I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running ’round my brain
A #bigkidmoment feature by Rashid.
Big kid moment, every one should have these, are moments we take for ourselves to indulge in things we love. It is us doing something special, extraordinary and exhilarating. Doing something a kid would do on a whim, because that is what kids do.
Battle your inner weakness and come out stronger on the other side. We always think, “I can’t do that”. If only we shifted our thinking, “I can do that!’ Then we will always have our big kid moment.
Last Sunday Rashid became a Centurion. This is his story.
They say ‘any idiot can ride a bicycle but it takes a special kind of idiot to ride 100 mile on a bicycle.’ That is 160km in our money.
That special kind of idiot was me!
I do not want to sound too drama king’ish but I rode my 2nd attempt at a century ride last Sunday while enduring a pain in my left hand from a silly fall few days prior. Not excruciating pain but painful nevertheless. The 1st attempt is another story on its own, a DNF, so this was something special and I was desperate to become a Centurion. May the 4th had something to do with it, perhaps?
And I did it – I AM a certified CENTURION when I crossed the finishing line after almost 6 and half hours on the saddle and 1 good hour by road side resting my feeble legs and 53 year old heart.
King of Pain
Big bold tick in my bucket list as a pseudo-semi-pro Cyclist, read out of pocket to finance this hobby unlike pros who are getting paid to enjoy their passion. What were not in the bucket is a sore gluteus maximus and an aching lower back.
Like all endurance weekend warrior athlete, I am inundated by annoying FAQs. Why do it? Why now? My answer and I wager many of my sort would say the same, why not and why not now? Many weekend warriors are Centurions so I was under some sort of peer pressure. You know the kind of pressure when you missed a 4 am Champions League game on telly but still want to contribute to the conversation about the game over lunch? In this case post ride Teh Tarik session.
The King’s loot
Bragging rights for the post ride Teh Tarik sessions
I lined up on the starting grid at RTC Gopeng, Perak in the early morning of Sunday 6th May 2018. My two buddies, Junque, a double idiot as this was his 2nd CR, and MJ, CR virgin like me, were with me on that line.
The Three
We started way back as gun time was not our concern. The GOAL was to finish. To finish, the strategy was to cross 140km within 6.5 hours, then we will be home free towards finishing line. Our plan was simple. Short stops at all four water stations; 50, 75, 110 and 140km and beat the required cut-off time.
The route on the map did not involve too much climbing. I found out later in the ride, that this notion was only in theory. On the ground, though, the route was a different beast, an all too real different beast.
The route, simple enough on paper, a different beast in reality
The experience was less dramatic than my IJN ride, as the route is generally flat. And I was better prepared this time around in terms of training and race strategy. Throughout the race, being diligent in my refuelling and pace.
Push down and pull up.
Chase, no drafting
Comrades, Centurions. Where is the Jedi?
downslope, but first you have to climb
So there is no mile by mile blow on this one. The common denominator on this and my IJN ride, was, there were moments when I felt like giving up. After 140km, was the toughest part, already tired, the route was a never ending slow gradual climb. The heat was borderline unbearable at 42deg C towards the end. This was when the same VOICE kept cropping up in my head urging me to continue and finish the full monty – 163.5 km to be exact. My legs sometimes just felt disconnected from my brain. And without the special VOICE wired in me, I would have given up.
You can train as much as you could but at the end it boils down to strong will to complete the race
All three of us finished and got our medals with bragging rights that come with it.
Centurions!
The conversations at Zubair Bistro the mamak shop, will never be the same after my weekend rides. As I am now a Centurion.
There is much more to share; call me a hopeless romantic or philosophical fool the take away folks is this –
100 mile on a bicycle is as close as you can get to the meaning of life.
100 on the saddle, thumbs up
Oh… for now, it will be only 30km fun ride for me until I decide to be an idiot again.
He will be! & He will be back here to tell that story. Congrats Centurion Rashid, Junque aka Zubaidi & MJ. #bigkidmoments are the best.
Come run with me!
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