#232 : Saturday Group Ride

7 out of 14 riders

Bal going down Black Cobra, me below taking pic.
Pic by AirTime Mark

Pic by AirTime Mark

StairRider Deck going down the 3 black diamond entrance.
Note how much is left of the 150mm fork.

Sugar Rush Rey going down from Bird Cage

Four of us went on an early morning road trip to

Changi Village to meet with the rest of the guys for

a trail ride at Ketam in Pulau Ubin. The meeting time

was supposed to be 8AM. However, I think we

were forgiven for being late as this was the 1st time

we took that journey on pedal powered motorcycles

... errrrr ... that is AM bikes :-)

Anyway, the weather was nice although we could

have used some more clouds to shield us from the

sun. Also, nowadays, it seems that nobody wants

to 'explore' the rest of the island after the trail ride

in Ketam. Everybody seems to want just 3 to 5

laps of Ketam and then go back to Singapore

mainland to have some of those Ayam Penyets

or Dum Briyani.

Ooopsss, I almost forgot, now I remember what

took the place of the customary Chek Jawa rides.

Now that almost everyone is on a long travel bike,

every one goes to Black Cobra and have their

picture taken by semi-pro photographer

AirTime Mark :-)

At the end of the trail ride, everybody promised

to go to BT on Monday for a trail ride ... hmmm

let's see how many actually show up ;-)  

#206 - Sunday Ride

It rained very hard during the night and it only let
up around 6:30 Sunday morning. I asked StairRider
Deck if we're still going to Pulau Ubin ... the answer
was a positive ?! Crazy!

Anyway, we had to cycle fast because when the
Eastern boys set their meeting time, it's always
at 7:30am. ... and of course when we show up
at 7:30am, none of them are there. As usual.

So, people started trickling by 8:30am and by
around 9am, our group is complete and Team
MTB Brothers are also in attendance. This would
be a big group ride.

The group attacked Ketam trail and some even did
four laps non-stop. Me? Hehehe I don't like this
trail. I once did four laps non-stop but doing laps
isn't my thing. That what I like about the BT/Mandai
area. You can do laps if you want or you can do
a point to point ride.

Enough excuses! I just did one lap and then
a few of us went to get drinks while we left
the more hardcore ones to do their four or five
laps. By the way, Hup Leong mechanic, John,
lost an argument with a tree and he is sporting
some new scars on his right shoulder as a memento.
I told him to wear sleeveless jerseys from
now on as chicks dig scars hehehehe.

Sunday Ride

Paolo and Deck - thanks to Mader for the photos

Bal showing how many laps he did - Thanks to NoLights Louie and Mader
for the photos





Mark sharing his lunch with us - Thanks to NoLights Louie and Mader
for the pics







Me :-) On the other side of the island, doing what I do best -
thanks to Louie for the iPhone pic. very nice for Instagram



PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers are spoiled for mechanics.

They brought along 3. Mike the (ex-TEF) Mechanic, Ah Long

and John from Hup Leong



Racers from PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers



Today's the 4hour Enduro at Ketam MTB trail in

Pulau Ubin ! When I woke up at 7am, I know my riding

buddies who will be racing today are already there

doing their last minute preparations. So I did my pre-ride

rituals and then went out @7:30AM to meet NoLights Louie

in Bedok Reservoir.

By 8:30AM we were having breakfast at Changi Village and

by around 9:30AM we very excitedly went to Ketam and looked

for the place where the race started... I'm not sure if

NoLights Louie shared my disappointment but that was what

I felt. The feed zone was located near B01 (Pine Ridge) and it

was very exposed to the sun ! I pity all the people there.

They look like they were being fried. There were just few tents

that were brought by the bigger MTB teams. So if you don't belong

to a team, you fry. If you went there as a spectator, you fry.

The smaller teams went under the shade of some bigger trees.

Some pitched small tents which I know from experience

would be like small ovens.

Since we can't find our buddies and I can't find where they left

their stuff, NoLights Louie and I decided to go around the island

and explore all those little trails that we see in our regular

group rides. We got lost once. Good thing it's very simple to just

double back to where we came from. We shot a few pics so that each

of us have amunition for our Instagram show-and-tell... and by 11:30

we were back to the racing grounds.

We managed to catch SR Deck just as he exited from Easy Ridge.

He was doing his 6th lap then which was eventually not counted

because he didn't cross the line by 12noon even when the race

started @8:15AM (instead of 8AM). So we can call the race the

3hour 45minute Enduro. Anyway, the rule was applied to everyone

equally so no real complaints there.

We also saw, AirTime Mark and Bal heading home (@11:30 ?!) because

I think Mark was smart enough to realise that even if he does his last

lap, it won't be counted and Bal was looking pale because he only had

one 700ml bottle of water for the whole race LOL.

After a while, we saw the whole PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers group under

one of the trees along Pine Ridge and I learned KK got 13th place and

Lito got 14th place in the Solo Category. I also saw Bobot who told

me last week that he is not racing hehehehe.

We crowded around the drinks lorry and finally bumped into Paolo.

Paolo's first race was in Malaysia and of course, he can't help but

compare the race he attended there and the race he just completed.

He told us he was wondering what he paid 50$ for. In Malaysia

he paid half of that and he got lots of freebies not to mention

drinks, bananas, watermelons at each checkpoint. He was even smiling

at the memory of the girls who were chanting 'jia you! jia you!'

while they were doing some killer climbs :-) Here, he got .... nothing...

The worst part is, we can go to Ketam anytime we want and do our

own 4hour Enduro and it won't cost 50$ !!! hehehehehe so one less racer

for the 12hour race :-)

Anyway, here are the results of the race.





Ketam Practice #1

A welcome surprise at the end of Blue Trail.
Filipina Mountain Bikers are almost extinct but these two look
like they are enjoying the trail.

The madness started today. It was decided that today's

group ride will be in Pulau Ubin in preparation for the

4 hour enduro on May.

The general consensus is that every one will run according

to their own pace. Ketam is mostly singletrack anyway and

you can't get lost. As and when any one thinks he's had enough

then he could just go to the coconut drink stall and wait for

the remainder of the group there.

I am one of those guys who find doing laps boring. Ever

since I have known how to cycle at Ketam, I have always

done only 1 lap and go to the other fireroads in the island.

But for today, I did three laps!

After doing my second lap, I decided I have had enough

of this self-inflicted punishment and went to the coconut drink

stall only for the auntie to tell me she doesn't have any

coconuts today! Ok, settled for 100+ instead :-)

I haven't finished my 100+ yet when Bal, Roadie Rio

and StairRider came to announce that they did 3 laps in

2 hours! So, that's the magic number.

After everybody has had their drink, they all prodded

me to do 1 last lap....and so I did a total of three laps.

Quote for the day should most probably belong to me:

"I could have easily done 5 laps straight, but I'm

already exhausted"

Also, I realised that this kind of long ride brings out

the worst in our equipment. Example ?

1. I was on a hardtail. I forgot to stand-up on one

part of the the trail... my saddle proceeded to rotate up

 thereby making me sit on my rear tire! Ouch!

2. Tubeless tires with sealant are not puncture proof!

Just ask Sherwin and Ibis Chris.

3. When you're tired, you begin to have brain fade and

 you do things like trying to run over a perfectly sturdy

tree hehehe.

4. Long climbs overstrain your chain and it's best to

bring spare links.

Saturday Group Ride

New bikes ! Ibis Mojo, Titus ElGuapo, Giant Trance

somebody left an Ibis Mojo @ Ketam

How do you know if there's a roadie in your MTB Group Ride?
He's the guy who left his hydration pack in the boat LOL.

Roadie Rio missed the first lap of Ketam because he forgot his
CamelBak in the boat that brought us to Pulau Ubin. Good thing
it was a weekend and the boat came back within 10-15minutes
after it left the pier.

Anyway, today's group was quite big. I think there was a total
of 14 people who left for Pulau Ubin. The only bad thing was that
since the range of fitness levels in the group is soooo wide,
it was inevitable that the group will separate.

Three superbikes were 'revealed' today. Chris' Ibis Mojo,
Leomar's ElGuapo and Bal's Giant Trance. I rode all three bikes
and the early verdict is that the Giant Trance is by far the best bike.
Maybe next week, I'll ask Bal to let me ride the Trance for
a while :-)

Ok, I digress, I'll sing praises for Giant Anthem and Trance
another day. For those who were not able to come today,
 here's a short video of what went on.

Group Ride

A nice picture that was NOT taken at Chek Jawa's quarry

If you went with us for today's group ride at Pulau Ubin,

you would hear lots of scolding going on inside the forest.

First, all uncles scolded NoLights Louie for not bringing her helmet.

Unbelievable! She came down, cycled from Bedok, met with the rest

of the uncles (errr ... i mean riders) and only when the others pointed

out that her MBUK 'BUFF' is not strong enough to take the place of

her helmet did she realise that there was nothing perched on top her

head.

Good thing Uncle Ronald has a spare Fox Flux. Anyway, NoLights Louie

got more scolding when she said she couldn't feel the difference

between having a helmet and no helmet. Sure is good advertisement

for Limar though.

Next one who got scolded was Paolo who lost the rear screw of

his new Thomson seatpost (he only got it last week). Uncle Deck

scolded him because it was unbelievable that a screw that long

managed to slowly unscrew itself and yet Paolo did not feel anything

until the screw finally came loose.

Paolo's seatpost was repaired with 4 zip ties. He had to cycle

more conservatively today as Uncle Deck told him that if the

four zipties come loose, he will get more scolding... and no more

zipties.

Thanks for Boom, Mer and Don for helping us fix the seatpost

and giving us more zipties.

Brother Louie on the way to the deliver the news that NoLights Louie's chain
has given up its ghost and that she was last seen using her bike as a push scooter.

Next in line for a scolding was Brother Louie who complained to Uncle

Ronald that his tires are not gripping. Uncle Ronald could not believe it

as Brother Louie's tires should easily find traction in today's dry Ketam

track.

Upon inspection, Uncle Ronald found that Louie's tires were pumped up

as if it belonged to Roadie Rio's Colnago roadbike. Fresh scolding was heard

in the forest due to this. A sermon on correct tire pressure followed

soon thereafter.

Paolo after getting some scolding from Uncle Deck

 Last scolding of the day went again to NoLights Louie. We were

pedalling up to this observation point that was finally open and she

managed to twist her chain while shifting down and pedalling at the

same time.

If you were a 'normal' girl riding with five macho guys, what would you

have done? Yesss, you call one of said macho guys tell him your problem

and all five macho guys should come to your aid.

But no, she did not do that. She U-turned, went back to the road and

used her bike as a push scooter to go to the Pulau Ubin jetty to wait for us.

Brother Louie informed us of what she did and everybody went down

from the observation deck and cycled to the jetty. Once there, she got

scolded for not calling us as soon as possible. All macho uncles also

told her that she hurt our feelings because it was clear that: 1. she thought

we did not have tools and 2. she thought we don't know how to fix

chains.

Anyway, all's well that end's well and it was later found out that

today was Paolo's birthday. I don't drink and Uncle Deck used

that as an excuse for a raincheck as Paolo was getting

ready to treat everyone to a drinking binge!

No videos for today :-P  as you will not hear anything but scoldings LOL.

Today's casualties : Paolo's Thomson seatpost, NoLight Louie's gouged calf and
twisted chain

Pulau Ubin Ride



It was cool and drizzling all day



Wooden bridge @one of the smaller trails in Ubin

This is another one of those Saturday morning rides that

got hatched on Friday afternoon.

Surprisingly, a lot of people from the western side of

Singapore was game for this ride. We arrived to have

breakfast @Changi Village at around 8:30am.

By this time, another group of people who were

supposed to go with us still have not arrived. They

finally arrived at around 9+ and told us that if we wait

for them, we might get back home later than usual and

so we could go on ahead to Ubin.

So the six of us went to Ubin. We did one round of Ketam.

Ketam is very very slippery this morning due to the rains

yesterday and the continous drizzle the whole morning.

It was a spin, slip, spin out affair. Anyway, after Ketam,

we went to the various smaller trails in Ubin so that we

could spin to our hearts' content.

Here's a short clip of what went on today.

A few more pics fom this morning

Pulau Ubin Ride

Ketam Trail Map @the entrance

It takes a lot of climbing to get here

I went to Pulau Ubin today with my original WingMan (uhhh woman,

actually), Tabs. She's rusty for not having gone on a trail ride since

her 'career ending' injury so we just went to the Blue Diamond Trails

@Ketam and also the 'fun' trails @Chek Jawa and the surrounding area.

Here's a video clip of what went on today.