#278 - Quick and Dirty Mini XC Race

Friday, Jan 31st is Chinese New Year in Singapore.

Those who have been living in Singapore for some

time now know that lots of commercial establishments

(even hawker centres) are closed for a few days. 

So what can we do when faced with this kind

of predicament? Hehehehe hold an XC Race maybe?

... and that is exactly what Owen of CrestPursuit

and the rest of PadyakPinoy SG thought so.

This is a very informal race. It was unsupported

and unsanctioned. You may even think of it as a

'timed' group ride and you get lots of beer

afterwards ;-) Hup Leong bike shop also donated

some items for the raffle draw :-)

The venue was supposed to be the Tampines Bike

Park where the Youth Olympics for XC was held

BUT of course later on it was announced that that

place would be closed for CNY as well. So the race

was held at the back where the Moonscape

and Kidneys are situated.

Anyway, I went to Tampines to join in the

heckling hehehe. When I got there, the Race Committee

told me that I am not too late and I can still join!

Huh?! No no no not today. I told them my wife

just told me to buy a bottle of vinegar and

that I just lost my way.

At that point, Owen of CrestPursuit and John

of Hup Leong was leading the racers on a 'neutral lap'.

This neutral lap will show the racers the complete loop.

I sat down at the Race Committee's hut and exchanged

"hi"s and "hello"s to people I only see in Malaysian

Jamborees.  After a few minutes, all the racers came

and lined up at the starting line. Owen mentioned that they

need more marshalls and the Race Committee

immediately volunteered me to be one of the marshalls.

There goes my heckling plans.

Owen explaining the rules : no biting, no headbutts, no hitting below the belt, etc.
- pic by Louie Aribon

The Race Committee

Start of the race !

The racers were divided into Beginners' and

Masters' Categories. I think Beginners would include

those who have not raced in Singapore and Malaysia yet.

Masters Cat didn't have anything to do with age.

If you've raced before, then you'll be grouped here.

I didn't see the actual start but it seems there was

a delay because Nick McHugh had a puncture and

Owen had to lend him a wheel. Anyway, after that,

the race started and the pack went on to the forest

and then they had to go to the Kidney (not sure which

one, lower or upper?), then they went towards my

marshalling point and then went towards the

ex-Moonscape part, went down towards the hut and

that would be 1 lap.

Beginners had to do 3 laps and Masters had to

do 4 laps. The first lap leaders were Anton and Bal.

After the 2nd lap, it was Bal leading by a margin of 10

seconds from Nick. At the 3rd lap, Bal was still leading but

Nick was already glued to his rear tire. At the fourth lap,

it was already Nick who was leading, followed 

by Darren (mechanic of Bike Haus 6th Ave) then followed by

Bal who I think hit the proverbial 'wall'.

First lap

 After the race, I immediately got down from my
marshalling point and did a lap of the race loop.
The forest area is nice and dry. The Kidneys are
nice and flowy too. Sigh... too bad this place

had to go to make way for some new development.

Overall nice guy Nick McHugh of PadyakPinoy SG won the race

The top ten. Notice the different team jerseys? PadyakPinoy SG,
Tropang Putikan, Lagalag and MTB Brothers are all represented

Me ! - wearing RED . It's Chinese new Year :-)