Bromo KOM X

I finally went to my first big cycling event. It was Bromo KOM X.

Prep period

Bromo KOM is a yearly event. In early January, my friend invited me to join Bromo KOM this year. Well, I said invited, but we still need to buy a ticket to participate. And there’s no sign of the ticket sale happening soon. That’s weird, usually they are on sale around this time of the year.

Anyway, Bromo KOM isn’t exactly a newbie friendly event. Previous year route was a ~95km ride with ~1900m elevation gain. I mean, we’re riding from the big city, all the way up to a mountain’s last checkpoint.

So I really need to all the training I can get. This is also my first time following a planned workout properly. I used JOIN Cycling planner, set up training plan for single event, and got a workout plan for the next few months.

This workout plan basically doubled the amount of time I spent on a bike. From 2-3h per week to 5-6h per week. It was pretty brutal in the early weeks. Then I got used to being tired everyday midway.

The ticket sale is finally announced in March. I stayed up at 3 a.m. to buy the ticket the moment it’s open. And I got it 🎉. Totally worth it, ticket was sold out in the noon. 1500 slot is a lot, I didn’t expect the event was that popular.

Fast forward to a week before the event. Bromo KOM starting point is in Surabaya. That’s around 1.5h flight from my place. And this is going to be my first flight with my bike.

I need a bike box to pack my bike and check it in for the flight. I don’t have any and have no plan to buy one anytime soon. Thankfully bike box rental is a thing. So I rented one for a week.

The bike box filled with my bike etc. weights around 24kg. It has wheels at the bottom, so moving it around wasn’t that hard.

Day one, departure

At the airport, I saw a lot of people lugging around their bike box. Hmm, these people are also Bromo KOM participants.

In the take off area, I can see even more bike box being loaded to a smaller plane. This is my first time seeing luggages being carried by a separate aircraft! I’m taking Garuda Airline which provides free sports equipment luggage up to 30kg. Which I guess can easily make a single plane overload if many people bring their bike.

I went straight to the hotel after arriving in Surabaya. Surprise, the hotel is also full of cyclist. I can see a bunch of bike boxes stored in the receptionist area. There’s a man casually assembling their bike in the hotel lobby. People going up and down the lift with their bikes. It’s totally different than the hotel experience that I know of!

After eating lunch, twice, we went to retrieve the race pack first. The race pack area is surprisingly organized. We got ours relatively quick. Then we registered for the optional return minivan. That’s because I’m confident I won’t be able to pedal back from the finish line.

Once that’s done we went to Decathlon. My friend forgot his rain coat and is worried about rain during the climb. Make sense, let’s buy a new one then. And then there’s me being a dumb ass. In the way, I realized I didn’t bring my water bottles… So yes, I also had to buy new water bottles.

Traffic wasn’t exactly nice, so by the time we’re done shopping, it’s already dark. We’re back at the hotel at 7 p.m.-ish and we still need to assemble our bikes.

Once we’re done assembling, we’re super hungry. It’s time for dinner! I got katsudon for dinner to increase my chance of finishing tomorrow.

After dinner, a nice bath, and a warm coffe, I slept like a baby.

Not really, I need to wake up at 4 a.m.. And I’m too excited to sleep. That’s the end of the day one.

Day two, the big day!

At the end I got like 2.5h sleep. But I didn’t feel sleepy, I’m still excited! Not sure if it’s because of the event or because of my room neighbour alarm’s that has been ringing nonstop for 20 mins.

It’s time for breakfast. The hotel was nice enough to shift the morning breakfast to be before the event start. I guess that’s their way of saying thanks because most of their guests are cyclist at that day.

And as expected, everyone is already wearing their gear for breakfast. Tight jersey, cycling shoes click-clacking on every steps, helmet that’s so out of place in a hotel breakfast area. Meanwhile I’m still in my pajama.

After breakfast, I rushed to my room, change to my cycling gear, and then starts pedaling to the starting point. It’s around 3km from the hotel.

In the starting point, we had to scan the QR code there. I’m not sure for what, as the bib numbers attached to my back and the bike also had timing chip.

It was 5.30 a.m., I can hear the starting signal being sounded. Nice, this means the event started on time.

From here, it’s 55 km to the pit stop in GOR Untung Suropati, Kota Pasuruan. This part is a relaxed group ride. No race until the KOM start. It took me 2 hours and 3 minutes to get there.

By the time I arrived, my saddle post is in the lowest position. I didn’t tighten the saddle post enough, so it’s slowly sinking during the ride. I didn’t notice it until my friend pointed it out. Thankfully this is a big event, so we had bike mechanics on standby in the pit stop.

We got around 30 mins rest time in the pit stop.

From pit stop to the KOM start, it’s around 15 km. We will depart according to our group, led by a road captain. Elite and 60+ group will depart first. Next is mine, under 29.

In this part, I tried to keep up with the leading pace. If I’m left behind, it will be hard to catch up with the peloton. This is a mistake, I should’ve kept my pace in Z2 or Z3. I don’t have a cyclocomp nor power meter for outdoor ride. So I pretty much burnt myself out right before the KOM start.

KOM start at KM 70, and it’s a nonstop climb for 23.9 km, with average gradient of 6.9%. Thanks to my bad pacing, I’m already in recovery pace in the first climb.

During recovery, I did my next mistake. One of my bottles is not closed properly. I tried to correct the bottle lid, but I dropped it. Then I spent the next few minutes trying to find it. I think it fell into the sewer, I couldn’t find it. Some worried cyclists saw me and asked if I’m okay. No worries, I’m good, just a little bit low on motivation. I gave up and starts pedaling again.

After 1 hours of recovery pace, my heart rates has calmed down. And I’ve only covered 6 km.

From this point on, it’s a loop of:

1. hit the pedal until my HR enters Z4,
2. rest at the side of the road until my HR is back to Z2,
3. repeat.

It was frustrating. Even if I pedal as slow as I can, my HR will still enter Z4. To think I was this weak.

Midway, I started thinking about giving up. But I changed my mind. Remember the all the training you did. Remember the flight and hotel booking you paid. I already invested a lot of time and money here. Ain’t no way I’m giving up now.

I kept pedaling. From this point, I can’t remember much details. I tried to stop thinking and just pedal. Embrace the pain.

Around this part, I had to stop for medic twice. Both are for cramps on my left leg. That’s okay, I can still recover from this. Also around this time, I start seeing people going down with medals in their neck. That means I’m close to the finish line. I can do this.

Well, not really. I still have 5 km to go. 5 km is nothing in a flat road. But here, that’s at least 1 hour of pedaling. And it’s already around 12 p.m.. I wonder if can still make it before the cut off time. Who is the idiot that said cut off time at 1 p.m. is easy? I regret saying that.

At 1 p.m., I finally reached the village area near the finish line. I can see the last climb. ~15% gradient, haha, it literally looks like a wall.

For the first few seconds, I can still pedal. I even said something like “You can do this, just a little bit more”, to the cyclist next to me. Then I started sprinting.

Well that sprint didn’t last long. That climb feels like a joke. Even walking and pushing my bike is hard.

I took my last rest in the corner right before the finish line. Then I start sprinting again into the finish line. Welp, it’s past 1 p.m. already. I’ll content with just finishing.

Surprise! I still got a medal. I thought maybe they are giving it to everyone. After I regrouped with my friend, he told me the cut off time is actually 1.30 p.m..

WOW, okay then I finished before the cut off time? I’m so happy, I didn’t expect that.

(Later on, based on the official result, I finished at 1:11:38 p.m.. It took me 4 hours 21 minutes and 50 seconds to finish the KOM climb. I was 3rd from the last in my age category 😂)

Now that I’m done, I can finally relax. There’s a lot of free food and drinks in the area.

After that, me and my friend go downhill for 2 km to the pick up area. We’re going back to the city by minivan. There’s no way I’m going back by bike. I’m not strong enough for that right now. And I can see some super cyclist are going back by bike…

There’s 5 of us in the minivan. The driver, me and my friend, and two other cyclists. One of them is a surgeon, and the other one is a retired person from Jayapura. We exchanged contacts, maybe we will do a Bromo KOM reunion in the future.

This event is an eye opener for me, there’s a lot of people from different background here. And all of them are coming here to suffer from the same climb.

After 3 hours ride with the minivan, we’ve arrived at the city center. Hmm, the hotel is just 5 km away. Let’s go back by bike, my friend said. Yeah let’s do it, I replied.

And so we did. It was the most annoying part of the day. The traffic, the pollution, the motorbikes, arghhhh. This is exactly why I hate outdoor ride in the city.

The rest of the day is pretty uneventful. We had dinner, took a shower, and sleep like a log.

Day three, return trip

Our last day in Surabaya. It’s a slow day, no recovery ride.

We had breakfast in the hotel. Disassembled our bikes, and pack it up. Then we go to the airport.

It’s another 1 hour flight.

After arriving in Soekarno-Hatta, we go straight to the oversize luggage area. And we waited for at least 30 minutes. At some point, the airport staff there asked, “Who else is waiting for the bike box? Raise your hands.”. Then almost everyone in the waiting area raised their hands. The staff stopped counting and just talked to walkie talkie, “There’s at least 10 boxes, just get all of them out.”.

Not long after that, I got my bike box. Then I took the taxi to my home. I arrived safely around 5 p.m., and that concludes my trip.

How much I spent on the trip?

Other tidbits I’m not sure where to put

• The elevation graph looks familiar.

Closing thoughts

It was not a cheap trip, but I’m glad I did it. One item crossed off my bucket list.

Learning points for me:

• Pacing need improvements.
• Don’t try to open bottle lid during the ride, especially a climb. You will lose it.
• Remembering why you started doing something is a good way to stop yourself from giving up.
• For long ride like this, you need energy gels, anti-chafe, and sunscreen.
• Athlete is called super human for a reason.
• I should’ve taken more photos.

Also, special thanks for my friend, Yoan, for inviting me. As a casual cyclist, I probably won’t join this kind of event without being invited.

Post 25 of #100DaysToOffload.