Brick Training

Meet Aerosolcan, Roonz and Burnz for the Sprint Duathlon recce.
Poor Burnz got lost a couple of times before finally reaching Upper Seletar Reservoir Car Park. Lucky today is not race day, else he will be in a lot of trouble. :D

Haha, we have Team Cervelo and a VIP.
A Trek being escorted by 3 Cervelo Duals. :D
No points for guessing who has the yellowest bike. :D

First order of the day. Up Nee Soon Flyover.
That got Roonz worried. She has not biked for more than 6 months and we are really testing her skills. Keke.
But she make it up just fine. :D

Stopped after the gate to Upper Seletar Reservoir.
The recess at the side of the road should be the transition point.
But Burnz is pretty skeptical. He can't imagine how the area can squeeze in 400+ bikes. Anyway, we shall see in 4 days' time.

Rode towards Mandai Shell with Aerosolcan as the self-designated sweeper.
For Aerosolcan and Burnz, it is probably their first ride at Mandai, while Roonz probably travelled her many moons ago.
Should be a refreshing ride for them before the actual race.

As for me? This course never fails to test my gear shifting.
Today? Keke, slack lor. Cruise more than I spin. :d

Reached Mandai Shell. Instead of doing a U-turn, we carried our bikes over to the other side of the road. :D
Cycled back to T1.
Realised that none of us has taken any distance.

Not knowing what to do next, Burnz suggested that we OTOT to Mandai Shell.
He start zooming off after that. This guy is good.
He is on the aerobars for most of the ride.

I am far behind in 2nd place.
Keep glancing backwards, but did not see Roonz or her sweeper.
Finally decided to stop under BKE Flyover to wait for them.
After waiting for many minutes, still no sight of them.
Worried sia.
Just when I was about to call Aerosolcan, see them coming up the hill.
Phew. Turns out Roonz's chain dropped and they have to fixed it back.

At Mandai Shell, was treated to isotonic drinks by our sprint champion.
Thanks, Burnz.
While resting, Roonz's chain dropped out again.
Wa, this better no happen on race day.
Else I can visualise her throwing her bike to the side of the road like what Normann Stadler did at Ironman Kona 2005. :p

After resting , we carried our bike to the opposite side of the road and ride back to T1.
Keke, this time I recorded the important distances. :D
Mandai Lake Road to Mandai Ave - 3.5km
Mandai Ave to T1 - 1km
Still a mystery about how the bike leg will be.

Going past the gate, we cycle to Car Park C where we do our bike-run transition.
Another chance for me to try out ANT.
The shoes works fine, but it needs some tweaking before race day.

Ran to Old Mandai Road and u-turn back towards Car Park C.
From Car Park B onwards, the road is a gentle upslope all the way to Car Park C.
Pretty siong, if u ask me. :p

After the workout, we proceed to Casuarina Curry where I had my dinner, while Aerosolcan, Roonz and Sotong had their snacks before their next workout.

ANT Run 2

This year, I realised that I run so that I can test out my new shoes.
Today's run was no difference.
With the Sprint Duathlon coming up this Sunday, I have to decide what to wear.
After kena suan-ed by Roonzie, the more I should hit the roads. :p

The obvious choice is ANT.
But ever since I got bitten hard in both heels on the first outing, I have not tried it again.
In fact, I have posted it up for sales in Trifam.

An idea hit me last night and I changed my laces.
It seems to do the trick, but only a run can tell.

Wake up at 5am for the run.
Put on toe socks. Good fit.
Ain't risking my feet this close to a race.
Only problem I faced with ANT is that I cannot complement it with WrightSocks.

Haha, I will wear toe socks for all my races.
Give me that little excuse of a longer transition time aka rest. :p

The first km was pure hell. In fact, I feel like U-turning home and call it quits.
The thighs still feel strained from last week's long ride.

A klik in, things got better.
Ahh.... is that why a lot of runners does their warm-up before the actual run? To warm up the engine.
Me? Hehe, just go the the start point and run. :p

Left foot feels great, but the right arch hurts.
Tried tightening the shoes laces, but it only ease the pain that little bit.
The right arch keep nagging me throughout the entire run.

Only during the last km, did I manage to open my strides.
And the shoes responded immediately! Ahh... so this is what racing shoes does.
Run like a tortoise and it acts like a normal pair of running shoes.
Open your strides and you feel the responsiveness of the shoes.

Am glad that I manage to fix the sizing problem of the shoes with new shoelaces.
This pair of shoes is ready for the BIG show. :p

Reached home. Inspect the shoes.
Under the insole just below the right arch, there is a small pebble.
Haha, dun tell me that is the culprit.

Will have to run again before Sunday's race to find out.

Botanic Gardens Ride

Woke up at 5.15am for the Botanic Gardens Ride.
Promised my wife that I will be home by 11am.

A lot of preparation today, only manage to leave at 6.10am.
Need to test the New Balance tri-suit in case I want to use it for next week's Sprint Duathlon. I look like a human pao, thus I decide to wear a T-shirt over it. :p
Took out my new MET helmet which I have purchased for quite a while liao.

Reached Mandai Shell at 6.35am. Not a single soul in sight.
Dun tell me that they left without me.
Immediately SMS-ed Kelvin, but there was no reply from him.
Played games on the PDA and by the time I am done, it was 6.55am!
Where is everyone? Probably left without me. Haiz....

Decide to turn back towards Yishun and re-joined the 7am group when they ride past.
As I was cycling, I realised that I could have taken Phone 2.
Quickly changed the mode to Phone 1 and call Kelvin again.
Still no reply.
Continue my ride and heard a missed call beep.
It is Winnie. Quickly give her a call and realised that she is at Mandai Shell.
Have no idea how I could have missed her.
Probably cos I am looking for a pair of cyclists and not a solo rider.

Made a quick U-turn and chiong back to Mandai Shell.
Winnie was waiting there alone.
Learnt from Winnie that our tour guide Kelvin Tan is sleeping while we are waiting separately at LongHouse and Mandai Shell. Geez...

When Kelvin finally arrived, it is around 7.30am.
We decided to wait for the main pack to come so that we can tag along.
Met Winnie's hubby who is riding alone.
Turned out Han is my secondary school mate! Year of 85 somemore! Haha... what a small world.

Thought we got Joyce's attention and start out with the group.
But none of them waited for us at the Mandai Shell traffic junction.
Han decided to become our tour guide for the day.

Along Neo Tiew, I was nipping at Winnie's heel.
This lady is very strong. Just as Joyce has mentioned, she has a lot of potential.
Turning out from Neo Tiew, Han was waiting for us at the bus stop.
Winnie felt so sorry for her hubby , cos he is not going to get a lot of training done today.

After Lim Chu Kang Road, I hijacked Han and we went on our merry ways while stopping once in a while to wait for Winnie and Kelvin to regroup.

While on the Jalan Buroh, the sun is out in full force and I have totally dried up my bottle.
Requested Han to stop at Esso Jalan Buroh for re-fuel.

Once we have enough rest, we continued.
This point onwards, I could not keep up with Han.
Even drafting him din help much.

Tackled South Buona Vista Road and I am so glad that I have changed to gear shifters.

When we reached Botanic Gardens, the breakfast group has already finished their brekkie.
They accompany us for a while before making their move.
Once I finished my prata, we are on our way as well.

I follow Han and Winnie to Braddell where they live and continue on my way home.
During the ride home alone, I can feel cramps settling in.
Wah, how to complete a Ironman 70.3 in my current condition.

Now I really gotta admire those guys. I really admire how they can still run after a 90/180 km ride.

Reached home at 11am sharp. Hehe, I keep to my end of my bargain. :D

Cycling 26th April 2008

Set the alarm clock to buzz at 4.35am , so that I can pack for the ride.
After numerous snooze attempts, I finally wake up at 5.20am, still hesitating whether to ride or not.
A look in the mirror help me make up my mind immediately.

Took my time to have brekkie and left home at 5.55am.
I knew that there is no way I can catch up with the group, so I took a leisurely ride.
The first rider that overtook me looks like Animal Astronaut Matthew, so I started to draft him.
Hmm.... dun tell me that the rest of the Joyriders are right behind? Haha, fat hope lor... :p
Not long after, I got dropped and no other riders overtake me.

Just before Mandai Zoo, a TeamAbsolut duo overtook me and I decided to draft them.
I became their shadow till Shell Bukit Timah, their team's meet up point.

It was a uneventful ride all the way back to Longhouse.
Meet the usual bunch of riders , with Chris wondering where I was.
Keke, explained to him the ride that almost wasn't to be.

Spoke to Kelvin. Was introduced to Winnie by Joyce.
Kena "arrowed" to lead these two "newbies" for the Sunday Ride. *Sweat* :D
Realised that my own "newbie" tag has long been revoked. :D

Next order for the day.
Took a ride with Kelvin and Winnie to Mandai Shell and back.
I will be going straight back home, while Kelvin and Winnie will turn back towards Longhouse.

As it will be a slow and easy ride, Kelvin and Winnie refueled and we start at around 7.30am.
Chit chat during the ride makes the distance feels distinctively shorter. :p
Witness how Winnie flew down the slopes.
Haha, so there are 2 ways to fly.
One - Being heavy, gravity will aid you to fly down slopes.
Two - Be extremely light and gravity will do the same thing too. :D

Learn that Winnie and I share a common trait.
South Paw but writes with the right hand.

Bid our farewells at Mandai-Sembawang Road.
Brought the kids to McDonalds in my cycling tights, where Shannon polished off a Big Breakfast on her own. :)

Cycling 24th April 2008

Meet Aerosolcan at 2pm at Yishun SAFRA.
Our intention for the day is to do a Sprint Duathlon Recce cum Tour de Mandai.

After a morning thunderstorm and overcast skies, it is a wonderful afternoon to do all kinds of sports.

We went straight out to Mandai Road.
After biking every weekend versus Aerosolcan who has not cycling for the past 8 months, I thought I could stay with Aerosolcan.
How wrong can I be! He climb slopes as if they were flats, and I am already using my lightest gear!

We went straight towards Mandai Shell. During the ride, I pointed out where I think will be the Sprint Duathlon route and its U-turn point.
My guess is the road from Old Mandai Road exit all the way to Mandai Zoo exit will be closed.

On the way back towards Yishun, we turn right into Old Mandai Road, where I show Aerosolcan the Nee Soon Flyover slope.
The ride down the slope is pretty irriating with the speed strips.

Rest at Sembawang Road exit before we did a U-turn back into Old Mandai Road.
With fresh legs, the slope up Nee Soon Flyover does not feels that bad at all.

We took another ride to Mandai Shell before we did a U-turn back towards Yishun.
While we were reaching Yishun, a slight drizzle starts.
After pondering for a bit, we decided to extend our tour to include Yishun Dam.

U-turn back towards SAFRA Yishun, completing our desired 40+ km route.
Not long after we are in the safety of the SAFRA Yishun shelter, it started to pour!
While Aerosolcan rushes to his next appointment, I decided to wait out the rain before proceeding home.

After waiting 10 minutes, the rain shows no sign of letting up, thus I decide to make a dash for home.
As I am reaching home..... the thunderstorm dwindles to a drizzle and stopped completely.
Grrr......

Cycling 20th April 2008

Woke up at 5am.
When I am ready to ride at 5.45am, SMS-ed Chris to wait for me.

Ride as fast as I could to Mandai Shell.
While on the way there, saw Ultra along Mandai Hill and called out to him.
But he was zoned in and din hear me at all.

When I reached Mandai Shell, Chris told me that Joyce and 2 more riders has passed by 15 minutes ago. Opps... I am that late. Thanks , Chris.
It is always glad to have a cycling buddy.

Along Dunearn Road, Chris is trying out his aerobars.
Boy, he makes it looks so simple.
He could stay in aero position for so long.....
He was still in aero position while we are nearing a stationary bus, it really scares me.
But the expert rider show me how things are done.
One arm on aerobars, another apply the brakes and stop.
Envy Envy....

While he cycle on home, I stop by LongHouse.

While sitting there alone, a guy waved to me.
I was like "Huh....do I know you?"
Went over to talk to him and he told me that we last ride together on Chinese New Year.
Wah....I still got no idea.
Only when Kelvin Tan told me that he just recovered from a knee operation and is back cycling slowly, did it woke up some sleepy brain cells.

As per my bad habit, I always start to fill up my bottle when the train is going and Kelvin ended up waiting for me. So pai-seh....
Then we start our chase.
Boy, the riders seems to be in a hurry today.

No matter how hard we ride, we just could not catch up to them.
Kelvin mentioned that none of the riders have dropped below 30km/h yet.
When we reached the Old Mandai Road junction , we decided to take Old Mandai Road cos we cannot see any riders in front.

First ride up Nee Soon Flyover using brake shifters and it is a breeze.
At least I do not feel like I am killing my knees.
Now I do not think that Singapore Sprint Duathlon will be climbing this steep flyover.
Inexperienced riders will definitely falter, something the organisers will wanna avoid.

While riding out towards Mandai Road, saw the group riding past.
Good , we finally caught up with the group.

I did a rightie together with the Breakfast Ride and continue towards Marsiling while the rest of the folks turn left toward Neo Tiew Road.

All is well, as traffic is still very light.
Just as I am riding past Marsiling MRT, a taxi suddenly swerved out from the taxi queue and almost crashed into me.
I shouted at the top of my voice and I think he heard me.
Turned out that he got a call further up and is rushing to pick up his package. Darn taxi driver.

Other than that, it is a pretty un-eventful ride home.

Observation for today's ride :
No more knee buckling ride.
Although I ride like mad, my average speed is only 27km/h.
Even hill climbs is like 17km/h. Strange....

Calm before a Storm

Not too sure how the day will start.
Woke up at 3am by the lightning and thunder.
Mistaken time for 4am and started waiting around to see if the sky would clear.
An hour later, it is still thunder but no rain.
We shall see if the ride will still be on later.

*-*-*



Woke up at 5.10am.
It is still clear skies and the lightning and thunder is nowhere in sight.
Very cool weather , today may turn out to be a very nice ride.
Leaving the house at 5.45am, today will be chase day again.

Still trying to get used to the brake shifters.
But seriously speaking, what have I been doing all these while?
Using tip shifters , it has really damaged my knees.
Cos I cannot change gears at will and I probably use only 3-4 sets of gears the entire ride.

With the shifters at your fingertips, changing gears is a breeze, but I have not got used to the concept of changing gears though :p

Reaching Mandai Shell, there is no one in sight, so I continued on my way and did a leftie.
All the way till Bukit Panjang and still no rider....The group must have pulled far ahead.

When I reached Shell Bukit Panjang, it started to rain.
As it is still tolerable, I continue...cycling in the rain.
But then it started to pour.
For me, I still feel quite okay on the bike, but I know that as a driver, visbility is bad in this kind of weather, so I decided to pull over at the next bus stop and wait for the rain to soften.

While waiting, 2 cyclists (Joyriders) rode past and I am tempted to join them.
Just that I am not crazy or daring enough lor.

After a while, the rain did get smaller , thus I continue on my way.
Immediately heard an annoying sound from the rear wheel. Shucks....what is that noise???

Haha, the next bus stop was filled to the brim, so I am darn lucky to have the previous bus stop all to myself.

Two bus stops later, there are 2 more Joyriders and I decide to join them to wait out the rain.
Turned out they are in the same situation as me.
Start riding in the calm weather before hitting the storm.
Tried checking out what is making the irritating sound, but no luck... everything looks fine.

When the day get brighter, we decided that we shall do a slow ride back to LongHouse.
Again the annoying noise came back. Will really have to find the source of the sound, else I might just break something without knowing it.

Reaching Hume Avenue - my most hated slope - I encountered the red light and had to stop.
When I start off again, I did the fundamental mistake of trying to clip in while climbing up the slope.
End result? CRASH!

This time round, I was able to unclip my shoes, thus only my bike hit the road.
Haiz, my brand new brake shifters is scratched. Just like my tip shifters on its first day out.
Guess that is how my bike like it to be.
This time though, I am very glad that the bike is scratched and the rider is fine. :D
Argh...., the seat post is twisted though and the nose of the seat is biting into my right thigh.

The more I ride, the more I feel like I am doing the Bintan Triathlon trial.
Hehe, why?
Cos Bintan Triathlon is well known to be a stormy race.
I think that today's ride will keep me a good perspective on how to control my bike during a rainy ride.

While going down slopes, I had both brakes pressed to the extreme, but the brakes are not biting at all!!!
It can only feel slight braking motion the entire time.
I am just glad that I am nowhere near a car at these moments.
Another thing to remember, never stay near a cyclist during rainy days. Keep a safe distance of 3-5m.

Reaching Lornie Flyover, I was able to engage the lightest gear and climbing up is a breeze without feeling that my knees are crapping out on me. :)
Yeah, the beauty of brake shifters.

On reaching LongHouse, the guys intended to proceed on. But I stopped.
Thus they turned back for me. Thanks, guys.

Found out the source of the noise.
The rear light's position has shifted and is hitting the spokes of the rear wheel. Fixed that.
Took out my allen keys to try to fix the seat post , only to realise that the allen keys does not fit.
Luckily one of the guys has the full range of allen keys and I manage to get the problem fixed.
Else I could imagine the agony that the next 10km will cause me.

The guys decided to take the Jalan Kayu route back home and I gladly obliged.
While waiting to move out, I saw a group of four riding past very fast.
One of the riders looks like Stacy, but I was pretty puzzled why she never even bother to look up to try to spot us.

Just before Lentor Avenue, we caught up with the group and I realised that "Stacy" was actually Jeanette Wang. :)
Rode past too fast to check out if it is a Pinarello though. :p
In case you are wondering how we catch up with the hell riders, it is because we are heaven riders.
Haha, we are not that fast, it is just that one of the group riders had a flat tire and the group has moved up to the pavement to fix it.

Jalan Kayu is a bit scary though, as it is single lane road. But the motorists are kind enough not to horn us.
Bid my farewell along Yishun Ave 6 and continue the ride home.

On reaching home, I quickly had my bath before proceeding to clean up all the stuff.
Shannon even helped me to clean my awfully dirty bike.

Completed everything within 1.5 hours and proceed onto my next appointment.

Running 13th April 2008

One of the most un-motivating runs to date.

Woke up at 5.45am , but only manage to drag the sorry ass out of the house at 6.45am.

Hardly 200m into the run, I feel like giving up.
Heart rate is high, even though pace is darn slow.

Decided to do laps at NSCCP, so that the walk home won't be too bad if I decide to give up.
Did two laps in the park, but feel the environment is too humid.
At this hour, there are a lot of walkers, thus I decide to give Yishun Ring Road a chance.

I am basically going through the motion of clocking some mileage today.
With 2 races coming up, Tribob Sprint Duathlon and Bintan Triathlon, I do not understand why these races did not perk me up.

I will be giving Yishun Ring Road a miss this year. There are simply too much construction overflowing onto the pavement that makes the run quite a chore.

Took a shortcut through Khatib Bongsu Park Connector.
Use the distance markers to check my Garmin.
Spot on at every 100m mark.
The wonderful thing about this Garmin, no calibration is required. :D

Complained to my wife that it is so difficult to run alone and she reminded me that SAFRA does conduct a weekly Sunday run.
Hmm.... think I should start joining them , but just doing a U-turn earlier.

Cheyenne

If you have seen Cheyenne in the news or 'live' at Orchard Road, here is her blog.

I have her in my bookmarks , cos she happens to be a Arsenal fan like moi. :D

Duane

Duane started his Ironman journey when he was a hefty 475 pounds.
Another inspiring triathlete.

Duane (http://couchpotato-to-ironman.blogspot.com/)

Unfinished Business Continues.....

After struggling for the past 6 years, I decided to call it quits.
I am no way near the end of the road and I am stressing myself to bits.
Let's just treat the whole 13 years' journey as a bad experience.
I shall write off the whole thing as an investment goes south.
The whole investment could have seen me through the journey 13 years ago, if I were given the chance.

Probably I will never have a chance to complete this journey during this lifetime, but maybe I could.

Cycling 12th April 2008

Eve of Ride Day.
Did not wanna miss out on the ride so I decided to test out the alarm clock, which did not go off this morning.
1st try - Di-di-di.... 3 times and that is it!
2nd try - Di-di-di... It manages to go on for the longest time. Press the Snooze button and snooze is not working. Argh....
3rd try - Did not go off.

Lucky I did those tests, else I would be missing the ride again.

The alarm clock need to be replaced. :/

=*=*=



Woke up at 4.45am. Prep for the ride.
Just when I was ready to get out of the house, Stella woke up and refuses to go back to sleep.
Coax her back to sleep after quite a while and check the time. 5.45am!
Comtemplating changing to running tights and go for a run instead.
Decided to stick to my weekly cycling. :)
Guess I will be chasing the group the whole distance.... :p

Stopped by all 3 traffic lights before Mandai Road. Argh....
While waiting at the the Sembawang-Mandai Road traffic junction, saw a rider turn left from Sembawang Road.
Decided to give chase , but the traffic light has probably put us 3 minutes apart.
While giving chase, a pack of three overtook me.
Hmm... looks like they are training for the Team Time Trial tomorrow.
Took a hard look and noticed that one of the riders is wearing the blue JoyRiders jersey.
Turn around and saw a couple of blinkers. Cool!!!
Draft behind Joyce until I start to give chase when Winston overtook me.

Rest at Mandai Shell before we continue on our journey.
Manage to spin up to the front pack and started to pull the group together with Siong.
Stay behind the front two after the Bukit Panjang traffic junction before I break away just before Hume Avenue.
I really hate to get stuck at the Hume Avenue traffic junction, so week after week, I tried my best to avoid that red light, thus the breakaway.
Along Dunearn Road, the lady boss pull up alongside me and gave me a hearty lesson.
She noticed that I did not change my gears much during my ride and would like to see how I manage during Lornie Flyover climb.
Along Dunearn Road, she kept behind me the entire distance to see how I cope with my gears.
Just before the Lornie Road exit, I saw Raphael stopping by the road side. He must be waiting for Glenise to make the U-turn back to Bukit Panjang.

Along Lornie Road, Joyce noticed that I changed gears too early and did not change gears during the climb.
She taught me when is the appropriate time to change gears and gave me some other pointers.
Thanks , Joyce!!!
We both noticed that it was damn frustrating to change gears on a tri bike and I realised that I dare not change gears when someone is beside me or while I am doing a hill climb.
Joyce feels that this could be the reason while I am always struggling on my ride.
I have powerful strokes but I am not being efficient.

Joyce tempted me to do the Thomson Flyover and I gladly obliged.
When I was back at Longhouse, I was pretty surprised to see Glenise.
Look around for Raphael, but he was nowhere in sight.
Glenise mentioned that Joyce wanted to take a photo of her for the album. :)
After a call to Raphael, we realised that he has a flat along Dunearn Road and took a cab home.

While I went to get some water, the Changi Ride took off and I decided to follow the West Ride.
Happen to see the Changi Ride and gave chase.
While I was overtaking the back riders along Yio Chu Kang Road, one of the riders call out "Jodan".
Turned around to see Gentle.
Haha, he is doing his ninja ride.
Chat with him all the way till Lentor Avenue where I bade him farewell and continue on my ride home.

Distance : 37.89km
Time taken : 1:20:52 hours
Average speed : 28.11 km/h

Wow!!! So small.......

Shannon has great expectations when she saw the Prego Box.
So when it was time to take out the birthday cake, she took a look and commented "Wow!!! So small......."

Haha, we tends to order 1-1.5kg birthday cakes, but over the past few years we decided to order smaller cakes if we have a choice. =)

4.45am

Been trying "hard" for the past 4 days to wake up for a morning run.
But I only succeeded in waking up to press the "Snooze" button.
And surprisingly, I never get to hear the alarm after that. Wierd...

Fast and Reliable

Touching. From (bikehacks)

Kids Say the Darnest Things

Extracted from South West

Art Linkletter made this title well known a long time ago.
Kids continue to delight us with their innocence and candor.

You are familiar with a tug pushing the aircraft away from the jetbridge before the airplane begins taxiing under it’s own power to the active runway.
I was prepared to begin the Emergency PA when a child exclaimed, “Are we going to fly BACKWARD!”

While descending a small voice could be heard, “My ears are burping!”

A child can fly unaccompanied on Southwest Airline’s nonstop and direct flights from age five until their 12th birthday.
Thinking a little boy seemed younger than five years my friend asked, “Now HOW old are you?”
His reply, “I’m four when I’m on the ground but I’m five when I’m in the air.” Need I explain?

I can still see the earnest face of a five year old who said,
“My mother’s at Williams Air Force Base. My dad’s at Luke Air Force Base. I’m a civilian!”

In Orlando, a family boarded with three-year-old twin girls and a five-year-old boy.
It was obvious they had been to Disney World.
The boy was seated at the window and got ignored while the parents got the little girls situated.
The girls were the center of attention from boarding passengers.
Feeling a little sorry for the young boy, my Flight Attendant friend asked him if he had fun at Disney World.
He said he had.
Then she said, “Did you see Mickey Mouse?” This brought on a torrent of tears.
Trying to comfort him she asked him what was wrong.
“My dad told me if I said one more ‘bleeping word’ about Mickey Mouse he was going to jerk these ears off my head!”

Another family came on with two young children dressed in Disney World shirts, character hats, clutching Disney stuffed characters.
“Did you have a good time at Disney World?” I asked. With big eyes the “Pluto” boy replied, “How did YOU know we went there?”

One of our Pilots asked his young son where he wanted to go to college.
“I want to go where you did, dad.”
Dad went to Ohio State so he advised his son to look for some place he enjoyed living, maybe near water or mountains– somewhere fun.
The boy thought for a moment and asked, “Do they have a college at Disney World?”

My favorite “Pilot’s child” story is this.
When dad came home from flying, his ten-year-old son was always waiting near the front door ready to talk and play catch.
This day there was no Douglas. Dad found his wife who told him Douglas had been mouthy so she had swatted him and he was in his room.
As my friend opened the door to his son’s room he heard an immediate, “Mom hit me!” “Well, mom told me what happened. Were you smart-mouthing her?”
Hearing an affirmative answer, Dad told Douglas how lucky they were to have mom cook for them, make a beautiful home for them, love them.
“Douglas, what would we do without women?” To which the child replied, “Anything we WANT?” Smart kid!

Since we transport many children going to visit the non-custodial parent it is not unusual seeing a sad face.
Sitting down next to a little girl who was obviously distressed, the Flight Attendant found out the child’s cat had died.
To comfort the child, the Flight Attendant said, “Well your cat is now in Heaven with God!”
With a confused frown the little girl said, “What would God want with a dead cat?” See if you can come up with a good answer to that!

Picture this: A nine-year-old child is traveling alone.
During the opening PA the Flight Attendant mentions that we have complimentary juice, soft drinks, and coffee. Beer, wine, and cocktails are $4.00.
When it’s time to take the young man’s order, he is carefully counting out money.
“Can I get you something?” His reply, “Well, I want one of those cocktails. I don’t know if I want shrimp or fruit?”
Being a Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant is not always a laugh a minute, but there is a lot of comic relief!

UnFinished Business

I really need to blog this to get it off my chest.
It has been hurting me so much, but time and tide waits for no man and I have already missed the golden opportunity 13 years ago.

Had this unfinished business that had dragged for 13 years.
I still cannot see how I can complete it in the near future.

I really hope that the person who cause all my misery will not wish me "Happy Birthday" tomorrow, cos it will definitely not be happy.

Family First

Woke up at 4.30am all ready for the ride.
Muscles felt strained last night, but was glad that none of the aches surfaced.

As if Shannon has sensed my intentions, she started to cough persistently.
After monitoring her for a while, I decided to gave up cycling today to look after her.
Probably will do some running tomorrow morning bah...

6 Foot

Went to attend a parenting seminar at Orchard Hotel after the ride.
When the seminar ends at 6pm, it was raining heavily outside, thus I decide to have Subway for dinner.

Ordered a cold cut trio, and proceed to the cashier to wait for my order.
The boy behind the counter came over to ask which bread I want. I was stumped.

Felt so suaku. First time eating Subway.
Choose the bread which I dun even know how to pronounce, so I just point to the graphics.
"How long you want your bread?"
Stumped again.
Blurted out "6 foot", and immediately corrected myself.
Too bad, damage done as the boy heard me.
So paiseh.
Okay. Now I hope there will be no more question.

"You want toast?"
"Huh?"
"You want your bread toasted?"
"Yes, please."

As he was adding the meat to the bread, he mentioned "You ordered cold cut, right?"
Ok, now I really felt dumb.
I did not answer him and he proceed to put the bread in the oven.

Walked over to the cashier.
The boy came over.
"What fillings you want?"
"How many can I choose?"
"All of it."
"I will have the tomato, pickles and olives."
"Cucumber?"
"No."
"Onion?"
"OK."
Grr, somehow I have a feeling that he is trying to make me looks stupid.
Really hope the ordeal will end soon.

"What sauces you want?"
"Ohh.... Honey Mustard."

As the boy proceed to the cashier, I quickly ordered the cookies and I am done. Phew...

But I must admit that the sandwich with all the assorted bits does taste nice.
This is despite the fact that my cold cut was toasted. :)

Cycling 5th April 2008

Woke up at 1.58am after tossing in bed for a while.
Darn, everytime I sleep early @ 10.30pm, I will wake up at 2am...Why?

Start to check the SGRunners postings for the past 24 hours.
I realised that I have been checking the forum less often now.
Probably got a bit bored about the postings and rely solely on the email notifications that I received for the threads that I subscribed to.

Try to scan through the numerous postings but only managed to finish reading an hour later.
Gosh, forum readings take up a lot of time...

During this time, the bread was talking to me and after I finish reading, I could not resist it anymore and had my brekkie at 3am?!?!?!

Now I got to figure out what to do before I get ready for the ride at 5.30am later.

Stay tuned...

*-*-*



Manage to catch forty winks at 4.05am.
Woke up again at 4.45am slightly refreshed.
Got prep and is out of the house at 5.30am.
3km into the ride, I starting feeling the strain on my thighs.
Gosh, is that what happen after a 2 weeks' cycling break?

Came across the first red light and the unimaginable almost happen.
I was slowing to a halt and I am still clipped in!!!
Try to pull out the cleats and realised that I have forgotten how to unclip!!!
Luckily I manage to unclip just before I topple over. Phew....

Along Mandai Road, a cyclist overtook me and I decided to draft him. Haha.
Lost him when we are going downslope as I apply the brakes.

On reaching Mandai Shell, I did a U-turn and start my water bottle practice again.
I wonder if it works better to drink on the move or stop and drink?
Check the cyclometer and it reads 16km/h.
Hmm....I guess it helps to drink on the move, but not much....
I have lots of space to manoeuvre today, something that I do not have the luxury when it comes to races. Shall try a few more times before deciding.

Did only one loop and the train comes along.
There was no organisation today.
Everyone just started rolling out of Mandai Shell after we waited for 1-2 minutes for the rear riders to appear.
It dawned on me that most of the "siao" riders are already in Fraser Hill today doing hill climb.
That will be followed by Genting Climb tomorrow. Siao boh?
Decided to chiong and managed to catch up with the front group.
While drafting, I figure I save so much energy that I feel like chionging ahead.
Checked the cyclometer. 26km/h....

Tagged along with the group, but decided to start the attack just before Hume Avenue. :p
Held onto the lead till Dunearn Road.
Once again, I started to lag behind after I did not manage to clip on after a traffic junction.

At the end of Dunearn Road, Chris has a flat and I stopped to help.
Chris had wanted to take a cab home, but since I have a spare tube, tire pump and tire lever, we decided to give tire replacement a try .
We both struggled to get the tube out.
While we were struggling, the Trifam group of Raphael, Glenise and Jasline cycled past.
They stopped to help.
Glenise took over the entire task.
After fixing in the new tube, I pump the tire up. While pumping up halfway, the tube burst again.
Despite Glenise having another spare tube, Chris decided to call it quits and flagged a cab home.

As Glenise and Raphael are turning back towards the west, I cycled with Jasline back to LongHouse where she had parked her car.
Warned Jasline about the huge pothole at the Macritchie Reservoir traffic junction only to realise that the LTA has FINALLY patched up the gaping hole.

Reached LongHouse and ANZA is ready to move out.
Rested for 5 minutes and the Changi train starts to pull out from the station.
Cycle with the group till Lentor Avenue where I turn left and cycle home.

Distance : 40.21km
Time taken : 1:29:53 hours
Average speed : 26.84 km/h

I'm Hooked!!!

On my way home from work, I am so glad that the weekend is just a few hours away.

Reason :
Tomorrow is Cycling with JoyRiders after 2 weeks' break!
I really missed cycling with the group.
Can't wait for Saturday to come....

-*-*-*

Somehow felt un-easy seeing someone use the nick "moon" on SGRunners forum.
I felt so attached to my pet name.

K14 Run

Woke up once at 2am, manage to get back to sleep.
Woke up again at 4am. Too bad, no such luck this time.
Haha, problem with sleeping early. The mind is "programmed" to sleep that many hours only....Argh.....

Despite having two huge blisters, I still proceed with a run at 5.50am.
Hoping for the best , expecting the worst.
Alamak, I must be getting crazy....
But I truly believe that K14 will take care of me.

The moment I put on my K14, I feel right at home.
It feels just like my old Kayanos , through and through.

Started on my Yishun Ring Road Run, but got distracted by a Speedster Gal when I ran past Nee Soon Central Community Park (NSCCP).
Decided to check out the NSCCP loop instead.
It was a 500m loop and the park feels slightly humid.
The loop wasn't that bad as it consists of bends, thus I don't feel the strain on the left leg which I normally experience on the tracks.
The loop is marked every 25m. Good indicators for speed training.

3 loops later, Speedster Gal overtook me. I tried to keep up and only managed it for a mere 200m.
After completing 4 loops, I ran in the reverse direction and only succeeded in hurting myself. Feel the strain on the right leg.
Tried to do some sprinting , but I could only last 200m, 100m, 100m.
Shall reduce some weight first, before I try it again.

The next few loops was pure boring. Speedster Gal has already left the park, so there isn't any more eye candy. =p
Noticed a coffeeshop across the lanes. Ideal for all your urgent needs.

Cool... This shall be my new playground.
Actually, a park is an ideal place for a run. There is no traffic junctions to cross, no smoky fumes to inhale.
But the park is quite packed with elderly walkers and joggers. So there is a lot of overtaking to do.

When I leave the park after my training runs, I noticed a lighting fixture right in front of the park.
It was displaying a couple holding a kid in mid-air. So sweet...

1st km - 4.49 min / km
2nd km - 6.12 min / km
3rd km - 7.20 min / km
4th km - 7.14 min / km
5th km - 8.25 min / km

You know you are an athlete when.....

Know your shoes well

I am always grateful to have friends who know their stuff well.

He has probably pinpoint my problem without even seeing me run in my ANT.
He really know his shoes inside out.
Thanks, mate!

The problem lies in the lacing.
I did not lace up as I normally should and it has causes me problems again.

Now I shall have to wait till the blisters heal before I try to run sockless again.