The ‘L’ factor in SukSar mountainbike race
KUCHING: The SukSar cycling events concluded Saturday at the Siol mountain bike track with Kuching cyclists taking the spotlight.
Southern Zone’s Brandon Lau and Brandon Lee took the gold and bronze respectively with the silver going to Northern Zone’s Lim Chia Hsien.
Lim is actual ly based in Kuching after moving from his hometown of Sri Aman.
“I just wanted to finish on the podium. Winning the race is like a bonus,” winner Lau said after the race.
As instructed by MSNS coach Laurel L. Adrian, the Kuching cyclists all scrambled for leading positions from the start.
Lau jumped ahead after the first lap and never looked back to finish the 6-lap race (19.2km) in 1hr 19min 57sec.
The other Brandon kept pace and was cruising along in second spot until he started suffering from leg cramps in the fifth lap.
That allowed Lim to pass him and clinched the silver only eight
I just wanted to finish on the podium. Winning the race is like a bonus. Brandon Lau, winner
seconds off the pace.
In any race, the best laid plans can sometimes get derailed by poor luck and that was the case for Kuching’s Ivan Ong.
He was projected to be on the podium but halfway into the first lap, he suffered a puncture.
After getting back to the pit zone and getting his wheel repaired, he would suffer a race- ending blow when his chain broke just a short distance after leaving the pits.
The rule in mountain bike racing is that you cannot just turn back and must complete the whole lap to get back to the pits.
At that point, there was no point for him to continue.
For race winner Brandon Lau, the strategy was to be fast yet be conservative.
“We wanted to be fast on the flats and then be careful on the technical sections as going too fast there meant a high chance of a puncture as there were many sharp rocks there,” said Lau.
The 17 year- old has a headstart in the sport as his family own the Tong Seng bikeshop and he has been cycling since he was in kindergarten.
He got serious when he started high school and was invited to train with the MSNS in Oct 2016.
Bronze medalist Lee, who finished 3 min 29secs behind Lau, also rides for Team Tong Seng and has been in the sport for three years.
“I really would like to go to the Perak Sukma and do well there,” said Lee, 16, when asked what he hopes will result from his performance at SukSar.
The two are students of CHMS No.1 and Lau will be sitting for his Chinese high school exam next year.
He is hopeful of making the Perak Sukma but acknowledged it will be hard to combine it with his studies.
“It is going to be a big task but I am going to give it my best try.”
Coach Laurel L . Adr i an expressed satisfaction with all the cyclists.
“The Kuching boys delivered what was expected of them. Chia Hsien surprised me as he was not the fastest in training. It showed he has improved a lot,” said Laurel, who rides for Team Corbusier when off duty.
He noted that Western Zone’s Abang Mohd Hafiz, the only other finisher, put in a credible performance.
“I think he has potential and we will see if we can do something about it.”
“I really feel sorry for Ivan, he just had no luck,” added Laurel.
There were a total of 14 competitors.
There was no women’s event as there were no entries.