5 Seconds of Glory

During sleep last night, somehow my spine got stuck to the mattress. I've only realized this when I woke up at 6am. My back refuses to disengage from the mattress. By then I knew I have Spinal Mattressoitis Ossificans, a condition characterized by inability to flex the spine as it remained adhered to the mattress associated with generalized muscle fatigue. This condition is usually predisposed by late night sleep, rainy mornings and sleeping with a full stomach.

It took me 3 hours to set myself loose. By then, it was already too late to cycle to Tekala. Oh well. There's tomorrow.

So I had nothing to do and decided to surf the web. While browsing through the Malaysian Medical Resources site, I stumbled across the MMR blog roll. Blardy hell!! My name was there!!



I immediately IM Jack, an IMU mate, whose name was also there. He was as shocked as I am. Though his main concern was that he could never cuss on his blog again. Haha.

Err.. to anyone in MMR. How do this stuff work actually? Are we then judged based on the content of our blogs? I mean this is serious. I've just learned yesterday that becoming a house officer doctors requires you to angkat sumpah at the mahkamah and all. I've never heard inducted engineers, programmers, architects or lab assistants having to do the same. And much of the content of the blog is un-medical. How eh Mr. MMR?

Anyway, as I was going through the list, I found out I was the only Malay dude there, among the 100 something. Aaahhh, heaven. I'm enjoying an undivided attention from girls seeking Malay med student on the blog roll. Hahaha!! What a shallow pool of chicks. Yes, you are right. Pathetic, I am.

It's a fact now. Girls blog more than guys. Cold hard evidence:


If only the same could happen in real life. Me and 10 girls in a room. Sigh.

On a different note, Stupe made his very first Powerbar bread. Holy nuts! Stupe's on fire! At the rate he is going, he'll be baking Mutton Beriyani bread next week. Hehe. Pulling on your legs only lah, Stupe. I think we should contact Rahimi or Shahirin lah, and ask for a patent. Powerbar Bread TM. Haha. We kautim 50-50. Ok?

Chooti

After the bike ride to Tekala on Monday, I decided to bike again on Tuesday. But biasalah, it didn't happen.

So yesterday I went for a run at Stadium Kg Pandan and did 10 laps of 400m.

1. Warm up lap heart rate at 130 bpm

Subsequent laps are done with heart rate between 150-158

2. 3mins 28secs.
3. 3mins 45secs.
4. 4mins 02secs.
5. 3mins 57secs.
6. 4mins 02secs.
7. 4mins 00secs.
8. 3mins 58secs.
9. All out push sampai nak mati 3mins 39secs. (hampeh)

10. Jalan lenggang kangkung tanam jagung nampak burung.


Boils down to 1min/100m. Adds up to 10mins/km. Lebih kurang time masa SJ10K last year. No improvement.

Haih. I have to admit. Lepas 'berjaya' rembat 2 medals from KLIM and PD half, I've been too overconfident. Training pun barai, makan pun tak control. I'm quickly becoming like the rabbit who laughs at the tortoise. Konon dah power tapi sebenarnya bermain fantasi dengan Alice in Wonderland.

[Ok ok. emo moment]

All this bullshit has to stop. Mid sem break will be over in 4 days, then I'll be starting my Internal Medicine posting for 4 weeks. Hopefully the heart attacks, strokes, diabetic ketoacidosis cases I'll be seeing will motivate me to not be like one in the future.

So the run yesterday will be my set point as a mark of future improvements. I there say, should I get any slower, I will... errr... not play guitar for 2 months (shit, this is actually torture).


There's a line separating a want-to-be and a wannabe. I want to be better, not a wannabe.

Siapa Nak Tengok Hippo Kayuh Beskal?

Today marked the first long ride on Mi Novia. Route of choice was Ulu Langat Batu 18 - Sungai Tekala - Batu 18, which is approximately 50km +/- 4km from the extra lap I did while waiting for Ikhwan Hadi.

Ikhwan rode from his house, riding through Bukit Ampang and Batu 14. Aku? Terkincit beb. Jangan harap. So I drove to Batu 18 and rendezvous with him later.

Weather was superb, traffic was almost non-existence. I tried to maintain my heart rate between 145 and 155. But it went pass 180 bpm during climbs. Gila sumpah any harder my heart will explode.

Ikhwan was flashing his yet another new bike frame. He deserves it. Mamat ni memang kuat macam mutant. To demonstrate how strong he is, he climbed Bukit Ampang on the way back in just 15 minutes, and that was on a flat tire!! I would've taken an hour walking up the same route. Macam mana pun, however strong he is, during hard climbs, he would ride next to me, giving words of encouragement.

"Sikit je lagi. Depan tu je, kat signboard tu. Tak sampai 50 meter."

"Jangan berenti. Kalau berenti wasted je effort tadi. Zero balik semua."

"Kayuh je. Puuuuuusshhhh. Puuulllllll. Puuuuussshhhh. Puuuuuullll. The long and winding road~~."

I'm lucky to have a supportive riding partner. Because all that was inside my head was Satan saying "Get down and push your bike! Mooaaahahahaha!!! It's not like you're gonna get pussies thrown at you if you keep on pedaling."

Pussies memang takde. Tapi anjing orang asli bela memang banyak.

Now for the piece de resistance. Hippo kayuh beskal.


Ni baru habis climb. Pasal tu muka macam baru habis boxing dengan kangaroo.


If the saddle could speak, it'd probably be saying "Help! Helllppp!! I can't breathe!!!!!"


Memang tak rugi beli basikal nih. Kalau takde third gear nih, memang tolak basikal dah aku.


*Photos are courtesy of Ikhwan Hadi.

Mi Novia

In Spanish, it means 'my girlfriend'.

And it sure is from the high-maintenance breed, but it is worth every penny.

... if only you'd allow me to ride smoothly with clipless pedals. Sayang, don't be so harsh on me.



Mi Novia

Why "My Girlfriend"? Basically it gives me ample opportunity to own more bikes in the future. I'm thinking in the line of naming my future bikes (Fuuhhh!!! Optimistic!!) My Scandal, My Wife, My Mistress, My Second Wife (Haha. Okay, kidding. I'm big on monogamy, although I don't disagree on polygamy).


Granny gear!! Takpelah. I'm not that strong anyway.

When my friend, cyclist Ikhwan Hadi aka Loterij/Solidusss Way2Ride saw the bike for the first time, he slapped his forehead in frustration. "Asal beli yang ni??!! Granny gears are for grannies!" Weh, mane le aku tau. Takpe takpe. You know as well as I do, I suck at climbing. Benda ni le penyelamat aku, my saving grace against those palm-sweating, lung-popping, crotch-numbing, nipple-hardening, terkincit-inducing climbs.


Macam mountain bike punya.


Sweet.

My favourite part of the bike. Why? Because it's carbon. Yes, I'm superficial.


Second-hand 105 pedals and Nike shoes. Comes really cheap. Sesuai untuk poser macam aku. Haha. The two things that are quickly *ahem* *already* *ahem* becoming the bane of my existance!

Aini wants me to practice pedaling while leaning on a wall. And guess what, I still fall even when doing so! Memang aku takde bakat la benda ni.


Mi Novia at the Uni.

I bring the bike to uni once in a while. It's nice to get some ooh-aahs from friends. Did I tell you I'm superficial?

I'll be on mid-semester break from 26th May until 3rd June. Apa lagi!!!!! Jom kayuh!!

Hiatus Hernia

Very busy.

I'm covering the paediatric ward almost everyday.

Sick children, crying children, difficult children. Not my cup of tea lah. One child had mistaken a tube of deep heat muscle rub for toothpaste. Methyl salycilate poisoning la jadinya. Ape daaaa.

Bike? Still getting used to cycling with SPD. Tergolek depan traffic light, tergolek atas pokok bunga, tergolek nak naik bukit, tergolek bila nak clip tapi tak dapat. Left STI is already bent inwards as a show of how much torture the bike is getting after numerous falls.

Furthest I've cycled was 16km. Pusing Seremban town. Haha. Langat sabtu ni? 60km? I'm not ready yet lah.

Ok bye. Tengah hari ni ada ward round. Aiyak cilakak!!!!!