OCBC Cycle Malaysia 2014

History of me and cycling.

Cycling has never been my favourite sports considering the fact that I only managed to cycle without the "4 Wheel" drive system at the age of 12. I was and still am a late boomer when it comes to anything sporty. Although I am pretty active these days, I grew up as a clumsy little fat boy and my mum never liked it that I go out and play because i will always come home with bruises and what not all over me.

That's what I do when I was younger.

So I shifted out away from my mum 2 X'mas ago into Punggol where it's the best place in town to cycle because of the view and nice wide roads. I started cycling together with my wife but we are no road riders or one of those guys who cycle in big group. We are just two humble "PCN (Park Connectors) Riders"

One of those nights and my wife looks like a human canon ball.

I always knew about OCBC Cycle and how fun it could be but being a noob cyclist, joining a cycling event never ever crossed my mind cause I was really worried that I get stampede all over.

Yes, I imagine I'm Simba.

But guess what? I DID IT!

The Day Before The Ride

It's funny how I started my 1st cycling event at KL Malaysia instead of Singapore but nonetheless the experience was superb. The group met early and we got our bikes transported over to Malaysia. But 1st I need to thanks my cousin who woke up early and help us send our bike from Punggol to the meeting point early on a Saturday morning.

The power of Honda Fit. Fitting two Mountain bikes into one.

And before we know it we were at KL! And making this trip even more awesome are the companions we had.

We are glad to be accompanied by season riders like Kevin, Weili, Siva and Airani as well as #TeamNoob that consist of me, my wife, my grumpy sports partner - Jac and Jon who is also an Ice cream man. 

We always ask ourselves why we do this to ourselves. We did Zumba, Mizuno Run, Roller Blading and now cycling together.

This is the ice cream man. Just when I thought I'm talkative, I've found myself a match. LOL.

On the 1st day of arrival, we were brought to watch this Ultimate Foldies race where riders lap around in very very high speed. I swear I was a little worried thinking that this will be the same for the community ride and I might just lose my life from the race. Which obviously ain't gonna happen. In case you are curious about the different type of races;

There is something for everyone!

And one of my favourite chart off their site was this one. The one that explains what type of bike can enter which races.

And sorry guys, no unicycles are allowed.

Oh oh, and we also saw the Men's open Criterium flag off as well as the winner. Man, these guys are fast!

There are 3 things that he did there that I can't:

1. Cycle that fast
2. Salute, bike moving forward with no hands on it and
3. fit into the super hero looking suit.

All the watching is over and it's about time we get some action ourselves!

#MessyHairIsMessy

We woke up early and cycled ourselves to the starting point from the hotel! Even the ride from hotel to starting point was pretty exciting!

All the 48km guys getting ready to start!

What does it means when the 48km guys are done? It means it's our turn to start! I'm not really a very good cyclist so I can't do any selfies while I was cycling so all we did was before the race got started. Which anyway not like you guys really like my selfies. HAHA

Enough is enough, I promise.

If you noticed on the pic above, we were wearing a Dux Helm. Dux helm is super cool cause you can wear it with or without the visor on! yes, they are one of the only helmet with in-built visors. You can actually get them at Bikes N Bites in Singapore.

The Ride

The ride was superb. I get to cycle around KL and look at KL like I never did before. We all know KL is one of the busiest city in the world and it is no joke for any noob for me to be cycling around KL on a usual day so I am very glad we are given this chance with the road closed and all. The route was pretty challenging especially for peeps who ain't used to cycling as there were around 4 climbs and you really need to engage the right gear and also some power to get yourself up. During the community ride, you can see many of the bikes stopping and pushing their bike up. I am very proud of the wife as she didn't do that! Although she was a little slower than usual because of the slopes, she still managed to get it done! We spent around an hours to complete the 1st 12km and I spent around another 30ish min for my 2nd lap. But I was feeling like this on the final slope during the 2nd lap:

Me summoning my inner nine tails chakra!

Being a very competitive person, the whole event mood did push me to finish faster than I usually could have done. The adrenaline rushed was so good and I feel like I could have done more! In fact I regret I didn't go for the 48km Challenge! Although it was a community ride and not a race, the feeling of overtaking someone is just sweeet. #MaleEgo

5 Noob Tips For Noob cyclists.

So if you are planning to join the OCBC Cycle Singapore 2014 and you are very worry because you are noob like me, here are some tips from another noob who just finished the Malaysia ride.  

1. Identify the "indecisive" riders and avoid them. They are the cyclist who cannot make up their mind to cut or go straight. Those are the people who cause "traffic accidents"

2. Always watch where you are riding and be prepared to stop because you do not know when the person in front of you choose to stop or there's holes on the road (applied to MY mainly, I don't think there's much holes in SG's road.)

3. Sunglasses/Visor is very important, even if you are not afraid of the sun, the dust on the road can be pretty bad. Especially if you are wearing contact lenses like me and going on for 24km or 48km on the road in that kinda speed is no joke.

4. Don't dismount and push. This one is something I feel personally, it might be different for others. The idea is that pushing and walking is actually more tiring and slower.

5. Always engage the right gear! This is very important. I use to be one of those BMX Fixie cyclist and using gears seems to be such a chore to me. (especially when you have the habit of driving auto car) Changing gears will save your live really!

More pictures that I want to post but I've no more story to tell. 

The very hospitable representative from OCBC! She kept calling me "One of Singapore Top Blogger" *SHY*

We did it!

The man (yes, man) who made it all possible - @motorman

I always knew my back view looked better.

Still can't believe she actually did this with me! Thank you!

And the classic jump shot.

 And also...

Here is a very cool video by Kevin! I thought the idea of video-ing himself thru the mirror and the road at the same time is pure genius. I wish I've such gadget too! So much good memories watching this!



Now I just can't wait for OCBC Singapore!

Mr.Smith, No Helmet No Ride!