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| Epic Ride to Port Dickson |
Cycling has always been my all time favourite pastime ever since I was a kid. I cycled everyday to school and everywhere with my buddies. We had our weekend rides too and usually accompanied with “mandi sungai”, river floating, shooting birds with slingshot (never hit one actually), playing rounders, football and all other outdoor. My friends and I are always outside enjoying the outdoor activities. Then I went to boarding school in Penang. I was into hockey, played for the school and appointed as assistant coach of my school’s hockey club. I picked up cycling again in college but just for a brief moment because I was into serious hockey team for competitions.
I’ve been into serious cycling for a few years now. Come to think of it, I’ve come a long way since the day I bought a second hand mountain bike from a friend of a friend. That was somewhere in 2008. I started joining Saipol and Farizal on cycling rides. Our usual route was Sugai Long. Then we changed to road bike. My first road bike was a second hand Scott, then a second hand Trek 5200 USPS edition, it's Trek Project One Road Bike from the Lance Armstrong heyday. Now I am riding a Trek Madone and an MTB which I use for training and leisure rides. My cycling posse got bigger and we expanded our routes covering more miles, going to places like Bagan Lalang, Genting Peres and Port Dickson. We truly enjoyed the companionship.
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| Trek 5200 USPS edition |
But once in a while we especially me would go below the radar because of mixed reasons. The hiatus period varies and so far the longest for me is close to 9 months. Hiatus means you need to do recovery training to get back into shape. This is the critical make or break moment that will decide whether someone will comeback to regular rides or forever be in the ride-in-the-park mode. Recovery is hard and requires support from your peers or cycling buddies. Consistency is key. Find things, stories or role model that can boost morale, motivate and inspire. Set realistic targets, stick the program, evaluate progress periodically and adjust the difficulty level accordingly. It’s hard but not impossible.
Speaking about inspiration, a friend shared a YouTube video, Martyn Ashton - Back On Track. It’s truly inspirational. The excerpt from the video description is self-explanatory:
Following his injury in 2013, Martyn Ashton, trials legend, creator of Road Bike Party 2, and, above all family man and bike rider, began his inspirational journey to get back on track. Joined by his friends Danny MacAskill, Chris Akrigg and Blake Samson and filmed by long time collaborator Robin Kitchin, this is Martyn Back On Track.
He is a former British and World Champion mountain bike trials rider, stunt rider and team manager. He had been riding professional trials since 1993 and a mountain biking legend, the star of Road Bike Party YouTube sensation. Click the link-> Martyn Ashton Videos
Thank you Martyn, you inspire many people out there to never give up, work hard and enjoy life. You've certainly have answered this quote:
Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mata-ne!
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