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my aching body... my aching thighs... the sweat... the torture...
hmmm... that might sound er xin in some way >.<
the weather was fine. although a lil cloudy but on the whole, it was a nice day to cycle.
after pumping my mountain bike's tyres and wiping it a lil bit clean (darn those people who washes the corridors with the strong water hose!! uh... that's very mean of me...), blow dry my damp hair, packed my bag, change my clothes.... blah blah blah...and blah blah blah.....
i set off around 1240 in the afternoon. after some occasions of cycling over to jurong east, i decided to try a new route rather than the normal one. Usually, i passed by the park near my house to get to the Teban Pasar then pass the old Teban HDB blocks and finally i reached the main road-- Jurong Townhall Road.
this time, i want a different scenery =p
so off i go crossing my block's carpark towards the Pandan reservoir. luckily there wasn't many people around. pass by quite a few Pandan pri kids on their way home. lolz it sure does bring back some memories *sniff!!* Ah, those were the days... haiz
And that's when i realized my RUSTY GREEN BELL WAS MISSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW THE HELL AM I TO ALERT PASSER-BYS??!! DARN YOU LIL SNEAKY THIEF!!!!!!!!!
okay... chill... it's alrite... i've got a mouth. and i've got a voice. i'll just speak up. *nervous laughter* see, it's not that bad =)
passed Pandan Pri now. made a left turn and i'm beside the main road. woo hoo!! everything seems to be going fine... except...
i need a cap. my hair's all over the place... -_-"
what's this? there's a tingling sensation on my thighs? oh man, this is not happening. i. refuse. to. believe. this.
it's only been, like, 4 months or so since i last exercise-- PE lessons stopped after June hols-- and i've lost my stamina?! uh, 4 months is quite a long time isn't it? now i know what Yati meant when she said her stamina deteriorated because she didn't go for dragonboat training after only a couple of weeks. *grumbles*
i got off my orange mountain bike whenever i reach the traffic light to cross the road. wasn't confident yet to just cross while on the bike. afraid i would lose control and go haywire -_-"
after passing the bus stop at the Blk 2 Teban Gardens, it was an uphill ride. boy, was it an uphill ride!! 0.0 challenged myself to reach the top of the slope without stopping. lolz it was hilarious!! hahahahahahahah.........
i picked up speed as i approached the slope. i remember i was panting real hard too. hahah... must have looked like some idiotic girl back then. just imagine: a lil scrawny petite girl with an oversized black/orange bike struggling to climb upslope at a turtle-pace.
HAHAHAHahahaha... it burns!! felt as though my thighs would burst!! and my heart was pumping overtime!! as though i was running the 3rd round on the JJ track without stopping. i know i could have reached the top without stopping. but the disturbing image of Mr.Gravity 'pulling' me downhill on my bike kept playing on my mind as though mocking me. haiz... i stopped mid-way on the slope. got off my bike and walked all the way up to the traffic light. my legs were wobbly and i was breathing real hard. that's one real work-out!!
while waiting for the green-man to flash so i can cross to the other side-- the Teban flyover-- big heavy lorries passed by me. with it along came the dust and the rush of wind. i should be grateful for the wind but not the dust. it got into my eyes. and it's darn PAINFUL.
mental note to self: need to buy shades some day.
realization dawned upon me as i waited at the traffic light. "it's a long way up to jurong east... how am i gonna last like this?"
in my mind, i was already picturing the route all the way to Jurong East-- pass the Golf course, the ex-Jurong Townhall building, the ex-mcdermott house, pass the infocom campus, pass the Science Centre, Chinese Garden, Parc Oasis and finally, my destination!! i grimaced at the long distance which i had to cycle. my thighs are already screaming when i have only covered 1/8 of the journey!!
the journey onwards was a torture. i mentally pushed myself to keep cycling. i know i was cycling at a leisurely pace. it was more like a brisk-walking pace than a sprinting pace!! finally, i reached my favourite spot of the journey-- the 'famous' hill of Jurong Townhall Road. As i slowed down to a stop to steady myself, a smartly dressed men crossed my path and made his way up the long stairs to the ex-Jurong Townhall building which is to my left. i let him passed then the fun begins... *eyes sparkling* slowly, i neared the edge of the downhill slope and a-w-a-y i go.....!!!!!!!!!! the taste of freedom-- similar to that of flying-- has never taste so sweet as this!! love it everytime i did it. kekeke... i let the wheels take control of the speed as i went downhill then as the ground levels out, my legs took over. that was some thrill...
and guess what i found along the big drains of the new campus? lolz a few feet away from the campus bus stop, i spotted a big brown thing moving slowly in the dry drain. i stopped to take a better look and to my surprise, the big brown thing happens to be a TORTOISE!! it's about the size of my upper body!! it was crawling in the direction opposite of where i'm currently heading. quickly, i took out my x66 and took a pix of it. i bet the people at the bus stop behind me were puzzled by my action. as for me, the action felt normal at that moment. the big guy stopped mid-track as i took a pix of him. lolz after saving the pix, the tortoise continued on its lonesome journey upwards the big drain. that amused me. clever guy, actually. as though the weird encounter of a big tortoise in a big drain is not enough, i saw a big dead rat near the drain railings as i passed the overhead bridge. i cringe at all the countless number of flies buzzing above its bloodied lifeless body. urgh...
the journey along the Chinese Garden may have been a relaxing one if not for the constant ache i feel in my thighs. haiz... and again, i estimated the distance i have yet to cover. that's when i picked up speed despite the ache i felt. i need to rest and the only way i can do that is by completing the rest of the distance as fast as possible. and that's how i reached my destination. phew... it's one hell of a cycling experience. made me realised that exercise is really, and i mean, REALLY important to keep one in good health.
the way home was faster. i suppose the overall journey isn't that far when you really thought about it. or maybe, i was just too enthusiastic to get home and rest so i decided to speed up. the ached was there but not as painful as the first time. the toopid cycle uphill at Teban prolly tire me out the rest of the journey to Jurong East. haiz... who to blame now, huh? toopid, qamariah...
at the 'famous' Jurong Townhall hill, i challenged myself again to reach the top. in the end, i had to stop mid-way uphill. haiz... nevertheless, it was fun =)
at the Teban flyover, i saw the greenman was flashing. daring myself to cross the road on my bike, i steadied my pace. voila! i made to the other side safe and sound...
last but not least, one of the obstacles i feared-- the, now, downhill slope towards the bus stop at Teban blk 2. holding my breathe as i neared the edge, i stopped cycling as i let the wheels took control. i was speeding!! speeding downhill!! and up ahead, i saw the white zinc barricade of a contruction site. i didn't realize there's construction going on when i was on my way up to JE!!, my mind panic. carefully, as the ground levels out, i pulled the brake handle slightly and let my right foot scrape the rough ground. i didn't manage to stop!! it's as though the bike was possessed!! using my right foot, i swerved the bike here and there to avoid by-standers and lil humps on the ground. it was only after i passed the particular bus stop was i able to take control of the bike again. phew...
that was a great way to end the cycling adventure for the day. as i neared the last traffic light junction for the journey, i was confident the greenman will last till i am on the other side. feeling confident now, i rode on my bike as i crossed the road. from now on, the journey will be a relaxing one now. no more obstacles. just a plain straight path till the bus stop where i usually alight when i take 143.
once at the bus stop, i stopped cyling after i reached the shelter which is connected to the nearby block. at the carpark, i almost stepped on a flattened dead big RAT. ugh... what is it with dead rats with me today, huh??
got on the lift of my block, carried the bike to its parking space at my corridor, buckled it up to the water pipes together with my old BMX bike and opened the gate to my house. Home Sweet Home. it was only 7pm. i set off from Jurong East at 6.20pm. *wide grin*
>>dats e huge tortoise crawling its away along the big drain at JE... weird? amazing?
