"Hey coach, can you set the alarm clock for me to wake up at 5a.m. so I can go out early to train tomorrow." I mumbled loudly as I was brushing my teeth, ready to sleep from this day's hectic trip to New Delhi....................."Welcome to the 13th Asian Cycling Championship"........I though to myself before I.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Slept well enough to know that I know not what was happening. Alarm rings loud and I hit the re-set button so I wouldn't have to wake up my manager, coach. Five o'clock a.m. so I thought as I changed into my spring gear for the for the cold ride that morning. Good stuff to have around all this spring clothing as I never had to use them at home, we all know how hot Singapore is and can be but none the less always good to have proper attire.

Got out my tiny travelers kettle, wonders around the dimly lit room looking for the switch to make myself a cuppa of my favorite black broth and I'll be ready for all the fury India hath to offer but first the coffee! All this din and my coach sleeps like a baby! The long haul must have been tired him out more than me and I still gotta go my intervals, I have a qualifying ride in a day's time. As I rode away from the hotel and onto the road I tried to recall the road that leads to the airport. The further I rode I remembered seeing many soldiers holed up behind sand bags and machine gun nest................at that time it didn't occur to me that it was dangerous to ride alone, especially in India!

I must have woke them up from their sleep as all of them was peering out from the sand bags and stared at me with looks of utter amazement or should I say, more like lunacy! Here they are trying to sleep when they can't and along comes this crazy cyclist who clearly CAN and doesn't want to!?? I thought I heard words like idiot, crazy fool, stupid etc etc etc.......as I rode pass them but all I could think of was how to say warm and how not to get lost!

If you have been to India you'd understand but try doing it in darkness, on a bicycle and have no friggin' idea where and why you doing it??!! heh! heh!

So I after going on for about a forty-five minutes in this Indian darkness, I found a small circuit that I could ride around without having to tread far off the trodden course. I was alittle worried to go far as I wasn't too familiar with New Delhi........................I only just off the jet and still alittle over whelmed by all this! I rode my little circuit for about 2 hours more or less or like 10 laps and each time I went past the soldiers they would all give me the thumbs up accompanied by a tired mustachioed smile while still clutching onto that mug of hot brew and that old British army relic 7.62 FN SLR.

Funny I could see their smiles in the darkness even till today it baffles me how?? Maybe it is because we all choose to see the good of things and block out the bad? Checked my cycling computer, at about 8a.m. or I thought it was anyways, I did my final lap I waved to the soldiers and made my way back to the hotel. As I made my way through the lobby of this once hip hotel, I couldn't help but notice that it was still dark and quiet for what I thought was half pass 8 in the morning. Wonder where the hell is everybody?.........................then I heard my coach calling out my name accompanied by my liaison officer, all foreign teams had one officer assigned as per normal in all international competitions. My coach sounded anxious and was relieved to be able to find me as he had been up since 4a.m. trying to look for me! Four a.m.! To my amazement, I realized that my alarm clock was still in Singapore time zone and I actually got up and gone riding at 230a.m.! Equally anxious was my liaison officer whom my coach had woken up and summoned to his aid in looking for this "lost foreign cyclist"............................. That's not all, he told me that there was a curfew in India and I could have gotten shot by the same soldiers that was brandishing that same 7.62mm FN while smiling at me and still have enough time to brew another cuppa!

~ the end ~