Tour of EGAT: kit-bird's Memoirs
Tour of Egat
20/4/2004
Team Singapore met up at the airport just in time for check-in. I’d landed myself there with help from Max and Andre. Kelvin from Ascender came to send HM and I off. After some food and drink at coffeebean, we boarded SQ64 –bound for the Kingdom of Thailand.
We arrived at Thailand’s International Airport in the afternoon. After loading our luggage [and bikes!] up an army 3-tonner, we boarded van number 3, which brought us to our first hotel at Supan Buri. The 3-hour-long ride was hot and sweaty as we began to have a taste of Thailand’s notorious heat.
By evening, we’d checked into the hotel and were pretty happy with the nice lodging. Had expected lousy lodging for the tour, but it turned out pleasantly otherwise. I was paired up with Samuel and we shared a room. HM bunked with Max, Arab with Eddie, and Pak with Junaidi.
The first thing I did was fix my bike up and go for a spin. It was my first time doing so and took me quite a long time. Everything went alright in that hotel carpark. During dinner, we loaded ourselves with great Thai food - not forgetting gargantuan amounts of rice to provide us with enough carbohydrates for the upcoming race.
The day ended with a team briefing by Max on what to expect for the race, our goals, et cetera. Everyone was handed a national jersey and I must admit that it felt great to know I’d be racing in national colours. A race radio was handed out to each of us and a radio check was conducted. It was rather fun. Lights out was set at 12 midnight but I was so excited about the race that it took quite awhile to drift into deep slumber.
21/4/2004
Stage 1 of Tour of Egat. Woke up at 0500 for morning washup. Was down at the hotel café by 0530 for an American style breakfast. Everyone continued carbo-loading with fried rice for the much needed carbs for the event later in the day. Went back into the rooms for a final pack-up and everyone was down promptly at the lobby by 0700; we loaded our luggage onto the van and rode off to the race startline…
Everyone was given a muscle rubdown from Max, and it was my first muscle rub ever. Not sure if it would help me much but it sure felt good. A final radio check was conducted on our way to the startline. The gun went off at a little after 0800 as we rolled into the first stage of TOE.
Having had a bad crash at Port Dickson’s Respeda race a few weeks ago, I was praying hard that I wouldn’t crash this time around; was on the alert and ever ready to brake or move to safety. Once the neutralising zone ended, the attack began and information was fed into our ears from those lying in the support car. It was indeed a good experience to have a race radio with me, and pick up the mechanism of information relay.
The profile for the first stage was flat with the exception of extremely horrendous head and crosswinds - I managed to attempt a funky, echelon style of drafting, riding with the guys till the end of the stage. During the last few kilometres, we formed up in a sprint formation, but team leader Pak aborted the strategy as all the other riders were all over the place and we had difficulty squeezing to the front. Hence, everyone of us cruised into the finish line.
The first stage ended and we went to the support van to have our recovery drinks. I realised I had terrible back pain, and had trouble sitting down to rest. The pain was fairly agonizing and similar to what I felt after the Port Dickson race. Fortunately, it began to subside after some time.
Pak and Samuel had suffered a crash during a breakaway in the middle of the race, and both had minor abrasions on their arms. Ouch. After everybody had had enough rest, we rolled round the corner towards River Kuai Hotel at Kanchanaburi. Checked into our rooms, I washed the laundry and Sam cleaned the bikes. Went down to the hotel café to have a quick lunch followed by a short nap. Woke up at 1800 for dinner back at the café, Went to 7-11 for 1.5litre of green tea, then returned to the rooms for a debrief of stage 1 and a briefing for the next day’s stage. After a refilling of bottles and packing of bags, we were ready to move off the next day.
Lights out at midnight.
Stage 1:
Distance: 120km
Average Speed: 37.2kph
Average HR: 165bpm
Ascent: 225m
22/4/2004
Stage 2 of TOE. Woke up at 0500 for breakfast. 5 hours of sleep was really quite insufficient considering the fact we had to be on the saddle at least 4 hours everyday. Everybody made a resolution to sleep early the following night but it never happened as we always had too many things to prepare for the next stage.
Stage 2 had a King of the Mountain(KOM) stage as the halfway mark. Race started at 0800 with small rolling hills as I rode with HM, readying myself for the real climbs as the other national guys were in front of the peloton, bridging and launching attacks on their own.
When the KOM climb started, I found myself struggling on 39x27 gearing as I saw everyone overtaking me. Looking back, I found myself among the last few riders. Max overtook me in the support vehicle as he went to support the guys in front. I had gotten dropped - big time. After the 5km KOM climb, the final half of the stage was 60km of rolling hills, as I rode with strangers and chatted with English-speaking Thais. I took extra care in descent as it definitely wouldn’t be fun to crash at 60-70kph downhill.
While rolling towards the finishline alone, I found myself happy to have gotten through it all. When I went to the van, I learned that HM had crashed. That got me really worried as I was told that he went down (pun intended!) on one of the descents. I seriously hoped nothing had happened to him. I checked his bike and helmet and everything looked okay.. Maybe it was just a minor crash.
After walking towards the finishline and back, I finally saw HM walking out of an ambulance, his blue ascender jersey torn badly and with a bandage on his face. I was certainly glad that big bird was alright. We loaded everything up, the bikes going onto the 3-tonner, and took a 3 hour ferry road to the other side of a dam.
Checked into a relatively classy resort. Did the routine washing of the bike and doing the laundry. Lunched and napped. Woke up and had dinner at an open-air place with all the other teams. There was a concert going on – an enjoyable plethora of dances and songs, all things Traditional and Thai. But what really concerned us was feeding our stomachs [and ourselves, obviously] sufficient food.. A video was shown of when Singaporean riders arrived at the airport, the race, and post-race.
I managed to take a photo with a really cute girl. She was really sweet. Cute and had braces on her teeth. ‘Braces Girl’ was apparently in the same van as Sam and I as we went to the jetty to take the afternoon ferry and I truly found her exotic. Funny though, the last time I was in Thailand I never felt this way – but then again, that last time happened to be when I was still a kid..
Lights out at midnight.
Stage 2
Distance: 126.5km
Average Speed: 30.5kph
Average HR: 151bpm
Ascent: 1165m
23/4/2004
Stage 3 of TOE. Wakey at 0500. Usual stuff of breakfast and packing up. It had become a routine and everyone had begun to get used to it anyway.
Stage 3 was supposed to be a flat stage with some rolling hills. It was good news as I was pretty tired of climbs. Was 28mins down the GC for juniors, with Andrew Teal from Anza being in first position. I wondered how he had the same sponsored bike as I did, but how had he improved so much in climbing? Concluded that he must have worked harder than I. HM sat in the support vehicle helping Max with logistics; he had bent his steerer tube during his crash and was unable to carry on with the tour.
The race went fine, with small rolling hills and the feedback from the support vehicle helped a lot as we were able to expect the kind of terrain that lay just ahead: flat, hill. rolling flat, rolling climb. big climb… etc.
I got dropped during one of those rolling climbs, but somehow managed to bridge the gap back to the main peloton with the help of a Thai junior rider. It would have been nasty to get dropped on every stage of the tour, so I resolved to finish with the pack this time round.
On the last 10km, there were 2 massive crashes which I managed to escape. I guess it’s all about luck sometimes. If you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time, then you would have gone down yourself. I jumped off the road twice during the final 10km in order to avoiding colliding with the rider in front of me and in the final 200m, one rider went down at high speed. Fortunately, I managed to swerve and finish stage 3 safely.
The good news that bore itself over the team was that Pak had placed 2nd in the sprint. We were happy for that. At one part of the race we, as a team, had gone to the front and pulled the peloton at high speed together with team BMW Cannondale.
After the prize presentation, we checked into yet another resort; I did feel the previous one was better. Everybody managed to give their bikes a good wash and degrease their chains, all ready for the next day’s stage of tough climbing.
Dinner was followed with some chatting while holed up in our rooms, all to escape the heat. After the briefing for the next stage and making sure we were well-prepared, we resorted to rest…. For the final stage.
Lights out at 2300.
Distance: 137.8km
Average Speed: 36.9kph
Average HR: 150bpm
Ascent: 895m
24/04/2004
Stage 4 of TOE. Finally: the last stage. Everyone was comparing the size of their largest and the discussion concluded that 27 teeth was the minimal for surviving climbs. The starting pace of the race was fast, and apparently the rolling start was non-existent. Got dropped right at the beginning and had a lot of chasing up to do to catch the pack. KOM started right at the 20km mark. Cycleworx riders John Clark and Nick Swallow both crashed at the bottom of the climb, but both managed to catch up with the rest eventually. I slowly rocked myself up as I saw the gap widening, shifting between 23/25/27 gearing for a better climb. The KOM was much shorter than expected and yours truly grouped up with 3 CX riders as we made our way through the rolling hills. At a point, I felt strong and launched an attack with some Thai riders but once the steep climbs begun, I found myself riding alone. It was a big mistake to have brought only breakfast bars with me. I realised that I hardly had much time to open the bars and chew - energy gels were a much better option. Note to self: lesson learnt. The 20km-long steep climbs led me up as I worked alone. On the final 1km of the steepest climb, a wrong maneuver had forced me to unclip and push the bike up. I noticed a lot of riders were doing so too.
By then, the leading veterans [who had started 10mins later than the juniors and elite] had caught up with me. As I clipped in and continued to ride, Uncle Ben also caught up with me. He wasn’t really in a mood to chat as he was busy chasing a veteran in front. Then came an extremely steep down-slope that, even by squeezing my brakes hard, left the bike still careering at 60kph as I prayed hard that my tyres would hold.
The remainder of the race was rolling flats coupled with strong winds and I rode to the finishing line with a fellow Thai rider whom I had also ridden with in stage 2. Had quite a chat with him during the final few kilometres. As I crossed the finishline of the final stage, I raised my hand up high and cheered as I knew I’d finally completed the whole tour. The feeling of achievement was really great and it was nice to have riders complimenting me for finishing the tour on my first attempt. I was indeed proud of myself and very glad that I had finished the race safely.
Our luggage was packed into the van; bikes went onto the 3-tonner and we had the 3- hour ride in the hot van back to River Kuai Hotel in Kanchanaburi. Everybody was in a cheery mood as the race was finally over and a holiday mood took over. After dinner and shower, we toured the town and rode toot-toot vans. Had noodles at one of the road side stall, took neoprints with the guys and bought some Heineken beer at the supermarket.
Later that night, after packing our bikes into boxes, all the riders met up in my room as we munched chips and drank beer to cool us down. I bonked out after 2 cans and hit my head on the table lamp as I slumped into a drunken stupor. The guys went back to their own rooms as I fell asleep..
Lights out: time unknown.
Distance: 93.7km
Average Speed: 27kph
Average HR: 145bpm
Ascent: 1315m
25/4/2004
Everybody woke up an hour later than usual, had breakfast and loaded the bike boxes up the 3-tonner one last time; the van carried us for the final stretch back to the airport. Everybody was anticipating to get home. Managed to get 2 bottles of Hugo Boss fragrance for 20sgd. That was because the TV screen that John, Eddie and I shared wasn’t working so the chief steward gave us a 50usd gift voucher each. That means I’ll have more fragrance to last me yet another year.
My parents were at the airport to receive me. Andre was there to pick up the bike box and other bags that Max had brought along. Bid everyone farewell as I met up with the Ascender guys for coffee and chat at Starbucks. It was great relating the whole experience as we looked through the photos HM took. Everybody went home in cabs as both HM and I were tired from the trip.
Summary
Being in the first tour of my racing career, it was indeed an unforgettable experience. More importantly, I remain safe. Had actually harboured a phobia of crashing after the Respeda incident. I guess, ultimately, everything depends on luck, skill and concentration in avoiding trouble.
Through this race, I also managed to discover my weakness in climbs - had always considered climbs easy until I experienced the Thai gradient of slopes that Singapore’s slopes can never attain. I will definitely motivate myself further and train harder, working on my weaknesses, and polishing my strengths.
Upcoming Race: Respeda Fraser Hill Gap
SACA ITT
‘I wanna be bigger stronger ride a faster bicycle…’
Tour of Egat
20/4/2004
Team Singapore met up at the airport just in time for check-in. I’d landed myself there with help from Max and Andre. Kelvin from Ascender came to send HM and I off. After some food and drink at coffeebean, we boarded SQ64 –bound for the Kingdom of Thailand.
We arrived at Thailand’s International Airport in the afternoon. After loading our luggage [and bikes!] up an army 3-tonner, we boarded van number 3, which brought us to our first hotel at Supan Buri. The 3-hour-long ride was hot and sweaty as we began to have a taste of Thailand’s notorious heat.
By evening, we’d checked into the hotel and were pretty happy with the nice lodging. Had expected lousy lodging for the tour, but it turned out pleasantly otherwise. I was paired up with Samuel and we shared a room. HM bunked with Max, Arab with Eddie, and Pak with Junaidi.
The first thing I did was fix my bike up and go for a spin. It was my first time doing so and took me quite a long time. Everything went alright in that hotel carpark. During dinner, we loaded ourselves with great Thai food - not forgetting gargantuan amounts of rice to provide us with enough carbohydrates for the upcoming race.
The day ended with a team briefing by Max on what to expect for the race, our goals, et cetera. Everyone was handed a national jersey and I must admit that it felt great to know I’d be racing in national colours. A race radio was handed out to each of us and a radio check was conducted. It was rather fun. Lights out was set at 12 midnight but I was so excited about the race that it took quite awhile to drift into deep slumber.
21/4/2004
Stage 1 of Tour of Egat. Woke up at 0500 for morning washup. Was down at the hotel café by 0530 for an American style breakfast. Everyone continued carbo-loading with fried rice for the much needed carbs for the event later in the day. Went back into the rooms for a final pack-up and everyone was down promptly at the lobby by 0700; we loaded our luggage onto the van and rode off to the race startline…
Everyone was given a muscle rubdown from Max, and it was my first muscle rub ever. Not sure if it would help me much but it sure felt good. A final radio check was conducted on our way to the startline. The gun went off at a little after 0800 as we rolled into the first stage of TOE.
Having had a bad crash at Port Dickson’s Respeda race a few weeks ago, I was praying hard that I wouldn’t crash this time around; was on the alert and ever ready to brake or move to safety. Once the neutralising zone ended, the attack began and information was fed into our ears from those lying in the support car. It was indeed a good experience to have a race radio with me, and pick up the mechanism of information relay.
The profile for the first stage was flat with the exception of extremely horrendous head and crosswinds - I managed to attempt a funky, echelon style of drafting, riding with the guys till the end of the stage. During the last few kilometres, we formed up in a sprint formation, but team leader Pak aborted the strategy as all the other riders were all over the place and we had difficulty squeezing to the front. Hence, everyone of us cruised into the finish line.
The first stage ended and we went to the support van to have our recovery drinks. I realised I had terrible back pain, and had trouble sitting down to rest. The pain was fairly agonizing and similar to what I felt after the Port Dickson race. Fortunately, it began to subside after some time.
Pak and Samuel had suffered a crash during a breakaway in the middle of the race, and both had minor abrasions on their arms. Ouch. After everybody had had enough rest, we rolled round the corner towards River Kuai Hotel at Kanchanaburi. Checked into our rooms, I washed the laundry and Sam cleaned the bikes. Went down to the hotel café to have a quick lunch followed by a short nap. Woke up at 1800 for dinner back at the café, Went to 7-11 for 1.5litre of green tea, then returned to the rooms for a debrief of stage 1 and a briefing for the next day’s stage. After a refilling of bottles and packing of bags, we were ready to move off the next day.
Lights out at midnight.
Stage 1:
Distance: 120km
Average Speed: 37.2kph
Average HR: 165bpm
Ascent: 225m
22/4/2004
Stage 2 of TOE. Woke up at 0500 for breakfast. 5 hours of sleep was really quite insufficient considering the fact we had to be on the saddle at least 4 hours everyday. Everybody made a resolution to sleep early the following night but it never happened as we always had too many things to prepare for the next stage.
Stage 2 had a King of the Mountain(KOM) stage as the halfway mark. Race started at 0800 with small rolling hills as I rode with HM, readying myself for the real climbs as the other national guys were in front of the peloton, bridging and launching attacks on their own.
When the KOM climb started, I found myself struggling on 39x27 gearing as I saw everyone overtaking me. Looking back, I found myself among the last few riders. Max overtook me in the support vehicle as he went to support the guys in front. I had gotten dropped - big time. After the 5km KOM climb, the final half of the stage was 60km of rolling hills, as I rode with strangers and chatted with English-speaking Thais. I took extra care in descent as it definitely wouldn’t be fun to crash at 60-70kph downhill.
While rolling towards the finishline alone, I found myself happy to have gotten through it all. When I went to the van, I learned that HM had crashed. That got me really worried as I was told that he went down (pun intended!) on one of the descents. I seriously hoped nothing had happened to him. I checked his bike and helmet and everything looked okay.. Maybe it was just a minor crash.
After walking towards the finishline and back, I finally saw HM walking out of an ambulance, his blue ascender jersey torn badly and with a bandage on his face. I was certainly glad that big bird was alright. We loaded everything up, the bikes going onto the 3-tonner, and took a 3 hour ferry road to the other side of a dam.
Checked into a relatively classy resort. Did the routine washing of the bike and doing the laundry. Lunched and napped. Woke up and had dinner at an open-air place with all the other teams. There was a concert going on – an enjoyable plethora of dances and songs, all things Traditional and Thai. But what really concerned us was feeding our stomachs [and ourselves, obviously] sufficient food.. A video was shown of when Singaporean riders arrived at the airport, the race, and post-race.
I managed to take a photo with a really cute girl. She was really sweet. Cute and had braces on her teeth. ‘Braces Girl’ was apparently in the same van as Sam and I as we went to the jetty to take the afternoon ferry and I truly found her exotic. Funny though, the last time I was in Thailand I never felt this way – but then again, that last time happened to be when I was still a kid..
Lights out at midnight.
Stage 2
Distance: 126.5km
Average Speed: 30.5kph
Average HR: 151bpm
Ascent: 1165m
23/4/2004
Stage 3 of TOE. Wakey at 0500. Usual stuff of breakfast and packing up. It had become a routine and everyone had begun to get used to it anyway.
Stage 3 was supposed to be a flat stage with some rolling hills. It was good news as I was pretty tired of climbs. Was 28mins down the GC for juniors, with Andrew Teal from Anza being in first position. I wondered how he had the same sponsored bike as I did, but how had he improved so much in climbing? Concluded that he must have worked harder than I. HM sat in the support vehicle helping Max with logistics; he had bent his steerer tube during his crash and was unable to carry on with the tour.
The race went fine, with small rolling hills and the feedback from the support vehicle helped a lot as we were able to expect the kind of terrain that lay just ahead: flat, hill. rolling flat, rolling climb. big climb… etc.
I got dropped during one of those rolling climbs, but somehow managed to bridge the gap back to the main peloton with the help of a Thai junior rider. It would have been nasty to get dropped on every stage of the tour, so I resolved to finish with the pack this time round.
On the last 10km, there were 2 massive crashes which I managed to escape. I guess it’s all about luck sometimes. If you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time, then you would have gone down yourself. I jumped off the road twice during the final 10km in order to avoiding colliding with the rider in front of me and in the final 200m, one rider went down at high speed. Fortunately, I managed to swerve and finish stage 3 safely.
The good news that bore itself over the team was that Pak had placed 2nd in the sprint. We were happy for that. At one part of the race we, as a team, had gone to the front and pulled the peloton at high speed together with team BMW Cannondale.
After the prize presentation, we checked into yet another resort; I did feel the previous one was better. Everybody managed to give their bikes a good wash and degrease their chains, all ready for the next day’s stage of tough climbing.
Dinner was followed with some chatting while holed up in our rooms, all to escape the heat. After the briefing for the next stage and making sure we were well-prepared, we resorted to rest…. For the final stage.
Lights out at 2300.
Distance: 137.8km
Average Speed: 36.9kph
Average HR: 150bpm
Ascent: 895m
24/04/2004
Stage 4 of TOE. Finally: the last stage. Everyone was comparing the size of their largest and the discussion concluded that 27 teeth was the minimal for surviving climbs. The starting pace of the race was fast, and apparently the rolling start was non-existent. Got dropped right at the beginning and had a lot of chasing up to do to catch the pack. KOM started right at the 20km mark. Cycleworx riders John Clark and Nick Swallow both crashed at the bottom of the climb, but both managed to catch up with the rest eventually. I slowly rocked myself up as I saw the gap widening, shifting between 23/25/27 gearing for a better climb. The KOM was much shorter than expected and yours truly grouped up with 3 CX riders as we made our way through the rolling hills. At a point, I felt strong and launched an attack with some Thai riders but once the steep climbs begun, I found myself riding alone. It was a big mistake to have brought only breakfast bars with me. I realised that I hardly had much time to open the bars and chew - energy gels were a much better option. Note to self: lesson learnt. The 20km-long steep climbs led me up as I worked alone. On the final 1km of the steepest climb, a wrong maneuver had forced me to unclip and push the bike up. I noticed a lot of riders were doing so too.
By then, the leading veterans [who had started 10mins later than the juniors and elite] had caught up with me. As I clipped in and continued to ride, Uncle Ben also caught up with me. He wasn’t really in a mood to chat as he was busy chasing a veteran in front. Then came an extremely steep down-slope that, even by squeezing my brakes hard, left the bike still careering at 60kph as I prayed hard that my tyres would hold.
The remainder of the race was rolling flats coupled with strong winds and I rode to the finishing line with a fellow Thai rider whom I had also ridden with in stage 2. Had quite a chat with him during the final few kilometres. As I crossed the finishline of the final stage, I raised my hand up high and cheered as I knew I’d finally completed the whole tour. The feeling of achievement was really great and it was nice to have riders complimenting me for finishing the tour on my first attempt. I was indeed proud of myself and very glad that I had finished the race safely.
Our luggage was packed into the van; bikes went onto the 3-tonner and we had the 3- hour ride in the hot van back to River Kuai Hotel in Kanchanaburi. Everybody was in a cheery mood as the race was finally over and a holiday mood took over. After dinner and shower, we toured the town and rode toot-toot vans. Had noodles at one of the road side stall, took neoprints with the guys and bought some Heineken beer at the supermarket.
Later that night, after packing our bikes into boxes, all the riders met up in my room as we munched chips and drank beer to cool us down. I bonked out after 2 cans and hit my head on the table lamp as I slumped into a drunken stupor. The guys went back to their own rooms as I fell asleep..
Lights out: time unknown.
Distance: 93.7km
Average Speed: 27kph
Average HR: 145bpm
Ascent: 1315m
25/4/2004
Everybody woke up an hour later than usual, had breakfast and loaded the bike boxes up the 3-tonner one last time; the van carried us for the final stretch back to the airport. Everybody was anticipating to get home. Managed to get 2 bottles of Hugo Boss fragrance for 20sgd. That was because the TV screen that John, Eddie and I shared wasn’t working so the chief steward gave us a 50usd gift voucher each. That means I’ll have more fragrance to last me yet another year.
My parents were at the airport to receive me. Andre was there to pick up the bike box and other bags that Max had brought along. Bid everyone farewell as I met up with the Ascender guys for coffee and chat at Starbucks. It was great relating the whole experience as we looked through the photos HM took. Everybody went home in cabs as both HM and I were tired from the trip.
Summary
Being in the first tour of my racing career, it was indeed an unforgettable experience. More importantly, I remain safe. Had actually harboured a phobia of crashing after the Respeda incident. I guess, ultimately, everything depends on luck, skill and concentration in avoiding trouble.
Through this race, I also managed to discover my weakness in climbs - had always considered climbs easy until I experienced the Thai gradient of slopes that Singapore’s slopes can never attain. I will definitely motivate myself further and train harder, working on my weaknesses, and polishing my strengths.
Upcoming Race: Respeda Fraser Hill Gap
SACA ITT
‘I wanna be bigger stronger ride a faster bicycle…’
