The Twin Towns Challenge blog

Regular updates on our preparations, sponsorship, and everything else that goes into a 1,000 mile charity ride across Europe.

Cycling in the Tropics – OCBC Race

Post race pampering!

Post race pampering!

This week the Singapore buzz was the OCBC (Overseas China Banking Corporation) mass cycling event.  A full day of races and family leisure rides in Singapore center on closed roads.

On Saturday, The Fuji pro team joined us for our regular 90km Changi run.  The boys looked so sharp and it added a buzz to the ride, especially with their two support cars shadowing us and occasionally stopping the traffic.  Whilst we were all toiling in the saddle the pros were taking it easy, at one point, it was noted that on an uphill section one of the boys had a heat rate of only 79bpm – at that point mine must be around 120!
On Sunday, I entered the 40km race which had a 7.30am start.  There were 2,700 riders in the 40km but I managed to secure a starting position in the first bunch along with the vast majority of my Joyider pals.  The start (from the F1 main straight) was full on and I wondered how I was going to keep the pace going for the full 40km.  My heart was banging but I was loving every minute of it.  There was a huge amount of jostling for position it was stressful ensuring that you had enough room for the corners and avoided the wheels of those in front.  There was a lot of communication between the riders as we identified bends (some pretty sharp) and ensured that we had enough room, squeezing through gaps at every opportunity.  One of the biggest shouts was at around 4km when I was approaching a right hand turn there was as solitary front wheel in the middle of the road!  2 seconds later and we saw some poor chap was on his back, in considerable pain – how you loose your front wheel, I have no idea!
Not able to keep up with the front group, I soon found myself in a bunch of 15 or so riders, most of who I knew from either Joyriders or ANZA but there were a couple of local (Singapore & Malaysian) riders who were causing mayhem in the bunch.

On more than one occasion I almost gave in and dropped off the back of the bunch but somehow I managed to stay with it and took my turn at the front on a number of occasions (not everyone did though!).  My hardest times were at around 22km, after the turn, coming back towards the city with the sea on my left and around the National stadium with around 7km to go (after a stretch on the front).  At 5km, knowing the end was in sight, the pace picked up a little and I felt good. 

Seeing the Singapore Flyer (Singapore’s version of the London eye) meant that we were nearly there and as we turned onto the F1 circuit the sprint started – I pushed as hard as I could, the legs were screaming in agony but I crossed the line after 40km exactly in 1 hr 5 mins at an average of 37kmh.  I was really pleased with the time and particularly pleased that I managed to stay with the group and that we worked together (well, most of us) to achieve a decent time.

On analysis later my heart rate was banging away at an average of 173bpm and had a maximum of 190!  I remember that it was showing 110 on the start line!

I chatted with David McCann the Irish professional racer for the Taiwan-based UCI Continental team Giant Asia Racing team after the main race,  (Irish national road race champion in 2000, 2001 and 2006). He has also won the Irish national time trial championships 4 times – 2001, 2002, 2004 & 2005) and whilst chatting over his two punctures in today’s race (one when he was leading) he revealed that his average heart rate for the race today was also high at 170bpm – that made me feel a little better!

The pro race was exciting – Maclolm Elliot, the Downing brothers, Alex Rasmussen and a host of pro riders from pro teams contested a 90 min criterium. The heavens opened for the start of the race but the speeds were still furious.  The track dried mid way through and after a number of splits due to the frequent sprints for cash bonuses it was Australia’s David Pell who came through in the end.

Fri 20th Feb 09        Joyriders – Friday ride         51km   1.50hrs         28kmh

Sat 21st Feb 09       Joyriders – Changi              90km   3.06hrs         29kmh

Sun 22 Feb 09          To and from OCBC race       26km   1.05hrs         24kmh

Sun 22 Feb 09          OCBC Race                        40km   1.05:30hrs     37kmh

Chris

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 1:08 am by chrism and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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