Cycling in Asia

I was having an interesting discussion with a friend yesterday and we had a differing view of a cycling issue.  Everybody knows the concept of getting ‘dropped’ when you go on a group ride however we were discussing how many times it is possible to get dropped when you do a single ride.  Yesterday for example….a group of six headed into the final stretch of a round-the-island (RTI) ride onto Changi Coast Road.  The group quickly became a group of four as two of the riders just could not keep up with the pace of the stronger riders.    Being gentlemen, the Strong Four waited for the weaker fellows at SAFRA golf course to join the group for the last bit down East Coast Service Road.  Once again the two riders fell off the main group, not once, but twice, before hitting the ending point of Fort Road.  So the question is, did the riders get dropped multiple times, or is it a single phenomenon that can only happen once during a ride?

This weekend’s RTI was destined to be a good one….especially after the horrible experience we had last weekend (4 flats, 2 ripped tires).  We had seven riders to start only losing the IT Marine who was AWOL.  We met up at the base of Mt. Faber and started the ride at 0630 Saturday morning.  The first bit was easy as were were able to sit behind a massive group and keep a nice pace of 37km/hour with minimal effort.  We coasted all the way to West Coast and then decided to power ahead of this big group….only to be stopped in 500 meters with our first and only mechanical of the day.  The Kolpak Bar Assist was deployed so we had to stop and fix this before carrying on…this was welcomed by the weaker riders for sure.

After fixing this issue we headed back out and quickly hammered out the rest of West Coast Highway.  As per usual, we hit Kranji runway and the speed picked up considerably….I snapped this photo from the finish line of the guys approaching me.

We stopped at the usual drink station on the other side of Kranji to refuel for the remainder of the trip.

Lee, David, Nicolas and Warren at Kranji Drink Stop

At the drink stop we were discussing which route to take:  Sembawang with its rolling hills, or Mandai.  Lee was keen on Mandai where he had a dream that he dropped me last week on the ‘hills’ there.  So we decided to take Mandai and test out this theory.  I was on the front and I was very keen to make sure that no Pinarello Sky Dogmas passed me on this road….this was easy I thought. I knew I was putting out a decent pace but there were no challenges,nothing…I quickly learned the reason was because we had dropped Lee even before hitting Mandai!  Now he has mentioned something about a train crossing however I have never seen a train at that railway crossing in the 12 years I have lived here…..anyhow I will be honest and give him the benefit of the doubt that he was waiting for a train.  After Lee and Warren rejoined the group we headed down the road on the way to Seletar.

Lance on Mt. Loyang?

Mt. Loyang is a small hill but there were rumours that Lee would launch a devastating attack there to punish the group.  Lee, who fancies himself as a climber, has been virtually training at home and was confident he would win the day with this attack.  We started up Mt. Loyang at a fairly easy pace as the peleton was on edge waiting for this attack…with only 200 meters to go, there was still no attack.  With the peloton stalled in confusion, I decided it was time to punish Lee who had been very active on the blogs, email and Facebook all week (see below some comments from Facebook).  With a powerful surge, I darted ahead, turned and gave a long, slow Lance-like stare to Lee as I shot by him, and noticed that ‘agony of defeat’ look across his face.  He had no chance and most painfully he knew it. 

We headed to Changi Village for a drink refill and the next challenge ahead was the Changi Coast Road- a place where many groups part ways based on skill, strength and pure power.  After a brutal showing on Mt Loyang, I was sure that Lee was going to try to redeem himself on Changi by ‘putting the hammer down’.  And this is really where the question at the top was talked about.

The six of us headed off towards Changi Road at a nice pace. I pulled David Pan aside and told him that we should launch an attack at the traffic light and he laughed and said ok.  So we started the main road and took turns on the front at a respectable 35-40km/hour.  We quickly passed Kim and her group who were doing a slower ride and had left Changi Village before us.  After a couple of kilometers I was on the front and then out of nowhere David Pan flies by at 50+km/hour and says’ come on Jeff’.  Now first I was tired from being on the front, second that was not the traffic light, and third there was no way that he would keep that pace up on his own for the rest of the road which was probably 5km to go.  While I initially tried to latch on I could not and neither could anybody behind me.  After 100 meters or so when David tired out we regrouped as a group of six once again.  It was not long that group became a group of four as the strongest riders quickly upped the tempo to a 40-45km/hour pace.  Saxo Bank and DP could simply not risk their Bintan legs to keep up and decided to slow down a bit.  Later that day when Kim arrived home she said ‘What was wrong with Lee, we almost caught him?’  Anyhow Nicolas, Warren, Kolpak and I hammered out the rest of the road and then waited for the others at SAFRA golf course.

Lee and David Pan rejoining the group at SAFRA

So back to the question…there was no doubt that Lee and DP were shot out the back and dropped on Changi Coast Road.  We waited like good buddies and nice cyclists (Blackhawks welcome) and then started back down East Coast Service Road.  Once again Nicolas said ‘they are off the back’ as we headed 4km or so down the road.  Once again we stopped and waited to make sure they were ok.  Lee had said that he was dropping back to help David out.  David, who was sick, rode an awesome ride given how much he was coughing.

Lee and DP rejoining the group II.

The two riders approaching were actually a young Chinese couple…Lee and DP were the next riders but by that time I had put my camera away.  Anyhow we once again regrouped not to look back until the end at Fort Road.  We rode out the final kilometers and upon arrival at Fort Road realized that Lee and DP were gone.  The core group kept on riding and I turned off to go home as I had a lot of things to do and really could not wait much longer.

So the question is…how many times did Lee get dropped? Once or many times?  Not that it really matters but I just want to make sure I know for the next time….