Amoi rides in the kampungs: CNY Ride to Pontian with JEC (31 January 2017)

Pontian

Paceline

Somewhere out there!

"I wanna pee, then move"!!!

Such statements will certainly fuel the imagination, especially at 7 am on the 4th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year! Which shop will be opened? Where can one answer the short call of nature??

In the enormity of the whole situation, all men appeared calm when they picked Claudine up at the butterfly interchange. None bore the constricted look of someone who's about to wet his pants.

As Claudine fell into the paceline, Leo dropped back to sweep her. Everyone kept up with the pace until the Eco Botanics roundabout. But just as predicted, when the men hit the the slope, they were "Gone in 60s".

While Leo patiently kept by her side, Claudine stubbornly deflected his advise to change to a smaller chainring, adding on to his frustrations!!! Finally catching up with the rest at the traffic lights, they rode on to the next one at the cross junction with Jalan Ulu Choh.

Here, Claudine was caught off guard when the lights turned green while she was chugging water down her throat. Thankfully, BG waited and guarded over her, much to the chagrin of drivers on the road.

RACE, CATCH UP, DROPPED.....repeat! Time and again Claudine will lose out big time at the tiniest slopes. Time and again, Matt and Wayne slowed down the pace for her to catch up.

Arriving at Pekan Nanas, the slave drivers allowed a short 5 minutes or less break. Then, they hit the road again!!

At Pontian's motorcycle lane, Leo and BG took over the helm, giving Wayne and Matt a rest. Moving all the way to the end of the paceline akin to a changing of guards, Wayne was to begin his sweeper duty....but did NOT!

A mere gap in the paceline made Claudine loose her edge. Unable to catch up, she dropped further and further behind. Calling out to Wayne for help, he gallantly stepped in but it took them awhile to catch up and for Leo to realize the line was broken. When he did, he fell back to pull her at a more comfortable pace, allowing the rest to progress on their own.

Pontian arrived in no time at all. Circling the blocks in search of sustenance, the team had to go around twice, as most shops were closed. They finally settled for chow mien and fried carrot cake at a new food court which turned out old fashionably good.

The ride back was more punishing. This time, no stops were allowed! Keeping up well with the men up to Pekan Nanas, they soon disappeared into tiny silhouettes after Uncle Lim's. By then, Claudine had ordered Leo to go ahead while Young, rode with her. He too, was feeling the strain but averaging at 28 kph, he was coping well on his 3rd ride!

The men were spotted waiting at Petron, Taman Prima and yet again at the SILC's traffic lights. When the lights turned green, they did not roll but wait up for a final regrouping.

Bent on clocking an auspicious 88.8 km, Claudine said her goodbyes. Besides, the hill ahead was daunting and she was too tired to continue the chase! As for the rest of the team, they returned to base slightly short of the "Huat" number. Still on the topic of "short", one rider was definitely a few millimeters shorter on one leg....Wayne's cleats finally gave way.....RIPPED or RIP???

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Epilogue

Finally recording the desired 88.8km, Claudine rebooted her Strava and rode on an additional 50km, allowing herself a Kit Kat break at Points, One Medini. Quoting Winnie the Pooh, "it's a rather blustery day", she finally threw in the towel and returned to the comforts of home!