Sunday, January 20, 2013

2013 01Jan20 - Santos Tour Down Under

While Melbourne is having its Australian Open (tennis)
South Australia is having its next big thing, Santos Tour Down Under
This is the Australian version of Tour de France
Smack right in the middle of Adelaide city 
Tour guide cars sponsored by Skoda 
 
Famous Aussie Kangaroo can cycle too?!! 
The area is split into the Village & Expo 
KS & I first ventured into the Expo, where stalls of merchandises & bikes were being sold 
Santos event merchandise
Too bad its not as appealing as ironman expo 
And the backside of the expo tent is where the competitors village 
Getting ready for ....er...i dunno..coz their race was only in the evening...warm up kua 

 
KS is soooo amaze how skinny these cyclist are
and yet being able to cycle so freaking fast 
And they are off... 
TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO is off 
Introduction to the teams 
Bupa tent
KS & I got our skin checked since Australia is very fomous for its non/lack existing ozone layer 
While waiting for our turn to be inspected by the drs, I played with a cycling Wii game which I seriously sucked at  
Next area was the bike porn area
The whole place is surrounded by big bike names for you to see and demo try
You heard me right...I mean u read right...You can test the bikes 
I went walking around looking for bikes that can potentially fit me....size XS 
Targetting triathlon bikes though 
The famous Cannondale that partner with Chrissie Wellington to win her Ironman World Championship 
Slice!!! 
Pinarelio...yummy 

Trek caught my eye coz of its Triathlon bike..Trek Speed Concept
But it has only a size M...i can barely reach the pedals 
I like BIanchi's colour 
In the end, KS & I went to the Specialized tent to test the Shiv 
My first time riding on a triathlon bike
it was pretty intimidating. I had to have my saddle max down
And the amazing thing is they have a size XS with 700cc wheels 
The handlebar width is 41cm compared to my size of 38cm
A slight difficulty controlling going between aero & upright coz of the size.
I felt like i was zooming down the road.  
Took our momento photo as Skoda's photo booth

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

2012 Dec31 - New Year's Eve

I remember celebrating New Year's eve in Malaysia.
1st mapping where the fireworks are held.
Otherwise, just find a volunteer's house to gather at.
2010 - In Penang cycling the Fellowship NY ride across Penang Bridge


This year in a new country, new phase and new traffic jam?
Actually no. With the city <30mins along="along" at="at" away="away" celebration="celebration" drive="drive" elder="elder" nye="nye" park.="park." river="river" s="s" span="span" style="text-align: left;" the="the" torrens="torrens" was="was"> 
A stage was setup with everyone gathering around it. You won't find trouble around as this was a Alcohol Free Zone. It's safe for families & kids around. 
Hungry from waiting? No worries. Overpriced food is there for your picking. 

We parked ourselves away from the crowd (the river is quite long)
Laid down my picnic blanket & we chatted till midnite.
Nibbling on snacks & a bottle of lemon lime bitter
Gotta make sure i dun overdrink coz really don't wanna go fighting for the toilet
 
We didn't even know it was the struck of midnite until the fireworks started.
Maybe there was a countdown 3-2-1 closer to the stage.  
The fireworks session lasted for about 10-15mins 
I had experience of bubble falling down into my eyes at the Curve
Ashes in Puchong as fireworks was shot-up from buildings & down to the spectators
Here is smoke...there's always something somewhere 
I have to admit, what i love is the non-traffic of cars & humans
But I miss having this celebration with my family & friends. 
Here's me & KS wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2013!!
Lighting my very own little firework to start off the year!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

2012 Feb26 - Tokyo Marathon

Cold morning with about 2km walk from the hotel to the start line at Tokyo Metropolitan Building.
Very good warm up I guess.
Never afraid of getting lost because the streets was packed with runners.
After our last bad experience of loosing everyone in the start of Seoul Marathon in 2011, we made sure we planned properly where to meet up to prepare & after we have dropped off our bags.
KS with Siok Bee & Ray
Let's not forget me...ekkekeke.... 
Preparing ourselves...time to undress...along with everyone
Last pic together before we get separated into our gates
As usual, KS would be in the faster gate than most of us....cheh!!! 
Would you believe it, we needed to walk nearly 1.5km to our start gate of 4:30hrs
Good thing we timed earlier to start our walk. Actually more like shuffle. 
Cold cold...shuffle shuffle 
 The start of the waiting gate was colourful already.
Trying to warm myself on the spot because the wind was whoa!!
Confirm late start because alot of us kept looking at our watches & complaining.
Once the gun went off at the starting line, everyone cheered.
Guess wat?! Another 1km walk to the starting line.
Shuffle again. Waving at the VIPs 
There it is!! The starting block!! wOOHOO!! Tired already.  
Course Map taking you around the sights of Tokyo
Our first turning was to Shinjuku.
The whole route for the marathon hits the big sights of Tokyo. 
 
I knew that once I hit 5km and looking left and right
The camera just kept coming out.
OMG!! HOw to focus!!! 
Such a cloudy day but the crowd kept everyone cool
Really colourful crowd too 
 
Santa & Ninja

And you are never lonely along the way 
I'm actually trying to take picture of the "castle" 
Volunteers were also waiting for you.
All shouting "Gambante!!!" Makes you feel so ompphh!!!
When I had the breathe to say something "Arigato! was relayed 
I think that's the Imperial Palace garden 
This event only has the 42km & 10km distance 
And 2 lucky runners completed their 10km distance
To the right is the entrance of the Tokyo Tower
Oh, just to mention, there are 2 major u-turn points where you'll be mental enuff to see the the other side running back. 
 
Big fighter dude can run a marathon...so can u
Even a guy in a maid costume 
I'm still smiling so all still good at 15km 
1st U-Turn point at Shinagawa St. 15km point
Tokyo Tower at a distance
World peace with no fights with costume Arabians
I can never understand on mobile phones during major runs 
The famous "Jesus" he's actually a frequent runner in Tokyo Marathon
Barefooted and bare-chested 
Traffic controller with BMW disc wheel cover...whoa...I wan!! 
Ginza at 22km mark 
Its like Bintang Walk with much taller buildings
Amazingly enough I was able to catch a pic of Ben...but not KS...hahahah 
Entertainment along the way 
Mascot too 
Last U-turn point, Asakusa at the 28km point
As you can tell from now, it is a majority flattttt route.
If you want to focus & get a PB, you need to ignore everything around you.
But, I'm a runner tourist...running with a camera. Like I'm gonna ignore this
 
30km on the way back....
Guess the school "girl" is tired too 
"Pickup" bus for runners who is unable to meet the cut-off time at certain distance markers 
Soooo tempting to help myself with miso soup and sushi but it is also important to train digestion than to indulge. So self control was intact. Thank you mina!! 
The one and only uphill bridge
A little stretch of the back, hamstrings & quads. 
My face tells it all at the 38km mark...4km has very seem so far  
Guess we're only human...every 1 step feels like half a step which makes the distance longer
OMG!! Tokyo Big Sight!! We're heading to the finishing line 
Is that it?! Legs is moving faster 
Side track focus to McDonald....hey...I see korean Ronald McDs!!
The last stretch and everyone is walking or even a slight jog. 
So freaking happy at the 41km mark!!
I had to take a photo of it!! 
1km more to go....goosebump raising in my arms!
Appreciating the aura!!! 
Supporters of families & friends cheering you on!!
Time was a sucky 4hrs 48mins 
but I had made up my mind that I was gonna enjoy my run instead 
First time I see volunteers ready to help you take your finishing photo
Simply Amazing!! 
Hydration is important because the cold would dehydrate you too 
Finisher Towel 
Finisher medal 
Just keep walking for more free stuff...its good how they don't clutter the resources... 
But then its a fair distance to walk...like usual...Tokyo is really big 
And this is the map to where to collect your bags (O_O')
Direction was pretty good. And every corner I walked, the volunteers kept saying Omedetou! 
Walking towards our warehouse luggage 
I'm just wondering how the organisers is able to get so many volunteers. 
After picking up our bags, we were directly to the next warehouse Dressing Room 
I wish I could join them, but once I sit down, I will never get up.
Most importantly is to regroup 
Once we've changed out into our warm clothes, we were directly to another hanger for grouping 
So happy to meet up with everyone...hmm..except Ray.
He must be really enjoying the run =p 
 
Sisters, Bee & Leng with Yee Hua 
 
I like the event, the organisation but not a place for PB.
Might try Seoul again instead, but Tokyo is a city of entertainment for me