Ronda Riadah Mega Ride 2011

The 5 km “friends and family ride” before the race was fun. My Cape Epic partner Mike and I worked our way up behind the leading police patrol car and outriders with their wailing sirens. It was quite an experience to be part of this convoy of 2000+ riders making their way through the community.

The start to the main event was a bit of a chaos as people jostled for position at the start line. Mike and I planned to race as a team but got separated early on. Nevertheless, the initial ride was at the usual fast pace but without any major jams.

The trails were fast and very rideable consisting mainly of palm oil plantation fire roads. And one can't ever get lost in this event as it was probably the best marked race with generous shredded paper and tapes laid literally every few metres.

I got into a rhythm after the first 10 km and the overall trail was positive, with some nice (read: lung busting) climbs and fast descents. The last quarter of the race was a muddy affair but fortunately the local fire department had hoses set up to spray down returning participants!

 

I came in 29th position in 3 hours and happy with my finish as I recover well from the dengue fever.

Mike's Account:

Another Sunday and another local race in Malaysia for two of the Team Singapore Cape Epic crew as we go for as much race experience as possible prior to March.

The ‘Ronda Riadah Mega Ride 2011’ is billed as a ‘collaborative effort between the police and community in pedalling to curb crime’ and consisted of family and fixie events held alongside a MTB 50 km challenge. Organisers claimed participation of 2000+ riders with about ½ taking part in the MTB event.

The previous few days saw lots of rain falling in the area but the morning started out overcast and pleasantly cool and dry. After starting with a slow pace group ride racers were asked to re assemble at the start line and when the flag finally dropped the pack followed a chase car on pavement for a few km’s before heading off road into palm plantations.

The fast pavement start began the process of spreading out the pack but I was able to hang onto the front group until we entered the double track so as not to lose time in case of bottle necks. The Malay national team road riders were present and had control of the pointy end of the pack from the start. I found their pace too fast to hang on to so settled back into my own rhythm to save energy knowing that we still had a long way to go.

The trails were a nice mix of short sharp climbs followed by muddy/rocky descents, and double track palm plantation. The crew had done a bang up job of trail marking using shredded paper and plastic tape so no wrong turns this race.

I was being chased by a small group but was able to open up gaps on the descents and tight single track but then gave back most of the gains on the climbs. Gradually the gaps got wider and I was able to chase down a few guys in front. This was the 2nd race and only 3rd ride for the new Epic 29’er and it performed like a champ in the mud smoothing out the trail nicely and best of all … no chain suck.

About ½ way through the race I still felt strong and was slowly picking off some of the riders that had pulled away in the front pack earlier on. At one point a couple of riders had difficulty negotiating a particularly nasty sand/mud section that sapped leg power if your wheels sank or your picked the wrong line. The 29’ers big wheels made it through with ease and I gained 2 places as a result.

Rain began falling in in the last 30 minutes of the race making the trail even more slick and challenging. Some of the more innocent looking puddles we hit at speed turned out to be over the axles while others that looked menacing were only inches deep. That made for some interesting riding.

After clearing the last check point it was a sticky muddy ride to the finish with no riders appearing from behind to challenge.

Was pleased to learn that I placed 4th overall and was just 11 mins off the national rider who took 1st place. The Garmin showed 2:31 with average speed of 19.3 km/hr.

Plentong Epic 2011

Team Racing Singapore Cape Epic raced in the Plentong Epic 2011 across the causeway in Johor, Malaysia. There were over 1,000 participants with a large contingent from Singapore. The 50 km trail was set in typical Malaysian rubber and palm oil plantation and some secondary jungle. The fire roads and single tracks were fast and very rideable, except for some initial traffic jams and short stretches of muddy trails due of the recent wet weather.

The Team's perspective:

Morten in 8th place - "The race finished off with one giant climb and at the bottom of the hill I had connected with the Giant interstate team. We all knew the results was likely to be found here, I was sixth in the group but did not have enough power to attack so I was also sixth at the top. Going down on the last decent I passed Alvin from Entro, and got up to one Giant rider.

Out on the tarmac, and I knew this would end in a finish line sprint if I did not get away soon. I got a second or two and pushed hard, but he came right back on my rear wheel. Then he attacked on the last 300 metres, we both gave it all but he had 20 year younger legs than me and beat me in the sprint. Positions 8,7,6,5,4 all finished within the same minute in 3 hours 4 minutes. I was best rider from Singapore (and Denmark)."

Mike in 35th place - "I had a really good run with no mechanicals or crashes but lost time and had a fight on my hands in the 1st stage to clear the 1/3 of riders that decided they should start in front of the people that did the right thing and lined up early.

It was an ego boost to keep reeling in riders in front in groups of two or three at a time and I just kept focussed on pulling in the next wheel and being creative when there were pinch points.

It was a super fun course with the mud adding excitement on the corners and hills. Much more single track than I expected and it was a really well laid out and supported event."

Lars in 38th place - "Just before the start my rear tyre was spraying sealant all over the place, so I put on a tube. Luckily I was done just when the start went off, while I thought I had another 15 min. A few small crashes (off the bike during river crossings), where I twice injured the old injuries on my knee. Otherwise I had a nice ride.

Due to the recent dengue fever, I struggled physically as my body was still not ready to take the work I tried to make it. Nevertheless, I pushed myself to the absolute limit and finished 38th."

Ching Soo in 78th place - "I had a enjoyable race, considering that I just had viscosupplement treatment for osteoarthritis on my left knee 10 days ago, and the dengue fever 4 weeks ago.

I got stuck at the start line, and the traffic jams for the first hour was frustrating. It would have been better if the first 10 kms did not feature single lane bridges or technical sections as these created such bottlenecks."

All in all, a well organised, supported and fun race. Thanks to the Johor Cyclemotion crew for yet another successful event!