Last weekend I went for my first road bike ride and my second horse riding competition.
In preparation for the bike ride and future rides, I got a pair of cycling shorts, helmet and cycling gloves. The pair of Pearl Izumi Attack shorts I got are a good fit but wth, at the back it looks like I'm wearing an incontinence pad! And it sure feels like carrying a huge diaper when I walk around in it. But compared to others it is the most comfortable shorts which made up for its more padded appearance. I picked up a rental road bike, Specialized Ruby at Incycle which cost around 3.5k. The service person helped me adjust the seat and taught me how to take off and on the wheel for loading into the car. It seems that each time I go there the cutest guy in the shop is happily helping me which I'm not complaining about.
Early Saturday morning I met up with two long-time and very fit cyclists and we drove up to Glendora Mountain Road for my first time road biking. I was so excited but also a little apprehensive in that I didn't want to be too much of a burden for them. Also I didn't want to embarrass myself too much because I have problem getting on and off the bike (similar problem with mountain biking). It just doesn't feel comfortable with the seat so high such that my feet can bearly touch the ground without me leaning to the side.
We went up Glendora Mountain Road which is 8miles long. I was surprised when we got to the top - I thought we'd have a lot longer to go. It was even more surprising when everyone kept on saying how fit I must be for my first time road cycling and already going up GMR!
The descent in a sense was more tiring than going up. I was braking throughout in case I pick up too much speed and do a flying dismount. Everything I do is hindered by my rather unfounded EXTREME fear of falling - hell, I even had nightmares about falling off cliffs. So we went down at 10mph initially and reached around 20mph at the end. It felt good going down, I can imagine it must feel like flying descending at 40mph!
This cycling experience was so much fun! Now I know why people love it so much - I'm already getting addicted to it! You get to see the scenery while working out while feeling that you are getting out more than you put in (on a nice road bike) not to mention the amazing speed.
The next day I had my second horse riding competition. This time it was Walk/Trot/Canter. There were 6 people competing and I was surprised to see some of them there cos I know that they've been riding forever! So I was nervous and it didn't help that I was late for the show (no surprise there!) and we had to quickly tack up the horse. It also didn't help that Virginia the horse that I'm riding has trouble picking up the correct lead when she's tracking right. I just learnt how to tell leads in my last lesson and my instructor told me that if she picks up the wrong lead when tracking right (which is 100% of the time) I should slow down to a trot and try again such that the judge knows that I know that I'm on the wrong lead and I'm trying to correct it. That was exactly what I planned to do in the competition.
The competition was divided into 2 sections, Equitation and Pleasure. In the first section, when we cantered tracking right I tried several times to correct the lead but to no avail. At the end of the competition, the judge said to me that I have trouble picking up the canter. I explained to her that this horse always picks up the wrong canter when she tracks right and so I had to slow her down to a trot and start again. You know how some people just look like bitches - well she was one of them and she certainly didn't disappoint. Anyway the results came back and I was pronounced last - f%#@. So in the next section of the competition, I totally ignored whether my horse was on the correct lead or not and just went with it. I knew I wouldn't be last this time round - I came 5th, second last which was still bad!
It's not a good feeling to not come first and an even worse one to come so behind! Yet the people that I'm competing with has been riding much longer than me. The person with the least experience has 3x the experience as me. Still I can't help but to feel disappointed...On the bright side, this motivates me to improve.
I just got back from the gym, when I started working out on the cycling machine, next to me came an extremely fit looking guy dressed in full cycling gear. As we were cycling he kept on looking at my display to see how many calories I'm loosing. Is he trying to compete with me?! He should pick someone his own size. In 35min I lost 350 calories and he lost 580 calories. I don't think I can compare with him, but the fact that he is so interested in what I'm loosing perhaps means I'm doing pretty well. During the cycling he was sweating profusely and at the end he proceeded to rest on the floor of the gym. Anyway, in summary I lost 457 calories in 45min on level 15. I should up my game next time.
