Pendas :: Conquered

ok so its not actually a big deal for some. but it is for me. it was my first distant ride after getting back on the bike. aint that far, really. route taken was from McD Sutera - TUTA - Lima Kedai - Gelang Patah - Pendas - Gelang Patah - Lima Kedai - Tmn Sutera - McD. Total distance : 70++km.
had only just return to cycling for 2 weeks and there's still a little tingling feel of discomfort in the knee. in these 2 weeks, had only cycled lightly around my area and of course at the Impian Emas circuit prior to this Pendas ride. got my bike ready the night before. rode the CVS to pendas. had to replace front tube as it's busted. luckily its still early and i got time to get the tube replaced as i sent my other bike for service. went for dinner with my darling and loaded up on meat and noodles.
prepared my powerdrink aka ribena and get my riding attire all ready for the next day before i went to bed but not before i set my alarm for 6.30am. also told my mom and my darling to wake me up at 6.30 am just in case. he he. nyawa pn dh standby dua tiga life pack. ha ha. woke up just before the alarm rang. its funny that i can wake up easily for ride or for trips or watever planned events on weekends but i'd always had difficulty waking up on weekdays. ha ha. showered, subuh jap, suit up, load my stuffs into the car and headed off to the RV point - Petronas Tmn Sutera.

reached there on time, ate a twiggie bun, stretched a bit, unload the bike, and rode a few laps around the area there to warm up while waiting for the others to arrive. there were 10 of us - one went ahead first. the most so far in the sunday rides i've joined. was a lil bit sceptical at first with the knee injury and all tapi kalao dh degil tu, pegi jugak la. just want to see if the knee cud take it - which it did, and i survived this ride after a long break.

departed from petronas at about 7.30 am and rode at a steady pace maintaining between 25-30 km/h. saturday morning traffic aint that bad and the weather was gud. hilly areas were only at lima kedai and leisure farm, which is most part of the route. haha. aint that bad considering the elevation wasn't steep and there's only a couple of really steep hills. the last few kms to pendas was the only really straight roads. really like how the bike handles on the hills. its light -carbon, mesti la light, and it aint that punishign to the knee. one rider suffered a puncture duirng the ride up which was replaced there and then before continuing with our ride.

stopped at the end of the jetty to take photos and for breakfast. this time round, i had roti kosong and roti telor. owh, and a twiggie bun. not gonna make the same mistake again of eating just paper thosai like i did during the ride to pontian last time. ha ha. this time, the breakfast lasted the whole journey back to RV point. he he. ribena proving its worth here too. CVS = superb. feels so gud on hills and elevations. but still, am a beginner on a pro's bike. much to learn. tried new stuffs and technique each time. still got a lot to learn. straight road no problem. on hills, still with the bad knee, i can go faster.

cadence - tried to maintain 90-100 rpm. works well. i can last the whole distant without feeling half dead. am more aware of my pedalling speed now and i can learn to save energy.

took a short cut thru to CIQ on the way back to gelang patah. the weather was beginning to get hot and i did not wear my sleeve or apply any sunblock. huhu. was much slower in the ride back coz of the strong headwind and fatigue setting in. stopped for a short break and to regroup at the Lima Kedai bus stop just after the long hill climb before continuing our ride. split up with some of the guys at nusa bestari-bukit indah junction and continued the ride back to the RV point. reached the petronas at around 12.30pm and was back home before 1pm. enjoyed this ride and would definitely ride again to pendas. the knee felt just fine but i'll still be using the knee support in future rides until it's strong again and properly healed. showered, zohor jap, was then out again until late at night. it wasnt until the next day that i get to get a proper rest. i know i'm eating right so far, so i'm not worried here. am slowly building my fitness and pushing my limits further up. still a long way to catch up with the big boys but i'm working on it. still 5kgs over my target weight and i got another 3 months to shed it. ha ha.

am selling my giant ocr 3. lemme know if you're interested. would probably get a tsprint cvs or a colnago primavera. carbon vs alloy. hmmm..

these are some pics courtesy of Nik.

Weapon of choice