No point in spending so much time training, that you are missing from the family!!

As usual, parking the car was not a problem at all... Thackral building. But this time round.. more cars! Need to make a mental note.. for the Stand Chart, better start earlier!! Car park fees was $6.45... apparently, if park before 6am.. consider 1 day.. then 7am is another day... awwww shucks.. additional cost.

Usual starting point.. Esplanade.. this time, didnt bother to take pictures.. and the surprising thing was that the flag off was even more lax.. the first couple of hundred metres and I was actually feeling strong.. no strain or pulls or feelings of weakness.. was surprise because I don't run in the mornings, although I do rides in the morning.. correlations?

In any case, less 2 mins of running (pace around 9km/h) a left turn and we were all heading for the AYE/ECP. With all the shrubbery on the left, many of the male runners were leaping over the metal divided to do their watery business, can't understand why so many.. I hope I never have to be in this situation!! 3 km... and the bridge was insight, legs were healthy, heart and lungs still ok... and pace.. wow.. still alittle fast.. (9km/h) towards the slope there were more people pushing foward from the back... I was very tempted to up my tempo.. but I held back.. my strategy was to up the tempo alittle when I am half way up.

Well not exactly halfway up, I decided to up the tempo... a quick check 10km/h... and I was slowly peeling away from the crowd, there were fewer 'overtakers', I didn't slow down at all, apparently, all that training on Mount Faber has really paid dividend. Stride by stride, I started to surge ahead dropping at least 10-20people every 20-30 seconds. Even on the downslope it was pretty alright...

At the base, when it was flat running again, I started to feel alittle strained.. tired. Around the 5.6km mark, I slowed to a walk.. I reasoned that phychologically, all my training on Mt. faber meant that I stop at around 5.3km, so in order to not recuperate for the rest of the distance, a slow and rest would do be good. I was pretty discipline with the walking distance.. not more than 100 metres and I was jogging again.. I was pretty adamant to keep the timing under 3hours, and that would mean that I needed to keep my speed above 7km/h.

Dura Ace C50....

So why did I get these ? Cheap! Never to repeat Price!! :P

My idea was to get more speed, nothing is more exhilarating then having wind generated from speed... Carbon wheels are the way to go... but what is the price to pay?

actually... that will be in dollars and weight...

DA C50 wheels are reknown for... value.. not for weight, not for speed.. but value.. which means in a nutshell ... what you get is... something that is not too low end.. but it may leave you wanting more in the long run...

DA C50... are fast wheels, only if you are a fast rider.. the Aero, doesn't come into effect not until around and above 35km/h. certainly not something which you want if you are casually spinning. Its not exactly a fast wheel... particular if you are talking about spin ups...

But the price that I paid for it was pretty good.. although after a couple of weeks later, I found out that I was able to get them for about 500 bucks cheaper.. but those were Chiong stuff.. you dun want to mess about with Chiong stuff...

After having them for a couple of months now.. all I can say is...

1. these are great training wheels

2. can I use them for races? Depends on the race distance. For any given distance, if you are able to keep at 35km/h and above for 70% of the time and distance.. you will certainly get an advantage.. the aero advantage... anything else.. effort to overcome the weight will be detrimental.

3.weight of these guys are not too light, but they not exactly heavy

Speedplays...

These candy looking things dun come cheap.. but are they worth it ? Well.. for a fact.. they ARE really alot easier to disengage... using a radically different engineering approach the design is a marked difference for the usual pedals found on the Road Bikes..

In hindsight, I would have chosen the black coloured ones.. as the white ones, really stain so darn easily.. The cleats are HUMONGOUS.. and enough is said about them, especially walking on them! Those Coffee shop cleat covers are an absolute must if you're gonna have those rides and eat sessions!

So how do they perform? Well.. I went from a PB of 52.9km/h to a 54.6km/h. I think the float adjustments does help abit. The biggest thing about them is the way they clip and unclip and the fact that they keep my feet from too much movement and also being close to the spindles. Initially it really takes some use to, you really need to dial them in, in terms of the heel in or heel out position. But once that is dialled in, its just a matter of getting yourself out there and training hard! On a scale from 1 to 10, on how much these have given me performance in terms of dollarts spend? Well, I am not too sure about it though, I think that Shimanos or the Keos or the Look would have probably done the same thing, only these lollypops are alot more expensive, nicer to look at and alot lighter! I'd give them a 4 for value.. as they are darn expensive. But I'd give them a high 8 or even a 9, as far as the ease of use is concerned. a 10 for cosmetics.. they are really really cute! Sigh.. the cost of ownership!

The wall.. again...

2009 started with alot of optimism.. a new job.. and a fitter me.. or so I thought.. a couple weeks into the new year and I started to experience cramps that I have never felt before.. cramping at both thighs... I've tried everything... binging on isotonic drinks, creatine, Vit C's and B's... everything.. but nothing can revise the misfortune of aging... hopes of ever completing my half marathon seems to be just so remote now...

After laying off for about a month or two.. I decided to run again.. and what a mistake... stretching sure didnt help... 3/4 of the way and the right thigh started to do the funky thing.. cramping.. it was on the down slope...

Half way up Henderson road, and I was cussing, I hate running.. I absolutely HATE it! I thought.. I should just give it up... I decided to forgo the target of doing 2 half marathons.. and instead... just concentrated on the Stand Chart... at least that will give me more time to train...

But really.. I was just so down and out today.. I just felt like giving up.. could it just be that all that cycling just killed it?

My new toys....

Some nice toys that I recently acquired..

Of these toys.. the ceramic bearings were one of the best in terms of performance...

On route to rendevous point, I was not very convince that I had spent good money on the carbon crank.. But after I passed Nicholl Highway, (around 8km on) I realised that they felt easier to pedal. The effort was about the same, but they simply felt smoother. I think the only way to really feel this smoothness, is to get accustom to how the normal stainless steel ball bearings feel and then do a ride with the ceramics. I felt that they were lighter to pedal, definitely feel that its easier to pedal.

It was on the Changi coastal while doing the paceline, that I realised just how smooth and effortless they were... they certainly got rid of the 'mash' feeling.. in that they roll alot better, smooth because they don't feel 'tight' after awhile. my guess is, since they are alot harder and the heat dissipation is better than steel, therefore, they will feel smoother the longer I cycle...

Another thing that I noticed about the carbon crank was that they didnt lose the "stiffness" which Ee Tiong warn me about. His comment was that the crank is not as stiff as the Ultegra. Which was rubbish.. the crank was certainly as stiff, if not stiffer than the Ultegra. I was also equally impressed tat what they mention about carbon parts are really quite true, that they actually absorb vibrations. The first thing that I noticed about the crank was that it was "soft" as in like you dun feel all that road buzz.. its something that's pretty subtle.. I suppose with a pair of carbon soled shoes, it would again be another level of feeling again. The lolly pop pedals are alot easier to get off when compared to the SPD type pedals, lighter, cuter and alot less dangerous.. the float adjustment is something that I need to research...

I am also VERY pleased that the weaving on the crank is almost identical to the weaving on my frame.. its just such a pleasant surprise.. in fact.. the weaving on the Carbon bottle cages, frame and crank are almost identical, that is just so cool!
The TUNE skewers were a pretty cosmetic thing.. but they are light, amongst the lightest in the industry.. too darn expensive, and really there for a Bling Bling factor. They're really nice to look at.. and I'm a firm believer that if we cant' ride fast.. at least we need to look good !

PEARL IZUMI ATTACKS!

When I opened the shoe box, I was very surprised at the state that they were in. They were IMMACULATE! the PI paper wrapping were tightly wrapped around each shoe, and they were looking so nice and shiny.. I really can't imagine that these were CLOSE OUTS.. Cosmetics, they look great... color theme to the exact match of my Gal.. red, black and white. They weigh decently, but was wishing that they were carbon soled. Still they are probably stiff enough. Comfortable? Not really.. maybe they need breaking into.. the tongue.. was not that all comfortable.. I dun like those velcro straps.. and the ratchet was an added relief.. but the micro-adjustments and not that accurate( when compared to my Sidi). The shoes are alot cheaper than if I got them from Singapore, in fact, they are NOT available in Singapore.. At 67 bucks US$... they dun come any cheaper! One thing I noticed that their ventilation is alot better than my other pair.. but I am still looking for a pair that would have ventilation at the bottom of the sole.