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, February 22, 2009

Exhilaration acceleration

Feb distance: 220 km

East Coast, 70 km. Once in a while, I have a good day. For warm up, I cycle 12 km to the start point: the Formula 1 pit. I've wanted to cycle on the race track and now I can. There's 2,400 of us doing the 40 km OCBC Cycle Singapore challenge. We're packed like cattle but when the ride starts we somehow space out. I see dropped water bottles (which must've bounced out of bottle cages as we speed over speed bumps). I also see two cyclists go down in separate incidences in shuddering turns but I'm without a scratch as my mountain bike is oh so nippy. In the risky East Coast Park area, we're early enough to avoid the misguided kids and pedestrians (though they must be especially foolhardy to venture on the wrong track with pelotons bearing down). I hang on grimly at 35-38 km/h and start overtaking in the last few km. Near the finish line, I sprint and hear the commentator say, "Here comes a mountain bike, it's not built for speed ... but look at that, faster than a racing bike" as I overtake a spent roadie. I might've been the first mountain biker to cross the finish line but kudos to the guy on knobbies who kept up until the last few km. Oh yes, what a beautiful day.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Drag and drop

Mandai, 28 km. Off with the knobbies, on with the slicks. Up goes the speedo, isn't that neat. Moral of the story: if something is a drag, drop it. Unless you've made a commitment. Commitment? What's that? For some, commitment lasts until it is inconvenient.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Smoked and stoned

Lim Chu Kang, 64 km. This is my longest ride of the year so far but that's not why I'm stoned. First, a guy using aerobars overtakes me and the gap grows though I'm going at 42 km/h. Second, a guy in sandals on a creaky mountain bike sits on my tail effortlessly. Third, I pass the farms along Old Lim Chu Kang Road. I'm stupefied to see they are gone. Even the bus stop shelters are gone. Those farms have been there for years. Where have the farmers gone? What next? When there's nothing left, one hopes in hope to keep going. Helplessness is when time is the only weapon ...

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Pain and rain

Old Upper Thomson Road, 25 km. 1939, World War 2 breaks out. 1940, 41, 42: the Allied world reels. Amidst the gloom, there are some "bright" spots, eg Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain. Fighting spirit and grit. I'm not in a life and death situation but in my context, it is gloomy enough. If the world is the world, dropping a stone makes little difference. If the world is a bowl, goodbye bowl. So, what can I do? As I cycle, my right knee hurts. But I push on, as there's a race in 10 days. I don't know if the pain will go on, but until it becomes unbearable, I cycle on. The pain goes away on the right, but the left knee starts to hurt. So I call it quits. For now. But I'll be back in the saddle again. Back in the real world, a "small" gap can make a big difference. A tiny hole in a big inner tube makes a bike pretty useless, right? And unless you're a cyclist, how would you know what that means? Does anyone have a patch? Or an inner tube to inflate my spirits?

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Emotion and reason

Sembawang, 32 km. It's comfortable at home. And grey clouds are overhead. But I head out instead of staying home. Riding hard while sniffling from a cold feels bad. Emotion says stay home but reason says, if there's a race this month, train. Why do I race? Well, there's emotion about that. So, this is a mix of emotion and reason: to brave the rain, choose a route that gives a hard ride in a short time without being boring, judge speeds, feel the burn and dodge dumb drivers. But why do people make life-changing decisions based on emotions, when what's at stake is not whether vanilla, strawberry or chocolate taste better? Even if one chooses whether to cycle in Laos or Cambodia based on emotion, expedition and route planning is all reason.