Race my heart out

And that's just what I did for today.

It's only just slowly starting to sink in that I'm the 2011 National Men's Elite Road Champion. I still haven't fully comprehended how on earth it happened. I know what I did and I would've no problem projecting what exactly happened onto a screen if it were possible ... But it was just so unexpected!

I knew that I only had about a  2% chance of winning or taking the title, and that if that were to happen, it would more likely be from an early break. Well 2% chance is much better than a 0% chance, and sometimes all we need is to just keep believing and never stop, because if we do, we've already lost the race.

My job today was to simply get into the early breaks and make the other teams work to reel me back so that the rest of the guys could keep their powder dry for the later part of the race. I know I stayed out alone for the first time for some time, and then with another person for the next 2 times before I was finally content to relax a little in the peleton as Jun Rong got a nice big gap over the peleton. I remember thinking that that was it for me, job done. And then I looked at the meter and we were barely halfway through the race ... Sorry legs no rest for you yet and after a short rest it was time to go to the front to mess up the chase led by the other teams.

It worked a little and was a little annoying I know (sorry guys I was just doing my job!) ... but in the end Jun Rong was brought back and Junaidi went with another guy. I actually thought that was the move to would stay away and I was hoping that it would, because my legs were quite toast and the cramps were starting to come ... I thought that was it for me and I'd just do as much as I could before I dropped dead on the floor so that the rest of the guys would have more energy in the finale.

When Jud and the other guy got caught, it was almost ending, about 5 laps more? Everyone wanted to do a last minute getaway and so I was just barely hanging on for dear life with my legs all gone. There were a few times when I got caught in the back spilt of the peleton and ouch. The important thing though, was that I made sure I moved up to the front as soon as we caught back on.

It was the 2nd last lap after a spilt or something got caught and the peleton came back together that I attacked. I never made that move and thought it would stick. I made that move in the hope to stay out as long as possible and let the other teams do the chasing so that once they caught me, the rest of the team could carry on with the momentum and lead adi out for the sprint! Turns out my move stuck to the finish with Tim Wilkins from Cannasia doing a lot of the work.

But it also turned out to be the most painful 7km of my life. I actually cramped when I made my last attack, but I saw Jud's hand come up, signalling someone to attack and I also knew that that was a really good time to go - it started raining then and it was just before a u turn, and so I just pressed on the pedals harder and went. I was actually quite surprised at how much the gap opened up especially once Tim Wilkins bridged up to me!

The rest was just a blur of pain, suffering, and loads of shouting and screaming from all the pain. I know I'd let my teammates and Daniel down if I didn't hang on in front and so I had to shut everything up and listen to my heart. I couldn't sprint at the end but when I crossed the line, I couldn't believe I was the National Champion.

I didn't think much during this race but just did a lot of things based on instinct. At the end of the day, what satisfied me the most was that I raced my heart out and didn't hold anything back at all. The result was a bonus. And I'm really happy the team worked nicely together.

Special shout - out to Daniel Loy, who has always believed in me and supported me in thousands of ways since I was a Junior. The next time we must win with no one else in the picture =D

P.S: I think the most ironic thing today was that I wasn't able to tell the people I wanted to (who were not at the race) the news because I lost my phone on the way to the race. That's funny.

There was no way I could've done what I did today without God.