News of the URA masterplan in the Straits time

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/plan-well-set-wheels-motion-say-transport-experts-and-cyclists-2013112

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/tp/cyclists-ahead/858904.html
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/proposed-cycling-code-needs-reduce-confusion

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! 

Nparks Sparks App - Not exactly sparking my interest

I tried the Sparks app by Npark briefly but I didn't really like the interaction and it felt very clumsy. It was supposed to help users find their way around the parks and improve the experience... but really it didn't for me. It seems to try to hard to put too much things inside.  
After sharing this with my friends at LCSG, no one really bothered to download it. Perhaps Nparks can  relook into the experience of it. My humble suggestion. Pls keep it simple and advert free(there is an irritating top banner which I wonder why is it there at the first place) 
In Itunes here  and Android 

Here's another blogger feedback on it.

big Iphone around the parks - showing the Sparks app

More Iphone and media on Sparks on location

This is the irritating banner on the top. Why? 

What to do if you see potholes and defects on the road- Mytransport.sg App

I give credit where it is due. This is a great app by LTA on the transportation needs for the general folks.  There is the road condition aspects of it, where you can see the current road status (where are the jams) and also the train stations route. Nice one LTA!

The best part for me as a cyclist I like is the "Snap and Send" function. This send the information of the defects to LTA which would probably help them better copy and respond to the issue. Try it and tell me what you think. 
Download the app here  Itunes and Android plattform. 

These used to be my playground

My friend Layyen painted this which just brought back so much memories. Sadly most of this will be demolished to make way for other more purposeful uses. How much of your childhood places are still around in Singapore. Why are they special to you?

Painting by Lay yen 

Minister Khaw writes about the LCSG Sunday ride!!!

This made my day.! Yeah! This is great for Singapore cyclists! 
Minister Khaw wrote
" A recent FB message resulted in an invitation to cycle with Love Cycling SG, which we did last Sunday. We did 15 km along the North Eastern Riverine Loop and the weather could not be better. This is a very friendly group, with many children. They assembled at a nearby MRT station and cycled as a group to the meeting point at Punggol Waterway. It was a delightful sight, with the children cycling in the lead and the parents behind. Some 60 cyclists turned up and we had a great time, sharing our views on how else we could get more Singaporeans to cycle and to do so in a safe manner. I am optimistic that the cycling movement will continue to grow and Singapore will be great for cyclists in due course. I will do my part to help realise this vision." 

Rain Charm and bikes

This was an interesting snippet which I saw on my friend FB page. Apparently its a rain charm.  He tried it and amazingly... it works!
Now that we are at the rainy season.. we all would like our bikes to be shiny and clean. Maybe be if we have this on our bikes.. it would give us a sunny day. I don't think I mind to hang it on my bike. Some one try it out and let me know if it will work on bicycle:)

Photo credit: Allen Chew

Here's more on this interesting charm history by PM Lee! 

A nice surprise guest for a relaxed sunday ride

We do sunday rides. The general idea is to come together, do a "slow down and smell the roses" ride. Explore a part of a country which you might not be so familiar.

Yesterday we visited Punggol Waterway and we also had the great honor of having Minister Khaw riding with us!  Actually there were also the Nparks, URA management team rolling in the midst of the group.. which not many realised. But that's ok as they just wanted to meet real riders and users of the park. It was a nice gentle roll... with quite an awesome turnout.  

Lovely slow ride which allow people to chat while they cycle. Try it someday.. slowly does it and experience the simple joy of cycling!

LCSG Bike Skill Workshop - 27th Oct 2013

one for the camera!

As Lovecyclingsg family becomes bigger,  we sometimes meet riders who could do with a little more guidance. It helps already when we ride together on sunday as the newbies can learn from the more
seasoned riders. For safe cycling in my opinion, it is experiential. This means you just can't talk about it. Just like swimming.  To improve, you need to get ur "feet wet" and just practice.
On the 27th Oct 2013 Sunday, this was what we did. About 70 folks from LCSG and Chai Chee CC gathered at the Bedok Adventure park to practice their bike handling.  Using cone spaced out in many patterns, the riders learned about slow riding and keeping in a straight direction. The obstacle patterns mimicked some possible senerios on everyday riding.  Riding on the pavement, on the road with traffic. The focus was on controlling the bike in slow speed and turning in a smooth and safe manner. We also got them to practice emergency braking. First using just the front and then the rear, followed by both. This got the riders more used to their braking power and also understand how each braking can affect bike handling.
To many who don't realise, this bike Skill workshop can only happen with help from the Lovecyclingsg Angels. They are Pierre Chew, Jasper, Clarence, Vince Li, Nixs, Desmond Chia, Tiger Wan, Steven Tang, Keng Yong, Francis Chu, Berenda, Kimi Oh and many more. The man behind this is none other then our very own Encik George Lim. He not only prepared the course work and secured the location with Chai Chee CC support.  Many thanks for all your efforts!
More photos here 

Briefing by Encik before the workshop

Initally a narrow but ok spaced cone

It got tighter... opphs

Momo and Kimi also practised!

Learning to ride with one hand....so later can progress to hand signalling

Slalom course. Learn to avoid.

LCSG Angels at work to set cones in another pattern. Under the hot sun. Team, I salute u!

Riding as slow as u can from one end of field to the other side