Ubin Ride 20th Feb 2011

lovecycling @ Ubin

This Sunday morning, we went to Pulau Ubin. 23 friends came in MTB and folding bikes, led by KC and David. While Pulau Ubin is just a 10 min bumboat ride from Changi village.... arriving there it felt like worlds apart. I like it!  The place was really rustic but well maintained with nice tarmac roads and very little cars. After collecting the rental bikes (for some riders), we rode east sector which is smoother and KC showed us an old prawn farm and how the prawn farming was done. Riding along, we then headed toward Chek Jawa, explored the old house and also the broadway. It was high tide and most of the corals was under water. Still it was nice to see lots of green and in KC words... "here at Ubin, time stand still... u lose track of time" We chattered and bumbled over the rougher roads... pushing at times on the steeper sections. Everyone helping each other out. Nice!  click here for more photos

nice and rustic... and only 10 min away 

Orrhhing and Arrhhing at Chek Jawa

sychro riding

Cranking it up

And just when I thought it wasn't as rough as it seemed. KC brought the group to the Ketam trail....and it was quite a bumpy ride. We took the beginner route. Nice on a MTB but much tougher on a foldie on slicks. Francis and Alric rode the singe speed JZ88 and still managed to ride/walk to the Quarry outlook.  Well done friends. Amazing effort!Rider of the group must go to Celeste who rode with her parents Jenny and Chaip leng. She started off abit uncertain and by the end of the session, she was riding more confidently. Even when she got nipped by a dog... she continued to ride. What a brave girl!

As we exited the Ketam trail, the banks overflowed and we had a fun time "surfing" riding. According to KC, it never happened before should be due to global warming.. raising the water level to new heights.  A very nice ride overall, I hope Ubin stays the charming and quirky way that it is now.  If you havn't been there.. do go check it out. Thanks alot to KC, Andrew, Zack and David for showing us all the nooks and crannies.  I have a feeling I will be back soon! What a nice way to spend a sunday, ride on!

too steep.. never mind, we push it up..together!

smallwheelsbigsmile!

Surf riding

Zack to the rescue!

Why sunday ride, why do it?

Some people ask me why am I so "eng" (free) spending so much time in this seemingly "useless" blog and why do I keep organising the sunday morning rides....hmmm...why?
Firstly, this is the "timeoff" from my wife and I want to spend it riding... :)
Secondly,  I guess it is my passion to meet people and hear their stories and perspective on bikes, life and others. Also I like to bring across the point that riding can be just fun. People coming together because we like to ride ...simple as that. It is not about the bike, nor the brands.
We all have day jobs which sometimes can be extremely frustrating... but at the sunday rides we can decompress....just ride, take photo, relax and enjoy the journey.
Having run (sunday rides) from almost 8months, I am glad it has grown and every ride is like a carnival event. Tiring? yes... but I enjoyed it because I see the smiles and enjoyment from all the riders. This keeps me going. Thank you all for riding with me and making my sundays so fun.  And oh...here is a doodling of the spirit of the sunday ride...

Sunday rides- "Cycling, take photo, eat, chat...rain or shine. We ride!"

Simple fun riding a bike in Punggol park

Minor set back, Momo didn't like the bike without training wheels... and I had to reinstall them back to her Strawberry bike.  I will try again in 2 months time...
Later on, I took my little girl to the nearby punggol park for her to ride. She was so happy riding riding her bike.. chased me and kim around. Life can be really simple and fun.  Check out my momo photos.  Priceless....

Momo looking pretty with her bike

look.. no hands!

Cornering with confidence... training wheels attached of course

all this riding makes me thirsty

Building cycling town ride 13th Feb 2011

 Beautiful look out point at Bedok Reservoir

Amazing turn out of 46 riders came for the Building town rides at Aranda Country club at Pasir Ris town this morning!!! Roadies, foldies, MTB, char par lan and bikes of all makes congregated.... like a pasar malam. It was great to see all chatting away, trying each other bikes. Great buzz of activities and many happy faces.  

All for the love of riding! photo credit KC 

We started off the ride with Maria sharing her role in town planning and how cycling lanes was not really considered into town planning initially and the challenges in changing mindsets. Abit too lengthy introduction but considering the amount of information...I don't know any better way. 

Maria, sharing the route and her story of Tampines/Pasir Ris 

Then we started the ride... It was chaotic initially as the route was not really suited for so many riders but we managed, barely...with the support of the regulars like GL, Andy, Clarence, brandon, Zack, Eddie and many others whom helped in guiding the newer riders and block off traffic. Thanks friends! 

minor bicycle jam...

Roadie, Foldie and MTBs...riding together

One of the cool place we visited was an organic garden hidden right in the sleepy HBD heartlands. It was an amazing place which had lots of plants like Basil and many flowers. After awhile, many were bored with the numerous array of plants and we went to have a coffee break at the nearby shops. Chatting and swapping bike stories, riding techniques and laughters. With stomaches filled, we rode around Bedok reservoir and had another group photo after a challenging hill over looking the water. This was the highest point of the area saw some riders red with effort riding up. Later on, we also saw the Berlin wall at a part of the Bedok park....many could't believe it that it was the real wall. 

organic gardening right in centre of a sleepy HDB area... cool!

Showing the various plants like basil and others..

Candice must be thinking...."what the hell I got myself into..." 

Audrey with her Speed pro... she rides fast, dun pray pray!

Challenging route overall. It acutely pointed out the the need to synergise the connection points of park connectors and pathways. Maria mentioned that it was an real issue as there were many parties which owns different land area and many times, it was not really coordinated in the planning. The result is seemly ill considered pathways for cyclists. Last takeaway from this ride, I hope in the future town planning, cycling paths can be better designed. In my humble opinion, perhaps it is about time for the town planners  to actually ride the route (based on the proposed design). This way, they will be able to better appreciate all the issues can be better approached and resolved. "Ride the route" meaning riding on an actual bicycle... not drive.... Also, for future rides, I will split up the group to more manageable packs. For example "speedy gonzales pack" -- for the faster riders and "relax pack" who just want to cruise and smell the roses...  Comments and suggestions to make a better ride experience anyone? 
Till the next sunday ride!  

More photos here. 

nice easy stretch of PCN....Rini smiling and  Zack is literally flying!

Cool lovecycling tee for sunday ride.. taking orders!

If u are looking to get our lovecyclingsg tees... Good news friend, Eddie is now consolidating the tees 2nd round. Thanks Eddie!  order here Check out how it looks with our regular riders!

Stylo milo!

master sweeper Andy and Mary Ang pow Ang with lovecycling tee... 

vince...yes... this tee can make u fly!

wear it with a matching bandanna... fierce!

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.

Ride northwards, boil an egg 6thFeb 2011 sunday ride

Gong Xi Fa Cai! from the crew

32 folks met today morning 0730 at Yishun MRT. All eager to burn some calories from the excessive feasting from the past CNY week. First stop was the Sembawang hotsprings...to test if it really can cook eggs. I was looking forward to this as I have heard about this but never able to locate(lazy to search) the entry point. The hotspring is fenced up and is located inside an army training area(Gambas) where I have "pleasant" memories of army life.... the defensive exercises was conducted here... trench digging.  Back to the hotspring... the setup was spartan. Concrete flooring with exposed plumbing and steaming hot water running constantly.

No he is not dead. This gentleman was lying on the floor as there was hot steam seeping from the cracks.

We filled up one plastic pail with hot water and placed the egg in... GL was the brave soul to try the first and was only semi cooked. He ate it anyway and convinced Mary, Vince and Zack to do the same. I just took photos. Then Andrew told us more about the hotspring history. That the place was once owned by F&N and the boss son found this hotspring in 1908. It used to be very popular with people until the army took over the place and sealed it off. In usual SG fashion, many complained and it was reopened for public use.

how many bikers does it take to boil and egg? 

Egg makes me strong!

Next stop we took a newly built PCN off Admiralty road which was beautifully quiet... and pleasant breeze. Rolling and chatting, we reached Sembawang bottletree in no time and rode toward the black and white houses of Sebawang.  Andrew took us to some interesting sight like the Naval base Cinema, American/Aussie Barracks and the Naval base look out point. Beautiful old buildings and quiet roads means an easy and stress free ride.

Andrew telling his childhood stories of Naval base and Badrul looking confused

According to Andrew, the nice building behind us is the old Naval base Cinema... 

Next we rode to somewhere nearby for a quick bite, then to Woodlands waterfront, returned via Republic poly and then mandai road. The more on the ball riders.. went for a longer ride toward the Mandai zoo while half of the crew headed back. Nice ride with nice friends. What a great way to spend a early morning!

vince 

Mary 

more hires photos of the rides here

Riding brings people together...even without bikes

Chinese New year loi hay

Loy hayying

David, Amy, Zack and Andy without riding gear

Mary (AKA Ang Kua Neng), daughter and Sandy busy in kitchen dept

This time, no bikes... We met at Eddies aka cool dad home and had a lo hei... I couldn't stay too long as I needed to do more visiting... but it was sure good to meet and have a nice meal together..Huat har!!
more photos here

Mystery bike at the JTC hill Carpark

raining non stop for 3 days... and this is how it looks going to work

bike chained to the lamppost..rain just stopped briefly

Saw this while walking to my office a few days ago. A familiar sight in the JTC hilltop car park. But this time, I stopped.. and took a picture. It was a cheap mountain bike locked on a lamppost, left in the elements ...and it rained for 3 days in the row. What a sad life it got... Looking closer, I saw a yellow torch light lashed with string on the handle bar.  No need for special lights fixtures. Just string and a cheapo torch... from Daiso probably. I try to imagine  the owner who rides this bike up the slope at JTC hill and park his bike at the lamp post. This was his work horse.

Thank goodness the rain finally stopped and perhaps I can do some riding tomorrow morning.  Start to work off the CNY accumulated fats.

improvised light