It rained... and rained

I thought I was smart to fold Carryme to work as later evening I had a meeting with Nparks. The rain stopped some what and carried on pissing until now. It's almost 20hrs and its still drizzling. So glad to have my rain coat which gave me some protection. After the meeting, I had about 2 km to reach Botanic garden MRT ... Its not tooooo bad.  . I thought I was pretty badass to ride the carryme in the rain after the meeting. Until I saw this photo on LCSG.  

Now this is badass... It's a non event to him! Keep rocking it sir! 

Cyclists to pay road tax in Singapore - again????

This question comes up as regular as clockwork in our lovecyclingsg Facebook page. At first I must admit I was a bit peeved but then perhaps it's because its called "Road tax" which doesn't really help matters. 
More on the user opinion here.  

And here's the reason why not and posting it here so its easier to find the next time. 
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-on-the-web/roads-are-for-all-users
"As the Land Transport Authority (LTA) clarified in 2013: "Public roads are intended to be used by all road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. They are built and maintained using public funds collected from general taxes, including those who do not use motorised vehicles."

Furthermore, it can be clearly seen on the LTA's website that road tax is calculated based on a vehicle's engine capacity or power rating. These values are directly or indirectly linked to the amount of emissions produced by each vehicle type. "

Carfreesundaysg 22nd Jan 2017

From Chris who led the folks from Stadium MRT to site. 

"A strong turnout of about 70 cyclists from the Love Cycling SG and Brompton Riders@SG cycling groups showed up bright and early at the meeting point Stadium MRT Station, and eager to not only make new friends but also participate in the 22nd January 2017 Car-Free Sunday.

After a short briefing we rolled on merrily at a very slow enjoyable pace. It was a cool Sunday morning and the ride to the stretch of closed roads was pleasant. The rear was covered ably by Desmond Chia.  Some of the activities featured at this Sunday’s Car-Free Day included a lion dance troupe and drum performances, Chinese Orchestra performances amongst others.  

More photos here 

Wee Seng and Doris rolling and saying hi!

More folks rolling along and my camera cannot keep up... 

I love that parents bring their young. This is the best way for bonding! 

Can walk also.. 

With the opening up of additional roads and lanes in the Telok Ayer and Civic District Loops, riders were treated to the experience of being able to ride safely (without of fear and concern of motorist traffic) on roads they seldom or wouldn’t have the opportunity to cycle on. 

More outdoor activities to participate in as well as the lessening of drink and food vendors, were however things lacking from this event as compared to the first couple of Car-Free Sunday events. That said, it was still another great Car-free Sunday experience."

Listening to the Hwa Chong Chinese Orchestra which gave the place really a nice mood!

Susan and her friends came on by! 

From Taiwoon (POV) I was at Telok Ayer road, soaking into the events. The usual quiet road on sunday was made more festive with music from the Hwa Chong JC and Hok San Lion Dance Troupe.

Nice humble and super generous to help share their craft. These are the people from Hok San Lion Dance Troupe 

As the cyclists came by in droves, many stopped to take photos, selfies of the Lion dance troupe and the iconic old conservation houses.  The Hok San Lion Dance team were really nice about it. They generously shared how to move the lion head, the trick and routine. It's not as easy as it looks. I was humbled by the craftsmen ship of the lion head and also the fine motor skills they had. Its obvious they have spend some serious time on this. Salute! 

Ok.. now u hold the lion head.. here's the string to pull the eyelid..  oh my gadd.. so many things!

Mindboggling

Hit it baby one more time!

Learning culture in a very fun way

Here's Francis and myself messing around and trying to get folks to come by.... 

Can we get this roll with a bicycle??? 

I really like the feeling of giving life back to the place with street activities and heres more photos to show how it looked. Let's hope with the nice event, more folks will come forward to do their small gig and who knows... kickstart a very nice culture along the way! Keep up the good work #Carfreesundaysg!!! 

Nice voice!

Cycle Commuting - Work to Home

As some of you might have noticed. I have changed job and work around the town area(CBD - Central business district...in Singapore terms). 
That has greatly reduced the time for commuting. Be it by bus, motor bike, MRT or cycling.  I have several options at hand now...

Just carried down my foldie from 3 flights of stair... almost ready to roll!

The Bus way. City Direct Bus 666.
Travel time: 50mins to an hour. 
Cost: $2.50 each way.
I am very lucky to that Bus 666 is just beside my home which takes me very close my work place. The route is via the TPE, CTE and turns out at Outram exit and then to Keppel and drops folks off at the CBD area. The traffic bottlenecks at the expressways are horrific in peakhour... but I dont have to focus on driving. Just sit(80% of the time I get one) and zone out. But its just booorring. Thats just me. 
MRT
Travel time: 45 min. 
Transfer at Outram MRT. 
Cost: $1.60 each way. 
I stay about 1.8km from the MRT, just abit too far to walk but its possible. A bicycle is a nice addition as u reduce the dependency to wait for feeder bus which can take up to 15 mins to come.  Or you can take a foldie, ride to MRT station and take the train.  The journey from Punggol to Tanjong pagar takes about 45min with a transfer at Outram MRT. I am so very glad that there is the all day access for  folding bikes.   Oh.. or u can also take a PMD,  Arcboard to reduce the last min inconvenience too! 
Motorbike
Route: TPE-KPE- Sims ave- Chinatown-Keongsiak area 
Travel time: 40min.
ERP: $1.00 
Parking: 65 cents!!!!!
Yes... I have one. Get on, zip along the congested bottlenecks at cycling speed. I can reach my work location in 40 min flat.... riding like a grandpa. 
Car 
Route: TPE-KPE-MCE -Central Boulevard 
Travel time: 20 - 45min
ERP: $3-4.50 
Parking: Season parking $480
Parking by daily rate: $1.07 per 10 mins. which works out to be $59<<< a day (9am-6pm)  Holy mackerel!!
(Thanks Anthony Tan for ur inputs!)   
Cycling
I think with all the riding I have done, the distance (to and fro) is not the issue for me at all. The challenge is my current office space is small and I do not have secure parking nor shower facilities.  That might change later in the year with the Kohler experience centre... finger crossed. 

The cycling bug in me is strong, so for the time being I am trying on this on Fridays. That I will bring my folding bike and ride home from office. This is based on my cycling "intensive" local knowledge of the simplest, smoothest route back home haha.. if there's a better route... please tell me.   

Overall it was really nice, nothing too epic and tiring.  Riding home also means I don't have to worry about washing up. This is a good way for anyone who thinking they cannot do it.. to try. Hope this can give u some insights and encouragement to try cycling commute. If taiwoon (lao uncle) can do... so can you! 

Book Sharing : Have to ride what ever it takes by Mr Tan (啡骑不可)

This is a book on cycling shared to me by Lay Yuan who used to ride with Lovecyclingsg and now based in KL, Malaysia. 

The book is about cycling in Malaysia, written by avid cyclist Mr Tan who noted down all the nice small things that happens when u cycle. Its not the first book, nor this is the most epic world cycling tour. But its a good effort to share and to note why people cycle at the first place. And if you like to know Malaysia, from a cyclist perspective and pace... maybe u can pick this book up and read. Its in chinese and you can get it here (follow the link below)  

◎喜爱骑单车的朋友请看过来，有好书介绍唷！

来自马来西亚雪州巴生的陈劲豪，是位热爱骑单车和精品咖啡的“疯子”，2014年，他辞去台湾药师一职返回马来西亚，独自上路单车环岛骑了61天，轮子辗过2800公里。两年后他把这趟骑迹结集成书，《啡骑不可》就这样诞生了。

陈劲豪从巴生出发北上霹雳、槟城、吉打、玻璃市，骑进泰国，再穿越东西大道到吉兰丹，沿着美丽的东海岸一路往南，经登嘉楼、关丹、柔佛、并跨国骑入新加坡后，再由南马往北部的马六甲、森美兰州、回到雪州巴生。

陈劲豪不是第一个骑单车环大马半岛的马来西亚人，但他所写的《啡骑不可》却是第一本关于骑单车环大马半岛的中文书。

「有些事现在不做，这辈子就不一定会做了！」
陈劲豪因為受到這句话的影响，而鼓起勇气並勇敢的骑出去。2800公里的骑跡虽没有荆棘载途，却布满了许多温馨感人的小故事。从出发前忐忑不安的心情，出发后在沿途中遇见了“好人”、“好事”、“好风景”，书中他都娓娓道来，让你犹如跟随他一起遨游了马来西亚半岛，透过他的视野和温暖文字来感受大马的美丽。

“单车是一种语言，不分年纪，都能牽引著不同人的缘分。”这就是陈劲豪爱上单车的最大原因之一。因此希望你能透过这本《啡骑不可》来认识这位单车狂热作者。

→1本《啡騎不可》包含邮费只售16元新币。 
有兴趣买书的朋友请填写资料，谢谢！
https://goo.gl/forms/hinZSytltrRegoP53

以下为作者My biracle Fb網址：https://www.facebook.com/mybiracle/

LCSG Bike Handling and Servicing workshop 8th Jan 2017

On 8th Jan 2017 - Sunday,  we conducted LCSG Bike Handling and Servicing workshop at East Coast Park PCN (Road safety park) for about 60 fellow riders. Only possible because of the tireless efforts of Lovecyclingsg angels, led ably by George Lim (for Bike handling) and George Kee/Pierre Chew (for Bike Servicing). 

We were also very glad to have the venue provided for by Nparks and a nice breakfast from OCBC to start the session! It was also a good time to chit chat and catchup with fellow riders. 
 


Here's also the awesome photos taken by Uncle KC and Darrell Wee. 
Darren Photos
Uncle KC photos 
Taiwoon Photos
The workshopobjective was simple. Help make things safer by teaching folks to ride safe and look after their bikes. A better maintained bicycle, can work better, stop better. Learning to ride slowly and control your bike properly can help reduce the tension esp on the PCN , pavement and even the road.  




Encik George patiently ran thru the rational again on slowly down and created a series of circuits that made folks get a sensing how their bike felt when the speed was slow. The scenario was to simulate pavement with people and how we should react properly.

A cool exercise to cap it off was to get everyone riding together with out a route. Many things happening every direction and one "Iphone walker zombie"- acted by Francis roamed around. That was quite funny but effective. Riders after the session could control their bikes better in low speed situations. 



On the bike servicing side, Pierre, George Kee, Wei Shuan, Steve and afew more folks who trained under Bikeschool came to help.  Pierre presented a deck of useful information and how to easily check for pressure.As there was many experienced hands, it was very much a personal teaching of bike tuning and service. The bikes were given a close look, and the usual frayed cables ID -ed (have to change) and getting the folks to try their tool kits/spare tubes.  I think the new riders were very happy as its less stressful to have a experienced guy overlooking and helping them along. 



We ended around 11, hands abit dirty and sweaty but equipped more with useful, practical knowledge to ride safe and how to maintain the bikes in good order. Thank you all for coming and most importantly, Thank you fellow Lovecycling Leads and angels for taking your time and effort to make it a roaring success! 

Last request. If you have attended this, I would appreciate if u can PM or feedback to me how you felt, whats not good and how we can make it better. Thanks! 

A brompton alternative from Taiwan

I saw this at Bikefun facebook page. 
Essentially its a Brompton clone called La Bici. I know what u thinking and this is not original. But do you know the design of Brompton is over 20 years old. So the patent protection should be not longer valid. My opinion is that tf it folds and holds up as well as the UK original...this is going to be some hot foldie in the market. Wonder how long will it take for it to come to Singapore? 
The price is NT 13,299 which is $Sin 597.00!!!! 
In case you can't wait and you trust the images... you can purchase this here. 

Bike MRT to work. The ultra long distance version.

Is bike to work possible? I think so and it takes a certain breed of people who are adventurous, confident of himself and his bike to pull it off. George Lim or Encik as we call him is one such person. 
He posted his commuting trip yesterday on Lovecyclingsg and it gathered quite alot of likes and comments. 
He stays in Punggol and his current work place is at Pasir Laba Camp. Thats a long long way to commute. Road distance using highway is about 35km each way. He can ride the distance anything  no problem. However, he is also experimenting with riding a folding bike to MRT station, so its not as tiring.  
This is his photos and words of the experience. Check it out 
Going from Punggol to Pasir Laba (Jurong) 
"3rd Jan 17 First BTW of the year. Today is the first working & Schooling day, I was expecting larger crowd of passengers. I took the first train at Punggol to avoid the crowds. As usual I boarded the last cabin of the train. No more seats but not sardine packed. My final station is Joo Koon station so I need to change train at outram park station. The crowds started to build up at outram park station. At every entry's of the train, there is Q waiting to aboard the train. I waiting at the 2rd last cabin which is a standing only cabin. To my surprise, the cabin will not as pack as other cabin with seats. Enough space to park my bike. I strongly recommend passenger with bulky items use this cabin. As the train passed through station, most passengers will wait at other cabin than standing cabin. To me this is the Bonus. Reached Joo Koon station on time, unfolded my bike, reach my office in 10 mins." 
George Lim 

@ Punggol MRT 

Along North east line 

@ outram stn

Standing room cabin

How it looks at peak hour 

Encik going home 

First day of school by bicycle!

Saw lots of posting today on the first day of school. This one was pretty cool! 
Lawson Toh writes this short note on his personal FB. 
"School reopens and we are excited to go to school by bike! Cheers "

Happy faces with a bicycle!   Photo credits Lawson Toh 

Riding with Lovecycling to kickstart 2017 (Garden by the bay ride)

We welcomed 2017 by riding with the good folks of Lovecyclingsg.  What made it super special was that we didn't "Uber" nor drive to the location. We used our folding bikes from home (Punggol), made our way to the MRT, took it to Mountbatten station!  It took longer then I expected but its a very very big step for Momo and Kim! Damm proud of them!  

Some photos of action! 

Fumbling abit on the Fhon at Punggol MRT entrance... 

We got it cinched eventually 

Relaxing in the train. It was very nice and very empty. 

This is 3 foldies going for LCSG ride 

The ride was held Geylang PCN, map location is here.  We choose to do a super simple ride catered for the newbies and children, just like what we have done since 2010. If you are a parent, a rider who thinking to try riding. This route is perfect for you. 

Map link here 

The ride follows the river line and its nice and sunny. 

With the pace super slow, we could look around and chat with each other.  For myself,  I was quite focused on looking after my little one so that she doesn't get into accident on 2017 day 1. And looking back to check on kim.  So sorry if you were riding along side me and I didn't appear too chatty... I was in monitoring over load! Many thanks to Sharon and Francis for riding with Kim! 

Thank you uncle KC for taking photos along the way too!  

Super cheery Hai Tang, Wei Shuan and Mel  - Photo credit Uncle KC 

Yas Son - Photo credit 

Yas riding with her son all the way from Potong Pasir - Photo Credit uncle KC 

Peggy and Pas  - Photo Credit Uncle KC 

slowly taking in the wonderful view and chatting with each other  Photo Credit Uncle KC 

Pierre and others 

Rolling as one 

LCSG with the SG skyline!