V-Day in Copenhagen

Cool pic taken by Sean Scott. Off to Copenhagen within a few days. That’s where my Valentine’s will be spent. All for the love of track cycling.

Good Luck Beijing

Immediately after Sydney ended, the whole track cycling caravan packed up and moved on to the next venue which was held as a pre-Olympic test event in conjunction with the 2nd World Cup. We flew Malaysian airlines via Kuala Lumpur which was an eight hour/six hour flight with a three hour lay over in KL. On our flight was the Dutch team, part of the American team, Spanish team and Mexican team. I slept for most of the flight so it went by pretty fast. Theo the Bos and myself were lucky enough to get upgraded to Business so our flight was made even better by the fine service we received. The MAS crew knew who we were so it was nice to get the additional royal treatment.

The track in Beijing was very well designed. Everything from the building to the actual track itself was of Olympic caliber. They heated the infield to a warm 30 degrees but I think on the actual track it was about 25-27 degrees which was optimal for some fast times.

Our team sprint changed two members from Sydney. Instead of Junaidi, young 19 year old Edrus (we call him Eddie the “Eagle” ) stated us out in a very solid 18.2. Not bad for a young kid who was doing a start for only the 2nd time in competition on a 250m track. I think there is a lot more to come from this talent. I felt pretty good despite having a horrible cough and a sore throat. My split was a 13.3 which was 6th fastest out of 27 teams! I was happy to have been slightly faster than Jason Quelly’s split. My split was also slightly faster than one of the German and Aussie teams. Rizal anchored and did a good job with a 13.9. We had to be happy to shatter our national record with a 45.5. Our previous best was a 46.2. It was good enough for only 13th place which was a real bummer because 12th place is when the points end!

The following day was my pet event, the Keirin. I felt quite confident and was eager to get it on. I was in heat 5 out of 6 heats. The same cut throat rules applied as in Sydney with only the winner qualifying to the semi finals. I had Kevin Sireau of France in my heat so he was the only danger. The fiesty Greek rider also posed a threat as he can cause some havoc. I decided to take the motor and control from the front. I believe a Spaniard or Czech made the first move and I gladly let him take over and defend from 2nd position. Coming in bell lap the Greek made a move so I had to commit. Then came the super speedster, Sireau. I threw a decent hook and drag raced him to the finish but out of turn three I started to sputter. He powered through and I had lost the battle. That took a lot out of me. I rode it very well tactically but Sireau was just too strong.

I tried my best to recover from that but in the Rep about fifteen minutes later I was still gassed. I didn’t even have enough to make a move. Another French, Arnaud Tournant took the win easily and that was the end of the line for me. Better luck next time.

We had to quickly pack up move on. Our next destination was Korat, Thailand. I had to skip the sprints the next day and travel to the South East Asian games. Yet another long trip in our hectic schedule. It took all day and we finally arrived at the Games village at 1 am. And guess what, today I had to compete only 15 hour after we arrived. Luckily it was only a 200 meter qualifier. My first time on the track was when I had to actually ride the 200m. That wasn’t ideal but I had no choice. I still managed an okay time of 10.62. Enough to break the Games record and qualify first ahead of my teammate, Azizul.

Tomorrow, we have the quarter finals and on Wednesday, we have the semi’s and finals. Wish me luck. Cheers!

Perth Cycling Grand Prix

My training partner Mark French and I will take a 3-4 hour flight to Perth, Western Australia tommorow to face of against the British Olympics team in the Perth Grand Prix.  They are having a training camp there and so it will be good for everyone to gauge how well we are going prior to the world cup in Sydney at the end of the month.  It will be a long day for us as we fly out tommorow at 10am, compete from 7-11pm and take the 12.30 red eye back to Melbourne and arrive at 6am on Saturday.  That will be almost a 24 hour trip so hopefully we can take bits and pieces of naps throughout.  Wish me luck!

Happy Merdeka Day!

Happy Birthday Malaysia.

My birthday present will be representing Malaysia. This time round will be the Asian Cycling Championships 2007 at the Hua Mark Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Reached around 5pm after a long flight from Los Angeles.

The velodrome seems to be open-air and it’s a good thing that our hotel is 10 mins away from the velodrome. There’s a little bridge and a river here that would lead us to a market, costs only 15 baht (approx. RM1.50 / USD$0.50)! How cheap is that. Currently at the cybercafe which costs 10 baht (approx. RM1.00 / USD$0.35) per hour.

Back to Malaysia, more stories on Bangkok soon.

Here’s something to share with you guys:

Where men eat the most junk: China

• Number of take-out or fast-food meals consumed per week: 5.51
• Runners-up: Malaysia 3.53 India 3.47

Source: http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100168474&page=3

Well, all that junk makes Malaysia unique! Awesome food. Junk or not, we determine our food intake, no?