#195 : Sunday Ride

Morewood Zula modeled here by Mike the Mechanic

Guess where all these trash came from

This Sunday ride was shaping up as the
same old same old ... that was until I went
to the 'mango' trees to do the Reverse Rooty
Trail and found the whole MTB Brothers
resting underneath the shade.

First off was a few hi's and hello's to friends
who are always on the trails but for some reason,
I seldom see. After that, Mike the Mechanic
stepped out and greeted me and said 'Have I
got a bike for your blog'. He then showed me
the newest bike in the MTB Brothers' stable.

The bike was a Morewood Zula and it had me
drooling. The bike was built like my ideal birthday
present. The bike's theme was black and red.
 It had wheelset from CrankBrothers, not sure if
it's the Iodine, but it was red. The fork was
black SID with red stickers and the groupset
looks like the new 10-speed SRAM X0 which
of course is black and red.

I asked Mike the Mechanic to be the model for
my photo and after shooting the pic, he grimaced
and said that it was a nice bike but that it was
very heavy. He then passed it to me so that I
could feel the weight and the whole group
laughed at the surprise that must have been
evident on my face. That bike in that form
was very very light !!!

After that, I googled Morewood Zula and found
a sterling review of it from BikeRadar. Hehehehe
I know one guy who's itching to burn some of his
money but does not know how to do it. This bike
might be 'it'.... ahem ahem calling Deck.

Now, if you notice I only took one picture
of the Morewood Zula (which I regret really).
That is because some of the guys called me again
and said to take a look at their 'harvest'. Their
'harvest' it seems consist of 3 bagfulls of
trash which they gathered from that trail
that leads to Casuarina.

The trash consisted mainly of plastic
water bottles ... which makes me wonder
as normally, cyclists carry water bags....

Anyway, be that as it may, there were also
gel wrappers and inner tubes. The water bottles
might be questionable but the gel wrappers
and the inner tube?

Lastly, there seem to be lot's of people
being introduced to mountain biking lately.
Almost all of these newbies that I know bemoan
the fact that they only have 500$-700$ hardtails
while we are on FS bikes.

Here below is a 4 minute clip. Ignore the first
1min 34secs and then find inspiration in the
rest of the video

#194 : Saturday Ride



Misty! Nice :-)




Misty background! Nice:-)



AirTime Mark contemplating what next to change in his bike.
StairRider Deck resting ... hehehehe he 'found out' he had flu
during the ride



Tabs after 2 years of hibernation

 There was supposed to be a big group ride
today. There were the usual suspects and then
there were supposed to be 8 newbies that we
were supposed to guide on their maiden Bukit
Timah trail ride.

All that was before the torrential rain poured
all over Singapore in the morning. However!
I don't think a full blown typhoon would be
able to stop the real mountainbikers :-) and
so the ride continued with StairRider Deck,
Airtime Mark, Efren and Randy in attendance.
Get this, even my original wingman Tabs who has
stopped riding for 2 years now, came for the ride!

Now that either shows passion or lunacy
...or both hehehe.

After the heavy rain, it was still drizzling the
whole day and the weather was perfect!
It was cool and windy and the trails were
covered by a light fog/mist. It's really
like riding in a country with colder climate.
Of course, there's the mud to contend with.
But if you have problems with mud then
mountain biking probably might not be the
sport/hobby for you.

Anyway, me and Tabs went up up up to the alternate
trail entrance/exit at RRR while Deck and the rest
started from Bukit Timah carpark entrance.

We went up to the Personal Challenge to see if she
would be able to conquer the climb on her first trail
ride after 2 years ... and ... tsk tsk she did it.
This means she beat a lot of guys I know.

We proceeded to the Mandai end of T15 and then
did a u-turn and next tackled the reverse Flowy
Trail and after that we went to meet up with the
rest of the guys at the base of the summit to
continue to that trail that leads to Casuarina.

Oh, did I mention that not a single time did we
stop during the whole ride?! Yes, it's official.
I now know at least two girls who can survive a
No-Stop Ride .....

By the way, did anyone notice anything about
the trail that leads to Casuarina? :-) To whoever
it is : many, many Thanks :-)

#193 : Sneaky Ride

I haven't been riding lately due to some projects

in my office... and that's a bummer. I always tell

my wife that I am no longer on high blood pressure

and high cholesterol medication simply because

I exercise. But now, not only I don't exercise,

the late nights and lack of sleep has made my

BP skyrocket to 140/89 ! But of course, my office

will not pay for my medication. They're just going

to give me a pat on the back and say 'Atta boy! Thanks

for the support'.

So the moment I saw my chance to sneak

out and get my trail fix, that's exactly what I did :-)

I went for a trail ride on Tuesday. There were no

people at all in RRR and in the BT loop. I didn't

see any people in T15 as well. But funny, there's

a group of riders in Rooty Trail and get this : They

seem to be doing multiple laps of Rooty Trail !

Not the normal to and fro thing but literally laps.

They ride the normal route (as opposed to the reverse

route that I favor) and once they get to the exit,

it seems they go to T15 and enter Rooty Trail

again! Must be nice :-) Why didn't I think

of doing that?

Anyway, since I was cooped up in the office

doing graveyard shift, here's a pic of me below

doing some laps in the office :-) Kept me sane hehehe



#192 : Saturday Ride

Singletrack
Orig Pic by NL Louie

I'm writing this post in the office ... and it's

a Sunday! Arrghhhh while my friends are

all riding, I'm stuck here inside my office

building in Tampines!

Anyway, Friday night and I got an SMS

from NoLights Louie. She told she is bored

of going to Tampines Bike Park and she wants

to go to BT for a ride. In short she wants

a tour guide.

Both of us just want a long-ish spin ride

on the trails and of course that rules out the

main BT loop as you need to pedal like a

hyperactive hamster in there.

We went to RRR and Zheng Hwa, after

that we went to Rooty Trail then to the

Mandai end of T15, did a u-turn and went

to do Reverse Flowy Trail.

If you were in that area yesterday, you might

have noticed lots of aircraft overhead and

lots of men moving in the bushes ... Let it not

be said that mountain bikers are thick skulled.

We took the hint and so we did not venture

to the more interesting trails knowing that

there must be some 'activities' over there.

We had lunch at Bukit Panjang and while

having lunch, it was only then that NL Louie

realised that she did all those trails without

any stops whatsoever :-) Hehehehe no wonder

lots of guys don't want to ride with her anymore.



#191 : Sunday Ride

I wasn't supposed to ride this Sunday due to

some stuff at work. However, due to some divine

intervention, the powers that be decided that it's

ok for me to go out and have fun today :-)

There's supposed to be a group ride on.

I dubbed said group ride as "Monsters' Ball" because

all those who confirmed are all strong riders.

Hah! So that I can go and call myself a 'strong rider',

I went and confirmed my attendance in the FB invite

at the last minute... then went to sleep.

The meeting time was, as usual, 8AM at Velocity.

Of course, I woke up at 9:30AM hehehehe. Good

thing non of the attendees bothered to check the

FB invite. If you show up at 8AM in Velocity then

you're in.

But I more or less know where the group is

headed and so I skipped BT. I went straight to

ZH Park ... when I got there, there was nobody

around. I rushed to the Mandai end of T15

thinking the group would head to HellClimb.

Still nobody there. On my way back, I met

someone from MTB Brothers and he told me

there's a big group at that trail heading to

Casuarina, so I went to Reverse Flowy Trail

and went to the trail that lead to Casuarina.

At the 2nd stream, I couldn't see anyone.

I doubled back to the mango trees and

did reverse Rooty Trail... Still no one.

I went to Esso and had my bike cleaned.

By the way, bike cleaning charge is now 3$

instead of the usual 2$.

After I got home, only then I learned that

there was only Fast Pao and StairRider Deck

on that supposed 'group' ride and most probably

we kept missing each other by just a few minutes.

Anyway, maybe next Saturday we'll have a

Monsters' Ball :-)

By the way, bike blogger Anvil, also from

Singapore, wrote this nice little piece about the

why people should go for Solo Rides. Read

it and you might end up dodging Group Ride

invites hehehehe.



#190 : Saturday Ride

Anyone seen this on the trail?



You'll just have to take my word for it that
this above is Sugar Rush Rey



Today can be summarised in one word :

hot! It was so hot, I can feel my energy

being sapped. The only good thing about

the heat was that the trails were dry.

Anyway, I know that there will be another

long group ride tomorrow and so I did a

relaxed ride today. All I did was go all the

way to the Mandai end of T15, u-turned,

did reverse Flowy trail, climbed up to

the grassy singletrack, went down to the

mango trees and then went to have lunch

at Bukit Panjang.

By the way, when I was on the way to

the Mandai end of T15, I met Sugar Rush

Rey and he decided to accompany me. So I

didn't have to cycly alone today.

Alex's ride : On-One Inbred 29er with carbon fork

Also! When we were having lunch at Bukit

Panjang, one guy from the next table called

my name. It turned out to be one of this blog's

supporters, Alex. Funny even though I don't

know Alex, I know his bike very well.

Hehehehe I think he's the only one that you

will see around who uses a rigid On-One Inbred

29er on our trails. I remembered him vividly because

I saw him clear this downhill section from the Summit

going to Gangsa.. and the thing is there are some

guys I know who will only do that section when

riding on at least a 140mm bike :-)

#189 - Nite Ride

I saw this flyer of a GoldSprint to be done at

Esplanade on 12-14 August. I thought to myself :

'Huh?! What's a GoldSprint?' ... and since I have

been thinking of trying on a fixie bike,

it seems this is a good opportunity for me

to go and have myself introduced to this hip world

of fixies and their skinny jeans clad riders.

The guys organizing the GoldSprint have a big

tent at Esplanade just behind MakanSutra. There

were lots of fixie riders. There were shirts, helmets,

and other stuff for sale... there's even supposed to be

a swap meet! There are these mock ups of urban sceneries

where you can pose your bike and have its picture taken...

and last but definitely the centerpiece of the whole event,

there's this stage with 2 fixie bikes without front wheels.

Of course, I got intrigued! What are those 2 bikes

without front wheels doing there? So me and my

bike mate approached for a closer look... we were

just going to look... really! Then here comes this

guy with a microphone and before you know it

I was on the stage and on one of the bikes and

I was going to compete on the GoldSprint!

Wow! I think those fixie guys must be wondering

which mountain I came from. That fixie bike thing

was really hard to pedal in the beginning. I had to

stand and stomp on the pedals. Then the DJ told

me not to stand... I think they're concerned that I

might endo? Then I was pitted against another

guy and we were supposed to sprint for 200m.

All the while people must be seeing question

marks over my head. I was thinking, is it safe

to do this without a helmet? hehehehe. Why is

there a strap on the pedal? I didn't even need to ask

that, one of the guys must have read my mind and

guided my feet onto the straps. Once I was strapped,

I pedalled, found it hard, so I stood up and mashed.

To my surprise the rear of the bike moved sideways.

I asked the DJ : 'What was that???' He said

'It's ok, it will straighten BUT don't stand,

don't get out of the saddle'... I said ok.

One guy supported my fork and another guy

supported my opponent's fork.

... and we're off!!

I remembered they told not to get out of the

saddle, so I didn't. I can see my opponent

really letting it all out ... and then it was over...

I lost?! LOL! I shook hands with my opponent

... and got out of the bike ... I scratched my head

at everything that transpired ... then I took pictures

of my bike and the other nice fixies that were there.

If you have time this weekend, head on out

to Esplanade and check out the GoldSprint.

Lots of cool bikes, cool people, cool stuff for sale

... and from what I read, they're giving out

a fixie bike if you win the GoldSprint :-)

#188 : Saddle Review

Fizik Plateau

This is not a joke. The above saddle is really from

Fizik. I found this in the 'Sale' bin of Hup Leong.

I bought this 3 years back... that was when I first

started cycling. At that time I thought to myself

it's from Fizik and I have never seen any bad reviews

of Fizik Gobi and Tundra, ergo! this must be a good

saddle! ... and did I mention that it was in the 'Sale' bin?

Sigh... why am I such a sucker for these things?

Always looking for something cheap and good.

So, you might have guessed what this saddle did to my ass.

From the looks of it, it is very well padded, right?

But for some reason, it doesn't agree with my butt.

So, after just one ride, I took it off and never, ever

used it again. I am now contemplating whether

it will be a good paperweight or should I stand it

up on it's nose and call it modern art?

Rating -  Booooooo!!!!!

Selle Italia SLR

Ahhhh finally! My first expensive saddle. StairRider

Deck got bitten by the weightweenie bug and so he sold

me this saddle which is in perfectly good shape and whose

only fault is that he saw another lighter Selle Italia saddle.

This saddle is being touted as a Triathlon saddle.

The nose is well padded. Logic dictates that this saddle

should be very good for TT bikes. Not just that! For those

steep climbs like the first cement climb in BT, you can sit

on the nose and just spin your way up. I also know for a fact

that SR Deck used this saddle for quite sometime and has

never heard him utter a single word of complaint, not even

a grunt of dissatisfaction with this saddle.

Why you may ask is this second on the list?

Again, I don't know why, but my butt bones find the

rear of the saddle too firm... and yes, I am wearing proper

gel cycling shorts. Still I find it very uncomfortable.

I took this for one city ride and after that I took it

off and put it together with my other bike spares.

Every now and then, I take it out, look at it and

admire it since it is sooo expensive... I get the urge

to use it again ... but remembering the last time

I used it ... naahhh

Rating - Booooo!!!!

Fizik Tundra

This saddle came with my Giant Anthem. I finally have

a Fizik Tundra! .... but why is it on the floor and not

on my bike?

This saddle has minimal padding but the sides and

the back part are quite flexible. I'm not sure about this

but the 'nose' seems to be longer and it is firmer and

less flexible than the rest of the saddle. This one is

noticeable because whenever there are long or steep

climbs, I find myself inching forward on the nose

and spinning away. This is a good trait.

Now for the bad part. Go to the loo. Put down the

toilet seat cover. Now seat on the toilet seat cover.

Very stiff, right? But still tolerable.

Ok, sit there for 2 hours. You

get what I mean?

I used this for 2 months so it isn't that bad.

It's just that I have better saddles that I can use.

Rating - Ok. Polite clapping.

WTB Devo

My original wingman(woman), Tabs, bought

a WTB Deva. It was recommended to her by

Gilbert of Hup Leong because she finds the saddle

that came with her Jamis uncomfortable (more on this

later).

She let me try her saddle and I was sold.

Of course I didn't get the Deva, I bought the Devo :-)

This saddle has lesser padding relative to other WTB

saddles. However, it is flexible. It also cradles

my butt cheeks nicely.

But, why is it on the floor and not on my bikes?

I know it's just me but I find the same nice butt cheek

cradling width of the Devo too wide. When there's a

downhill section, I get this feeling that I have to open

my legs wider to clear the saddle.

If you also notice, the sides of the saddle are

scuffed. Is that proof that the saddle is indeed

too wide for me?

Anyway, what made me take it out is that it

developed a squeak that I can't get rid of.

I used this for a long time. 6 - 8 months?

So this is a good saddle.

Rating - clap clap clap

SDG BelAir RL

The SDG above was bought upon recommendation

of people from C2C in Ang Mo Kio. I asked them for

a comfortable saddle and they told me "WTB!".

I said I know they are comfortable but I want to

try other brands.

So they told me to try SDG and after giving them

75$, I was the proud owner of a non-WTB but

comfortable saddle.

SDG is indeed comfortable. I used this for a long

time as well. I can sit on my bike on the trail for

more than half a day and never complain...

The thing is, I used this saddle on my steel HT

which I use for road rides. There are evenings

when I cycle from Balestier all the way to Changi

Village (via Loyang) and then head back

home via ECP and Kallang. This ride is around

3 hours. By that time I feel like I am again

sitting on the toilet seat cover.

Now I have this mounted on my Giant Anthem.

This means I only use it on trail rides.

For trail rides, I have no complaints.

Rating - clap clap clap

At first I thought I will never, never, never, ever buy

another Selle Italia saddle. I promised myself I will

not even touch a Selle Italia saddle with a 10-foot pole.

But! There was this Mt. Faber ride when SR Deck

told me "hey, look at my saddle". I said 'what saddle?

that's not a saddle. that's a torture device'. Deck said

'nooo... look at this' and then he proceeded to show me

how flexible the saddle was. It was very flexible. I

rode his bike around the petrol station below Mt. Faber

... and it was very good.

That was just last week, last Saturday I went

and bought myself the exact same saddle at Hup Leong

for 116$ ... then when I showed it to SR Deck

he told me 'huh?! why did you buy so fast?'

I said 'why???' ... do you all remember that this

Sunday it rained heavily? hehehehe the black trim

on his saddle faded! They are now white!!!!

I thought to myself : oh sheep! I just paid 100$+

for this saddle! SR Deck must have seen my face

and he consoled me by saying : nevermind, there is

nothing wrong with the performance. just an aesthetic

issue... well ... yes... but now, when it rains,

I better make sure, I'm not using my hardtail.

Anyway, I tested this last Monday. We cycled from

ECP to Mt. Faber and back to Balestier... and my

butt says it's all good :-)

Rating : clap clap clap

WTB Rocket V

Rating - Standing ovation, clap clap clap, with shouts of 'encore'

The WTB Rocket V is not a saddle. It is

a sofa. You can sit on it, grab a throw pillow

and watch your favorite show on DVD. Make

sure that you are watching your favorite show

because if not, you may even fall asleep on this

saddle. That is how comfortable this saddle is.

Look at the picture above, I used this saddle until

most of the stitchings are gone. Quite ironic really

because the stitchings are the worst part of this saddle.

When you clean your bike at Esso, the leather part of

the saddle would dry quickly but it takes the

stitchings soooo long to dry.

I got this saddle for 45$ at the now defunct

Tay Cycle Tanglin branch.

Ok, now go back to the review for WTB Devo.

I warned you that there will be 'more' on that

later, right? This is the twist : If I remember

correctly, the saddle that my friend found so

uncomfortable was the WTB Rocket V.

... and yet, here I am, giving the same saddle

a standing ovation.

This only proves that one man's meat is

another man's poison :-)

Ooops, before I forget, you might wonder.

If the WTB Rocket V is the best saddle for me,

why is it on the floor and not on any of my

bikes?

Well, I used this saddle the longest, and it shows.

So I am going to bring this saddle to one of the

shops near Lavender that fixes motorbike saddles

and have them refurbish it.

I already talked to one shop. I think I was quoted

35$ for refurbishing. ... the nice thing is for a few

dollars PER LETTER, you can have your name

embroidered on your saddle :-)

#187 : Night Ride

Meet up was at Fort Rd end of ECP. 9 people here
+ NoLights Louie on the camera + 4 late comers
not in the picture = 14 riders

The leading uncles up at Mt. Faber discussing how to
torture ... oooppss, I mean how many laps should we do.
Btw, photos were taken from NoLights Louie's
FB uploads.

Another big group ride! 14 riders!

But it was a shame that nobody wants

to go for night trail ride on Monday

night, eve of Singapore National Day.

Looks like apart from SR Deck, Fast Paolo,

Roadie Rio, AirTime Mark and me,

nobody else gets the urge to go on a

night trail ride in the BT area.

However, it seems a lot of people want

to go for a 'city' ride and check out

Mt. Faber :-)

The ride was quite long for the Eastern

boys. They started from Pasir Ris, going

to Changi Village, all the way to ECP

and then we finally met them at the Fort

Rd end of ECP.

After meeting the whole bunch, we went to

F1 pitlane via the Kallang PCN, then went to

Esplanade, Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and then

Robertson Quay. We had a stop for drinks

at the petrol station near the Swiss

Valley bikeshop.

After the refueling stop, we all went to

Mt. Faber via Henderson Rd (pant pant huff

huff) and then Telok Blangah Rise. Once

we all reached the top, some of the riders

opted not to do the customary laps.

After a majority of the lapping uncles did

4 laps, everybody voted to start the journey

home. But the leading uncles still had one

more climb that they wanted to do !

Of course, this climb was the surprise

of the night for the newer members

of the peloton.

The peloton was steered by the leading uncles

to Telok Blangah Hill. I think some of them

almost fainted when they saw what was

in store for them.

After doing just one climb, I think

I heard some of the guys referring to the

route planner as 'Dr. Evil'. hehehehe.

Anyway, the good thing about going to

such a high place is that the way home all

points downhill :-)

That's it! Any one wants to see Mt. Faber

again, you know who to call :-)

#186 - Sunday Ride

Hiker waiting out the rain under the bridge

These two finished their trail ride early

Pic taken when it was just drizzling inside Rooty Trail

Pic taken when it was just drizzling inside Rooty Trail

The day started with the sun shining brightly.

I cycled to Novena, Bukit Timah Rd ... but

when I reached Hwa Chong I can see lightning

flashing on the horizon. As I cycled further, it

became darker and the wind became cooler.

When I was almost reaching King Albert Park

McDonald's the wind and rain was very strong.

The wind was so strong that I thought me and

my bike were going to be carried away by it !

I went to RRR and waited out the worst

of the rain under the bridge. It was only 9:30am

but I see some cyclists were already returning

from the trails. They already had their fix

at this early hour?

Anyway, after 30 minutes, the drizzle became

tolerable and so I went up RRR. I continued

on to ZH Park until the entrance of Rooty Trail.

True enough lots of cyclists were already

heading home!

I went in and had a blast inside Rooty Trail :-)

I met only 1 guy doing the reverse route.

The thing was, when I got out, the downpour

started again! This time the rain was like biblical

in proportion. Well, I don't want to go up to

that trail that leads to Casuarina when it is pouring

so hard, so I did a u-turn and went back inside

Rooty Trail to do the Reverse Route.

It was raining so hard that the rain was going

through the jungle canopy. Water was also pooling

in the trails. Any one riding inside Rooty Trail

in conditions like this will surely be branded

a fanatic hehehehe.

The thing was I enjoyed this ride even more!

I met more riders doing the normal route.

As if all of us were a bit embarassed to be

found out playing in the rain, every one I met

was smiling and giggling. There was even this

guy who endoed while trying to clear a log pile

and when he picked himself up, he was saying

'teeheeheehee...'.

But, I didn't try to press my luck and

so when I got out of Rooty Trail, I went

to ZH Park, Belukar track and went to

the Bukit Timah stairs and headed home

via RRR :-)

#185 : Saturday Ride

Start at Novena

I saw 3 turtles sunbathing on this log.
But when I approached, they jumped into the water.

Do you guys realise the left and right
sides of the trails are 'plowed' ?
I wonder how many wild pigs are
roaming around in our trails?

End at Novena

After the group ride last week, most of my
friends who live in the East opted to ride
at Pulau Ubin today. Roadie Rio is still
'recuperating' (no doubt riding with his
roadie buddies) and StairRider Deck is cooped
up in his office doing over time work.

So, no pressure today :-) I woke up a bit later
than usual and went to 6th Avenue to have breakfast.
After breakfast, I went up to RRR and went
straight to ZH Park. I didn't stop there as
I didn't see any cyclists that I know ... in fact
I think I didn't see any cyclists at all.

I went straight to Rooty Trail. At the entrance of
Rooty Trail (after you go through all the log piles),
I saw 2 guys going in and 3 guys coming out. All
3 guys coming out were pushing their bikes and
asking for directions how to get out of the trail.
2 of those guys don't even have helmets and
were wearing sandals.

The 1st of the two guys they asked
gave them directions ... and here it comes...
after giving directions, the guy just collapsed,
falling to the left side of the trail like a log!
All 5 of us panicked! I looked at the guy who
collapsed and I saw that his eyes were open...
but he is not responding to his friend who was
calling his name! We pulled him up and took off
his helmet, camelbak and unzipped his jersey.
Only then did the man 'regain' consciousness.
So we told him to keep hydrated and take it easy
as the trail they want to enter is quite tough
for newbies... he said he's ok and then .... he
collapsed again ! But this time, it took just a few
seconds for him to 'regain' consciousness.

Note that I keep enclosing the word 'regain'
in quotes because although the man collapsed,
his eyes were open all the while! I have this
notion that a person who collapses and loses
consciousness should have his eyes
closed?

Sigh, judging from that guy's looks, he seems
to be my age (40's). So I went into Rooty Trail
really scared. Hoping that such episodes won't
happen to me.

I took it easy. After Rooty Trail I went to the
Summit via the grassy singletrack I found last week.
After the summit I went back to the mango trees
and then proceeded to do the Reverse of Rooty Trail.

While going in to do the Reverse of Rooty Trail.
I saw those 2 guys again. I asked if they're ok.
They said yes and asked me for directions on how
to get back to civilization. I gave them directions
to get to T15. Seeing them reminded me of my age
again and so I took it easy inside Reverse Rooty Trail.

I'll be going in again tomorrow :-)



#184 : Random Pics

A few images from my InstaGram feed ...

By the way, if you're in InstaGram, do drop by

my feed (@monjie) :-)