Got to get lost... to find youself. Ride!

A friend send me this... and it made me smile. Ride on!

Is cycling safe?

Mr AM with rear tail flag - salvaged from rubbish dump, remants of a kite... but it works

I get this question asked all the time and the next comment follows "ooooohhh it is sooooo dangerous on the road".
Well, frankly in Singapore, I find it is. Or correctly put, there are certainly risks. But as in life, there are risks every where.  Here are some rules I live by, so that I reduce the chances...
1) Be seen. Wear bright clothes, wear safety vest even if it looks dorky. I even have a handmade flag pole which makes the drivers easier to see me. It saved me a few time.. esp with the heavy haul vehicle(very tall and they cant see us)

yah.. I know.. overkill but I know for sure the driver will see me. Those who dun, are blind or drunk

2) Lighting - Bike will have lights - Front and rear. Dun scrimp on this as the rider profile is very low. Do this experiement. Go with a friend at night go to somewhere darker(dun have wrong idea), ask him to walk about 70 m from the rear and see if he can see u. Then switch on the lights. You will instantly understand what I am talking about. I even have a very bright helmet light which I can "stare" down cars, esp on the turns. Some call me crazy, which I agree. But i rather be crazy but alive.
3) Attitude. Understand that even when you can be right but still be hurt on the road. Ride defensively. Assume the drivers are blur, will do stupid things and react according. If unsure. Stop. get off the road. Wait for the idiot to move out off ur radar screen. drink water and cool down. If still feeling threaten or worried about the road condition. I will ride on the pavement. Yes, u heard that right. I will ride on the pavement. And I ride with a smile. Slowly and saying hello, exuse me if I pass the cyclists or pedestrians. This is very important to me as we are ambassadors for cycling,  and we show we are friendly, not atas, normal pple just riding along.
3.1) Confidence
This is part of attitude. Learn in a quiet spot with no cars to handle ur bicycle properly. Right turns, left turns. Braking, learn to know how stop quickly and how the bike reacts on different conditions. Wet, wet with sand etc.  Ride on the road in a stable manner. If u are turning.. visualize TP(Traffic police) and hand signal slowly to show ur intention. And please look back, before u turn. 
4) Helmet. This is one touchy hot potato. For me, I have personally witness helmet have prevented head injuries. But I find that this should be a personal right. If u want to, wear it. And if u wear it, please make sure the fit is correct and the strap is properly tighten.  The issue I have with helmet advocates is that there is this "silver bullet" message it conveys. Wear the helmet and you are safe. That is all rubbish and over rated. What is important is that when u are helmet less- u need to understand u are more vulnerable and you adjust ur mindset. 
The most classic person I can think is Francis. And he will tell u more about the biggest issue. - Mindset of drivers and cyclist.... that deserves another blog entry... later. :) 
And for those with children, I really admire the parents for bring them out. And here is an article on more on making riding safe for family. And I think it kinda of applies to other cyclists too,  http://totcycle.com/blog/is-family-cycling-safe.html

Weeride child carrier - Stanley Kam personal review

Stanley with Maegan

Looks comfy!

Zzzzzzz.. riding makes me sleepy

Now, this is what the frontpad is used for... water absorbing some more! 

Stanley brought her princess to the LCSG sunday ride. This is how he did it... " The baby seat is known as the WeeRide Kangaroo Carrier.. its the base model and for a tiny little bit more $$ theres the luxe version called the Kangaroo LTD.. so far i felt the base model is good enough already.. i got mine from Amazon.com but can oso purchase directly from the WeeRide.com website thru the local Malaysia/Singapore dealer..they will ship it to Singapore from Malaysia.. i like the seat mainly cos its front mounted, u can easily hear, talk, interact with ur kid and not have the kid staring at your back throughout the ride.. kid will enjoy the view much more seated upfront..in case kid fall asleep, u can stabilise them between your arms and watch over them when cycling.. (here i use a very wide handlebar to improve the turning) .. oso no need to worry and keep looking behind to check on the kid and break concentration.. oso uses a 5-point safety harness (like in racecars.. hahaha!).. front mount seats oso helps in maintaining a good weight distribution.. centralised and doesnt change the handling of the bicycle.. even rider mount and dismount is easy.. the WeeRide Kangaroo is rated for kids weighing up to 40lbs (18kgs)..mostly due to the massive support system .. the resting platform works both as a support for the kid to grab on to and rest their weight on it when cycling and oso as a comfortable headrest when they doze off during a ride.. so far it has not obstructed my view ahead.. i can still see to the bottom of my front wheel and due to the compact design.. it does not obstruct the legs movement as well.. the seat is easily removable as well.. overall.. i am very satisfied and happy with it.. it can be mounted on a variety of bicycles but it just doesnt state if it can be mounted on a foldie.. but i see that with the right foldie, it should not be a problem at all.."


More information here  http://www.weeride.com/Kangaroo-Center-Mounted-Child-Bicycle-Carrier

Extracycle first impressions and how to store it at home

Momo enjoying a ride on TR Extracycles.... 

I recently had a chance to test ride TR bike extracyle- "lorry". It was alittle beat up but mechanically work fine. Many of the folks now I want to have my Wife and little one join me for Sunday rides. The idea is to "tong pang" / ferry my wife, little princess Momo  Given the Pungol Water way has just been opened... I really really want them to experienced the joy of riding.. the feeling of wind on ur face.
The first impression of the bike is that it handles like a MTB, except the turing radius feels abit bigger. Maybe I was just being very careful and didnt try to turn sharply. Best of all, Momo keep pestering me to do one more round and then another. She loves the ride, can wave at mummy some more.

Later in the evening, I led a nite intro ride to Punggol Waterway for LCSG. At the start point, I met Eugene who was on a Extracycle and her girl was seating comfortably behind him. What a surprise! I asked Eugene  for advice on storage... he told me he "hang" his bike to save space. That is very important for us living in apartments and make the interior minister happy. Here is how he does it. I think it is brillant!
I am sold on this... and ordered a Surly Dummy from Lynten(TR bikes) ...can't wait for it to come so I can tong pang Momo and Wife for some cooling night rides!

Eugene with his princess

Metal hook with rubber wrapped to prevent scratches

one more hook on the BB...

And u can hang the bike!! Super Idea! 

Caribiner to hang the bike...

How things used to be...

Images and words  from Gordon Claughton

I love the internet and this is why. I can "travel" back in time to see how things were... Can u believe this is Singapore?.. and there were already cycling activities then! Read on 

It is called Heart

Beautiful wishing box by Esther lim 

Xmas is about giving to those in need. I, personlly feel that I am very blessed to have a beautiful wife, child and a whole bunch of warm, fun loving lovecyclingsg friends. Rather then just a big party and get drunk. I thought why not we make a difference and make a child smile this year.

Come 17th Dec, we( lovecyclingsg) will be at Pertapis to spend an afternoon with the children. Play some games, makan and give a present to each of the child. To make it more meaningful, the children themselves will be writing their wishes(limit to $20 as we are no Warren Buffet) and we will do our best to find the present. The presents are very kindly sponsored by the kind angels of LCSG. And today when I saw how lovely Esther made the Wishing box... I just had this in my mind.... Heart. LCSG folks have heart! 

CETMA Cargo bike review by TucsonVelo

Oh god... I want it so bad...more photos and close up here.. TUCSON VELO

This is Encik Israwi ! - Rider intro

Israwi @ Changi village with his handmade cargo bike!

Cycling allows me to meet many wonderful friends. Like Encik Israwi. Very soft spoken but fast becoming a regular on lovecycling. We met first at Encik George Lim relaxing ride. He told me he hadn't rode for quite a long time. Almost 10 years. That day, his ass hurt but sometime lit up inside him. 

This is what he wrote on his facebook..."I was discharged from the army in 1985, i worked at most of the Singapore Island commuting with ease as i need to wake up early in the morning. And i have being doing so for 13 years until i was retrenched. 

Then i decided to restart my working life on mainland. As i am only primary 6 qualified, i have to do two jobs to get myself even with 3 childrens schooling. From there onwards i decided to start cycling to work. It saves me the money where as a parent, i rather have my transport money for my children(s) although its not much and its worth the sacrifice. I am 48 now and still cycling to work for 12+ years. Once in a while, I will need to take the public transport over some circumstances. Then I joined the Love Cycling SG group, whom are people of high hopes and moral. They are a caring group which motivates people to appreciate what we already have in Singapore, past and present. Two months in the group and we are like close friends sharing anything about cycling in Singapore. They want something different other than cycling itself such as the lifestyle and the heritage of Singaporeans. It is for the people who love cycling and the mindset of others.

I hope with this and more, there will be changes in commuting people in Singapore.(P.S. this english and grammar was corrected by my 16yrs old son.)"
And if this is not moving enough. Israwi hand made a detachable Cargo bike- inspired from CETMA and Bullit. That is bloody impressive! We all got to see the work in progress last sunday and had lots of laugh. Man... does he have talent or what? 

Welcome Israwi and very honoured to meet you. I hope to see u more on Sunday and Lovecyclingsg rides! Rock on man!

it really rides, well! 

rolling rolling

folks looking at Israwi welding skills... it is good!

Yes, this is a scaldfolding clamp. Used to hold the bike together! Creative!