#204 - Sunday Ride

Fallen tree going to T15 from Bukit Panjang

Flowy Trail

Arnold @Gangsa ... didn't get a shot of Eric

After the hike on Friday, I was supposed to join
a group ride yesterday at Pulau Ubin. Sigh... but
the hike must have made me more tired than I'm
willing to admit because I woke up at 7:30am
instead of 6am. To make matters worse, when I
finally decided I was going to go after my friends,
I looked at my bike and found that my front tire's
inner tube had a pinhole leak and leaked all the
air out during the night.

So I just told myself that maybe I was going
to crash big time in Pulau Ubin and decided
to just join my family for the weekly pilgrimage
to the malls at Orchard Road.

... and now it's a Sunday and I feel equal to
the task of doing my Sunday XC ride :-)

The ride was pretty uneventful and I still felt
sluggish. So I didn't go to the usual andrenalin
pumping playgrounds and decided to just cruise
the fireroads of T15.

The thing is when I got to Gangsa, I saw a
a big group of freeriders/downhillers having
a blast doing the dirtjump thing. There were even
some guys on XC bikes who decided to lower
their saddles and join in on the jumping fun.

I saw FreeRider Eric and Downhiller Arnold
there and Eric showed me his dislocated index
finger. Hehehehe and I thought my crash was stupid?

I recounted how I crashed at the PCN of T15
and Eric told me how he got the dislocated finger.
It was not from some DH or any freeriding move...
he got it when he slipped in the bathroom LOL.

So last week, I thought I won the trophy for
most stupid 'diving' move, but now FR Eric topped
my score! So I thought that should be it. Come on,
nobody could top that slipping in the bathroom
technique, right ? DH Arnold tried to take the trophy
away from Eric by saying he dislocated his
index finger once when he caught a basketball
the wrong way. But that doesn't count because
basketball related injuries are not 'stupid'.

So I thought Eric would be taking home the
trophy.... That is until Roadie Rio told me how he
got sidelined for the past three weeks :-)

Hehehehe let's just say it would take
some very original and imaginative diving moves
before anybody could take the 'diving' trophy
from Roadie Rio LOL.

#203 - Hiking

McRitchie Reservoir

Nice place ! Will go back here.

Boardwalk after HSBC TreeTop Adventure





Pity the guys going for TNF 100. I think they have to crawl up this.

McRitchie Reservoir

Actually, people who should be doing this are my
friends who have registered for TNF100. But due to
varying excuses (yes, excuses :-P ), they are not able
to go and do a proper reconnaisance of the route.
So, being a nice guy, I went and did the recce of
McRitchie Reservoir to Bukit Timah :-)

I filled up my 2 liter CamelBak and thought of
taking my walking stick with me... but I routinely
see uncles and aunties hiking from McRitchie to BT
and thought this would be a piece of cake. So I left
my pair of walking sticks at home.

I entered the trail in McRitchie that leads to BT
and I saw signposts that provide the countdown that
start from 10km apparently once 10km is up then
you'll be in BT.

I was surprised by the route! It was up and down.
I was thinking to myself that even with a bike, these
climbs will be very long and challenging. There was
even one place where I think there will be no choice
but to crawl up over the roots.

Also, the climb to the HSBC TreeTop Adventure
bridge was quite tough. However, I don't think
that will be a part of the TNF100 route as the
bridge will definitely sway from all those people
running/walking there.

Lastly, as I go nearer Rifle Range Road (BT),
the trail started to get muddy ... and guess what did
I find? Yup, Kenda Nevegal tire marks hehehehe.

I finally reached RRR and my left knee was
giving me problems. I did not wear shoes with
pronation control because I thought my knee
operation has already fixed my knee problems.
The thing is, this time the problem is with my
left knee ... I wonder if proper hiking boots
would solve this?

#202 - Sunday Ride

clockwise from upper left : (Trek) Sugar Rush Rey,
(Giant) me, (Rocky Mountain) Efren and
(Titus) StairRider Deck

My new Fox hydration pack :-)

Sunday morning and there was supposed to be

a big group ride. SR Deck even went to the trouble

of creating an invite just to confirm things since

there's supposed to be a lot of people inquiring

about this weekend's ride.

As usual, for supposedly big group rides like this,

it turned out to be a dud... only 4 people showed up

and the rest of course did not even bother telling us

that they won't be coming.

Anyway, since there are only four of us the pace was

quite fast and it was decided at Zheng Hwa Park that

this will indeed be a long ride.

So after Bukit Timah, off we went to Rooty Trail

where Sugar Rush Rey did an endo that would have

scored a 10 if there were judges around. Good thing

he followed his wife's advice and he was wearing

leg armor. So the endo, apart from scaring him was

no biggie.

We then went to T15 all the way to the end of

Mandai to get to HellClimb. It is at the PCN in

T15 that I outscored Rey's perfect endo by doing

a complete twist while still clipped on the bike.

See photo below for the aftermath of the crash.

But those 2 crashes did not dampen our spirits and

we pushed on to HellClimb. It was while climbing

HellClimb that it started to rain real hard. All four

of us agreed that the rain was good since it is not

just cooling but also served to wash away the

dirt and blood (?!) on my arm hehehehe.

We then went back to T15, did reverse Flowy

Trail and went to that trail that leads to Casuarina.

It was here at the first stream when Efren decided

he won't be left behind and tried to do a better endo.

His endo was good but no points were awarded

because the mud cushioned his fall.

We went out and had lunch Sembawang Hill

Hawker Centre. Since it was only SR Deck who

hasn't done any endo yet, we asked him if he feels

that his ride is incomplete. He said it's perfectly

ok and that he does not wish to join the

Balestier Diving Team.

Winner of Sunday's 'Diving' Competition



#201 - Saturday Ride

Last night I was chatting with a riding buddy
of mine saying that I would do a long ride this
Saturday. The ride would be from my house at
Balestier, to ECP, all the way to Changi Village,
to Pulau Ubin and then back.

Hehehehe rides like that, I wake up at 6am.
So I woke up at 8am today ... and decided that
I should go back to sleep and wake up again
at around 9:30am.

So in the end, the ride today was only 1 round
of Rooty Trail and Reverse Rooty Trail ...
which is actually a good thing since there's
an impending lonnngggg ride tomorrow
with the rest of the group.

#200 - Solo Ride

While watching StairRider Deck's video

of his Monday Sickness Ride, I got reminded...

it was 3 months ago since I uploaded a

video in my YouTube account.

Also, like I said in yesterday's post, all

of my friends were out riding while I was

paying back my sleep debt :-(

So today (Monday), it's payback time !

I went for a ride at Rooty Trail.

This time I don't have to describe the

ride as I video'ed it :-)



#199 - Saturday Ride

I just woke up from doing graveyard shift again!

On a Sunday morning! So while all my friends

have gone to the trails, here I am trying to remember

what it was that I did yesterday.

Actually, yesterday's ride was quite good.

I thought that I had to have a longer ride than

T15 or Rooty Trail. Good thing that a few of

my friends who are still into DragonBoat were

racing at Seletar Reservoir for the annual

Sava Sprints.

So, from Novena, I cycled to Bukit Timah

and went to T15. I went to the end of T15 and

went to Mandai Avenue. I cycled towards Yishun

Stadium and stopped at Seletar Reservoir.

I looked for my friends and after a short

chitchat, I went back to T15, continued

with the rest of Bukit Timah trail

and went home.

Whew! That was long! Anyway, while cycling

along Mandai Avenue, I saw this new-ish park

connector that leads all the way to Woodlands Ave 12!

I think I'll explore that park connector next weekend.

By the way, below picture was taken from

the Sava Sprints race by my friend Chay.



#198 - Solo Ride

Ahhh that's more like it :-)

I went for another solo ride today.

Most of the swelling on my right hand

and right knee is gone and just to

be safe I took my Giant Anthem with me.

I went to Rooty Trail and when I got out

I told myself if I cycled further on, I

might be pushing myself again ... and so

to be on the safe side, I decided to go

back home. But I went and did the reverse

Rooty Trail on the way back :-)

Lately, the trails have been dry and so

even with my balding Nevegals I did not

experience any slipping. I hope this weather

holds until I can finally get back to my

old routine.

By the way, below is a video done

by StairRider Deck. He got 'sick' last

Monday and went to BT, Rooty Trail and

Flowy Trail to cure himself of his

sickness. I think it worked because he

showed up at work on Tuesday fully

refreshed :-)

#197 - Solo Ride

While I was typing this post I have an ice pack

on my right knee. But before the ice pack, I had to

put a layer of cling plastic wrap on my knee

first because apart from the blue-black, I also

have scratches on my knee which I don't

want to get wet.

The base of my right palm is also swollen

and in the background I can here my son whispering

to my wife '... does he think he is still young ...'

I had irregular exercise for the past two

weeks. Not just that! The first of those two

weeks, I was on graveyard shift. Last week,

I was on call 24 x 7. So after those 2 weeks

from hell, I decided to give myself a long weekend.

To start off that long weekend, I went cycling

at T15. Just T15! I have learned my lesson

and I know that if I push myself, I will just

be courting trouble and since I am

riding solo I don't think I want to do that.

The thing is lack of sleep really has a way

of destroying whatever fitness you have built.

On the way to the trail, I had to stop near Tay Junction

for a breather. From then on I had to cycle slowly.

I went to T15 via RRR, Reverse Belukar Trail

on to Zheng Hwa Park. I rested at the Mandai end

of T15 and did a u-turn. I brought along my steel

HT because I was thinking T15 is quite simple.

But when I got back to Belukar Trail at the

part where the trail goes to the right to go

to the direction of the stairs, I encountered this

big root which suddenly seemed 'new' to me

and even before I could say 'Huh', I was

down on the floor. Sighhh ... I have to take it

really easy while I am still trying to pay

 back my sleep deficit ... so tomorrow,

I'll be back with my FS :-)

#196 - Random Pictures