Daddy

My dad is my inspiration. I aspire to be like him.

When I was young, he taught me values in his own special way. He gave me the education that he never had. He gave me the toys that he never had the chance to play. He gave me the freedom to go for the school excursions that he never went. 

My dad is a warrior. He is a fighter. I have never met someone with such perseverance, will and determination. Especially when it comes to doing things for the family. He is selfless.

Sometimes, I lose my temper because of the smallest things. I get irritated and frustrated when I am ask to do him a small favor, because I always have more "important" things to do. But he never complains when I ask for favors. 1000 times I will ask, and 1000 times he will agree to help.

Tonight, I witness something special, and I don't want to forget that moment. My dad did something special today, and probably he wouldn't even thought that it was special, but normal.

 I promise to look after my family as best as I can=).

TAIWAN TRIP - TAIPEI BIKETALK AND TAICHUNG BIKE WEEK

Two weeks ago, I went to Taiwan with Sarah to give a presentation for a Biketalk seminar organised by Friday Fitness and Bikegears. I also attended the Taichung Bike Week 2012 held in Taiwan. While I was there, I went riding, visited bike shops, met up with some interesting people and ate alot. =)

I was really looking forward to this trip because this was my first trip to Taiwan for a holiday and, I would also be giving a presentation about something that is really close to my heart; bicycles. The main objective of the trip was the Biketalk Seminar, in which I would be speaking about life as a cyclist and custom bicycle frame building. It was a pleasure to be invited over by event organiser Winston Tam, owner of Friday Fitness and Bikegears. During my stay there, Winston and family hosted me and Sarah in their apartment.

The first day we arrived, we visited Winston’s bike fitting studio. His studio is really well-equipped, with state-of-the-art RETUL fitting system as well as the MUVE fit bike. It was a very cosy environment which I am sure most of his clients appreciate.

Bike shops

I also had the chance to visit some bike shops in Taiwan. One of the more popular shop bike shops was Columbus Cyclist. The owner, Sean Huang a.k.a Huang Shuan Xie, is a good friend of Uncle Kenneth from Cycleworx and they used to race together in the Asian region. He was a ex-taiwanese national team cyclist in the 90s and is now the top retailer of road bikes in Taipei. He carries popular brands like Pinarello and Colnago. Sean is also a SICI certified bike fitter and does bike fits in the basement of his store. He uses a SICI size cycle. We had a good chat and talk about bikes, racing and fitting.

The man himself – Sean Huang.

Biketalk Day

The seminar was held on a Sunday (11/11/2012) at the Chinese Cultural University. I talked about my life as a cyclist, my team (OCBC Singapore Pro Cycling Team), and custom bicycle frame building. Was nice to see that even though I spoke in English, the people (70-80 of them) were still listening attentively and not falling asleep. It went really well and it was a great experience to share my passion with everyone.

Biketalk posters and flyers were printed for the event - designed by Steve Donohue.

Steve Donohue - Great guy, check out his website at www.headsetpress.co.uk.

Giovanni, one of the guys I rode with during my stay there. He is a very established dentist and won a free fit with Winston from the raffle draw.

 The four speakers who spoke were Vanden Tong (SRM and Training application), Winston Tam (Overview of Bikefitting), myself and Stanley Song (an unconventional way of choosing a bicycle).

Taichung Bike Week 2012

Taichung Bike Week 2012 was held from the 13^th to 16^th November 2012, and Winston and I went there on the 13^th and 14^th of Nov. I was really excited to be attending my first bike show, and the opportunity to meet some really interesting people from the industry. There were all sorts of components and bicycle parts on display. It was indeed an eye opener and great ‘food’ for the brain.

Aerospace technology hubs – GOSIKO.

Meeting with John Cobb

One of the first people we met was John Cobb! He looked exactly like the same as in the countless number of Youtube videos he’s been featured in. John was an easy and outgoing guy that speaks his mind. He wasn’t afraid to share ideas and gave us some really good and useful insights about the bike industry, how to expand the fitting business as well as his new clothing line. It was a great pleasure to be able to meet him, and of course to take a picture with him. I had always wanted to learn from him as I know he has some crazy ideas about aerodynamics. He also kindly extended an invitation to attend one of his wind tunnel testing sessions. Will definitely keep that in mind!

We also met the representatives from Rotor HQ (Winston had a crash earlier this month as his stem broke due to mechanical failure and rotor had invited him over for a meeting). The Rotor guys were a cool bunch. Besides talking about the accident and broken stem, which Winston gave to them for investigation, they showed us their new range of products, including a new powermeter with strain gauges on both left and right sides, as well as a new Rotor crankarm and ring that is more oval, called the rotor XL. They also had an interesting display of coloured crankarms made for the past tour winners (pink, yellow and red).

We had lunch with the Rotor Asian representative the next day and he bought us some really nice Teppanyaki. What a great learning experience talking to the people who make ovalized rings!

In the evening, we went to this huge bikeshop (literally an entire building) that sells Author (Taiwanese brand), Storck bikes and lots more. VANDEN TONG was giving a bikefitting and SRM presentation at the shop, and Winston and I were invited. It was an interesting talk and there were a good 10-15 people there.

 Winston and I also met Cheng Yong, a Retul certified bikefitter based in Tianjin, China.

Some other people we met include Victor Mager, CEO of Velocite bicycles, and Daniel and Jennifer Carruthers.

Cycling in Taipei

It was really enjoyable cycling in Taipei. Almost everywhere I went; there were either traffic or hills. That did not deter me from wanting to ride every day. In fact, I looked forward to exploring Taipei and find new places to ride! Traffic in the city area was also crazy. Taiwan has the most number of scooters in the world and it was no surprise that when you stop at the traffic lights, you are surrounded by at least 10 scooters and will be suffocated by the fumes. The scooters and cars also have another issue; they are not very careful. On several occasions, I witness cars colliding with scooters, and sometimes the cars/scooters/public buses come very close to me. Crazy traffic! I also learnt that I could have some good motor pacing sessions too! I have more than 10 scooters to follow every time I stop.

All in all, cycling in Taiwan out of the city area is really nice. Cool weather (22 degrees thereabouts), nice uninterrupted terrain and great food and company. What more can I ask for?

I managed to hook up with a different local cycling group/cyclist every day!

Up in the mountain.

Really enjoyed myself with these Rapha guys (and my good friend from Singapore;P) - Ah Sien  and Vincent.

Food Culture

As mentioned earlier, the food in Taiwan is every tourist’s main attraction, especially food at the night market or “Ye Shi”. The night market usually opens at around 4pm and closes at about 1am. The vendors will sell their food from carts all over the streets. It is usually packed with a lot of people and long queues for the more popular stores.

Best drink in town - with pearls (they call it "frog eggs").

Sarah and I set out to try as much as we could, so we bought food in small amounts from every popular store. Winston also gave us some good advice on where and what to eat. Food includes fried chicken, oyster omelette, etc. In total, we went to 3 night markets. The infamous Shilin, Raohe (mango ice and ice cream peanut wrap) and Shida (garlic fried chicken). Shida was the nearest to our apartment (5mins walk) and we walked past almost every day! Nothing beats a good piece of fried chicken chop washed down with freshly made bubble tea.

The entire experience in Taiwan was great. I got great hosts - Margaret, Winston and Wesley. I got to meet new people, made new friends, got some good contacts, did some good cycling, ate lots of good food and had great company all the time. More importantly, I got to travel with my lovely Fiancee who made the trip really fun and easy. It would have been different without her there.

It was a really enriching trip and I hope to head back there again next year for the Tour of Taiwan in March.

Happy Sarah, happy me.

2012 Cycling Season Round Up

It has been a long and eventful season and I thought it would be great to write about the ups and downs before the next one begins.

My season usually begins in November/December, which is when I get my base miles in and some strength and conditioning work done. I had a really good build up to the beginning of the year and was looking forward to racing long and hard. The first half of the season was almost non-existent as 'the crash' had put me out for about 15 weeks. It was a hard pill to swallow especially when all the hard pre season work and effort seems to have gone to waste.

What made it worse was this season was suppose to be one where I focus entirely on racing, having graduated in November last year. Well, c'est la vie! Nonetheless, I took it as a REALLY good break from cycling.

I came back training in late June after I was cleared by the physio and doctors. I was still on medication but could start training again. I took part in the National Road Cycling Championships with no form at all, but was just there to fill the gap and help my team mates. I got into an early break and was suffering most of the way. It was good as I get to feel what it was like to race again. The race really woke me up and reminded me that I was in crap shape, and it gave me motivation to train hard again.

Me getting feeding while in the breakaway with Danny Feng.

I worked hard towards the next half of the season, and the first race was in August; Tour de East Java in Indonesia. I knew I have little time to train, so I have to work smart and make the most of what I can do. I didn't have really good form going into the races, not finishing the Tour of East Java and Hokkaido. It was not easy getting back into racing mode and fitness after laying off for so long. However, they were good experiences and gave me more confidence to ride in the peleton again. It is not just about the fitness but racing smart and knowing the race is as important, and this usually comes along with experience and more racing.

In between races, while in Singapore, I did more specific workouts like motorpacing, including some uphill ones to get back those racing legs. Our final races were the Tour of Brunei, in which we secured the KOM Jersey, and Perlis Open. It was a nice to have finally felt like I was getting 'somewhere' and have at least some form, so I know what to work on for next season.

The second half of the season also involve racing with some new team mates. It was an absolute pleasure to race alongside Maxime from France and Bas from Thailand. Both great riders and really nice guys. I also did some races with Haidar and Sea Keong and learn lots from them!

With Bas at East Java.

With Max at Hokkaido.

After the UCI races with the team, I did a couple of small races and had some good results for myself. They include the Desaru Long D triathlon relay and IPOH KOM races. These 'results' are not just about placing 1st, 2nd or whatever, but they mean achieving personal goals that I have set out for myself since I started training in June. I felt more comfortable on the bike, generating more consistent threshold power, climbing more fluidly and comfortably etc. These small achievements make me believe that hardwork does pay off, and will spur me on to work even harder for next season.

Winning team: Raphael and Sky at Desaru.

IPOH KOM: Lost out to Taiwanese rider Fancy, who broke away really early into the race.

It was really great to be able to travel around to new countries to race, and meet new people and experience new cultures. This season was filled with highs and lows, but I am glad that it ended on a pretty good note. 

I had a good break and off-season from mid-october to mid-november, and went for a nice holiday with Sarah to Taiwan. I will write about my Taiwan trip soon=). Now it is time to pull up my socks and burn more rubber to get my fitness up. In the meantime, it is also time to sort out all the problems I have with my body. Apparently, the fall I had earlier this year still nags me with a torn tendon and sore/swollen shoulder. I also have some issues with my left lower back. Hope to get all this sorted out and start some pre-season racing in December.

Time to FOCUS.

Back again wiith a new start

The past few months were really eventful and finally, it's time to settle down again, amidst all that is happening in my life.

The past 10-11 life-without-cycling weeks were not easy, as I was so use to hopping on the bike for training first thing in the morning. It was my first event of the day, everyday. It was as habitual as eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, so you get the idea how hard it was to stop cycling altogether. Oh, and I am stopping to recuperate from an injury sustained really early into the season: a crash that resulted in 3 herniated disk.

In March, I helped out F2P in planning for a team based in New Zealand to race in the UCI Asia Tour 2012 from April-May 2012. The team name is Pure Black Racing (PBR), and their time in Asia went really well. At the same time, I was busy planning for my trip to the USA (New York and Boston), in April. So it was really a month full of planning.

This May have been a crazy busy month as I make plans to start something new in my life. I hope it all works out. I will blog about my experience in the USA in my coming posts, so stay tune=).

Asian Cycling Championship 2012

18th February 2012 was the Asian Cycling Championship 2012 Men's Elite Road Race. The days before were the Women's Elite RR (Dinah and Serene), Men's Junior RR (Ryan, Benedict, Harith, Noel), Men's U23 (Junrong, Ah Huat, Travis, Lemuel) and the ITT (Marcus, Noel, Travis). I think Singapore Cycling has hit a new high after this year's ACC, and this is especially evident in the men's Junior and U23 race. In the junior race, Ryan and Noel came in 7th and 11th respectively. In the U23 race, Junrong and Ah Huat was pulling in the front to chase back the breakaway. Eventually, Junrong finished 15th. It was commendable that we are now actually making the race, rather than just sitting in the peleton, suffering and not physically able to do anything.

Now, for the men's elite Road race, it started with 69 riders. After 9 laps of pain and suffering, my left neck finally seized up and I have to abandon the race. The effects from the crash in Chiangmai was taking over my body. I almost caused 2 riders to crash on 2 occasions as I was losing control of the left side of my body. I was really scared that I will crash into a corner as I could not even grip the bar properly. In the end, the police Marshall had to help me off the bike as I could not hop off. I guess nobody really understand the extent of the pain I was in. I was crying out to God with every pedal stroke, every acceleration and every single effort that I had to make. My team mate called out to me, but I could not do much. Sometimes I tried to go, and when I did, I have to cause even more pain and suffering to myself. If anyone else was suffering, I can say that I suffered twice or even thrice as much. I felt that I have let my team mates down, but there was really nothing else I could have done. I hope they will understand.

There was a break that went away in the middle of the race and we decided that we had to pull it back. Together with Eugene Wacker (Kyrgystan, ACC ITT multiple Champion), we worked to pull back the break. It was 4 Singapore riders in the front. From a spectator's point of view, I bet all Singaporeans felt some pride and joy. From a rider's perspective, it was pure pain and suffering.

Well done to my team mates, Jiwen (39th), Vincent (25th) and Marcus.

Junior Champion from Japan.

My Team mates.

Champion of Asia 2012 - Wong Kam Po.

The Petronas Towers, first time seeing it.

New Shoes Arrived!

My new shoes just arrived! Speedplay specific, can't wait to get my feet in them. I will post a review after a few rides. Hope the lower stack feels good!

2010 DMT Prisma - Speedplay specific sole.

Brutality of the Crash

Here are some pics from the crash in Chiangmai on 30th Jan 2012.


The RUDY PROJECT helmet cracked in 2-3 places. Thank God for the helmet, my skull was spared.


Another crack.


Courtesy of Vincent Ang.


Accident Scene.


The elbow right after the fall, upon waking up from concussion.


At the hospital, in my sexy wind vest.


CT Scan - fortunately, my brain and skull is fine. Thank you RUDY PROJECT.

The aftermath of training camp: Road to recovery and ACC 2012

It's been 12 days since my crash in Chiangmai, of which 9 days have been spent back in Singapore for rehab. I came back on the 1st of Feb (Wed) and put up at a good friend's place over at Varsity Park. I did not want to go home. I know my parents and grandparents will be unhappy and they will start nagging and stressing me out, thus the decision to not return home. At Reuben's place, I rested relatively well. When I came back, I made appointments with the Doctor and Physio immediately. I could not sleep properly initially because I was not use to sleeping on one side, but at least I could 'rest' in peace.

During the first few days, it was a hassle to change the dressing, to keep it clean so that the stitched wound will not get infected. I had to shower cautiously and it was really frustrating. I did some riding on the trainer but sometimes it was just pointless as the lesions will hurt and my entire upper body was just so tensed and sore.

On Monday, a week after my accident, it was time to remove the stitches. I couldn't wait. One thing out of the way. The stitches came off nice and the wound healed pretty well. For the whole week, I scheduled physio at SSC. I met Shreya, and she was of great help. She told me that the whiplash had 'trapped' lots of unwanted energy in my body, that was why my muscles are so tensed up, sore and tight. I have to go for light massages, heat treatment etc to release the tightness. I kept my fingers cross and did what she told me religiously.

Yes! Stitches removed!

Today, I am feeling much better. Although my neck is still giving me some problem, I am optimistic about heading to ACC next weekend. When I make hard efforts, my neck becomes so tensed and tight that I feel some form of migraine on the left side of my head. It just shoots up. The right side will then follow and tighten up as well. I just have to keep going back for physio and do the little exercises that will help me. Fingers crossed.

Heat treatment.

All taped up.

Tubi Grip - Compression for the sore arm.

Shreya said that an accident like that can take up to 6 months of physiotherapy to completely heal. I hope I am a fast healer.

OCBC Training Camp - 27th Jan 2012 to 5th Feb 2012: Part 3

Training Camp Day 3 - 30th Jan 2012, Monday

After yesterday's bashing session, today was suppose to be 4 hours of steady pace/easy ride. We have 2 new riders who join us last night; Nick Squillari (our new Australian counterpart) and our very own Dinah Chan.

As usual, Vincent and I would head out earlier for our usual spin before training ride. Today we did a little less, just about 1.5 hours easy. Vincent's legs were feeling abit heavy, which could be due to the fact that he puked last evening and that might have affected his recovery. Nonetheless, he carried on the ride like he always does. Strong man indeed!

We regrouped and set out for our scheduled training ride at about 8am. It was nice good weather and we were going out easy, nice flat roads to begin with. As soon as we hit the more rural area of Chiangmai, the roads start to head up. Not just up, but long and steep undulating terrain that never ends.

After 2 hours, everyone was feeling it. We declared that this was the hardest easy ride we ever had, and will ever do. We pushed on and kept going. There were some nice descends along the way too, unfortunately, I went down hard on one of them. I crashed and was knocked unconscious for about 3 minutes. Apparently, my head hit the road barricade and my helmet broke. Thanks to our sponsor RUDY PROJECT for saving my life.

In the end, I was taken to hospital for CT scan, X rays and I was cleared. Some physical lesions on the usual hip, shoulder and yes, my elbow had 7 stitches. Thank God I am okay. Bike was not too beaten up. Handlebar slanted, derailleur hanger bent, shifters knocked out of place, front wheel gone and cleats flew out! I fixed them all as soon as I got back and went for a spin to get that cleat in position.

To think back, I felt as if someone was watching over me. As I regain consciousness, a policeman came by in his car and pulled over. He immediately called for help and the ambulance arrived within minutes. Thank You for being there for me and watching me every step of the way.

I look back at why I fell while waiting at the hospital. Perhaps I could have gone into the corner at alower speed, perhaps I could have taken an inner line to avoid the gravel, but ultimately, I have done what I did and lesson learnt. Vincent reminded me that whatever it is, whenever we descend, we have to do it within our comfort zone and never put ourselves in a situation that we may fear crashing or feel out of control.

Asian Cycling Championships is in 3 weeks time. Although this fall may hamper or slow down my preparation towards ACC 2012, I will keep fighting and will not stop. Like Qiqi once told me, I may be a slow walker, but I don't walk backwards.

More to come in the days ahead. Chin up, chin up.

OCBC Training Camp - 27th Jan 2012 to 5th Feb 2012: Part 2

Training Camp Day 2 - 29th Jan 2012, Sunday

Today's training ride began at 5am with an easy ride with Vincent. I could not sleep the previous night because of the road rash and soreness on my right side, so I decided to heck it and just join him for the ride since I was already half awake. It was cold and dark when we came out. As usual, plastic bags are very useful when it comes to fighting the wind. Just a simple plastic bag in the jersey on the chest will do the job. We rolled off and soon after, Psssssssssssssssssst, and Vincent had a flat. We did a quick change and carried on.

The morning ride was really special. Initially there were street lamps along the main road. As soon as we turned into the small road, it was total darkness. You-cannot-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face kind of darkness. Fortunately, Vincent had blinkers for me. To be honest, I was quite scared initially. I could not see s***, but Vincent taught me how to navigate with the white line at the side of the road. Soon enough, I adapted to the darkness and it was actually quite special riding in the dark. After 2 hours, we rendezvous with the rest of the team outside the hotel lobby for the scheduled 7am 'DOI SUTHEP' ride.

The plan was to do 4 sets up and down and I taught it was quite crazy. The first set up I was struggling. I just could not find a tempo but I just stuck to them and tried to find a rhythm. The second half of the climb became better! My legs just came and I could make some good efforts, especially on the steeper sections;). The first set up was 34mins to the temple, pretty descent I must say. The descend was awesome as usual, just tried to get accustom to cornering and taking good lines. The second set up was more torturous as all our legs were getting heavy, but it was still some good climbing with some small accelerations from each of us. I like!

The second descend was interesting as I had Vincent filming me! I wanted to follow his line as he can descend much better and I taught I can learn something from there. But he told me to go ahead, with me unaware that he was video-ing the descend! Crazy man descending with one hand filming! Can you imagine?

All in all, it was a good 5.5 hours ride, covered about 125km, with 2 times Doi Suthep. We were all reaching the point of diminishing returns, so we will save the other reps for the latter part of training.

2nd part of training commences at 330pm. We concluded AM session at about 1130am, so about 4 hours of good rest before some fierce motorpacing cum leadout cum sprint session. The plan was to rotate the leadout train and the sprinter. So the motor will bring us up to speed and then we will leadout for 1km for a dedicated sprinter. In the end, we were all tired from the morning training and only did a sprint each, with leadouts for other members. It was good hard efforts and I felt I really need this sort of training to improve my higher end watts. Way to go! The session lasted for about 1 hour 40mins.

Training today was awesome and I really felt that the training camp has started! Looking forward to the rest of the training week.

Now, to the dining table! A plus!

OCBC Training Camp - 27th Jan 2012 to 5th Feb 2012: Part 1

Bonjour all! This blog is alive again after a long long hiatus. The past year had been really hectic, with my final year in university, the final year project, as well as a struggling year of racing and training. I will have lots to blog about in the coming weeks. This includes things like reflections for 2011 which encompasses university life, my cycling life thus far, family, friends and last but not least, God. So stay tune for this as well as my 2012 new year's revolution and my future plans!

Training Camp Day 1 - 28th Jan 2012, Saturday

The first day of training camp was suppose to be an easy ride for acclimatisation and to get over travelling woes and keep the legs fresh for the days to come. A 2.5 hours steady ride was scheduled for us. I went out on an hour's spin before the ride just to check the bike. After an hour, we rendezvous at our hotel lobby and set off. Wisut, a thai friend of Vincent brought us out on our maiden ride. It was nice weather, a little on the chilly side with temperatures around 13 degrees celsius. I just had a base layer and rode in the cold for abit until the body starts to warm up and it got better. The ride started at 10am. After awhile, I realized the air here was dry and it reminded me that I needed to hydrate constantly as I may not feel dehydrated until it's too late!

Halfway through the ride, we met the Seoul Cycling Team, another continental team from Korea. They had about 12-14 riders, did about 3 hours of riding before meeting us. We had 'special' permission to ride with them because apparently, these foreign teams do not usually like other teams to join their rides in fear that we may be dangerous or disrupt their training session. The Seoul Team were really smooth. I did not turn with them as I did not want to disrupt their pace line or intensity. They rode in double paceline, rotating clockwise as each rider takes their turn in front, like an echelon. They rode at about 40km/h, nice and smooth. It was nice to see how a team rode like that and every rider rode in synergy. This made me 'felt good' and I would eventually want our team to be able to ride like that, as a 'Team'. It made me realize that our team is quite fragmented at the moment, but I trust that things will eventually fall into place.

We broke off after about 2.5 hours and carried on to recce some other terrains before ending the ride. Unfortunately, I had a crashed after rubbing Junrong's wheel! He needs to be more aware of what he is doing, but oh well, things happen. Sore hip and shoulder. C'est la vie. I completed about 4 hours of riding, about 125km.

Besides riding, we rest and most importantly, EAT. I love Thailand because the cost of living here is really low, and we get to eat food that are cheap and good (freshly made from the heart). Looking forward to all the nice meals in the days ahead.

My room mate for this trip is Vincent Ang, a great rider and I am looking to learn more about him and from him as a cyclist and as a person. Sprinting and descending would be my priority, and perhaps some 'on the bike' photography skills.

Coming soon.....Training Camp Day 2 - 29th Jan 2012, Sunday, and pictures!