Mohd Nurjamri Johari. BT file
Muhammad Rafiuddin Zikara. BT file
Mohd Nurjamri Johari is looking to start his year off on a good note.
The national cyclist departed the Sultanate yesterday to compete in his first event of the year - the 2nd Mountain Bike (MTB) Kerala International Mountain Cycling Competition in India, the same tournament he finished fourth in during 2012's inaugural edition.
He will be joined by compatriot Muhammad Rafiuddin Zikara in India, with the duo tackling the hills in Tutong in preparation for the competition.
Both are racing under the banner of Chiru Endurance.
Nurjamri is expecting a tougher outing but is still aiming for a top-10 finish for the race on Saturday.
"There will be many national cyclists competing at the tournament this time, making it more difficult compared to 2012," said Nurjamri in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
"I'll go out there with my best effort and hopefully obtain good results, and I'm aiming to finish in the top-10," he added.
The top-seven riders in each category will receive prize money.
The 28-year-old started training at the beginning of the year and spent the last two weeks working with national cycling coach Yafiz Jamaluddin.
Nurjamri feels that everything is on the right track and hopes that his experience will help him achieve his target.
"My physical (condition) and fitness is alright. I don't know if it is enough since I started intensive training only in January," said Nurjamri.
"I want to use the experience that I obtained from races last year, especially in China and Kuala Lumpur, to try and finish well once again," he added.
"I believe that I have improved and I want to see where I stand at the moment," concluded the Tutong native.
Nurjamri was referring to the MTB Huangshan 2013 in China last April and the Harian Metro Mountain Bike Grand Prix in Putrajaya, Malaysia in June.
He finished in 26th out of 127 riders in China and had to fight from the back of the pack to finish 12th in Malaysia.
He also missed out on flying the flag for the Sultanate at the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar after coming in ninth out of 10 riders in the pre-SEA Games competition in March.
