Longest Ride I've Done

It was a huge sigh of relief when I arrived at the finishing line of the 210km Around The Bay Ride in a Day Ride on Sun. There were a few occassions where I do feel like hitching a ride back. The road seems never ending after the ferry ride to Queenscliff. Maybe it's mainly due to the long stretch of road with nothing much to see, other than flat green lands. The only thing that really kept me going was the thought of embarrassment if I register a DNF in the event. So I kept pedalling, no matter how weak my legs felt. It was lucky that riders caught a tailwind heading back from Queenscliff.

Maybe I was just too tired from a 84km ride a day before with my cousins and our very own national track cyclist, Josiah Ng. It meant to be an easy ride but probably my definition of easy was different from my cuzs' dictionary. I went down the apartment @ 8am, to wait for Den and Andrew. Josiah stays the same apartment as I am, so we met up just before my cuzs arrived. Josiah just got back from racing in Japan. It was an honour to go out on a ride with one of the world's best track cyclist. We head out to Beach road, out to Franskton, which is about 40km away. As usual, there were plenty of riders out on the road, hundreds, or maybe thousands of them.

There is one occassion where a lady cyclisy came passed us, and shouted, "Oh! I love you Josiah! I watch your track rides all the time" - I think she said something like that, but I didnt get the first part wrong. How did she know that it wass Josiah from behind? Well, his butt says it all. He got his name printed on his tight pants. Haha. Me riding with a celebrity, how cool is that.

We reached Frankston and had our food/drinks near Bayside Shopping Centre, before heading back to the city. Speed was constantly above 30km/h. And the thing I hate is when there's a slight slope or them pushing the pace harder. It was so hard for me to catch up. Near the end, they put up a little sprinting finish and I just watch them sped off like the wind, kissing their butts goodbye! Come on, look at their thighs man. Josiah's thighs probably twice my size...that's where all those power come from. : ))

Riding on Beach Road, you bound to tag along with other groups

Reaching Frankston

Having our little break in Frankston

After reaching home, had a quick shower and rested for a while before riding to Den's place. I will be staying there for the night before the ATBIAD event. We went out to watch the penultimate stage of The Jayco Herald Sun Tour. It's held just a walk away from Den's place. Bradley Wiggins won the yellow jersey in the end. After the race, a lot of the teams were selling off their bikes, accessories, apparels, etc @ a good deal. There's always temptation to change to a new bike, after watching an event like this, but being an amateur, maybe not. Not going to make any difference even if I had a good bike. I'll still be slow! LOL!

For more photos of Jayco Herald Sun Tour, please click on this link.

Riders taking the corner at full speed

Garmin Slipstream Team leading out

Bradley Wiggins off his saddle

The next morning, I woke up early at 5am to get ready. But my cuzs, who had a late night attending a birthday party, had a hard time waking up. The alarm must have went off for a long time but still they were not up yet. So I had to wake them up myself.

We rode out around 6am from the apartment, knowingly that we will be missing the start. Getting out from the apartment, I can already feel the chill. Temperature was below 10C. I think I am underdressed. We reached Alexandre Avenue start line soon after. Only a few riders who were late too were there. So we went off to chase the other group, it wasn't long before we caught up with a big bunch of riders at the back. I guess the fast ones were already way ahead. I wasn't too worried, as long as we have groups to ride with, it should be alright. Just too bad I couldn't take any photos of the start to post here. But catching up with tail end of the group, the numbers are still massive.

Starting our ride @ Alexandre Ave

The wait - Traffic light

Most part of the ride towards Sorrento were in a moderate pace, averaging around 30-35km/h. Den can't seem to hold back his speed as he was out in the front most of the time. We stopped for a while @ 25km before riding on to Sorrento. We also passed Frankston again. Just after Frankston main town, there was this steep hill climb, called Oliver's Hill. Man, that hill really took my lungs away. And we still have about 165km to go!! It offers a breathtaking view but I didn't stop at that point and pedalled on. You can see some photos from this link.

Climbing on the dreaded hill!

After passing Frankston, we went thru the hilly Mornington. Along the way, I lost contact with Den and Andrew when we were going up one of the hills with a group of riders. I was boxed in, and was a little too weak to catch up with them. Anyway, Sorrento wasn't too far away, so I rode at my own pace. Legs starting to feel like jelly already then. Sorrento is exactly 100km from where we started. Thousands of riders were there, either waiting for ferry or resting or some are getting ready to ride back to the city thru the way we came from. Some are doing their rides from the opposite direction.

The wait and the queue for the ferry was a long one. During the time, we were handed our lunch pack which includes chicken sandwich, a cake, banana, energy bar and gel. Also given a bottle of water. I was glad that we managed to get through the cut-off point for the next ferry, otherwise may have to wait for the next ferry. The big ferry can fit in 300 odd riders. My body was already shivering when we stopped at Sorrento. Temperature averages 10-12C on the day and with the wind, I was freezing!

We board the ferry and parked our bikes inside the ferry before walking up to the cabin/lounge. It felt so good to be inside the warm cabin. The ferry took about 40-45 mins to reach Queenscliff where we will continue our ride back to the city. At Queensclilff, there were thousands waiting to board the ferry to Sorrento.

The queue for lunch and ferry @ Sorrento

Andrew and Dennison

Andrew & Me

Boarding ferry

Inside ferry & parking bikes

The stretch along the highway after Geelong suburb heading towards the city was a long and boring one. As there were many rest stops along the way, group gets broken up. I tried to stay with my cuzs with a bunch of other riders but my legs just gave up. I told Andrew to go ahead without me, as I can't keep up with the pace. I was on my own. There were a lot of groups riding pass but I just couldn't find the energy to follow. I couldn't really find ones which I can follow, so I just told myself to pedal on at my own pace. This is the time when I felt like giving up but one thing that surprised me was the speed I was going. Although I can feel that I was not pedalling hard, but I was going like 33-38km/h. I must be catching a tailwind, I thought. So I just pedal as hard as I could while the tailwind lasted. I saw a sign saying we had only 35km to go, but on my meter, I thought I only had 25km to go (we found out in the end that the distance was a little further than 210km).

I caught up with Den and Andrew at one of the rest stops and soon we were riding together again. Since this was the home stretch, I just stayed with the bunch of riders for as long as I could. Soon, we could see buildings in the city. I was pretty excited about it, as there is no way I will be giving up at this stage now. Then came a detour out from the highway, into the smaller streets, but we end up back into the highway, as someone must have taken out the route sign. Idiots! We didn't know where to go, so someone suggested to head back out on the highway. There were about 10-15 of us inthe group. Boy, was that a bold move. It's one of the busiest highway in Melbourne and crossing the highway with an exit was extremely dangerous. But I'm glad everyone got through it fine, and soon, we were back on the right track. Later we found out there were others who lost their way too but rode even further than the course.

As the city buildings drew nearer, ahead lies the West Gate Bridge. This is the only time where cyclists get to ride on the bridge. Two lanes are closed for this event, but to get across, you will first need to make one long climb up the bridge before the descend.

The long climb up West Gate Bridge

How relief it was to see familiar buildings and also the sight of Alexandre Gardens (Finishing). Me and my cuzs came in together, and we were just slightly under 11 hours on the clock. Our riding time was about 7 hours 36 mins with a distance of 217km. I've actually done 300km in 2 days. That is almost the triple the mileage that I did for the past 10 months or a year!

Andrew - The Future King of Sprint, Mark Cavendish?

Dennison - The future King of the Hill, Alberto Contador

Me - ?????!!

Participants resting and chatting

Andrew, Dennison and Me

For more photos of Around the Bay in a Day, please click on this link. Here are some videos from the event:

The finishing area

The riders across the road heading back to the city

At Sorrento

West Gate Bridge

Glad that this over. For 2 successive weekends my body has been two punishing events (it is for me), I think I better take a rest for a while before resuming workouts. I really have great respect for the tour riders or those who have done Ironman. Tours like Tour De France, riders go thru an average of probably 180km each day (20-21 stages I think) and also through the mountains, with minimal rest days. Ironmans, well, they do a 3.8km swim, 180km ride followed by a 42.195km run. All in a day!

Insane but amazing! But I'm pretty happy that I've done both the events and successfully completed both in a respectable time. Will I do it again? Who knows? I'll definitely do another marathon, as I want to improve my timing. The longer rides, if there's a a good group or an event, why not?

The Second Big Event This Coming Sunday

With a week to recover from my marathon race, I've got to get ready for my second big event on the schedule this Sun. Around the Bay in a Day. This is my first taking part in a cycling event, well, other than competing in duathlon races.

The event is estimated to attract a total of 16,000 riders and close to 4000 riders in the category I'm in. A 210km ride clockwise around the bay. You can read on my previous post about the event (link).

I have not done much long distance ride to prepare for this event, with the Melbourne Marathon being my main focus. I think I should be alright on fitness in finishing the event. Probably just need refueling to last that far. May just bring some bananas and energy gels along. Couple of things I'm more worried is riding in such a big group and also the weather.

After a good day on Melbourne Marathon, it has been raining in the last few days with strong gust winds. Anyway, like it or not, everyone still has to go through whatever condition the day may be.

Well, here's my bib no...on the right side are tear-off coupons for ferry ride and lunch.

The back of the bib, with emergency contacts, medical history, start guide, etc.

Got it pinned up on my jersey already....can't wait.

Here's the sight from Beach Road, which is one of the stretch we will be riding. Just had a short ride there to my cousin's place near to the beach. It's been gloomy the whole day, with light rain but strong winds. Had to struggle riding back with the crosswind.

There will be a Bike Expo from this Fri onwards. Will be going with my cousin on Sat to check it out. After that, will go to Lygon street to check on the last stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. One of the big name in the Tour will be Bradley Wiggins (GBR) from the Garmin-Sliptream Team.

Last Fri, he tweeted and mentioned that he will be at Fitzroy St at 3.30pm to ride from there. That is just few mins away from where I stay currently. I found this out when my cousin tried to contact me to ask me to join in the ride. He went for the ride. Too bad I wasn't at home and could not make it. Luckily I didn't join in. The group actually went for a 90km ride, a fast one too mind you. Probably won't serve me any good with the Melbourne Marathon just 2 days away. But it would have been a good experience to ride with a multiple Olympic gold medallists and also a 4th place finisher at this year's Tour De France. Quite a number of fans actually turned up for the ride. And my cuz told me, some even took photos for him to sign when they stopped at the traffic lights.

Around The Bay in a Day - Melbourne

This is the event which I hope I will be in the starting line come Oct 18. I got to know about the event from my cousin, Andrew. After reading some details of the event, it was opportunity not to be missed. I'm sure if there's a bike event like this in Malaysia, most of you cyclist, will not even think twice to sign up. I've already missed out all the big rides in Malaysia, mainly the Inter-State Ride and also The Century Ride. So it was just hard to miss this big ride again.

Oh, if you don't know yet, MM is actually taking part a week earlier. That's the reason why I say I hope I will be at the starting line for the ATB event. Hopefully I don't too sore after the marathon.

I have signed up for the 210km via Sorrento (with ferry) - clockwise. This category has a limit of 4000 riders. Places for the other rides categories, 250km and 210km (via Queenscliff) - anti-clockwise are all sold out. Other distances are 50km and 100km. Here's the map of the ride. (From 50km to 250km)

Here's some history of the ride which I got from the event's website.

Starting in 1993, Around the Bay® in a Day has grown into Australia's largest mass participation bike ride.

The heat in 1993 added to the challenge for those who participated in Around the Bay in a Day, with the mercury climbing to a torrid 32 degrees. The event numbers were restricted to 3,000 due to ferry capacity and the West Gate Bridge was so easy to ride over that some riders thought that it should be open to riders full time – we can dream!

In 1994 and 1995, the ride grew as additional ferries were added. However, although there were extra ferries, the participant numbers still outweighed the ferry capacity. So much so that pedals had to be removed on bikes so there was enough deck space on the ferries. By 2001 the ride had grown even further and a record 5,000 riders participated.

The event capacity was raised by another 2,000 riders in 2002 after securing another ferry, bringing the grand total of participants to over 7,000. The event start and finish location was relocated from JL Murphy Reserve in Port Melbourne to Catani Gardens in St Kilda. 272 teams participated, ranging in size from 4 to 120. On the international front, a huge Irish team of 43 toured especially for the event, as did others from Singapore, New Zealand and Texas.

The weather increased the challenge again for the 2003 event. A number of riders were caught out after a warm morning start, into what turned out to be the coldest and wettest event ever!

By 2006 the event was really gathering momentum with more than 14,000 bike riders across the four ride distances (42km, 100km, 210km and 250km). This was the first year that the 250km distance was offered and it was a hit with the riders.

From 2004 to 2006 the start / finish site was located within the Melbourne Docklands precinct. As this area has became increasingly developed with residential and commercial buildings, we sought a “green space” which meet the requirements of the start / finish site.

From 2007, a three year partnership with the City of Melbourne began with the event being held at Alexandra Gardens. The event joined forces with the GO Bike Expo to bring you the Melbourne Cycling Festival, involving whole weekend's activities at the Gardens Precinct in Melbourne.

38 degrees and hot northerly winds made for very unpleasant riding conditions in 2007. However, once the weary riders reached the finish in the heart of Melbourne, they still had the energy to celebrate of their amazing achievement.

In 2008, the 250km route returned to the anti-clockwise direction and with this being the favoured start direction by riders, the Queenscliff ferry was sold out in record time for the 210km distance - 10 days! and the 250km selling out within four weeks of entry opening.We also introduced a 80km School Challenge ride option to encourage students to have a go, 77 riders lined up for this inaugural event. They had a great time and loved the fact that they were one of the 16,300 riders that took part of the largest ever Around the Bay ride.

The event is considered as one of Melbourne's major events sitting between the AFL Grand Final and the Spring Racing Carnival.

Check out the stats (graph): (frm only 3000 riders in 1993 to 16,300 riders in 2008)

Click here for more info about the event.

How's my preparation so far? Well only a few short 40km rides, when I say few, that's 2-3 rides only. One 70km ride almost 3-4 weeks back. And another 40km ride just 2 days ago...am I ready? Haha, I hope so. Well, hopefully with good weather, less wind and 3999 riders to draft behind, I think I should be fine........