Oct 4
The Premonition
When you are in the Intercession Ministry of the church, you learn to recognize God's voice, prompting you to pray, for your pastor, etc. Some have the so-called gift of intercession, which includes the ability to pray long hours, or just tuned to the voice of God, telling you what needs to be prayed for. I could hear, or you would say sense, this, back when I was with the Intercession Ministry, back when I still attended church at Faith Community Baptist Church.
It's been a long time since I felt so strongly about something. Prior to my fall two weeks ago, I got a "warning" when I cycled past KK Hospital. I got through, unscythed but slightly shaken. I did slow down after that but I still ignored the warning signs. Outside Thomson Medical Centre, I got into the accident with the cab, and endo-ed (that means bike over heels).
This morning as I wrote my log, and packed my stuffs, the feeling is as strong as it has ever been. Due to some problems at work, I thought maybe it was just my imagination. I ignored it, but it won't be ignored. The 4 buns I nicely packed the night before, and sat on this morning, could not be found as I was getting ready to leave the house. I turned everything up, but didn't find it. My filled Camelbak (that's a water storage with drinking tube) was pressed on as I was searching my bun, and soaked my bed. I ignored it and just used my towel to clean it up. I just couldn't shake off the feeling that I was going to crash today. As I look at my two helmets, the sense that I was going to crash came over me again, and I decided to use the Trek (actually I spent a while thinking if I should use the Lance Armstrong Giro helmet coz it had a better fitting). I tightened, and rechecked the straps around the ears. I contemplated calling Joyce, since Bernard Chow and Esther will be with them and three is enough company to ride through Johore. I felt and retested the helmet to ensure the fitting was good, and tightened the back knob that would secure it further to my head.
I still knew I was going for a crash when I left the house, but I have ignored this kind of "feel" for far too long already. Still it was stronger than I've ever felt it for years. Luke Skywalker? Nah, it's just a blessing from God.
As I left the house, for the first time in a long long time I prayed for safety, and I actually meant it. Most of the time I'm mumbling it and just going through the routine, but I actually said to God that my life was in His hands today. I haven't said a prayer in a long long time. At least not as sincere as what I did today.
As I cycled to Joyce's place I realize my magnet on the wheel was on the other side, and I read 0kmh on the meter. Hmm... another sign?
The Lost Feeling
We started out from Joyce's place when we realize Esther probably isn't going to make it (she doesn't answer call). So we head down to Coronation Plaza where we will meet Bernard Chow, a cyclist from Cycleworx and whom I shared room with at the last Malakoff event. We were supposed to be following the Cheap John group but Esther had to be back for some event about tea time 4pm. If we followed Cheap John, we will make it only for the ferry at 3.30pm and she will be late. Her sister June will be leaving back for Shanghai the next day. Following Cycleworx group who is training for the Tour Of Thailand will bring us up at 6am, back about 12pm. Bernard Chow had earlier invited us and we decided we will go with this group instead.
When we reached Coronation, I told Joyce I didn't feel that good. My nose was still blocked and sore throat still there, thus I can't push. She noted that perhaps it was because we were doing 35kmh. I had thought there wasn't energy when I tried to push on the pedals, and it didn't seem like we were even going fast. I thought I had slowed down a lot, Joyce thought I was going too fast. In any case we got Bernard Chow and he soon arrived too, and we took a very easy pace of 25kmh to go up Bukit Timah. I stayed behind, my feeling of quesiness still there. At some point Bernard decided to put the hammer down, and push the speed up to 40kmh. Joyce followed, and so did I. After a while, he slowed, looked behind - as if signalling to take over - so I did. I pushed at 40kmh (forgot Joyce was behind) but it wasn't difficult to maintain. My problem was breathing, getting air into the lungs, rather than legs being tired. Thus, I was pushing the big gears, which was not good because I normally start with the smaller gears. I do this because on a long ride, I will ride the first half with smaller gears, and move on to the bigger gears when I am tired. If I start out on the bigger gears, I will have nothing left (it's not possible to move on to smaller gears when tired, makes me even more tired) later on. Using the smaller gears however requires more "heart" effort rather than "muscles" effort. Without the ability to breathe properly, I was forced to use the big gears from the start.
I had lost the ability to sense speed properly, but I didn't realize it then (although I had a hint from Joyce, when I was going 35kmh earlier). Imagine pushing 40kmh and not feeling it. On a bike, 40kmh is pretty fast. I think the problem is having too many races, where everything moves so fast and if you're not pushing 95% of HR, it doesn't feel like a race. In other words, I'm numb to speed, and don't even know it. It just seems so normal to push in a race, when climbing NUS "hills", etc.
To Kulai... And Back
Met up with the rest of the Cycleworx people, traffic not too bad at 6am in the morning. We got through without much hassle. Then it's moving up towards Kulai. The group moves at reasonable speed but the guy in front is a bit slower, and three of us gets dropped. He can't really climb the hills, but we hang in there behind him. Finally Bernard Chow who was behind me decided to go on one of the hills, and I follow. We hit it reasonably hard and drop the last person, but he catches up as we stop at the traffic. We go again and I get by the side of a bus which is moving again.
The Crash
For the first time in the ride, I get in front of the others, behind the bus, gentle slope down, not too fast (but Bernard Chow tells me later we were hitting 40 plus kmh but it didn't feel like it). Behind the bus I leave a gap, then suddenly saw metal plates. I yelled behind... then before I knew it I was sideways, my head going donk donk donk donk on the floor. That's the only thing I remember. Then I remember getting up almost immediately, and pulling the bike to the side of the road, and looking at Bernard Chow already at the side. I'm like, so worried about his bike. The seat tube is broken, not sure what other damages. Then we checked for damages on ourselves. I was still a little dazed, a little in shock. I realize Bernard Chow was a bleeding quite badly from his arms. Myself, a few places bleeding. After a while I felt my shoulders started hurting. Then another while before I felt my hips hurting.
Then it was checking the bikes. Bernard Chow's bike definitely had a broken carbon seatpost. Other than that it seems alright, brake levers a bit gone too. My bike had a scratch on it, wheels ok. Later I was to look at the other side to see the whole top tube scratched. I pressed on it and it seemed to creak. I asked Bernard how to know if a carbon bike is gone case already. He said that it will creak when ride. Then he put his weight on it. The whole top tube sank in. Totally gone case. I'm surprised it hasn't broken apart.
We talked about carbon and aluminum material bikes. I had always thought that aluminum bikes, though dented, will not break and are more hardy than carbon. Apparently not. Carbon is far more harder, and though it will break, a similar impact like what happened to my bike, would have bent an aluminum bike totally out of shape, irrepairable too. So much for my faith in aluminum bikes. I asked about the shelf life of carbon bikes. He told me about the epoxy resin that holds the layers of carbon together. That material will eventually breakdown, and not the carbon. Which is the reason for the shelf life. Ooh. Enlightenment.
My Oakleys lens had fallen out during the fall. Bernard told me before I realized it, that I was still wearing my Oakleys, without lens. Then he retrieved the lens from the middle of the road, and well... it was still intact, with a few scratches. That's like after dunno how many cars went over it.
My helmet... I cannot thank God enough that it was tight, held on and through my whole scrapping on the road (which was the only thing I remember - going donk donk donk donk). I can't thank God enough that I tightened everything twice, the loops around the ears, EVERYTHING. It's cracked, scraped and not reusable. But I'm not in a hospital... or morgue because of it. Imagine hitting the ground at 40kmh. It's a Trek helmet. Sideview later.
We got to the other side of the road, where a lady lent us some tools and we got the remaining seatpost out of Bernard Chow's bike. Then he measured the old "safety" length and put that on his remaining seatpost, and fixed it back. Temporary solution till home.
On thinking back, the cause of my crash was most likely the gap between two metal plates, which angled sideways to the right. I must have hit it, going up, but instead of going up, the wheels went sideways, and I went down immediately. We were moving too fast for me to react. I had seen the plates, the gap but was too indecisive in the line to take, to avoid the gap. At least that's what I think happened. I can't remember anything than my head scrapping against the floor. Bernard Chow said he had tried to avoid me, and had actually bunny hopped over me, before going up up upwards, then bike falling on seat, and breaking it. Luckily bike was undamaged. His wheels scraped the third guy, who fortunately did not fall as he was not wearing a helmet. We are all totally thankful none of us were hurt too badly. As Bernard put it, don't worry about the bikes, be thankful all of us alive. In the heavy traffic, I'm glad I prayed before I left house. Any car could have just run over us, not likely to be braking in time at 50-60kmh. In the light of things, it's not too bad. I am glad we are all alive, albeit scratched and bruised. Worry about the bikes when one has finished being thankful one is still alive. Surviving a 40kmh plus fall is ... more than enough to be thankful.
Managed to call the rest and got the message thru to them so that they will wait up for Joyce whom I was getting worried about. Then I got a cab back but couldn't fit Bernard Chow's bike in so I went back alone in cab while the other two cycled back. Cab fare was RM7.50 and he took me to this place where there were NTUC cabs waiting. A guy there asked where I was going. Bishan. $30. Ringgit? No, Sing Dollars. Orh. I wasn't in a mood to bargain (nor am I good in it).
Checking The Damages
Put the bike in the other cab and we were off, through the customs with no prob, and finally back home, where I just lay down and watched tv, too tired to even clean the wounds. My shoulders and neck starts hurting too. Hips are getting very painful even while in the cab; they should - apparently the internal bleeding I thought is also external, and by the time I removed my pants, they were sticking to them already. Shoulders/hips got some problems as I felt sudden pains while carrying the bike up to home.
I fell asleep while watching tv, and all the while trying to be careful to remember where each wound was. One was in the left ankle, one in right knee, then the right hip, right shoulders. And I got a few scratches on my face too (which I kept forgetting and then rubbed them). As I was cleaning myself with alcohol, touched right shin, and it hurts. There's no wound. It's not broken, and don't think as serious as a crack but it hurts just to touch it. Other than the hip, that seems to be the most worrysome wound, the one I considered maybe I will take X-ray.
Joyce called at 12.30pm. I couldn't pick up the phone in time but she called again. We talked but I was still a bit dazy from sleep. Then I called again and told her email Juliet from Tribob cancel my race next week. Then she called and said Esther will pick me to doctor later. Then I chatted a bit online, and went to her place for lunch.
Luncheon meat. My fav. Hmm... did I mention that before? One of my childhood food. I think I did. And eggs. Mmmm... as usual, two helpings of rice, ate too much, regret then still got desserts. Whoa, could barely hold it all in. Okay, cancel the regret part. Heck, I could eat luncheon meat every meal. Hahaha. Joyce: PLS DON'T TAKE THAT LAST STATEMENT SERIOUSLY!
She sent her children to catechism class and while I waited for Esther, wrote the first part of this blog.
Esther called at 3.30pm, just getting off work and she's most likely not going home, so I told her it's ok, will get back fine, which I was. It's simple to take bike by cab down. I got back home to find the doctors already closed for the day, so just picked up the usual stuff from Guardian - joked with the saleslady that I seem to be doing this on a weekly basis - got home, cleaned up, called Nurul, got the bike down to Trek3 Frankel to let him have a look at it.
A replacement Trek 1500 aluminum bike frame and fork will cost just $700. However he will still talk to manager and see what can be done about the carbon bike. I think even he thinks it's gone case. $700 isn't too bad in the light of things. I'm still alive and okay, that's still affordable. Just like a pair of wheels. I'm thinking of a tri-bike also. Popped over to Daniel's Cannasia and checked out the stuff there. There's a really cool Ironman black coloured Caad5 bike but it's 5k. Way beyond budget. The cheapest aerobike was 2.1k. I think that means only frame and fork. If it's the whole bike I will consider.
Daniel jokes that I have turned to the dark side (he's always known me to be a Trek supporter, because of Lance). I have not decided yet on the Cannondale. I will however change my current setup to a Trek 1500 if the carbon is not salvageable. Nurul will transfer all my stuffs over by Mon. No hurry.
I'm not going anywhere.
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