Convinced myself to go for the Rodalink West ride as planned despite the slight drizzle just before i left the house. Kinda lazy as I have to cycle 45 min to get to the start line but well that's actually pretty decent for transport time except for the bad 6:30 pm traffic. The ride was once again quite brutal. I was in the initial 4 man break which was caught just before the Tuas checkpoint due to the traffic light. Later the pace started to take it's toil on me and I was just struggling to hold the wheel of the guy in front of me at 45kmh. My strength had withered by then and I was unable to pull at the required pace and promptly dropped back into the draft. It was not a good idea either to have followed the sudden acceleration of the guy infront of me when he attacked at 50kmh. I found myself trying to hold on, but within a few seconds it was one bike length, then 2 bike lengths and I was already blowing up at maximal effort. So i just sat up and found myself in no-man's land. Waited for the other 8 dudes to pass before I latched on behind again. A few managed to bridge up to that fella in front and they were pulling away but were caught at another traffic junction. From then on I just followed and sucked wheels and once again attempted to launch an attack before the final sprint but failed. Calves were still cramping from the earlier torture.

Some of the guys were insanely strong in the group. Like this guy who was in front pulling at 45kmh for a really really long time when I was crampy and suffering while drafting. And the guy who attacked at 50kmh looked like he was... 19? I dunno.

In an earlier post I was wondering if they would have forgotten about me due to my 3 week abscence, and maybe I would lose my job. Well turns out things are still fine as I just got my MINDEF notification from 6 August 8am to 18 August 12pm. Time to get myself ready for AHM. Then maybe I can decide whether I should buy new wheels.. Hur hur. Or a new helmet. Or new shoes. Ha ha. Nah, after today's ride I realise the real limiting factor is myself. I should buy supplements or something like that.

It suddenly dawned on me that I had not cycled at all for an entire week! I wanted to do so this morn but woke up and heard the sloshing of cars along wet road. I promptly took a peek out of the window saw the wet road and rain drops and the next moment I was back in the bed... Well, it didn't even take me more than 1 second to convince myself that cycling in the rain and down Mt Faber on my grabby brakes was worth the risk of both health and limb. In the past I would have just jumped on my bike rain or shine... but I guess I've become either more careful or weaker. I dunno, I just don't feel like doing such things anymore. Maybe the cost and risk out weigh the potential benefits? Anyways I can cycle later if I really want to.

So I ended up doing a slow jog in the morning (hours later) instead. It was pretty nice running slowly again after so long. It was.... slow. But relaxed, so it was a good run.

Maybe I will go and swim tomorrow. Maybe....