The race happened a few months ago now, but due to us just missing the previous production deadline at Singapore's very own cycling magazine Spin Asia, the race report from the Cycosports 2014 Nongsa Challenge was just published this week.

A full PDF of the report can be read by clicking here, but better still, drop down to your local Singapore bookstore or newsagent to get a copy of the mag and enjoy the story in its full glossy glory.

The Bintan Triathlon celebrated its 10th birthday last weekend and I was there once again. I've attended all 10 editions, taking part in nine, only missing the 2009 event due to a broken leg. The inaugural race in 2005 was also my very first triathlon and I was instantly hooked. So much so that the old and rusty steel clunker I'd picked up at a Hong Kong market in 1997 was replaced two days later by a shiny new Scott "racer". Thus began my love affair with bikes, of which I've probably got far too many but I love and use them all regularly. I call it a healthy hobby. My  current favourite is my Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4, which is a pure racing machine.

I've decided not run at all this year as a precaution after a spot of knee surgery in January and so for this year's Bintan Tri I formed a team with my mates Kevin Timmons and Ned Philips and we entered two events: the Sprint Distance race in the morning and the Olympic Distance contest in the afternoon. We had a great time and were lucky enough to win both races. I was the cyclist for the team and my weapon of choice was the above-pictured Neil Pryde Alize.  It's what's termed an "aero bike", designed to cut through the wind at the expense of comfort. Not that it's a harsh ride, I simply love that bike, and chose it for the 800km-in-43-hours Trans Malaysia Express in 2012 and hardly felt a bump. But for the past year or so I've only used it in triathlons and time trials; it's gotten me the fastest split at quite a few tris (drop bars/clip-ons and all) and won or placed at the odd TT. 

But alas it had its last outing at the weekend. I've been riding it while keeping an eye on a little crack on the seat tube that was pointed out by not one but two mechanics over a year ago. It still sort of looks ok to me, even if the crack does look a little bit bigger, so I've reluctantly taken the decision to retire it.

It went out with a bang in Bintan, though, when it outsplit the legendary Chris "Macca" McCormack on the bike leg of the Sprint race. Who needs a full TT rig when you have an Alize :-)

I won't get rid of it, no way, I was fortunate enough to have been part of the Neil Pryde Bikes Epic Rider program back in 2011 and so once it gets back from a LBS where the parts are being removed, the frame will have pryde and place on my office/bike room wall.

What I am getting to replace it? Watch this space ...

The Bintan Triathlon celebrated its 10th edition with a bang as a true legend of the sport was added to the honour roll of winners in the shape of Chris “Macca” McCormack. A last-minute entry into the event, McCormack not surprisingly won the blue ribbon Olympic Distance race, but the multiple world champion did the double by taking the Sprint title too and in the process gave some of his up-and-coming competitors the thrill of their young lives. Kathryn Haesner was a dominant winner of the women’s Olympic distance race, her performance good enough for ninth place across both genders, while Vanessa Colless was the women’s Sprint champ.

Read the full report at www.metasport.com.