Cycling Marathon - Mission Accomplished

Yes, we did it! :)

All five of us, Charmane, Roonz, Bala, Teelee & I joined other five cycling teams and started our 7-hour spin challenge at 1015hrs.  In front of us were the 7-hour GroupX challenge where the instructors from Fitness First (FF being the organiser of this charity event) led the participants in exercises ranging from Body Attack, Body Pump, Step, Combat, Yoga and the like.

I thought that with minimum resistance, I wouldn't have problems spinning for extended periods of time.  But I wasn't prepared for the pain sitting on the bike and I felt the pain and lethargy setting in very early on in the marathon.  I had to constantly alternate between standing climbs and seated spin throughout the challenge.

The challenge for myself in this event is to cycle as much as I can.  Though most of the funds have been raised, but a good friend has offered to donate for the duration of the time I spent cycling.  Ok, so you might say that no one (apart from my team members) will know how long I actually ride, but no.  I have my integrity, and I wouldn't lie just to get a few extra bucks.  It is also a personal challenge to myself.  I'm never an athelete, and the only riding I do is during the spin classes in FF.  So this is like a challenge to myself in finding out how long I can last on the bike.  My target : 5 hours with 30mins rest in between.

It was good fun just being with the team, chatting and laughing and entertaining ourselves while spinning away.  The team beside us, made us of one of my fellow gym mates and his friends, were also spinning away furiously beside us.  My gym mate, whom we never spoke in these many months we attended the same class, was actually very friendly and jovial and joked with us on and off.
Helps to keep the boredom at bay.

Got to thank our many friends who came by to support us while we sweat away.  THANKS to Kops, JT, Tao, Taz, Aichai & family !  Appreciate you folks taking the time off your precious Sat to come see us and cheer us on!  *bow*

Also wanted to thank my dear team members for readily agreeing to take part in this challenge (you people rock!) and for allowing a rookie like me to spin as and when I asked so that I can raise more $$ for CCF!!

I managed to spin a total of 5 hours and stopped at 1700hrs.  Though there is still 30mins more to go before the end of the challenge, I decided to call it quits as my left leg was starting to really hurt by then and I didn't want to risk an injury.  However, I'm glad that I managed to meet my target.  Yay!

The challenge ended at 1730hrs and all six teams did it!  Although there was no doubt that we could complete the challenge, it still felt good.

And we each received a certificate of participation ...

We were supposed to wash up at the gym and wait for the party to start 2 hours later.  However, most of us were beat so we decided to just have a quick dinner at the food court nearby before heading home to rest.

A very very big THANK YOU to all our supporters, and to the many of our friends for donating. We couldn't have done it without the support from all!  

Its interesting how this whole thing came about.  Just recently I was thinking to myself that I have yet to do a project for charity this year.  Something which I said I would do following the wonderful experiences I had from the Go The Extra Mile project for HWA last year.  It was shortly after that thought that I got to know about this Cycling Marathon.  Its interesting how things just fall into place in just a few msn chats and in no time a team was formed.  I'm also surprised & happy that I managed to collect over $800 in donations this round.  

I'm glad I managed to do something in 2007 for charity.  Definitely a highlight in 2007 for me.

All photos courtesy of Kops.  Thanks for taking pics for us (as none of us brought our cameras along) 
:)