I said it in my previous post and I'll say it again. What A Day!!!
I tried to be a bit adventerous today - I usually take the bus to get into city, which is approximately a 50min ride. So I said let's try somethin different, why don't I cycle it all the way? My roomie from Malaysia is a cycling enthusiast, and has been a part of many semi-pro racing teams. So he was naturally over enthusiastic when I asked him to ride along with me. So we set out with the weather looking fine, and were going good for couple of kms. Then out of the blue...my roomie gets a sudden bust of energy, switches his gears and starts off on a sprint! I wuz like....where the hell is he off to? And before I can say 'Jack Daniels', he's outa my sight....

Now I'm not built for this sorta stuff. Cumon...I'm a computer guy...I sit on a chair...elbows rested on a table...a cup of coffee withing easy reach....not made to release sudden bursts of energy and set off in to the horizon...Anyhow, I gave it all I got and tried to follow him. In less that a couple of minutes i'd totally run outa steam...huffing and panting, I still try to keep going. Must have been after some 4-5mins of pedalling, that I see him far up ahead, leaning against a post, waiting for me. The moment he saw me from the distance, he shot off again. Oh no...Not again!! And again some kms later, I see him waiting. I guess by then he realized that I really waznt keepin up with him!! So when I finally catch up with him at a fuel station whr we had planned to stop and fill some air.....he says.....

'Whats the matter? Why are you so far behind?'
And he gives me this oh so matter of factly look....
Me: 'What was that sprintin all about?!?! Whr did u suddenly dash off to?
Him: Sprint? That was no sprint. I was just cycling.
Me: Just cycling?
Him: Yeah....at first I was just warming up..

Oh brother! N b4 I could say anythin else, everythin wuz goin all black. My head started spinning, and I wuz feelin funny in my stomach. Toilet...I gotta find a toilet....Ah...there's one... 5mins later I walk outa there feeling much better. And then he asks me...'You alrite? Are you feelin giddy?'. I go - 'Yeah....things don't feel too good'. 'Ah', he says, 'thats cuz u were not matching your breathing with your cycling...!!!'

10mins and a small talk later, I realized that there's a lot more to long distance cycling than just having good stamina & pedalling....there's quite a bit of technique involved. Breathing techniques, gear ratios while climbing uphill and downhill, applying the right pressure on the pedal with the toes....there wuz a whole load of other stuff....

From then on, things went off pretty well. We kept a decent pace, and I tried to cycle 'skillfully'. Hopefully after a copule of more trips such as this, I should be able to piece it up all together...cuz I definitely don't wanna go thru what happened today again....