Cycling shoes: Road vs Tri

 

We have been wearing triathlon shoes for as long as we could remember each other cycling.  Recently, we bought a pair of cycling shoes each.

Esther swapped out her Specialised triathlon shoes for a pair of F:zik road cycling shoes.  Wee San swapped out her Shimano triathlon shoes for a pair of S-Works road cycling shoes. 

Here's our amateur reviews / personal opinions:

1. Triathlon shoes are roomier than the road cycling shoes.  To fit the quick transition from swim to bike.

2. Coming out from swim, triathletes feet are often wet.  Hence, triathlon shoes often come with mesh top layer, while cycling shoes have top layer made of sturdier material. 

3. There is also better ventilation from the mesh found on the triathlon shoes.  We can't say that there is none on a cycling shoes but comparatively lesser.

4. Quick transitions, wet feet also mean triathletes often wear the cycling shoes without socks.  Triathlon shoes are often made of seamless materials.  Road cycling shoes are less so, as roadies tend to wear socks with the road cycling shoes.

5. Triathlon cycling shoes often only have a velcro strap, whilst road cycling shoes use ratchets, or buckles or a combination.  A single or occasionally double velcro straps used for triathlon shoes because triathletes often leave their cycling shoes on the pedals and put on the shoes via a fly mount.  Can't do the same with road shoes, lest you end up a flying pig! :)

6. Heel tabs on the triathlon shoes also help with the quick transitions and flying mount.  However, these are absent from road cycling shoes.

So which is better?  We think with proper fit, good techniques, both types of shoes are used for different purposes.  Triathlon shoes are good for cycling up to say, a half ironman distance.  And we feel for distances above that, road cycling shoes with the narrower fit, sturdier feel provide better power transfer to the pedals.... as proven by Esther dropping the guys on the ride like flies! :)

Happy cycling....

Run!

How was your weekend run?  Did you burn some rubbers or were you still running after your children, your ex, or after your dreams?  Or were you running --- IN YOUR DREAMS?

Let’s not continue to dream about how to lose weight or how to get faster.  Put thoughts into action.  Bring out your dusty running shoes, and get out of the door and start burning some rubber!

  

We are always happy to hear about friends starting out triathlon, participating their first races, and are more than happy to welcome the old and the young to this healthy living lifestyle.

Never too young to start and never too old to tri...
 

We have not forgotten The Esther Challenge for the upcoming Phuket Marathon.  Is she on schedule to achieve her sub 2 hrs??
 

Although our primary training focus is the Kuantan Century 160km, we have been conscientiously going to our track running session on every Wednesday, with none other than the ironguides coach Shem Leung.

Coach Shem has a very structured and organized run training program.  For instance, it is currently focused on the Sundown Marathon. 

His session always start with a few rounds of warm up around the track, followed by some very challenging static exercises.  Well, challenging for us! 

Weekly training cycled between speed, intensive endurance or endurance sets.  Runners are usually separate into a few groups based on individual run speeds and race targets.  Slightly different sets are then given to each group.  Of course, the target timings varied amongst the groups too!

As most of the training mates are focusing on the upcoming SUNDOWN Marathon, Coach Shem's current training program is tailored accordingly.

Last few Wednesday, runners were grouped according to their target SUNDOWN half marathon timings.  Target finishing times range from 1hr 30mins to 2hours.  Each group had a different split time per 400 meters, for the workout of: 4x1600m, with the first 3 sets at half marathon splits, and the last mile at the 10km splits.  Coach's objective is to allow runners to learn the correct pace to hold, during the race.

It sounded easy, and it wasn't supposed to be a lung bursting session.  But we all started with much zest, and ended up running too fast.  By the time the last set came about, our energy were dwindling fast.  But Coach Shem is always around the bend, encouraging the runners and correcting our mechanics as we plodded along.

The most often heard statements are: "relax your face", "breathe deeply, breath regular", "lift up your legs" and these went on till the last runner finished the workout.

Since we started training with Coach Shem, we thought as the weeks go by, our training will become easier as we get stronger. 

Instead, the training gets tougher as we get stronger!

But bring it on!  Aren't we all A-type personalities?

Guess who is our Race Queen !

SAFE cycling

It sadden our hearts to see and hear about cyclists who lost their lives while doing what the sport they are so passionate about.  These incidents are hit too close to home.  Without any finger pointing, at the end of the day it is a precious life, a cycling buddy, a child or spouse of someone.

 

Having a safety distance of 1.5m, proposing a dedicated bicycle lane, running safe cycling/driving campaign and so on....Does it really help if the driver happens to be feeling groggy?  Drink drivers? Irresponsible or impatience drivers?

 

Cyclists' lives are also at risk if drivers continue, intentionally or subconsciously cut into the cycling path!  Yes, it sounds terrifying or horrific.  But we witnessed some of these during our rides.

Having said that, we cyclists have to play our part and be extra alert.  We should always anticipate the drivers' actions, always look up, look far and most importantly, put on the correct cycling gear.

1. Driver - always under estimate the speed of a cyclist while travelling on the road.  They think they are much faster than the cyclists, therefore cutting into our path without warning, hoping that we are still a distance away from their cars. Cyclist - stay alert, look far, look straight and just give way to these drivers if they insist. We are always at the losing end. Yes, we may hurl expletives each time these drivers cut into our cycling path.  But it beats being caught in an unfortunate accident.

2. Driver - always impatient with cyclists when we try to pick up our speed and find our cleats after a traffic light stop. Cyclist - pick up speed and clear the traffic junction before attempting to cleat in if you have problems doing so immediately.  Clear the busy traffic, eyes still looking straight, then cleat in along the way.

 

3. Driver - always fail to check blind spot, even doing a left turn at the junction. Cyclist- stay behind the car at the junction of left turn. Do not end up in a compromised position when the turning car make a narrower than usual turn.

4. Taxi driver - always stop as and when and where ever they wish to, to pick up passengers. Cyclist - looked far. If you see passengers waving for taxis, it is likely a taxi may suddenly appear and cut into your path. Be alert, be ready to brake.

 

5. Heavy vehicle driver - big buses and trailers may not see cyclists through their side mirror, as they have a larger blind spot.  Further more, they are much "higher up" from the ground. Cyclist - stay away from them.  If you need to signal to buses to give way to you, please make sure they see you and are willing to give way to you.

 

6. Stationary car - Drivers may pulled over their cars along the curb side for whatever reasons. Cyclist - DO NOT go on the aero position if possible, when you are cycling in this busy city.  Cyclists tend to look down, taking their eyes off the road when in aero position. Brakes of triathlon bikes are usually positioned at the side of the base bar.  If you are in an aero position while cycling, you may not be able react fast enough to "come-up" from an aero position to brake when needed to.

 

7. At a T-junction Cyclist - even if you have the right of way at the traffic light, make sure you signal your intention, be it going straight or turning.  As often, drivers are expecting to see faster moving vehicles than cyclists.

 

8. Cyclist - always wear bright or reflective cycling jerseys.   

 

 

9. Cyclist - always wear your helmet.  A correct sized helmet. We still look cool and sexy with our helmets, shades and gloves on.

 

10. Cyclist - please do not save your pennies on lights.  Bright front white light and bright rear red light are a MUST. You can also have red rear light fix on your helmet too.  Esther is using the brightest front light meant for mountain bikers. So what if people say she is kia si!?

 

11. Cyclist - STAY AWAY from your 2 wheels and take a rest day if you are feeling tired on your planned cycling day. You will not be able to focus if you are overwhelmed with your work, or are feeling fatigued. It will not be painful if you miss a ride... However, it will be very painful if you are hurt.
 

 

12. Cyclist - always make sure that you top up your insurance riders. In short, make sure you are 100% insured.
 

 

13. Pray for safety and protection before you zoom off. Pray for all the road drivers, that they can be always alert, have grace and patience to all cyclist and road users.

 

Let's us be the citiizens of safe cycling..
 

Wee San, Esther & Sean...

Cycling adventure to Kulai, Malaysia

 Our cycling adventure to the land of endless rolling hills and countless potholes....

Those who are passionate about cycling would have heard of or already conquered the infamous Kulai.

Some of our cycling mates proclaim that Kulai is THE place to go.  The ideal training ground for our first century ride at Kuantan 160km.  Boy, they can't be more right!

Esther and Wee San very first experience of crossing the causeway on our steadfast Pinarello PARIS and skinny wheels were nerve-wracking.  It was an early ride in.  Cycling through the Singapore/ Johor Causeway was a whole new fun experience.

 

Right after Johor Causeway were the busy roads of JB.  30km of busy traffic with gentle rolling hills. 11 of us, riding in a single file, staying vigilant whilst maintaining calm before we turned left into Kulai.

(photo credits: Jeffrey Keng)

We didn't know what to expect, except that we have heard enough of the hills, and the heat.  We were well-prepared by our cycling mates prior to the ride - mentally prepared. This is also a good check of our cycling progress after some months of weekends back to back cycling.  We are motivated, to conquer Kulai :)

 

Gentle rolling hills, long endless slopes... physically demanding!  But the quiet roads on a Sunday, cloudy sky and gentle breeze were little comforts for us, newbies.  Needless to say, much credit goes to the friendly and always-willing-to-give-a-hand to pull or push cycling mates!

 

After about 70km of Johor cycling, we stopped by a petrol kiosk for a pitstop before heading back home along the busy roads again.
 
Though physcially tiring, it was a good mental boost trip for us pre-Kuantan!  Did we hear that another Kulai trip has been planned!?

Training for Kuantan Century Ride

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.Rabindranath Tagore Quotes

Tis the season to go cycling... fa la la la la la...

What is our training focus recently? Some friends were asking. Well, we will answer your curiosity and at the same time share some of the tips we picked up along the way which will hopefully benefit some of the beginners.

How does cycling in a pack or drafting help improve our rolling speed?

(photo credits to Daniel Sng)

"Triathlon is a individual sport." It is a race you compete against your own mind and body.  It is particularly crucial in the cycling discipline where competitors are not allowed to draft when competing in half-ironman / ironman (bike distances of 90km / 180km respectively).  Hence, it seems counter-intuitive to cycle in a pack during training.  However in our humble opinion, we will have to dispute this common belief, after going through mountains and valleys of our training journey.

We always strive to improve our performances.  But by repeating the same long, slow, steady-paced workouts, we hardly see any improvement.  For instance, we ended up with the same slow, steady-paced during our 2011 Ironman race as that was the only pace we had trained faithfully for half a year! 

Don't get us wrong!  Long and steady-paced workouts are essential part of the training, especially in longer triathlon distances.  But, shorter higher intensive sets are necessary to maintain that "springy" feel in the muscles.

      (Photo credits to cycelworx photographer)

Benefits of cycling in a pack... amongst the many, we tend to push a little harder than cycling alone.  Fear of being dropped by the pack too soon, motivates us to keep up with the hard cycling pace.  Mind and leg fatigues usually kick in along the way, but this is one of the best way to achieve a breakthrough in our speed.

Drafting in the pack also requires good bike handling skills. It is not something that we can acquire through reading or lone cycling.  Such skills are crucial to any cyclists!

"Close up the gap", "drop your gear, keep pedaling" while cornering at higher speeds, keep the upper body still, use lighter power on the pedals instead of brakes.... the list goes on. These are very useful tips shared by the selfless cycling kakis during our pack cycling.

Now that we are training for our Kuantuan Century ride of 160km with Cycleworx, we bike at least thrice weekly: twice with Cycleworx which includes a longer ride on Saturday (90-130km), a mid distance (60-90km) on Sunday and a shorter 50km on a weekday. 

For the weekday ride, we focus on our individual weaknesses, but it is never easy as we will end each session along Changi Coast Road with a short individual time trial.

2 girls used to have only rolling speeds of 26km/hr.  Cycling almost only at Changi Coast Road every Sunday while training for our 2011 Ironman. Little did we know, we could have have adopted a more varied approach to increasing our cycling endurance and speed.  Now that our rolling speeds have increased substantially, we feel stronger mentally and physically to deal with the hard pace that comes with cycling in a pack.  So much improvement, only possible with patient, selfless sharing and coaching environment now!

Special thanks to Cycleworx team who are always there for the domestiques help! The national cyclists and the experienced riders are always there to push the girls. Lawrence and Henry who always unconditionally render personal coaching. Ronnie, Ah Soon, Chee Kian and the Sunday ride guys are all so patient with us on Sunday rides.

Once again, we wish to remind all that we are not professional athletes. We are just like you age-groupers who continously seek out ways to our performances.  More importantly, amidst the crazy training and busy work/family schedules, it's to have FUN!

That's all folks, we will be back for the next discussion and sharing..

Updates

You must be wondering why we have been quiet lately...

Well well, during the festive seasons from X'mas through the Lunar New Year, we took things easy.  Time off, structured training programs to recharge, rebuild, restructure our training focus.

But that did not mean that we were not training. We were cycling hard to burn off our bak kwa, pineapple tarts and love letters.

Wee San improved tremendously on her cycling.  Cycling in a pack built her confidence.  Her drafting skills is just excellent.  And her "not-so-new-now" bling bling bike continue to serve her well.  Cycling 4 times a week with weekly average mileage of 300 km has definitely benefited her. Good job Wee San.

Esther always carry her laughter with her wherever she is.  However during our weekend cycling, she doesn't have much chance complaining or laughing aloud.  She will be gasping for air, closing up the gaps in the pack and occasionally hoping for the national cyclists or other domestics to come by and help push her up that endless hills.  With much pushing and pulling, she has not much chance to slack as well. Well done Esther!

So don't try to be funny with the two girls when you see us on the road.

 

Of course we are still running! We have been running with Esther.  Pacing her on her long runs, preparing her for the upcoming Phuket run race.  Will it be a sub 5 marathon challenge or a sub 2 half-marathon challenge?  Stay tune and you will know!  Just as you place your bets, one more hint - the 2 girls are going to conquer the hills of Kuantan at the Kuantan 160km the weekend before!

Cycling training - checked.

Running training - checked.

Swimming - oh... erm....

 

 

 

We have been taking swimming easy recently. But, with Port Dickson approaching soon after Kuantan & Phuket, we need to be back in action for swim very soon!

What has Sean been up to?  In between his hectic traveling schedule, Sean hangs out with us.... not much training but meeting up for food, drinks and good chats! We are never worried about Sean slacking too much, because when he starts training, we can never catch up!

That all, folks.  Stay with us as we continue to share with you our fat to fab and constantly looking out for new toys in the market that will benefit athletes and triathletes to share with all.

 

 

Signing off Wee San, Esther, Sean... 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 North Face City Race

What have we been up to lately???

We had kicked off the year with The North Face Singapore City race!

A team of 5 of us, we explored Singapore via 5 checkpoints which are places of interest.  We were given a map of Singapore before the race start, and were allowed half hour to plan the route.  The objective of the race was to complete each checkpoint via the fastest route.

Race was flag off at 8.30am.

Benson, Wee San and Henry were just too good with the route planning while Kevin and Esther were good followers!

The 3 Triathletes and team headed to the top of Mt Faber for the first checkpoint.  We conquered the hilly run to reach Henderson Waves.  Next up, Ion Orchard.  Followed by Alkaff Bridge at Robertson Quay, Fort Canning. Lastly, the Mint Museum at Seah Street.  Total of 20km.

Not only did we enjoy the various Singapore’s iconic landmarks, we also enjoyed the nature and peace at Mt Faber and Fort canning.

Racing as a team is unlike solo races.  Team work, encouragement, cheering, pushing were the essential ingredients.  Wee San and Benson mainly lead the route while Henry was our first class domestic pacer, pacing Esther throughout.  Providing drinks, gels and laughter to the team.  Kevin was nursing a bad throat but being such a strong runner, he was maintaining good pace with the team.

We finished the race in good time and were pleasantly surprised to find that there were plenty of food to feed the hungry finishers. 

The baskets of fruits, sandwiches, energy bars and drinks were welcome sights.  And did we also mention that there were enough supply of drinks and gels at each checkpoint.  This has got to be one of the most well organised Singapore race ever!  

5 STARS for The North Face Singapore City race!

Special thanks to Henry, who agreed to replace Sean, as Sean was travelling for work. We miss you Sean, see you in our next race… and readers, see you at our next update....