"I was on my way to the old Woodlands housing estate to meet Mr.
Yusoff Hasbi to collect my new national racing jerseys. I was very
excited as it was my first time taking part in a stage race. I had
no idea what a 7-day tour race was like, and was about to find out!
"
I packed my bike like an idiot - without any advice - and it took a
whole day! Everything just didn't seem to fit into the carton box!
"
Most of the seniors in the team were not too friendly to this rookie,
and neither were they ready to dish out advice. Bicycle racing, in
those days, was pretty negative when it came to friendliness. After
we met up at the airport, we boarded our Singapore Airlines flight,
ate the usual SIA in-flight meal, and with a screech of the landing
gear, were in Jarkarta!!!
"
I spent the whole day trying to fix my bike while the others were busy
unpacking their gear. After lunch, we left the hotel for a short ride.
"
The first stage of the race was from Jarkarta to Sukabumi, a distance
of about 130km. Nobody told me we had to climb, and nobody told me
what climbing was about! Heh! Heh! I found out the hard way about stage
racing - the fast and slow speeds, the nervous feed zone hand-outs,
the high-speed corners and bends - but most of all, the crashes!!!
"
All the way, I was chasing and closing gaps at 50 kmh, trying to stay
up-right between mouthfuls of banana and fruit cakes, and trying to
wash all that down with Coke! Finally, I made it to the front only
to realize that the reason why everyone was slowing down... was that
we were climbing! The speed went down from 45kmh to 25kmh and I still
couldn't keep up as the road went upwards.
"
So, I packed in my first stage race on the first stage... so much for
tour racing!!! Heh! Heh! As usual, those who didn't finish became "porters" for
the team. So, there I was, carrying bags for the others and I thought
I was there to race bikes! I spent the whole race with a bruised ego
and being a "bell-boy" for my country! So much for my experience
as a first timer!!!"
