Think our train system can be better? now is ur chance to speak.

http://talk2lta.lta.gov.sg/ideas 
 Ok ok, I am with u... I also don't know why they need your home address and phone number while on the other hand, they hide under the LTA umbrella. U try to find anyone about it... there is not contact number, face or email..... but still I would give it a shot, and a open mind. :)
If u are shy about it... can also post on our lovecyclingsg facebook wall. We will help to convey the message. :) Thanks!

Bicycle with a soul...Really? Zun bor?

BF and Brompton in harmony, for once :) 

Cyclist are an interesting lot. When it comes to their bicycles it would invariably invoke strong feelings and brand loyalty. What comes to my mind is Brompton and bike Friday. To me both are good bikes and it baffles me to see the tension and big arguments on cyberspace and kopi talk.... It is like comparing Ferrari and porsche. In my humble opinion, both are good but they ride different and look different.
Some proponents (of BF or Brompton) will cite the fold, theirs the best, heritage and how the bikes are about handcraft(I am guilty of that too) and really does that matter?
I sometimes find myself "overselling" the bicycles and gear. Especially to the non-cycling friends and community. In their minds they must be thinking "wah lau...2K leh...can buy motorbike and u tell me ur bicycle cost so much, Zun bor? Inside got gold is it? What you talking about soul?"  I am sure they like to know how and why do such innate tubes and rubber become such passion of desire? What goes in the minds of these people - like me...
Bicycle with a soul? Or perhaps what I am talking about "soul" is in the conversations while riding, feeling the cool breeze. La-ing kopi and chatting over all kinds stuff. Although it is small talk...it has the magical power to bond. And I love it!  So what moves ur mojo so to speak? I like to know....
FYI, this is my first entry using the iPad, edited abit on macbook pro(typing is faster) :)

Ride down orchard with LCSG

LCSG at Orchard ION... not a sight u can see every day!  Photo credits Roland aka GV Sealion

The original idea was that we go take MRT from home and meet at Orchard Road. For foldies that is. While the rest of the full-sized bikes will ride and meet us simultaneously at Ion Orchard. I was told this is called Flash Mob. A quick google search and I saw a lot of funny interesting flash mob done locally in Singapore.  I think it is a very nice respite and good outlet for destressing and debunking the notion Singapore is a boring place.  My advice to our crew was, "cool! lets go! Be careful, it is bike promotion not  provocation"  To ensure that the ride went on smoothly, Steven Tang, Joeel, Diane did a recce and rode the whole route. After the recce, due to the ground conditions and heavy traffic, we changed it to simply a ride down orchard road - stopping at Orchard ION, Outside Istana and SAM.  Personally I was very excited on the ride as I have not ridden at Orchard road before. My impression was that there was just too many cars, pediastrians. ...can we really ride thru it?

Bidarri park

Mr AM at the Skate park

Riding from Punggol @ 630 am, the air was cool and crisp. Stopping by Bidarri park to take some photos and look at the open fields.  This is a luxury in Singapore with every possible land being turned into mega housing projects or shopping centre. As I looked at the nice fields, I wonder how long will we get to enjoy this beautiful fields? It took me about 45 min of relaxed riding to reach Bras Besah MRT. At 745 am, the area is nice and quiet with very light traffic.  I rolled towards Scape, my first time there. Nice to see good skate facilities for the youth.  No one in sight, I guess too early to be skating.

Steven Tang briefing the riders

George and Cindy 

how to fold??? 

Audrey Chong with a new friend

The main party formed up at Minden road off Dempsey where Steven briefed on the route and what we will be doing at Orchard road.  It was nice to see all in red, united and smiling. Bikes of all brands and sizes riding as one. Reaching ION Orchard, we gathered and waited for the whistle beep. Luckily or unlucky the place was relatively quiet and we had the place to our selves. Whistle beep, the crew who had foldies, folded their bikes in a jiffy while those with full sized bike just stood around looking cool. Beep again and we all did the pose.
Cameras clicked and videographers captured the memories. Not too often can u have 50 people, dressed in red doing a superman pose and still smiling! Beep once more and we unfolded the bikes and rolled slowly towards somerset MRT to Scape. Everyone was on the best behaviour and it was easy! I sweated abit at the Istana gate as I saw the police man shuffling nervously and talking quickly into the walkie talkie, but nothing happen!

Just outside Istana... the red van is coming anytime now... sweating inside   Photo credits Roland

Brompton BMX

what a smile! 

Next stop was the Singapore Art Museum and then to the nice Wanton noodle(San dou) and Laksa at Syed Alwi road. Overall a nice and fun ride to a place which I would have never ridden. Now thinking how would it be like if it was mass peak hour at Orchard road....   More photos here 
Kudos to the recce team, GL, Steven Tang, Joeel, Diane, Francis and many more for making this a cool and fund ride!

Lovecyclingsg on Zao bao (SG newspaper) 14th Sept 2011

LCSG featured!!!        Photo credit - Matt Chia

Photo credit - Matt Chia

It is nice to be recognised by the papers for promoting Cycling in Singapore! Like I always said.. it is team work! Woohoo! Let's keep rocking! Thanks to Diane and Steven Tang - here is the english translation for easy reading.

"There are numerous local cycling groups in Singapore, so whether you are into regular road cycling or off road trekking, you will find a group which caters to your interest.
Standing out among these groups is LoveCyclingSg. They don't care what kind or make of your bike, or what speed u are riding at. So long as you enjoy riding leisurely with a big group of people, explore interesting places in Singapore and be a "tourist" for a day, you are welcomed to join them. If you see a large group of cyclists in colorful apparels and some with family in tow and posing like superman for photos in the weekends, you will know that this is the rapidly growing cycling group known as LoveCyclingSg.
The founders of LoveCyclingSg are Mr. Woon Tai Woon (36, IT Design Consultant) and Francis Chu (51), who is from Hong Kong and has been living in Singapore for the past 16 years. They were colleagues who cycle together with some other friends on a regular basis and discovered many interesting places sin Singapore on their bikes. Woon said: "I realized that I was not familiar with many of the neighborhood and places until I started exploring them on my bicycle. Thus, we decided to go for rides every Sunday morning with planned routes to discover the beauty of Singapore."Woon also upload photos and write about his rides in his blog (www.smallwheelsbigsmile.blogspot.com). LoveCyclingSg was formed in May 2010 as the number of riders joining him increases.
The Sunday rides welcome riders of different fitness, with different style or make of bikes. It's about slowing down to enjoy the people, scenery and the flora and fauna around us. LoveCyclingSg's weekly cycling routes includes city rides, eastern coastal rides, northern parks rides, etc. Points of interests they visited includes Kranji Farms, Sembawang Hot Springs, the Dragon Klin and the ex-National Stadium before it was demolished. Woon mentioned that they also do organized theme rides such as Round Island Night Ride, or to visit a particular neighborhood for its sumptuous food. Once, the group rode to Potong Pasir to visit its ex-MP, Mr. Chiam See Tong's HDB void deck office where he held his meet-the-people sessions. He also said:"To make the rides more interesting and fun, we sometimes include some small challenges in our rides. Such as the recent "King of the Hill" ride where riders get to challenge themselves by riding up Mt. Faber and other hills in the southern region.
At present, LoveCyclingSg's online forum has more than 400 registered members. Its rides usually attracts about 30-40 riders on an average. Some popular rides like the night rides can attract more than 80 riders.
Website: http://www.%20lovecyclingsg.niceboard.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/lovecyclingsg
Another founder, Mr. Francis Chu, quit his job in the IT industry to devote himself into bicycle designing, running of LoveCyclingSG as well as promoting cycling in Singapore. He said that LoveCyclingSG is useful in letting both our government and people know that riders are aplenty in Singapore.He said:"The government doesn't track the number of cyclists in Singapore. A cycling group like ours creates awareness for the public sector as well as other road users. He feels that this will educate the people to realize how affordable, environmental friendly and efficient to use the bicycle for transportation in our small island. It also urge the relevant government agencies to build and improve better cycling facilities, e.g. PCN. He said:"Cycling is great for health. We always say that if the government wanna build less hospitals, it should build more PCN so that we can all keep fit via cycling.
While local rides are popular, Woon is also starting to organize some overseas rides as well. In October, they will be cycling 80km from Woodlands (Singapore) to Kukup Island (Malaysia). There's also a 6 days trip to Taiwan in March next year.
Juggling between work, family and LoveCyclingSg for the past 1 year has been very rewarding but nonetheless tiring. Fortunately, he and his co-founder's passion for cycling has rubbed off other members who also help to run the group
At the LoveCyclingSg online forum, anyone can suggest or recommend the route or theme of future rides. They can even volunteer to lead the ride themselves. At present, there are about 15 active members who share the "work" with Woon. They include route planning, ride organizer/leader, traffic controller, safety marshall, etc.
One of them is Mr. Steven Tang (41, Tennis Coach). He joined one of LoveCyclingSg's trip to Bintan Island, Indonesia, at the end of 2010, where he cycled 70km. Prior to that trip, he hardly cycles twice a year. Despite the physical torture he went through, he fell in love with LoveCyclingSg and started bringing his 13 years old son, Tiger along on all rides. He became so obsessed with cycling that he now owns 8 bicycles.
Steven was touched by Woon's contribution to LoveCyclingSg. How he tirelessly organizes the rides, leading the rides, promoting cycling and showing everyone our beautiful island. Thus, he decided to give Woon a hand by becoming a safety marshall. He even cancelled all his Sunday's tennis coaching just so he can join every Sunday's ride. Steven said:"I think what Taiwoon is doing is simply great and noble, so I wanna help him grow LoveCyclingSg and do my part for the cycling community in Singapore. To me, attending the rides every Sunday is like going to the church.
Clarence Chang (36) who works in the logistic industry, acts as a "Sweeper" for most of the rides. He stays behind the last rider on his mountain bike equipped with loudspeakers blasting techno numbers, making sure nobody get left behind as well as warning the riders ahead if there is any danger on the road. Clarence used to join another group of faster and more "professional" riders.
Then he bumped into Woon while riding last October in the heavy rain and was invited to join LoveCyclingSg. The group's easy-goingness and friendliness attracted him and some of his riding pals to "switch camp". He said:"We try our best to make LoveCyclingSg bigger and better. I hope we get recognition from other road users (especially car drivers) so as to make the road a safer place for everyone."
Miss Chen Shuyi (34, AKA Boo) who works in a cafeteria, first rode with LoveCyclingSg in September last year and it was an unforgettable experience for her. She said:"We sneaked into the ex-national stadium while it was being demolished. We cycled and snapped lots of pictures." Boo, who helps to organize and lead some of the rides goes everywhere on her two wheeler. She loves the sense of freedom which cycling offers and loves the relax pace of LoveCyclingSg's rides. She said:"When u slow down on your bike, the view you see is just different."

Ewalker, Ubi ride and meeting Mr George Lin!

Lovecyclesg crew @ E Walker shop

12th June 2011. Sunday. 38 riders came to experience first hand Birdy, Reach, IF, Carryme and many more models from Pacific. The idea is to ride the bike in a route so that riders can fully appreciate the performance. All this was made possible by the generosity of Ewalker and Francis( Jz88.com).  The air was full of excitement as the folks fitted the demo bikes and test rode abit around the carpark.

Steve trying the Sliver Birdy.. He tells me he loves it!!!

Boo understanding how CM folds down from Fude(Ewalker)

Audrey with the color matched Frog...

Me and my Carryme!

The route took us around Ubi >>Sims Ave >>Old airport road>> Dakota crescent>Mountbatten road>> ECP>>Kembangan>> Still road and back to Ubi. As usual we had a breakfast break at the famous old Air port road market. My observation when I looked around, the smiles and laughter.. the ominous "oh dear.. I really like it look...""  This is indeed an effective way of letting the cycling folks know your brand of bikes. Bicycles really need to be ridden to experience the performance!

Rolling herd of bicycles @ Ubi

Wilson with the IF bike

Lovecyclingsg pose... look at the guy in black, Centre.. that's how its done :)

Dakota Crescent, one of the oldest HDB in SG

Breakfast after some cycling is always nice...Andrew is upset as his food is not here yet...

Mr George Lin, President of Pacific and Carry me Designer, signing my Ferrari red CM... :)

What an honor! Mr George Lin's Signature = Micheal Jordan of bicycles !!! WOOOOHHH!       Photo credit: KC

Dun mess with me..

Nice buffet spread... thanks E-Walker!

Sharing some brotherly love

Mr Lin sharing with lovecyclingsg folks on the Pacific story

See the passion!!

On reaching Ewalker shop, there was nice buffet spread(thank you E walker!!) We also had the pleasure of meeting Mr George Lin and Karen of Pacific bikes. It was a real honor meeting the legend himself. Later on, as he gave a speech he shared on the Pacific motto, which is to innovate and not to copy others.  I was very impressed by the passion which he spoke of the brand and products. The man has been designing/manufacturing bikes for over 40 years and he still has fire in the belly so to speak, very impressive! One snippet of Carryme related by Mr Lin was that CM was actually designed for a hospital. They wanted a device/cycle which can keep up with erthe wheel chair bound person. Contrary to conventional impressions, some wheelchair folks are vy sporty. They used to ride sport bikes, run or cycle. There are some really good guys who can power their wheel chairs to speeds up to 40km?hr!  This mean that the caregiver would have to very fit too or he will have trouble keeping up. With this problem in mind, the hospital approached Pacific to design a bike that can ride slowly, doesnt take up alot of space and also ride fast(keep up with the wheelcar racer).  This was named the Pocket and following that Pacific continued to launch this as Carryme. The CM has lots of following around the world.. including Singapore. Mr Lin also shared that he loves the Carryme alot and have traveled all over the world with it. Altogether 18 Countries! Wow.... World traveller.    

Derek so happy to get the first prize..

The finale was a lucky draw kindly sponsored by E-Walker and our dear Derek Leong got the first prize while the 4 lucky guys(Badrul, David, Adriane and Peter) got 2 sets of Foss inner tubes each. Thanks again for Ewalker, Pacific bikes, JZ88 for T-loan of bikes, the buffet and nice lucky draw prizes! Looking at the faces of the riders, I think all enjoyed themselves and would be returning for a closer look at the bikes for sure!
More photos here for ur personal download.
Pls also check out here for another blog account..
 

Steve's way of carrying stuff with Dahon Boardwalk D7

Steve cruising along...

Dahon front truss bag. Mounted low which makes it a stable ride

Steve and Bernice with their Dahons... nice!

This is Steve who rides a super duper Znged(modified) Dahon Broadway D7. The engineering knowledge inside him is very obvious when u see the bike up close and personal. The rear sprockets is specially selected to match his power output. He is the person to go to if u need technical advice on the parts setup and tuning.. What he knows and can do is amazing. 

For day trips,he uses a Dahon specific front Tour bag which he find is just right size. As the bag is mounted low near the front wheel, the ride feeling is very stable. And you can read more in detail on Steve blog too. 

No detail too small to Zng

Ultergra Rear D with Golden Anodised pulley wheels... Installed himself

A Quiet time with my brommie

Slow relaxed ride. I sat at a concrete table facing the sea, feeling the cool breeze and waves. Watched the world go by. People jogging,  cycling, walking at ECP. Nice and slow. Then in a sharp contrast, the constant mechanical humming of cars at the nearby expressway. Reminding me that the crazy ratrace is still on...  ohhhh well... tune that off for a moment, thank you....
I zone out... feeling the gentle sea breeze and waves..ahhhhh... It is nice to ride alone.... at least sometimes.... Try it someday.