The Unforgiving Dragon's Back



It has been raining almost every day these past few weeks, a mix of light rain and at times, a deluge. Come Friday, the “Abang Basikal” gang will start paying extra attention to the weather report, particularly Saturday and Sunday morning. It’s just not fun cycling in the rain and it’s not safe too with the reduced visibility, cold feet and hands, road spray from the wheels and the list goes on. But I’m digressing. 

Saturday was sunny, perfect morning for a ride but unfortunately, I had an errand to do so I did the 2/5 recover around the hood. Later late in the evening, did another round of checking the weather for Sunday and the forecast was 70% rain. Well I guess I’ll just snuggle under the blanket and listen to the rain. But it was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning and the ride was on! 

The Sg. Long dragon's back was unforgiving. It's difficult to sustain an even amount of effort throughout the ride. The rate of deceleration was greater when cycling uphill due to the additional effects of gravity on the momentum. The best way to go uphill with efficiently was to spin the pedals at about 80-100rpm . I dropped down the gears to find an easier ratio until there's nothing left to drop but nowhere near to get the ideal cadence. 

I was a fun ride nonetheless. I thought it was just Zam and myself since Zaha couldn’t join and the rest were pretty quiet in the Whatsapp group. To our surprised, Misai and Doc Azlan joined the ride and we rendezvoused at the KJ Perdana spot. 

There were some improvements in fitness but there’s still a long way to go. There are 7 more recovery rides to go. Hopefully more cycling buddies who are on sabbatical could make a comeback soon. Look forward for the full gang to join the next rides.









Faizol

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