I've not riden for at least 2 weeks since my last tyre punture and by stroke of fate, Geoff K gave me some groupset for me to *upgrade* my bike.
So, as you could had imagined, i was pretty excited. Even wifey could see the excitement. The bike was shouting "RIDE ME" when i collected it on Friday.
Who won't when you bike now are equipped with:
This - Ultegra STI
These - Ultegra Hubs, Dura Ace 9sp cassete and Mavic Pro Open Rims
These - Ultegra FD and HG chain
This - Dura Ace RD
This - Ultegra Brakes
And now look like this:
OKla...maybe the pink handle grip looked more gay
Looked like a million dollar to me!
Only thing left is the Ultegra crank which can't be fitted in because the BB given was of British size and this bike requires an Italian sized BB. (Can i call my bike Italian Stud now?)
The (in)famous "gear kaki", which Shazly aptly call them was replaced with an adapter to accomodate the cable housing for the STI to function. Pretty usual for older bikes where the shifters were at the Downtube of the frame.
Was - The Gear Kaki
Now - Adapter from Campagnolo
The total overhaul cost me a hefty RM175. Which i had to borrow from wifey. No pay still this month!
OK. Back to the ride.
Basically the ride route are pretty famous amongst roadie. It starts along the Hulu Langat road, in this case, we started at Batu 14 because it's easier to park the car. From there, we headed towards Batu 18, passing by the hot spring at batu 17. Then turn left and headed towards Semenyih/Kuala Klawang junction. From there, turning left would lead the rider towards Kuala Klawang, which is where Genting Peres is. Turning right will bring one towards Teratak Tekala, my playground when i was mountainbiking back about a year ago.
The route is of rolling hills, you get hill climbs and you get downhills, a good rider could finish this 60km route in less than 2 hours, but in our case, it was more of a recovery ride for the guys which went to Kenyir Tri last week.
Bacin and Dickie started from Bacin's house at Batu 11. Meaning Bacin and Dickie would had clocked in about 70km last Saturday.
Nice weather, great company
The ride was pretty fun, with only Bacin suffering from a tyre puncture WHILE waiting for me and Chips. A stapler got into the tyre and burst the tube. Along the way, the MSN kids were doing their fast lap, with their support vehicle close behind. There were other roadies too, which took the oppurtunity as it was a holiday on Saturday.
The route was pretty scenic too, leading one to cycle around the Semenyih Dam/Water Treatment area. Imagine Batu Dam, but only bigger.
6km before we reach the refueling point, it was a flat and downhill. Most of us would had touched top speed if we cared to pedal hard. I touched a fast 69km/h, which is really fast on the road bike, a new record. previously on the 5 speed or the 7 speed cassete, i ran out of cadence, i find myself pedalling so fast the motion rocked the bike up and down, but this time, even without pedalling, i was going at 69km/h. And that i could only attribute it to the smoothness of the Ultegra hubs.
I can't wait to pedal it down my usual route to see if i could go faster than my usual speed!
We stopped for drink and some food before heading back the same route, only this time, the ride was a bit faster as we teamed up to draft each other. Dickie was fast, going at 50km/h at one time, drafting behind a motorcycle. The rest of us mortal could only go at about 35-38km/h....
The ride ended 2 hours plus later. Here is some detail of the ride.
Wasn't even pushing
Distance: 59.29km
Time: 2:19:15
Ave Speed: 25.5km/h
Max Speed: 69.6km/h
Ave HR: 123bpm
Max HR: 156bpm
Cal burned: 2300 Calorie
I took my time to familiarise with the new bike drivetrain. I must admit that on my first hour when i was riding the bike, i subconciously reached out to the downtube to the shifter, only to laugh to find them not there anymore. Shazly only realised that i'm using the STI towards the end of the ride, that was when i found out he refer my shifters as Gear Kaki (or Leg Gears, as it appears as if you need to use your leg to shift).
Oi...Maner Gear Kaki?
I had my bottom bracket and headset serviced as well. The whole drivetrain was ultra smooth, perhaps because i was riding on a bike which were creaky. The shifting very positive and it just felt, great.
Now, i have to justify this upgrade with more training, i can't possibly embarass the previous owner of the bike and the previous owner of the groupset, both which are really good in what they do in the sports and ultra generous with their *gifts* to me.
I'm truly blessed.
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