(no subject)
Athletes are by and large mental. You have to be mental to endure all that pain, sweat, tears, and sometimes blood. It's a good madness for me, one that I understand. And yesterday really brought home that point.
So yesterday, I decided to join the Friday WCR ride - it was supposed to be 76km, starting at 9pm (they usually start 15 mins after), so it would have ended quite late. Smaller group than the Wednesday ride, but we joined up with CK so there were about 80 riders in total?
After we started off Old CCK road (they repaved it! It's lovely to cycle now) following the ride up LCK, it started to drizzle. At first, it was quite pleasant in the woohoo cooling mist sort of way, but it started to get Quite Heavy along Brickland Road. I was in the front pack, so we headed off to Mandai under a constant downpour. That's right, a downpour. It was not the first time I've cycled in the rain, but the last time was in London, and certainly unintended. Well, this was unintended too, but, you know. Circumstances. The rain did not abate - if anything, it got quite heavy and we were utterly drenched. Turning off from Mandai to Serangoon, there was a brief respite BUT going down Upper Thomson Road... that was when it really hit.
Thunder booming, lightning flashing, gale-like winds blowing, drivers honking at us in disbelief - the whole shebang. I was honestly afraid at some points that the wind would blow me over, and more than a few riders were looking a bit wobbly. The rain made our wheels so slick that we had problems braking - even worse for carbon wheels, so I heard. I went down the hill with one cleat unlocked, preparing for sudden disembarkation. The rain was so heavy that visibility was quite limited. The front pack pulled over at a petrol kiosk, undoubtedly surprising the poor kiosk assistant when a dozen cyclists, drenched to their skins, came barreling in with their bike lights flashing. I wish I could accurately portray what it felt like, with the rain battering your face, the brakes working reluctantly, water coming from not only above, but from the wheel of the cyclist in front of you. The wind gusts had me leaning in to counter them, and there were definitely drivers looking at us as if we were insane (we were).
Midnight, and I was stranded about 20km from home. I continually muttered to myself that I wanted to go home, and going up Lornie road at midnight, with a thunderstorm raging overhead was definitely an experience. The front pack peeled off, leaving me desperately catching up with 3 others. Cycling up Lornie alone was absolutely out of the question, so I gritted my teeth and put up with the slopes. Fortunately, there was another guy who lived at Clementi, so I had someone to cycle back with. When I got back, it was WARM SHOWER BLISS.
Or as P put it, you loved it.
Quite right.
So yesterday, I decided to join the Friday WCR ride - it was supposed to be 76km, starting at 9pm (they usually start 15 mins after), so it would have ended quite late. Smaller group than the Wednesday ride, but we joined up with CK so there were about 80 riders in total?
After we started off Old CCK road (they repaved it! It's lovely to cycle now) following the ride up LCK, it started to drizzle. At first, it was quite pleasant in the woohoo cooling mist sort of way, but it started to get Quite Heavy along Brickland Road. I was in the front pack, so we headed off to Mandai under a constant downpour. That's right, a downpour. It was not the first time I've cycled in the rain, but the last time was in London, and certainly unintended. Well, this was unintended too, but, you know. Circumstances. The rain did not abate - if anything, it got quite heavy and we were utterly drenched. Turning off from Mandai to Serangoon, there was a brief respite BUT going down Upper Thomson Road... that was when it really hit.
Thunder booming, lightning flashing, gale-like winds blowing, drivers honking at us in disbelief - the whole shebang. I was honestly afraid at some points that the wind would blow me over, and more than a few riders were looking a bit wobbly. The rain made our wheels so slick that we had problems braking - even worse for carbon wheels, so I heard. I went down the hill with one cleat unlocked, preparing for sudden disembarkation. The rain was so heavy that visibility was quite limited. The front pack pulled over at a petrol kiosk, undoubtedly surprising the poor kiosk assistant when a dozen cyclists, drenched to their skins, came barreling in with their bike lights flashing. I wish I could accurately portray what it felt like, with the rain battering your face, the brakes working reluctantly, water coming from not only above, but from the wheel of the cyclist in front of you. The wind gusts had me leaning in to counter them, and there were definitely drivers looking at us as if we were insane (we were).
Midnight, and I was stranded about 20km from home. I continually muttered to myself that I wanted to go home, and going up Lornie road at midnight, with a thunderstorm raging overhead was definitely an experience. The front pack peeled off, leaving me desperately catching up with 3 others. Cycling up Lornie alone was absolutely out of the question, so I gritted my teeth and put up with the slopes. Fortunately, there was another guy who lived at Clementi, so I had someone to cycle back with. When I got back, it was WARM SHOWER BLISS.
Or as P put it, you loved it.
Quite right.