OCBC Cafe Bike Crawl 18th April 2015

Hi-res photos of the event here 
We got invited by the nice folks from OCBC to attend the first BikeCafeCrawl. The general idea is to visit some cafe and learn about coffee, bike fit and bike history.  

Julian giving a safety briefing before the ride.

Actually for the ride, we were not told of the location. In a way its a mystery ride of sorts. Together with me were the nice LCSG angels George Kee and Brenda. 

LCSG angels, Berenda and George Kee

Rolling slowly towards first point of interest. 

Slow and steady we ride as a group

We met at East Coast park Carpark C4. There were about 20 people for this ride. All not the usual pro riders but just normal folks who might like to do some riding. Ok, the lead rider, Julian was looking abit too pro with the aero bar and helmet. Amazingly he kept the pace at a leisurely 18km per hr max! Thats some feat! 

Slight technical problem with the crank arm. Lucky we had tools but we chose to walk to Coast cycles to get it fixed as it was quite near

Crossing the bridge

We first visited Coast cycles where we had a short demonstration on getting a proper seat height and bike fit. It wasn't a full on lesson but sharing how a proper fitted bike can reduce fatigue and tiredness. They also shared a bit on how they started and it being a lifestyle cafe and bikeshop. The breakfast was really quite nice and coffee great!

Coffee and bikes 

Mark and Tony sharing about the optimal seat height through a demonstration

Have a break, a chat, with team Nparks!

Yum!

Next stop was Shimano cycling world via the new "fort road bridge PCN". We had ice cream which was much appreciated in the hot weather. After cooling off, we attended the Shimano cycling world presentation on the bicycle history and also how they aim to make it a gathering place for cyclist. The thing to note is that Shimano will have some event of sorts every end of the month. Their bicycle workshop is very popular with the local riders. So watch their FB page closely! https://www.facebook.com/shimanosingapore?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

Terry of Shimano sharing the concept and details of Shimano Cycling World

Lovely co-branding

Keeping fit and performance using tech. Terry explains what the machine can measure to help increase rider performance

A very rare 3Rensho track bike... shaft drive

short break to gather the riders 

Its not a toy shop. Its a good cafe!

3rd place was from Sports hub to Loysel Toy. This is a small designer cafe at a kallang river. We were given a presentation on coffee. 

Listen har... later got exam!

Now I know this kind of coffee is called "3rd wave". 1st being the local kopi tiam, 2nd being the star bucks and third is the what we call "atas" kopi. 

What is 3rd Wave coffee?

Summary. To be "qualified" as "3rd wave", the shop will need to identify and share information on where its grown, the farm and when the coffee is harvested and roasted. It supposedly improves quality. Some coffee of different types were provided to let us sample. So floral and some nutty.... I am a bit embarrassed as I am not a coffee gourmet.  I still like my First wave "Kopitiam kopi". But I enjoyed the presentation very much. 
All in all, I think the ride format is pretty creative and pleasant. It took us from 8am to 3pm to complete the journey and all the eating. What I like was that they did not try to sell any bikes, nor stuff. It was simply to introduce the cafe to folks who would normally not go there.
Also very nice thing is that we got to chat with many of the folks from the media. Straits Times, Mediacorp, many online media on the cycling culture in Singapore. Many are interested and want to join Loveyclingsg sunday ride as well.

all kinds of bike rolling together

We talked as we cycled on many things. One was how we can work together and help shift cycling mindsets. From a confrontational approach to a more emcompassing and inclusive one. Also sharing stories about the man on the street and how cycling can open ur eyes to the small, beautiful things in life.
Thank you OCBC for a nice ride!
For more details and if u like to do this, there are 2 more session. Go check out this link from OCBC.
http://ocbccycle.com/About/cafe-bike-crawl/