Cycling is like life. Cycling with no goal is meaningless. What meaning is there cycling in circles? Or living aimlessly? Meaning comes from direction and destination. Join me in my life's journey on a mountain bike :)

Blogging since 2003. Thank you for reading :))

Sunday, September 26, 2004

No, no and no

Sep distance travelled: 508 km

To Tuas, 82 km. No practice ride with NUS centennial ride team (see 5 Sep entry below). No lung-bursting straining to keep up with the Sunday Thomson riders. Today, I cycle with AF, who'd gotten me started on serious cycling in 2003. Today, we're heading for Johore via the Second Link. But it's no go; we're turned back by the police though there's been correspondence from the authorities that cyclists are allowed. What a pity. I practice cycling; it's easy to pedal, but harder to do it right.

Monday, September 20, 2004

4 minutes and 2mm

To Johore Bahru, Malaysia, 54 km. I take the afternoon off to visit the map office. For the first time, I pedal differently based on a one-liner I read in a book. What a difference the one-liner - and my pedalling - makes. Excluding immigration waiting time, I'm across the causeway in an hour. Just in time to see the map office close at 4 pm. I'm just 4 minutes late. "Tolong," I ask but sorry, something about the computer, no help can be given. At least, the tourist office is open, unlike during my visit on 18 Sep. It's peak hour traffice in JB after that, but that's way less scary than peak hour in Singapore, where I have a few close calls with buses and cars.
Tech note I drop by the usual bikeshop to get my headset fixed; it comes loose on a road ride within 10 km. Bikeshop Man adds a 2mm spacer and charges me $2. Now, my bicycle feels like a chopper, with a more twitchy steering. As it's a little higher, it's more comfortable though. What a difference 2mm makes.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

North and south

To Johore Bahru, Malaysia, 133 km. I head north to Johore to buy some government maps, for this year's epic ride to Thailand via the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. After a wild goose chase, no thanks to someone who points me in the opposite direction, I find the map office. It's closed. And so is the tourist information centre. I head back empty handed and disappointed, and cycle south to National University of Singapore. I kill two hours successfully, taking a ride down memory lane. I join the training ride for the NUS centenary ride next year. There are a few close calls, one from a cyclist and several from buses. I meet LYC, who'd joined me for part of last year's epic ride to Thailand via the east coast.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Road Race Six

To Nanyang Tech University, 64 km. My first official road race is today. I want to get a decent placing and take a taxi there. There, the racers have team tents, vans and supporters. Me, I'm alone. The last event - MTB category - starts late. So late that I keep extending my warm up until I've logged 10 km. As the race starts, people laugh and joke, going at barely 30 km/h. I fail to rein myself enough. The pack surges past me. First, I'm in front, then there's a gap in front of me, until I lose sight of them. I still can't figure out how they surge past me in Lap 1. I'm disadvantaged after that, since they get to draft while I can't. I catch sight of them in Lap 3. I reckon I'm a few minutes behind them when I cross the finish line. I'm 7th out of 12 who signed up. Some riders Did Not Finish. While my lungs were bursting during the race, my legs don't feel tired and I cycle for home within half an hour. Some roadies overtake me; one flashes a thumbs up. They were spectators at the race. I see them again at Mandai Road and give chase. Only then do my legs feel tired. I'm disadvantaged when it comes to hills.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Road race rehearsal

To Nanyang Tech University, 78 km. I want to take the day off because HR Dept says "use it or lose it". But I'm caught between two rocks and two hard places ... Anyway, I manage to get half a day off and off I go to NTU to check out this Sunday's road race route. It's not a fun ride as I'm still smarting from what happened in the office. And I wonder if I'll be disqualified for being overlapped this Sunday. I see two roadies training. I stop to check a map, then trundle one round. I'm kinda knackered after riding non-stop for 40 km on kinda deflated tyres (training lah). After round 2, I head for home. I spy a roadie (must've flown out of class) and give chase from a standing start. I overtake him but he gives me short shrift after that. What to do, he's young and fresh ...

Tech note I stop by to see Bikeshop Man to true my wheels after the smashing they got at the Subaru race . He won't tell me first how much it'll cost but gets to work. He's a real craftsman and does a better job than another guy who'd charged me $4 to true one wheel. Bikeshop Man asks for $10. He says it's half-price; he usually charges $10 per wheel.

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Familiar faces, familiar route

To Tuas, 97 km. Today is my first training ride for the National University of Singapore Centennial Ride to Kuala Lumpur. There are some familiar faces; people I met on 21 Aug during the NUS Cycling Club outing. The route is familiar too: Tuas. As it turns out, I'm in decent company. Bike leader cranks out 25 km/h. We sit on his tail. 28, 29, 30 km/h ... most of us are still on his tail, including a guy with "drumstick-type" thighs, creaky bike complete with kickstand and mudguards. The end of the ride is a free for all, as two of us break away and head back to NUS. I hear yesterday's ride has someone going at 8 km/h.