LTA to be coordinating agency for cycling related issues.

We get so much feedback and complaints on cycling.  Sadly its not very clear who owns it. Until now!
Now for the record, LTA will be the agency to go to for cycling related issues.  Now where is the direct feedback link from LTA? The most relevant thing I see on LTA site on cycling is this. Thats not too professional and informative is it? I hope LTA can update this soon.

Relevant links here.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/lta-will-be-coordinating/1708564.html

http://www.mot.gov.sg/News-Centre/News/2015/Speech-by-Associate-Professor-Muhammad-Faishal-Ibrahim,-Parliamentary-Secretary-for-Transport,-on-Enabling-Active-Mobility,-at-the-Committee-Of-Supply-Debate-2015-on-11-March-2015/

https://www.mot.gov.sg/uploadedFiles/Ministry_of_Transport/Pages/News_Centre/News/2015/Slides3_ParlSec_ActiveMobility.pdf#page=4

https://www.mot.gov.sg/uploadedFiles/Ministry_of_Transport/Pages/News_Centre/News/2015/Slides3_ParlSec_ActiveMobility.pdf#page=9

Rider Profile - Pernille

Thats me at my home town Copenhagen.

My name is Pernille (Pa-ne-la). I have lived in Singapore since August 2014, when I moved here with my family for my husband's work. I am from Copenhagen, and it was not until recently that I identified myself as a cyclist. 

Bike racks back in my home town

Bike paths at copenhagen

I used to take riding a bike for granted, but after having lived in Riyadh, Dubai, Mumbai and Singapore I find myself connecting with others who love cycling too. It is a revelation to me that cycling is not practised on a daily basis everywhere and I am now actively involved in promoting cycling. 

I am inside the photo...some where. :) 

One of my projects is to bring the social enterprise "Cycling Without Age" to Singapore and I hope to launch it very soon. My other job is as a facilitator in schools, where I talk to teenagers about body image, bullying and teasing, social media, sexuality and other related subjects. I have a degree in psychology and started my company here, "Seeds of Awareness" after having worked with teenagers in Mumbai in the aftermath of the brutal gangrape in Delhi. 

Me and my girl visiting Bukit Brown Cemetery 

My bike is a second hand Maxwell. I often carry heavy things around like books from the library or groceries, and I mostly think of my bike as an effective mode of transport, so I went for a cheap and robust model. My eldest child has his own bike, the little one is three, so I also looked for a bike that can fit a child seat and feel stable at the same time. When my child isn't with me on the bike, I use the child seat to put my groceries inside and lock them in with the strap. Of course I also use the basket in front, it's a very practical bike. I also use it for leisure in the weekends on the park connectors which it also does to perfection. It has three gears which is all I need. I only use a helmet when I ride with my children to teach them to wear theirs too, or when I ride on the road at peak hours for safety reasons. I believe it should be a personal choice and not compulsory. I find it much more comfortable to ride without a helmet and it allows me to feel the wind in my hair which is one of my favourite sensations in the world. I feel quite OK riding on the street in Singapore, the child seat makes the drivers more careful when they overtake me. It is silly, but I think a mother and child are considered more worthy of looking out for, I hope the consideration is extended to all bike riders as we are vulnerable in traffic and all of us want to get home to our loved ones. 

Thats my princess!

Singapore is nice to ride. Always summer and no snow!

When I ride with my children I always use the pavement, I don't feel safe enough with them to expose them to moving cars. When I am on my own I feel more in control, but when I ride with them, I cannot guarantee their safety and I am also a little bit distracted because they ask me so many questions all the time! I am not happy about using the pavement as I feel I am taking the space from the pedestrians, when I approach a pedestrian walking in front of me, I don't use the bell to alarm them. I am a guest (or intruder) on the pavement so I have to ride slowly behind them until they feel my presence, which usually happens pretty quickly.

My favourite roads in Singapore are the small, quiet ones in the city (think Oxley Road) without much traffic on them. I think there is a wonderful infrastructure here and with less cars it would be a commuters paradise. My favourite commuters are pedestrians, cyclists, metros and buses. I am not a big fan of cars in the city, but I love them for road trips! The climate in Singapore is perfect for cycling, even when it rains! When I remember to do so, I bring a rain jacket with me and it's so hot here that I don't even mind getting wet. I use the park connector system a lot, to me it is the most beautiful part of Singapore, and another thing for  Singaporeans to be proud of. 

I wish all the readers of this post a wonderful day and hope you get to feel the wind in your hair today if that's what you like.

Lovecyclingsg and Gentle Heroes ride 10th May 2015

Words by Stanley Lim, LCSG Angel who attended this ride today @ Bishan park

This Sunday ride was created for the Gentle Heroes (4 mothers and 4 autistic youths) who have been making bicycle charms to raise funds for the riders who ride for the charities and GH themselves. This ride is to create autism awareness and it is suitable for all family. This morning, we rode with them around the beautiful Bishan Park 1 & 2. 
After the ride, we had potluck with variety of food contributed by the families and riders. We also cake cutting celebrating for all wonderful mothers who are pillars of love to their kids. Awesome!

More photos @ this link 

Aspiration versus Reality

Having a back pain since last thurs meant I couldn't do anything much except lie on the bed and take painkillers. Super boring. 
This made me laugh as there is some truth in it.Just 2mins of your time. 
Although it is about the latest camera, it is the same for cycling.  We often get into this cycle too. If I get the next latest newly fangled CarbonKryonitetitaniumunobtainatium_DI2, Worldtouringreynolds853steelisreal_truetemper_rohloffgeared_pinioned bike that our lives would be dramatically changed.

Top of the line World touring bike - Taken from internet. 

Touring the far flung ends of the world 

Latest greatest Pinarello road bike

I am the Tour de france winner 

Seriously. Really??? 
Have a laugh at marketing in work. Have a laugh at ourself. And go cycle abit! Whatever the bike that makes you happy!  

Man Cave and why

I saw this awesome video on the internet. It showed a gentleman who grew up not able to afford anything. In his words, "my parents told me, this is your hobby if u want to have cooler stuff. You buy it with your own money".  He worked at some bike shop and collected all the stuff that they threw up that was didn't make the grade. Over time, he collected many bits of bike history or "crap: as his wife would called it. And the man cave started developing. 
I really like the part where he kept it as it is. The character of the bike that had the dings and scratches on them. Someone actually used the bike and many of them didn't work as well as it should.
This isn't a pristine collection of bikes,  it is just the everyday, the oddball and creative ideas. I also love the fact he wrote down the details of the bike, whom it was from and what worked what didn't.
Quite a collection!
It reminded myself of Chris Wee and George Kee. Perhaps it will inspire them to greater heights haha. Go go Man cave!
And with so much stuff he decided to do some bike art which looked really awesome. 
Hmmm... I think I should get a TIG welder and learn how to weld....:)My bike room is also slowly morphing into the first phase of man cave... haha this is my inspiration! 
Hey Neighbour - Steve Mitchell's Bike Collection from nsmb.com on Vimeo.

Nixs Zhuo Cycling story and profile

This is Nixs. He is one of the LCSG angels you see on sunday rides. A very humble, helpful and funny guy who helps out on the rear sweep or position himself at the key junctions so that the fellow riders will not get lost. 

He does it effortlessly and with a big smile. I am so glad to share his cycling story. Read on! 

Nixs rolling on with his sleeper MTB. You have to try his tricked out bike to be amazed!

Hi I am nixs, coming to 46 yo this year. I started cycling at around 3 to 4 years old, i know before going kindergarden i already can cycle without trainer wheels. 

Thats me!

Also maybe my grandma has a big land then..when i mean huge is huge..3/4 football pitch size at least..now has become 12 semi detached house..old address was jalan angin laut. Shift to bedok south in 1976 and my dad bought me another bicycle..joker. This old bicycle number plate was tagged to the joker. Joker is a kind of bike (confirmed with Nixs) 

photo credit.. internet

My own bike plate 

Then the craze on bmx around 1982...bought a taiwan replica of kuwahara..did a stupid act of cycling that bicycle into the sea of bedok jetty..bike rusted soon after..saved up money to get kuwahara kz84

Photo credit - http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/kuwahara/32371

For the polytechnic time, I  didnt cycle but jog a lot.  
After army, I joined SIAEC as apprentice aircraft engineer and started cycling again on roadbike and also fond out that my fellow friend koh also into cycling.  

while we were young!

Nixs and Koh cycle kaki after all this years!

He was same batch as me and we found time to cycle after going home from work. We would change and do coastal almost as often as we can and chill out at bedok jetty till just before last light disappear. 
Soon we all passed out as aircraft engineer in 1996 and I turn to mountain biking. That was where I discovered there were many hidden nice scenery in Bukit Timah!
I did lots of MTB-ing from 1996 to around 2002. We went to  Pengarang almost every 2 months. Back then Pengarang have a lot of kampong around. It was fun and lots of shops to have coffee breaks all the way to sungei ringgit.
We usually stayed at Ramunia..6 km further away from pengarang
This was the mtb i use from 1996 to around 2002..still with me but I pass to another friend to use.

The original Badass ride

The new Vmax

Cool sportster

From 2002 to 2009. I stopped cycling cause was I was very  involved on motorcycle touring malaysia and thailand
From togopart i got to know lcsg..so i waited until lcsg ride came to punggol
First time i join..remember that time got someone conducted a laughing exercise(that's Eddie) 
I felt LCSG is friendly and carefree group with not so much politics so i join LCSG ride as often as my work shift pattern allows

Then i found myself suddenly in core planning group of lcsg..i also dont know who added me in..haha..so i thought ok..if from so many cyclists i get picked to be core team...i might as well do a good job as core team.

Nixs and his hooligan 

My favorite bicycle is the Hooligan. I get asked all the time why the fork is one sided. Does it ride funny? :) 

LCSG riders come and go. Some join because they are new and needed guidance. Some join and and form their own groups...and left. That's ok.
Some felt LCSG too slow ride for them after they became fitter. But you will also see many strong riders are still within LCSG.  It's because of the community spirit and there will always be new riders that need a helping hand to get them started on cycling.  LCSG is a good platform.
What I noticed is for other groups if you cant match their style of riding or speed. You get drop and left out.. 

Taiwoon: That was awesome sharing! Any parting words of advice to riders? 

Nixs: Cycling can be a group or individual sport. You don't have to follow a group if you are not comfortable. Cycle alone can itself be rewarding as well. Just cycle lah! 

Marvelous writes about today's ride :)

This was what we did today >> http://smallwheelsbigsmile.blogspot.sg/2015/05/3rd-may-2015-we-rode-to-see-cirrus.html

I rode with a boy(Marvelous) for most part of the journey and he was inspired to write about it.

IT MADE ME SMILE. Hoooyah! 

Steely determination to make it. One crank at a time! 

He wrote this!

See the joy! 

Marvelous wrote:

"Today was my first long ride with LCSG group from Punggol to East Coast Park. And back to Punggol again. 

Although it was tough and tired, I nearly give up at never end coastal road, but with the encouragement from all members especially uncle Woon who guide me and lead me through the whole ride. 

I would love to join the group event again. Yeah! I made it!"

Marvelous with mummy on LCSG ride on 12th April 2015. That was his first ride with LCSG! 

We rode to see the Cirrus Cloud sign

Click here for the hi-res photos  https://www.flickr.com/photos/taiwoon/sets/72157651919335508/

We decided to do a ride from Pungol to Changi coastal road and see the Cirrus sign. 
Its a wet day which threatened to wash out the event. Still about 40 riders turn up despite the gloomy weather. 

Mio and her kids

Alex and Maria with their little one in the Chariot

Sitting and enjoying the ride 

Brenda with 2 ladies from KL joining us!

We had a great honour of have 2 chariot riders Alex and his wife Maria + Mio Yamada towing her 2 kids from Bukit Batok to Punggol... just to join us. They make it look so effortless. We also had 2 Brompton riders from KL joining us... and my hare brain memory failed me here... pls just drop me a note! 

Marvelous and family  

I am also very glad to ride alongside a yong boy. His name is Marvellous. Really. Not kidding and he is amazing! The route was about 28km one way and he just rode along in the front. Slow and steady. And he made it! So proud of him! 

Marvellous leading the way

Surrounded by good angels. 

Rolling along Changi Coastal road 

Eventually we reached the Cirrus cloud sign. Its located at East Coast Park PCN Car Park F2 area. Very near to Sunset Bay.  

Chiong to order makan

A quick group shot and went for makan. All the riding made us hungry and we stop at East Coast Park hawker centre for some food.
I am very glad to see the unity and cooperation of the riders. They were so considerate and kept in pace and line. They also cheered on the little boy and I felt this made his day! Its so nice of them! This is what LCSG is about. The community coming as one and riding as one. Well done friends!

Stanley covering the rear 

I think Marvelous will sleep really well tonight! :)