Monday, April 27, 2015

25th April 2015 Nparks and LCSG ride to GBB

In case u cannot wait... heres the full photo link here :) 

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The folks who came and rode with Nparks and LCSG
We helped facilitate the public ride (organised by Nparks) of about 100 pax to introduce the new PCN that connects fort road PCN directly to Garden by the bay.  
Before the ride, Nparks team also gave a presentation on park manners and how to do some pre bike checks before the ride. 
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A short briefing on the route, some ways to be safe and keep u bicycle in good working condition presentation by Nparks 
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Simple pre-check list
They also shared abit more on whats coming up in the next few months so that the folks are more aware of the activities ahead. Its looking good! 
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Due to the size, we split into 3 wave. This is first wave 
We had 2 ride types. One being a 14km that loops around the GBB area and the shorter route of 8km which ends at the GBB bridge(to cater for the newer riders).  
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This is the folks we are doing the ride for! I love it when families ride together
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We saw a tandem! 

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Mr Simon. He is 76, egging his wife on! 

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Nice stretch from Fort road to GBB
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Eliane and her dad enjoying the moment

I was with the 8km route and many of them are not season riders. That did not stop them from enjoying the ride and commenting that they will do this again. The new PCN connection were very appreciated by the riders as it gave a safe route from ECP PCN directly to GBB. This is a big improvement from the previous option of exiting from Fort road, taking the road to tanjong rhu(danger zone). We even rode further to the barrage as everyone was really keen to cycle further. 
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Group photo on the barrage
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A priceless moment with the family photo! 
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Hisham, our lead for the 8km route 

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Greg and his gal 
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A Simple thank you and handshake means so much. 
What made me smile alot is the conversation by some riders on PCN. Dennis related to Mr Yee of Nparks how the PCN provided him and his mates a great place to ride. His health improved a lot and he wanted to say big thank you to the Npark team for all the efforts. That was the moment that made my day and Mr Yee I am sure! 

As they say, photos tell a thousand words. Have a look and see the fun ride we did with lots of friends. 

Thank you NParks - Let's Make Singapore Our Garden for the nice PCN connection. And thank you fellow LCSG angels for helping manage the groups so well and effective! See u soon!
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With Npark team
LCSG from R-L
First row, Berenda, Gracie, Keng Yong, Seng Tat, Pierre, Tiger, Desmond, Raymond,
Second row, Nixs and Taiwoon 

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Teach a child to ride by OCBC

They say a sign of great company is one that gives back to the community. Esp to the ones in need, who are weak and underprivileged. I saw one such event last week at Sporthub, done very quietly and with no "ra ra".

In my brief chat with Iris Tan of OCBC, she related that many of the children they are helping came from broken families.
They do not have father figures and naturally learning to cycle would be so far from their "radar". How would they be able to do it when they are worried about the day to day life....



This was what OCBC attempted to address with their "Teach a Child to Ride" initiative. I love what OCBC is doing and here's an image grab from their Facebook. 
If you like to help out. Please give them a ping and I am sure they would love to hear from you.
Good on you OCBC for the heart and the effort! 

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Talking point on cycling on pavement

I am glad to hear more discussion on cycling. BTW, It is by the law illegal to ride on pavement. However many do as the roads are not safe for cyclists. Hear both side of the story and the discussions on Toggle.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Leung Ki Chi cycling story


Hi, I am Ki Chi,  a 31-year old guy working as Customer Service Officer for a German MNC. Most people seem to start riding from young but I was not so blessed. I learnt riding only in 2011 during an trip to ECP with my ex-colleagues. After that I seldom rode for the next 2 years and never rode out of ECP or the eastern PCN network.
I decided to get my own bicycle in 2013 to save on rental fees each time I wanted to ride. Quickly my rides got longer and longer and soon I plucked up the courage to go on the roads. Eventually I ended up riding to my company's former office at Kallang Sector. My rides were initially mixed PCN and road, but now all my rides are on roads and from just home to office.  
I aim to ride everywhere whenever possible. After work I may ride home, or to the nearby nex shopping mall, or to Ghim Moh or Queenstown for church gatherings.
I have had hurdles to overcome to keep pedalling though. 
Firstly I sweat a lot even after slight physical exertion. Initially I just wiped myself dry after reaching office but that did not stop me getting horrible back rashes, which forced me to stop cycling for a few months last year. 
I resumed only when I discovered shower facilities in my current office. Now I shower after reaching office. Second hurdle would be the fear of close shaves on the roads. I have been in a few accidents before but thank God so far always escaped with minor cuts or scars requiring no more than 4 days' MC. I have conditioned myself to be cautious of other vehicles, with the mindset to expect the worst but to ride without fearing anyone else on the road. As long as I communicate my intention, understand others and follow the rules, I am totally safe. My advice to anyone who would want to commute via bicycle is: there is no need to fear riding on the road as long as you ride by the rules and remain alert.
Ki chi's Tern Link D8
Lastly a word on my metal horses. My current workhorse is a Tern Link D8 (pic attached). It was chosen as I read about its ease of folding from their website. This suits me as I sometimes take my foldie onto the MRT. My previous bikes in chronological order:
1. A China-made no-name foldie. It was damaged in an accident but my LBS restored it and it lived on a few more months. However the front handlebar hinge rusted and that was the last straw.
2. An Aleoca aluminium frame MTB. This was a lighter and faster ride but was stolen from my block's void deck one Sunday morning.
3. A Vert V8 foldie with aluminium frame and disc brakes. It was light but wobbled on the road and had persistent gear shifter problems. I gave it to a church friend.

The best advantages of cycling for me.
1. Exercise. I managed to cut my weight from 85kg to 67kg thanks to my bike.
2. It saves me money on public transport. With the savings I can spend more on food. Kind of defeats point 1 I know. :P
3. I get to explore different routes to work and back home and to other places.


"Hi Taiwoon,
Thank you for taking the effort to collate rider profiles to raise the profile of us cyclists to the powers-that-be!Thank you again for all your hard work for LCSG. I may not be able to join you for Sunday morning rides but I will join at other times whenever my schedule permits. 
regards, Ki Chi" 
Taiwoon: You are very welcome and thank you for sharing your story! See u on Sunday ride sometime!

Ode to Duchamp. Installation art inspired by bike parts


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LCSG coming in! 
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Most On the ball LTG-er. Chan Wai Lim shares on Little thought group work to lovecyclingsg  folks 
Now with SingaPlural over and the artwork shelved for the time being, I can reflect on what we have achieved for the event.
I really like the fact that it was a mix of all types of  art and design. From product design, furniture, furnishing to even architectural, fine arts, graphic and installation pieces being presented in ONE SINGULAR location. This is really quite cool.
I was very honored that lovecyclingsg folks came to see the event and support my work:) Thank you friends!

LCSG folks coming to see my work. thank you. Its very nice of  u!

Abit about my installation
My work Ode to Duchamp is made with the help of Ductile pte ltd team(my brother's workers) and myself. I deliberately kept it low tech as  I wanted the message of hand built and using old recycled parts to come through.
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 These are the work in progress and I spent many weeks prior the event getting it done. Lots of sweat and effort but really fulfilling. 
In my day job where all the models are now CNC machine cut and we are totally seperated from the actual act of model making.
Many of  our designers have already lost the ability to make things. To me, that's really a sad thing.
I also wanted my work to have an interactive element to it. To allow the audience interact and touch the work. I love it when they turn the crank and hear the noise and clatter. They would light up and start to ask... what the hell is this?

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A smile when he spin the crank... the clatter and movement captivates the little one!
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The elder giving it a go
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overworked and needed field repairs but it was good to see children messing with it
That's precisely what I wanted. For people to start asking questions and have conversations. On what is art, what is design? Must art be simply be beautiful images or the beauty of an idea.
This questions are what Marcel Duchamp asked in 1915. 100 years ago and still very valid questions.
There are so many good works like Miun's "marriage" 
Miun and her really nice flowers - photo credit Esther Lim

Wai lims toys (LTG)   
super passionate WaiLim and her animals 
This a cool idea "grave of ideas" 
So many creative ideas and I am really sad to see all disappear into oblivion. SingaPlural 2015 has closed but it has showed clearly how with the vision from a passionate leader - Bacus; and the  collective effort of many, SingaPlural has set the bench mark on design and creative event. I hope this can be a sign of greater things to come.  
Photos of the great event here
https://www.facebook.com/esther.l.hwee/media_set?set=a.10152797212918230.758503229&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/taiwoon/media_set?set=a.10152868397802909.1073741980.682337908&type=3
https://www.flickr.com/photos/taiwoon/sets/72157651355657111/

Monday, April 20, 2015

OCBC Cafe Bike Crawl 18th April 2015

Hi-res photos of the event here 
We got invited by the nice folks from OCBC to attend the first BikeCafeCrawl. The general idea is to visit some cafe and learn about coffee, bike fit and bike history.  
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Julian giving a safety briefing before the ride.
Actually for the ride, we were not told of the location. In a way its a mystery ride of sorts. Together with me were the nice LCSG angels George Kee and Brenda. 
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LCSG angels, Berenda and George Kee
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Rolling slowly towards first point of interest. 
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Slow and steady we ride as a group
We met at East Coast park Carpark C4. There were about 20 people for this ride. All not the usual pro riders but just normal folks who might like to do some riding. Ok, the lead rider, Julian was looking abit too pro with the aero bar and helmet. Amazingly he kept the pace at a leisurely 18km per hr max! Thats some feat! 
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Slight technical problem with the crank arm. Lucky we had tools but we chose to walk to Coast cycles to get it fixed as it was quite near
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Crossing the bridge
We first visited Coast cycles where we had a short demonstration on getting a proper seat height and bike fit. It wasn't a full on lesson but sharing how a proper fitted bike can reduce fatigue and tiredness. They also shared a bit on how they started and it being a lifestyle cafe and bikeshop. The breakfast was really quite nice and coffee great!
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Coffee and bikes 
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Mark and Tony sharing about the optimal seat height through a demonstration
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Have a break, a chat, with team Nparks!
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Yum!
Next stop was Shimano cycling world via the new "fort road bridge PCN". We had ice cream which was much appreciated in the hot weather. After cooling off, we attended the Shimano cycling world presentation on the bicycle history and also how they aim to make it a gathering place for cyclist. The thing to note is that Shimano will have some event of sorts every end of the month. Their bicycle workshop is very popular with the local riders. So watch their FB page closely! https://www.facebook.com/shimanosingapore?fref=ts&ref=br_tf
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Terry of Shimano sharing the concept and details of Shimano Cycling World
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Lovely co-branding
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Keeping fit and performance using tech. Terry explains what the machine can measure to help increase rider performance
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A very rare 3Rensho track bike... shaft drive
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short break to gather the riders 

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Its not a toy shop. Its a good cafe!
3rd place was from Sports hub to Loysel Toy. This is a small designer cafe at a kallang river. We were given a presentation on coffee. 
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Listen har... later got exam!

Now I know this kind of coffee is called "3rd wave". 1st being the local kopi tiam, 2nd being the star bucks and third is the what we call "atas" kopi. 
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What is 3rd Wave coffee?

Summary. To be "qualified" as "3rd wave", the shop will need to identify and share information on where its grown, the farm and when the coffee is harvested and roasted. It supposedly improves quality. Some coffee of different types were provided to let us sample. So floral and some nutty.... I am a bit embarrassed as I am not a coffee gourmet.  I still like my First wave "Kopitiam kopi". But I enjoyed the presentation very much. 
All in all, I think the ride format is pretty creative and pleasant. It took us from 8am to 3pm to complete the journey and all the eating. What I like was that they did not try to sell any bikes, nor stuff. It was simply to introduce the cafe to folks who would normally not go there.
Also very nice thing is that we got to chat with many of the folks from the media. Straits Times, Mediacorp, many online media on the cycling culture in Singapore. Many are interested and want to join Loveyclingsg sunday ride as well.
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all kinds of bike rolling together
We talked as we cycled on many things. One was how we can work together and help shift cycling mindsets. From a confrontational approach to a more emcompassing and inclusive one. Also sharing stories about the man on the street and how cycling can open ur eyes to the small, beautiful things in life.
Thank you OCBC for a nice ride!
For more details and if u like to do this, there are 2 more session. Go check out this link from OCBC.
http://ocbccycle.com/About/cafe-bike-crawl/

Monday, April 13, 2015

LCSG Sunday ride 12th April 2015

The LCSG sunday ride has been continuing for over 5 years. The objective is to spend a nice sunday morning exploring  a different part of Singapore via  the bicycle. Its relaxed and no at all intimidating for new riders. And its really fun to ride with common minded folks of all sizes, age and places. This video by a rider Terence shows the recent sunday ride to see the newly built jubilee bridge. 

Cycling in Singapore film by Thailand PBS

Its always good to see our efforts being recognized to make Singapore a more livable and  bike friendly place. Check out the video