Stage 10 or the final stage of the cycling race was held on Sunday 12 February 2006 at 3.30pm in Kuala Lumpur. The starting and ending point is at Dataran Merdeka.
I arrived there early at 2pm while CS Wong, a photographic friend was on his way traveled there by taking LRT since the station is near to Dataran Merdeka. This is also to avoid traffic jam due to road closure.
Walking towards the starting area, I could hear the announcement from the huge loudspeakers. Though the race was to start at 3.30pm, there were already huge crowd of spectators at the scene. There were lots of activities involving race officers, photographers, support crew, etc.
The entire area was well cordoned off. To ensure spectators do not run across the path (that would be fatal accident), both sides of the road were erected with cast iron barricade of four feet in height. To cross to the other side of the road meant having to walk a distance away.
I was able to take quite a number of photo shots without any race officers questioning my presence. With the SLR camera and huge telephoto lens, it was like displaying the license prominently to walk around.
It was cloudy with the rain clouds forming, however, it was hot and I was sweating profusely.
Just before the start of the race, there was parade of police riders, mascots and the sponsors. It was indeed a grand event comparable to world-class standard. Of course, compare to those running events, running events look humble and simple.
I was excited to see the top cyclists racing at Kuala Lumpur and I was standing so near to them. All these while, I have to view major cycling events via Internet.
The race was started at 3.30pm as planned. There were 102 cyclists participating in this final stage. All were donning stylish and colourful jerseys. With the tight jerseys and sunglasses, they all looked macho and cool. I guess 95% of the racers were mat salehs; I could not see any Malaysian cyclists.
While in the race, it was amazing that the cyclists followed very closely to the cyclist in front. It was awesome that they negotiate corners at maximum speed. I could not imagine if the racers in front were falling down. The racers at the back would sure ram into them; that would be quite a mess.
The drizzle started at 4pm and the race was still continued. I actually fear for the safety of the racers. When the road is wet by drizzle, there would be a thin film of oil on the road surface. Negotiating corners at maximum speed would be uncontrollable when the driving wheel hit the oil. A few minutes later, it was reported that two cyclists fell down. At 4.15pm, the rain was getting heavy and eventually, the race was stopped.
The announcer was saying: “Not only that the racers have to compete among themselves, they have to overcome the forces of nature.”
I was waiting in the tent seeking for shelter while watching the big TV screen to view the latest updates.
While there was still slight drizzle, I left the scene at 5pm. Walking to my car, I began to feel the tireness and stiffness in my legs muscle after a 30km training run this morning with Meng, Weng and LimFW.
Note: there will be no posting on Tuesday. Not free on Monday evening.
By KC
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