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Etape du Tour 18 July 2010

Monday, 19 July 2010 13:23 Snail Queen

Congratulation to Kona James who amazingly complete the Tour of Etape in 7h08m so should be well placed! Dr. EPO Siong, Halal Haram Martin, Baby Larry, David Newlenes, Peter Downs, Bengali Scott, Richard Praice, John Wootton received gold medals @ the finish line!

Fraser Hill Tom, Pascal, Rob Palmer n Snail was 'force' stop@ 172k last water stop - time limit. We were disappointed as we had only 9k to go but in a way thankful we don't have to suffer the heat n the steep route!

Overall very tough route with 10000 participants, getting tothe starting line was slow and on our first climb, it was so congested that we had to push 2k up!

-Snail Queen

p/s:

Like to add in Ian Parkinson who did us proud by finishing in a good time! I remember him telling us that he went and tested the Tourmalet a few days before the race! Well done; Ian!

Message from Ian:

I had a really tough time getting up Tourmalet, climbing itin 2:40, 1hr more than last week. I managed 8:50 in the end

*********************

Meanwhile the snail is stuck in France because the FranceAir Traffic Control is on strike!

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 13:39

The Queen Rides Engadin Radmarathon

Thursday, 22 July 2010 13:09 Haram Halal Martin

Snail Queen arrived safely at Zurich airport on Friday evening 9th July.... looking alittle tired though from her cattle class flight from Dubai

Saturday we drove the 170k down to the Engadin region of Switzerland (that's down on thebottom right if you look at the map near Italy - the Engadin is reckoned to be one of the most beautiful parts of Switzerland - it contains the ski resorts of Davos and St Moritz amongst many other things).

Joyce had been busy working on her Italian (male) network - which was good since a very nice Italian guy called Gianni was waiting to meet us at the race registration in Zernez - he spoke no English and us no Italian - communicated perfectly.

Sunday morning set-off for Zernez and the start of the rad (means bike) marathon. There are 2 options - a 97k route or a 211k route (I'll attach the map of theroute). We did that shorter one since the Etape lay ahead for us 1 week later (see Joyce's post).

Straight out of Zernez we started climbing the first ascent of 3 through the woods of the Swiss National Park and the border with Italy. To get to Italy we rode through an old single lane mountain tunnel - nice and cooling and especially good drafting behind some people as I was doing. Then out of the tunnel you are on Lake Livignio (a long way down some steep cliffs) and then we rode along Lake Livignio and through the border into Italy...another beautiful part of theride.

Even though I pushed ahead on the downhills and drafted wherever possible....the Snail kept coming and would meet me at the food a few minutes later. Food stops, photo shoots and Italian friendship (you can imagine how popular the Singapore Snail was with all the Italian men she seemed the meet at every turn)- so our time in the end was a nice 4:25 - but real moving time quite a lot less.

From Italy back to Switzerland we went over 2 mountain passes - Forcolapass andBerninapass - again fantastic. After which it was a long run downhill and flat most of the way back to Zernez. After going down from the Beninapass as fast as I dared (I touched 75kph but others went a lot faster...) the Snail came past on the back of a good train she'd managed to catch - so I jumped on the back and enjoyed letting Joyce's legs get me home (bit like I do down Lim Chu Kang).

Back at the end in Zernez we celebrated with our new found Italian friends (more good rides in Italy to come in 2011+) and some traditional sausages (Bratwurst)...okso nowhere near as satisfying as my Bah Kut Teh with kidney/liver at HongLim...but hey - you can't have everything (well not everyday at least).

There are only about 900 riders in total so the whole event has a small cozy feel -typical of Switzerland - but very well done...and stunning scenery.

We were the only Singaporeans (ok Malaysian PR + Lifelong Ang Mo...) there so they were very pleased to have us - apparently a first for the event now in its 5th year. I suspect in 2011 there may be a few more now, perhaps?

If you want to see our routes and you use Garmin Connect then check out the rides I uploaded (usename is "mwharam")

-Harem Halal Wharam

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 13:19

The Queen Rides in Dubai

Friday, 09 July 2010 13:28 Snail Queen

The Snail Queen rode in Dubai en-route to Switzerland and France. Here're photos taken in Dubai where `Father' Adi `Ali Baba' took me aride with the 40 `thieves' known as the Dubai Roadsters.

Route is flat and they are fast and they have added advantage of great smooth million $$$ roads!

-Snail Queen

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 13:30

Introducing Team Ultimate Weight-weenies ...

Sunday, 25 July 2010 09:36 administrator

Charles Baey, Bernard Johnson and Kampong Boy have just joined Pascal Pong and Spartan John as the most aerodynamic JRs in the group.

Very very long snaking Q at Vivocity today, with lots of walk-in volunteer shavees in addition to the pre-registered shavees. But we got express treatment as a group. We were all really apprehensive but we walked up to the stage and like Phil Knight says 'Just do it' ... Bernard was the coolest cat among us. My kids were having a good giggling time though.

Before:

After:

Next up is Dr Steve Tucker who had to miss the main event due to travel commitments.

Thanks to all who donated to the cause. If you haven't it's still not too late to do your part.

Every gram counts.

-Kampong Boy

Last Updated on Sunday, 25 July 2010 09:41

Joyriders going bald ... Hair for Hope (then Hope for Hair?)

Thursday, 24 June 2010 13:00 administrator

Support Team Joyriders as we put on their bravest face on while they lose our crowning glory ... all for a good cause!

Dr Steve Tucker, Charles Baey, Bernard Johnson and Kampong Boy Calvin have bravely stepped forward to raise funds for Children's Cancer Foundation in this year's Hair for Hope.

Come down and show your support for our riders at VivoCity (Central Court) on 25th July 2-3PM for the big shave.

Most importantly, your financial support is very important to the children. We encourage you to make a donation towards this shared cause. Please donate generously.

Click on any of the rider's picture below to make an ONLINE donation. Do help each of us to achieve our targets!


Charles Baey	Kampong Boy Calvin	Dr Steve Tucker

	Bernard Johnson

Check this website again after the 25th July to see the shiny-ness after their big shave.

:-)

Last Updated on Sunday, 25 July 2010 09:34

Joyriders Desaru Expedition May 2010

Tuesday, 01 June 2010 12:53 Benjamin Low

‘Masochistic Cycling’ through a Rookie’s Eyes
a.k.a The Joyriders, dey must-a be krazy.

I could’ve sworn there was a conspiracy that day. There was a head wind wherever we went, terrain as hilly as an ECG graph (which probably does the same to our heart rates!) and the sun beaming a sadistic smile! At the Desaru Golf Course, I wondered, “Who would be crazy enough to tee off in this blistering weather?” Then I realized we had close to 50 cyclists tackling 110 Km of rolling terrain under these conditions!

Many of us tried to draft the 1^stpack, going in excess of 40 Km/H – bad idea! The likes of ‘newbie’ Flo and Dr. EPO Siong were something else altogether. Then again, Flo is a mountain-biker-turned-roadie a la CADEL EVANS while Dr. Siong is ostensibly on EPO (the performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin). BAD DOCTOR! :P

But if you thought their cycling was crazy, think again! While most of us were huffing and puffing, budding videographer ShyGuy Scott was casually riding up and down the group snapping pictures of everyone! If you noticed, this superlative only had one chainring on his bike – THE BIG ONE! Off the grapevine, word has it that Peter Woo drafted a car! He had a slight scrape from his adventure when the car braked but my boat-mates wondered if he was focusing on something else – perhaps a pretty young lass. That seems more plausible than drafting a car don’t you think? Or perhaps he was doing both!

On another note, I’m sure we were happy to reach the golf course after the first half. Water, delectable ice kacang and cans of 100 Plus made our hundred-plus kilometer route less daunting right? That is until someone said, as we retrieved our bikes, “we’ll be taking the same route back”. “Same route ah? Heh hEh heH…” and soon the rest of us started laughing in that happily exhausted manner. A swig of water later, we were once again proving that the golfers were of sounder mind. Thankfully, Douglas gave us a Grand, exotic seafood lunch to dash towards (what was in that curry dish?)! Now we know who should plan the next JR post-race meal! (*Hint hint!*)

All in all, I daresay we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly on this trip. The arduous route and elemental, wind-sun conspiracy only served to enhance the sweetness of our victory. Take a look at your hands and legs – your victory stripes are branded where your shorts, sleeves and watchbands end. Well done to all Desaru Veterans! Now, who’s up for Genting??
© Benjamin Low C.Y. (31^st May 2010)

Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 June 2010 13:49

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