The ‘Highlander’ is looking to help his team do well in next Sunday’s Al-Bait road race.
KUCHING: The world of sports has many fascinating stories, some of drama and sacrifices, others which are just amusing.
Even in the small world of Kuching cycling, there are interesting tales.
In the 1980s, Team Kenbirds’ captain Jordan Pang was almost unbeatable in local races.
He would relate how he used the draft of a passing lorry when the marshals were out of sight.
Not that he needed to as he was often far ahead.
Fast forward to the present and you have Team Corbusier’s Charles Diking.
At the 2013 CycleFest, the UiTM student broke away with 30km left in Category Two of the 160km road race.
Teammates Supian Nor and Garry Tay stayed back to help him with a successful breakaway.
He went on to win his first race ever.
“I had to breakaway as I had an exam scheduled at 2pm,” said Charles.
Now that’s a unique reason for wanting to finish a race quickly.
Team leader Laurel L Adrian had recruited him in late 2012 after they were part of a UiTM adventure race team in Pahang.
Originally from the Kundasang highlands, home of iconic Mount Kinabalu, the 21-year-old’s parents work at the Kinabalu National Park and his home is only one km from the gates.
He was a distance runner who represented Sabah as a Form Three student in the national schools championship.
When he joined Corbusier, Laurel put him through a cycling boot camp.
His fitness combined with Laurel’s mentoring allowed him to progress quickly.
He has fond memories of those halcyon days when he rode daily with teammate Sylvester Dung and Team Sonamu founder Abang Sudirman.
A road racer’s highest aim is to be in a stage race and he achieved this when he raced in Johor’s Jelajah Kemakhotaan last month.
It was a baptism of fire for Charles and Afig Harun who was also in his first stage race.
The tour was tough for Corbusier as they lost Laurel on the 130km Danga Bay to Mersing first stage when he flatted while in the lead group.
The team could not get to him quickly which resulted in him being unable to catch up.
On the second day, a tough 174.5km slog from Kluang to Muar, teammate Fito Prilanji was in the lead group which got swallowed up by the pack with just 30km left.
They had a chance to finish high with Charles leading out Yudhi Rachmad with 3km left only for Yudhi to have an untimely puncture.
Charles finished in the top 20 after being caught by Indonesian ace Tonton Suhanto and the pack with 900m left.
The 186.6km final day from Muar to Danga Bay was the worst of the tour as they encountered severe weather with 10km left.
“It was raining so heavily I couldn’t see anything in front of me.”
Despite the rain, the teams lined up for a pack sprint with Charles again leading out Yudhi but he crashed out.
“I decided to go for it and got Afiq to lead me out,” said Charles.
Unfortunately, it was crashes galore due to the wet road and he went down with just one km left.
Despite it all, he raved about the experience.
“It was the best experience of my life. I really hope I get to do it again,” said Charles.
“The first day was tough as I was nervous, got dropped and had to fight back to the pack.”
His focus now is the Al-Bait road race, the big race of the season.
“I am excited for the Al-Bait and am going to do all I can for the team,” said Charles.
He is happy with his progress so far.
“People said that I wouldn’t go far as I started so late. Frankly, I am surprised by my progress,” said Charles.
Like teammates Afig, Zahin Harun and Zaid Ismail, he is a work in progress.
“I hope I can work here after graduating and continue with Corbusier,” he added.