Jelajah Tour: Stage 6

Stage 6 was a long stage of 175km but unlike the others, had two category 3 hill climbs. Fortunately, they were early on at 21km and 44km. My job was to make sure Mart got over the climbs and chase any dangerous breaks. 

As we approached the first climb the pace in the bunch went up. It was a gradual climb for around 3km with the last km getting a little steeper. Halfway up, Jaan's chain dropped off. He stopped to fix it. 50m later, Mart's chain jammed in his rear wheel after his cassette rattled loose. I stopped to give him my wheel but he could not get his out. After what seemed an eternity, he finally got his wheel replaced and began his frantic chase. The team car had arrived and I received a new rear wheel as the back of the convoy was approaching. 

I jumped back on and tried to keep pace with the cars. Mart caught back up to a group but unfortunately, the race had split in two, with the leaders around 100m up the road. He chased again to try to bridge the gap but with so many hills and the fast pace of the group, he didn't make it. 

I worked my way through the cars and caught a group of around 10 riders. The convoy continued to speed on past us and it was clear we were well behind the bunch and was not going to catch them. We rode for another 60km before calling it a day and getting into the broom wagon. 

At the front, we had lost our gc position as mart and Jaan lost huge amounts of time to the leaders in the lead group. 

Needless to say, we were all very disappointed with the final outcome of the tour. If is amazing the difference that one small mechanical can make. 

Jelajah Tour: Stage 5

The organizers wanted to make stage 5 as difficult as possible. After stage 4's late finish we had a 1hr transfer to the next hotel. Then on the morning of stage 5, we had another transfer to the start. To cap it all off it was by far the longest stage with 221km plus 9km of neutral. 

My cold had worsened and to be honest, I was a little concerned I may not go the distance. After the Earthquake in Japan, there was also a Tsunami warning for the area and there was a lot of conjecture as to whether or not the stage would be changed as a result. It wasn't.

There were the usual attacks in the opening km's but my legs felt fine as we chased them down. Three riders broke clear and opened up a gap that hit 5min at one point. Terengganu sat on the front at an easy pace to bring them back. The plan was to catch them just before the finish for another bunch sprint. But they caught them too early!

With 60km still remaining the counter attacks came. Small groups broke off the front as riders were clearly getting tired. Mart broke clear with a group and was well positioned to move up in gc if it succeeded. 

Many riders tried to bridge a gap of around 30sec to the break and Jaan was successful. Eventually, the group contained 34 riders and the yellow jersey rider was not one of them!!

Being Malaysian, the yellow jersey rider had the support of every other Malaysian in the race. They all moved to the front of the chase group to bring back the break. But they did not work well together. One rider would take a huge powerful turn but it would only tire those behind him so they could not find a rhythm. I sat in around 5th wheel and constantly slowed down their efforts so that the break would gain more time. 

With 10km to go, it was clear that we were not going to catch them. Meanwhile at the front, Jann had broken away with another rider and was flying towards the line. He looked like he was going to make it but with only 200m to go, was swallowed up by the peleton and a rider from LeTua took the win and the yellow jersey. Mart moved up to 3rd overall but was tied with one other rider so tomorrows final stage was going to be vital. 

Jelajah Tour: Stage 4

I awoke on the morning of stage 4 to gale force winds and sideways rain and was a little worried. The race was only 89km and dead flat but head directly north up the coast into the wind. 

Fortunately, it was a late start and by the afternoon, the wind had died down but it continued to rain. To cap it all off, my throat was beginning to tickle and I felt the preliminary symptoms of a cold. 

We made our way to the start line in the pouring rain. There was a sense of excitement in the bunch as there were rumors that the stage may be cancelled due to flooding. But it was not to be. 

I knew that I was going to get sick after riding in these conditions and decided to go on the offensive to try and get some bonus time at an immediate sprint. I took off from the gun and after several attempts, finally got a break going just before the first sprint. With Terengganu leading the race with their sprinters, they were not going to let anyone get away. The break was caught 1pm before the sprint. 

I settled back into the group as 3 riders broke clear. The peleton slowed and a gap quickly appeared. Terengganu moved to the front and the chase was on. The peleton flew along at 50kph but the break was nearing the finish. With 5km to go, the bunch was flying at 55kph into a headwind and caught the break with 2km remaining. 

The finish was hectic as the race map showed a corner at 1km and another at 200m to go. Matthias was well positioned at the front. We hit the first corner, but there was still 1.3km to go??!!! Two riders crashed in front of me in the wet but I managed to weave my way around them. We approached the second corner and matthias was in prime position but as we exited, there was still 600m to go, unlike what was indicated on the map!

Matthias sprinted with what energy he had left and finished 6th on the stage, behind the powerful Malaysia sprinters.

Jelajah Tour: Stage 3

After 2 days in the heat we were all hoping for some cool weather for the 159km third stage. Our prayers were answered but not in the politest of ways as it poured rain for the first 120km. Not the showers and sprinkles that we get in Brisbane but full on tropical monsoon rain. Sure it cooled things down, but it also made it impossible to see.

My glasses quickly fogged up so I could only see around ten metres ahead of me but when I took them off, huge drops of rain hitting my eyeballs at 50kph made it hard to keep them open.

Now I am normally a bit of a wuss when riding in the wet. I just don't trust that rock hard 23mm wide tyres are gonna hold onto slippery wet bitumen. Call me crazy. But when you add water with 160 riders going 50kph around corners and I am even worse!

I started well, attacking at the front but as soon as we hit some turns, I was shuffled to the back. It took all my energy and concentration just to fight for my position and and hold my line around the corners. Consequently, I was not in any attacks or chases!

Mart managed to get himself into a good break with the race leader and a few others and it was in his best interest to work together as team Terraganu had already taken the race lead by winning an earlier sprint. Despite this, he did not want to push the break. Meanwhile, in the peleton, Terraganu moved to the front and chased hard to bring the break back. And with 30km to go they succeeded. From here on in, there were a few surges but it was always going to come down to a bunch sprint.

The final km was nasty. At 1km to go there was a sharp right followed by another left turn with 200m to go. Everyone was fighting for position as we approached at full speed. Matthias arrived at the first corner near the front and was 4th wheel as they came out of the last corner. With 100m to go he was in 2nd place but the powerful malaysian sprinters flew past in the final metres to push him back to 6th. A few metres back, I crossed with the bunch, happy to stay upright in the chaotic finish.

Jelajah Tour: Stage 2

Stage 2 was a long stage of 204km that headed north west to the city of Kluang. We headed to the start line into the same heat that we experienced the previous day. We waited in the shade with ice bags on our heads to stay cool before lining up. 

After a hard stage the day before and a long one today, many riders were keen to sit in the peleton and stay out of the draining heat.

The race began in the usual fashion as small attacks attempted to get away. Before the first sprint point, some riders called for a nature stop, which, in Asia, means attack. A large group broke free of the bunch including Jaan and myself. We held the gap until the sprint where Jaan came 2nd and won some precious bonus time. Unfortunately, the break refused to work together as the panicking peleton came back. 

Eventually, two riders broke free and opened a gap of 3min as Tabritz took their time to move to the front. They had a relatively easy day as they ground away at the time gap to bring the break back with 30km to go. 

I moved to the front to try my luck as a spectator on the side of the road dropped his motorcycle helmet. It rolled onto the road and I hit it at 50kph. The helmet bounced off my wheel and went straight up the road where I hit it a second time before it shot off into the grass. 

Fueled by adrenalin, I attacked. After a couple of km's alone, I was joined by three others. Tabritz moved to the front again and chased as we were brought back with 20km to go. 

A lone Giant Asia rider took off and after a few minutes Jaan followed. The final few km's were surprisingly hilly and the bunch was traveling at warp speed for the sprint. 

It all came together for the final km's and it seemed like chaos at the front as everyone battled for position. Jaan and matthias was well placed at the front as a Letua rider launched himself off the front. 

The final spent was slightly downhill and the Letua rider maintained his gap to take the stage win. The road narrowed sharply at the line, causing Jaan to lose ground and cross in 10th place. 

Jelajah Tour: Stage 1

Stage 1 of Jelajah Malaysia saw the race head 162km to Bandar Penawar on the east coast. The stage was dead flat and with 180 fresh riders, everyone was keen for a breakaway. 

As usual, the race started fast, as I followed wheels at the front and hoped for a gap. I managed a small break with 3 others as the first sprint point approach. Well that's what I thought anyway. With 4.5km of neutral before the start of the race, I did not allow for the extra distance and the break was swallowed up before the sprint. 

Despite training in the Queensland summer, nothing could prepare me for racing in Malaysia's humidity and heat. Any effort caused my temperature to go up and I was constantly showering myself in water. During the race I drank 8 water bottles! The only respite was short sections where the skies would open up and pour rain for a few minutes. It was like entering a curtain of water and exiting only a few hundred metres later, back into the heat and humidity.

Several small breaks went and came back until there was 70km to go. Mart attacked to bridge a gap across to a small group. I think everyone assumed it would fail as there was a long way to go and the stronger teams of the sprinters came to the front. 

With 10km to go, the group was down to Mart and the very strong sprinter from team Tabritz. They maintained a small gap of 15sec. In the final kilometres, the chase was interrupted as the peleton turned a sharp right with many spearing off into the grass and some landing in a ditch.

With 1km to go, mart still had a gap and the Tabritz rider attacked. The peleton was bearing down on them at full speed with only 200m to go. Mart could not match the attack but clung on for 2nd place! 

Mart had clearly given it all and said that he lost two years of his life after the day's effort. In hindsight, the Tabritz rider winning was, in a way, a relief as they now had to control the race to protect the yellow jersey.

Man Down

Today saw us cross the border into Malaysia from Singapore. I have never done so without flying across in a plane so to do so in a bus was a new experience. You basically check out of one country, enter a neutral zone before checking into the next. It made me wonder if the neutral zone was one of those places where you can do anything you want and no one can stop you. Like international waters. I wanted to gamble, let off fire works and shoot with illegal firearms.

Anyways... After checking into the race hotel, we decided to go for a ride. The weather here is much like Brisbane in the middle of summer, in the middle of the day. A billion degrees, humid as a tropical jungle and it could rain at any moment. The Europeans on the team suffered in the sun, but so did I. It felt like my head was going to explode.

After 60km, we were 20km from the hotel. One rider, Clemens from Austria, managed to hit a pothole and puncture both of his tyres. With only one tube on us, we had to leave him behind to wait. The plan was to leave him by the side of the road, go back and get the team manager to pick him up. Meanwhile, if Clemens could get a taxi, he would call the manager to let him know.

Apon returning to the hotel, the team manager was in the managers meeting for the race and could not be contacted for 2hrs. We assumed that clemens would simply get a taxi and find his way back. 2hrs later and he still had not returned. We asked the manager if he had received a phone call only to discover that he was using a Malaysian SIM card and the number was different. Surely, Clemens had found a taxi by now.

3.5hrs since we saw him, the team presentations were begining and he still had not appeared. It was time to panic. The team manager tried to call and I went to the lobby to see if he contacted the hotel. As I got back to my room, he walked out of the elevator.

Stuck on the side of the road for 4hrs, he sought shelter at a service station but could not get a taxi. A local man who spotted him, kindly gave him a lift back. Clemens still had his wallet and both his kidneys, but boy was he sunburnt. Perfect preparation for the next day's race!

Overweight

After a long wait, I am finally heading over to Europe! But, on the way, I am stopping in Malaysia for a race. This meant that I had to pack everything I own into three bags and then carry it around for a week.

Most airlines usually only let you have 23kg of luggage. I am fortunate enough to fly with emirates who allow 30kg plus 7kg carry on and a laptop. This has not been a problem in the past as I have several tricks to make my bags appear lighter such as cramming everything into carry on. However, this time I had a little more luggage then I expected.

When I checked in, my bike and suitcase weighed in at 39kg. Sometimes, if you are lucky enough, they will just let it through but I think the entire company was having a bad day. How much extra would it coati to take these few extra kg's with me?? $70? Maybe $100?? Nope- an extra $30 per KG!!!! That is $270 for 9kg!!!

Instead, I chose to repack. I put on jeans over my shorts, two jumpers and filled my pockets. I put heavy items into my carry on and threw out non-essential clothing and an extra pair of shoes I had packed. I went back to check in and... Success!!!

So I repacked everything and went down to the security check. It was really not my day as the security guard decided to weigh my carry on bag and did not accept that my backpack was a laptop bag. All together, it came to14kg, meaning I had to get rid of about 5kg.

I put my jeans and jumpers back on (I was still sweating from the last time), stuffed my pockets and went back up to check in. Still 3kg over, I threw out a towel and another set of clothes (which I am pretty sure the guy took). He then told me, after throwing everything out, that I could only carry on one bag!!! I was pretty close to getting on my knees to beg before a nice lady came over and said 'You are lucky I'm so generous' and approved my bags.

I am now sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Malaysia. I just received my race pack which included two souvenir shirts and a hat. They are gonna go straight into the bin as I cannot fit another item in, no matter how light it is!!

Universal Language...

With riders from so many countries in the Champion System team, sometimes communication can be difficult. Not just when we are having a conversation, but when verbal signals are vital, such as whilst riding in a group.

If you yell out 'car back!' or 'stopping!' in the bunch, some riders will simply look around and wonder what the heck you are screaming about. This can cause problems when you are trying to get a huge bunch to proceed as safely as possible.

There is one term, however, that everyone seems to understand. Scream out 'Pisso!' and everyone will quickly dart to the side of the road for a nature stop. I don't know how or where everybody learnt this, but they all know what it means!?

The Hammer.

As a cyclist, you very rarely use your upper body and consequently, your upper body strength and physical appearance slowly withers away. When riding a bike, this causes no problems and is in fact, a benefit. Many professonal cyclists look like they have been living in a P.O.W. camp; as demonstrated below by the attractive Mr Michael Rasmussen...

When not riding, a diminished upper body can be a bit of a pain. My wife often comments that she can carry more grocery bags than me and when at work, my inability to lift heavy boxes is a source of ridicule for my work mates. (Don't tell them, but I actually use it to my advantage to avoid lifting heavy objects and hard manual labour!) One work mate in particular gifted me the name of 'T-Rex' in light of the dinosaurs' small arms, yet huge legs. Over the past few weeks, 'T-Rex' has been slowly catching on with the others and I was afraid it was going to become permanent. Until today...

With a few spare minutes until we started, I challenged this particular workmate to an arm wrestle, to put this weak upper body myth to rest. To be honest, i did not expect to win and I highly doubt anyone else did either. But I did. At first, everyone thought it was a trick, that I somehow cheated. So we arm wrestled again. And I won again.

This has now become a big source of ridicule for my work mate. As a consequence, he can no longer call me 'T-Rex', but must now refer to me as 'THE HAMMER' whenever he addresses me. Sweet victory.