Ride the Divide Documentary

I was chatting with my senior design director and he loves MTB. And he shared with me this.

Some ride for fun. some ride to find themselves. Some ride and ride and ride... hey I know one of my friend who does that haha.
 No ra ra and no cause. It you, your bike, the nature. If anything breaks, u fix it and go.  Wow!

LCSG first Green Corridor ride 18th Nov 2013

@ Bukit Timah Railway station 

We started from Punggol and rode to Bukit Merah Blk 146. The idea is to ride from Green Corridor(Bukit Merah) to Rail way mall and back. 

Nixs Zhuo who recced the route before,  brought us to the entrypoint of  green corridor. Boy.. was it a mud fest and the folks gamely soldiered on. Slipping and sliding on the muddy tracks.. some even took their mini velos.. it was crazy but fun. We reached Railway mall eventually and had our bar chor mee. 

As if it wasn't enough... we asked Encik Lim George to bring us to T15. This apparently is a short cut... but it was 3 times more tough... We struggled to keep up with Encik pace. Lots of walking, pushing up slopes, hammering down the bumpy downhills, we reach T15 entrance (Mandai Zoo) to our biggest relief.  Tarmac never felt so good and we slowly cycled back to Punggol. It was about 60km round trip... and it was one very tiring and fun ride. 

Below is the full route kindly documented by Alex. 

Full Set of photo here for your download

Going in via Silat drive and behind this houses

all nice and clean before the ride

Francis who is mad enough to use this!

Terminator Encik: Let's go!

lets ride... looks harmless right? 

We potter along.. not so bad

Tony who use this foldable to take on the route. Power

oh gosh.. what line to take? 

mud. lots of it. 

You know he is a master when he can ride this in the mud! With a smile!

Darwin's Tern stem had technical problem with all the juttering

Nixs in his natural elements. 

There are still beauty in the mad world. If you look hard enough

Solidering on... 

George covering the rear. A reassuring person to be with on a ride

Level 2. Water crossing. Terence looking so happy

Ankle deep water. I am sooo glad I brought my MTB

one handed shot in darkness... 

Mud and more mud

Nice! No mention about the mud though :) 

Desmond with his Surly Troll : "Are we there yet?" 

Uncle K.C.... aiyah.. dun worry.. just cycle!

Now that's a MTB-er!

So nice to see Tah Ching on the ride! He just became daddy and I guess would be MIA for a while

Alex seconds before he reach ground zero

It was really muddy... Alex would attest to that!

A walk in the park for Encik

Some reflections from the ride. 
1) There are still really nice areas in Singapore. 
2) The bicycle helps you reach those places
3) MTB is a full body workout
4) MTB is fun
4.1) MTB with friends is double the fun!
5) Wash the muddied bike at the petrol station. It saves u alot of work
6) Never believe Encik George when he say it is a shortcut. That's his way of saying... thats a tougher route haha. Thanks Encik, it was really fun! 

Lets do this again! 

Stripe MTB with Front shock

Recently I acquired a Reba fork and the initial plan was to install it all by myself.  But then, I didn't have the tools to do the star nut and so I thought why not pay a visit to C2C to get that done. I am damn glad I did. Nat with his trained hands, made short work and in under 10 min( cuz I knew how much to cut, having test rode without star nut).  Now I just need more saddle time and dirt. Green Corridor, here I come!

ready for some trails!

18th Nov 2012 Pulau Ubin ride by KC

LCSG family @ Ubin

This is Ubin! Photo Credit Joeel Lee 

peddle and feel the green forest!!

TC and family

Pre-ride intro and sharing about Ubin by Sir KC

Steven cranking on

Coconuts taste best when u are hot and sweaty!

Ubin where wild boars stroll freely about

Bonus trekking section

Raiding Ah Ma shop for coconuts

All the memories came flooding back

This was kind of a forgotten ride until Sir K.C mentioned about it and stepped up to lead this. We did this a year ago and never got to do it as it was alittle bit troublesome.... This was how it looked then
Pulau Ubin never felt so cool and interesting esp. when we have KC showing the hidden nooks and crannies. The amazing thing is that all rode together. In some conditions not too suitable for foldies, folks smiled and just pushed. We brought lots of smiles, esp to the coconut aunty. She couldn't cut them up fast enough! Durian Season meant it was a good time to savour the local fruit in a truly authentic environment. Want abit of the wild and kampong feel. Come to Ubin and do a ride around. You will love it. I did! We Did! Go go LCSG! 
More Photos of the fun fun sweaty ride at Ubin. 

Getting to Pulau Ubin
You will need to go to Changi Village. Try to be early around 7am so that it is not so hot. 
The buses to reach Changi Village are No. 2, 29, 59 and 109. 

Ferry boat service to Pulau Ubin   
The bumboats that will take you to Pulau Ubin is located at Changi Point Ferry Terminal(Tell the Taxi uncle this if u are going via Taxi) Save some money by taking MRT to Bedok or Tanah Merah Station. It is quite far from town. 

It will cost $2.5 per person and additional of $2(for bicycle) one way.
The boat man will need 12 to go and if not enough, he might wait until the boat is filled or if u are in a rush, pay and spilt the balance.

Bike Rental @ Ubin
For those who don't have a mountain bike. There are plenty of bicycle rentals and surprisingly good quality bicycles. We rented for half a day a polygon MTB for $15 and it is alot better than u think and big wheels are definetly an improvement on bumpy trails.

Places of interest @ Ubin
Chek Jawa and do look out for the family of wild boars
Ketam trail is a must for the MTB folks
German Girl temple
Lots of road side stall selling coconuts

Stuff to bring along
Mossie repellent, Sunblock.
Bottle of water
Dress comfy and for hot weather.  

Dell Experience Design group(EDG) goes to Ubin

EDG does the TW pose

Some of the folks would know I work at Dell Experience Design group. Recently I was tasked to organize a team building/chill out session. So what would be better then riding a bicycle? I chose Ubin as it was quite a different experience from the usual urban, comfortable setting and out of our comfort zone. KC kindly agreed to help me bring the folks around and see the interesting parts of the island... thanks KC!!! Looking at the faces of my colleagues - hot, sweaty but smiling.. I think I might be having more riding kakis in my office soon. See? riding makes people come together!  Here are some photos of the action!

Puffy is out patrolling

Leong and Greg rolling along

Darren obviously having fun with MTB

This is how french rides the bikes... hard! 

Darren lin surprised at the natural beauty of Ubin

Lun and Darren doing some army training moves

mired in the bush...

This is Tah Ching, one of the first Sunday rider

TC at his finest!

Fallen but not down...

TC with his Dahon P8 equipped with a very sentimental gift from Philips design folks- brooks B17!

TC, Francis and me..roaming around the streets of Balestier... Still remember the bread smell -  6thJune 2010

This is Tah Ching.  We were colleague at Philips Design Singapore. While we were there, Francis, Me, PK and TC used to go out lunch time in search of good eats...hahah of course lah..with me around...  When I left, we kept in touch on Sundays roaming around the ulu places. He was one of the "Pioneers" of lovecyclingsg group
If you also like MTB and getting muddy, that kind of thing.. he is ur man!!

Eat. Ride. Photo!   design sketch by TC

TC is a gentleman who had great ideas and design skills. Check out his sketch for my blog. Thanks man!  And he also recently is a proud owner of a Dahon P8 midnight blue. Here are some photos which I took of my friend, TC.  Keep riding, keep smiling!