just crank away

was awake for a while after i hit the bed... think the endorphins had run its course, and i started to have doubt creeping into my mind.. was asking myself, "why am i doing this? why am i torturing myself, and yet achieve nothing substantial? so what if i can cycle 50km/h?" i realised that my life is slowly revolved around cycling, around training, around my bike.. have i become a showy person, only wanting to tell pple how fast i am, how nice my bike is? i don't wanna become someone who goes around saying, look, i've got the latest ipod/psp/massage chair/laptop/toaster/running shoes/smartphone with the best voice recognition/sensor technology/hundredth second accuracy/screen resolution blah blah blah..

then i realised, i'm doing all these, not to prove a point to others, but to prove a point to myself. doing all these does shape me into a better person. it has given me confidence, peserverance, faith.. now, whenever i face a difficult hill, i know that all i have to do is tuck my chin in, grind my teeth and crank my pedals away. there's no other way but up. or when i encounter choppy waters, i know i have to keep moving, keep moving one arm ahead of the other. or when the road is long and winding, i know that i'm not alone. and that i can (and i will) overcome. anything.

anyway, collected my race kit today. nice number, huh?
if u wanna come down and support me, pls liase with my fan club. email your name and contact no to zhenchangisthegreatest@gmail.com, and someone will get back to u with details such as venue to meet, what colour to wear, the various cheers, etc etc..

i broke the speed barrier!!

hmm it's more my personal barrier than a speed barrier.. but still, 52.9km/h is kinda fast.. the first time i hit past 50km/h. haha...

Well, this was what made it happen..

my first Tri

4th Nov 06. 750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run.

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused.

Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track interchanger. You could have made the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make. Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child.

You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was a rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing
to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place? Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how far-sighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The friend who forwarded me the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!

this could be the answer i'm looking for

thank God for the long weekend!!

and such a wonderful one too.. not going back to work untill wed, cos of the deepavali and hari raya hols, and mon is SR for me. and so i'm catching up on my training. wrote out a training schedule, and i'm quite happy that i've been able to follow it so far. fri night was a 30km ride, sat was a 15km ride - 20lap swim - 15km ride which took up the whole afternoon, then did a recovery run today after service. tmr will be a swim-run thing, and tues will be a well deserved rest-day.. haha.. gonna take the chance to settle some banking stuff tmr, and then i'm having a sushi buffet with my church frens.. been a while since i had sushi, so so so looking forward to it!!

oh, thank God that the haze was kept away for these past few days. i was able to train without feeling that sticky feeling in my throat. and today too. there wasn't any trace of haze at expo, even though when i got back home the haze was still around.. let's pray that the haze will be gone soon!

still can't reach 50km/h. not sure if the limitations is due to my bike or due to the "engine". or maybe it's both. the fastest i reached was 49.something km/h, a few times. but i'm not worried abt my top speed, i'm more concerned abt how to maintain a reasonably high speed, say abt 35km/h, for at least 10km.. hope i can further "finetune" my engine, and bring out the best in my bike. =)

quote of the week: obstacles are the frightful things that appear when you take your mind off your goals.

we contributed to Singapore's defence today

nope, that wasn't the moon

PSI ah, PSI...

Yippee!! The haze cleared up a bit today, so without hesitation i went for a 15km cycle followed by a 4km run. not much distance, but intention was to test out my new cycling jersey and my new running shoes. hee.. can't say much abt the jersey since it's the first time i worn one for cycling. but the shoes are good! worth every cent of it. as advertised, it has more width to cater to asian feet, and it allows my toes to spread out to give more propulsion per stride. lightweight yet with enough cushioning to last the distance. plus, it doesn't hurt that it looks cool, and it matches my cycling jersey.. hee..

think i have enough motivation for my training. cool ride with cool gear.. just that i need more free time, and clear skies!!

p.s. thanks pris, for making me feel good abt my bike. =)