#275 Sunday Ride - Green Corridor

NOT MY Surly but it looks impressive and
hence, I took this pic.

 

 

 

 

Bikes-bikes-bikes.blogspot.sg 's Anvil showed up for
this ride.

 

 

This is how that muddy Surly started the ride, all clean and nice.

 



2 Dahon's showed up for the off-road ride !

 

Nice fork !!!

 

The owner of this Voodoo Bizango is really into steel bikes.

 

Just before the ride.

 

 

 

After the ride @ Esso

 

After the ride @ Esso

Ok ok, it's 2014 and I am already awake.

No prizes for guessing what my New Year's Resolution is...
and now that I have just come down from Sleepy Mountain,
I went and registered for Love Cycling SG's Green Corridor Ride.

 

 

The group met at the Coffeeshop at Block 146 in Bukit Merah.
I cycled there and introduced myself to the organizer. Also,
true enough, even if this was an off-road ride, all sorts of bikes
were there. There were Dahon folding bikes, Surly fatbikes (one
owned by the Bikes-bikes-bikes' blogger Anvil), I spotted an
Aleoca and I even spotted a bike with an upside down fork (similar
to a Manitou Dorado).

 

 

The ride started by going behind Block 146 ... and then I got
confused because we went to Kampong Bahru Rd and then cycled
over some grass patch and then voila! , we were at the startimg
point of the Green Corridor.

 

The Green Corridor is the remnant of the Railway that used to connect
Singapore and Malaysia. The railroads have been taken out and now
members of the public can jog, walk or cycle on it.

 

Whenever I ask someone who has been to the Green Corridor how it's
like, I always get the same answer : muddy. However, on this ride,
even if it rained the night before, it wasn't as muddy as I expected
EXCEPT for some parts.

 

The ride went on smoothly. The only casualty was a broken chain from
one of the guys which was quickly fixed. The ride was supposed to go
to the Railway Mall but it was almost 10AM when we got to Rifle Range
Road. I have already informed the ride organizer that I will be breaking
off at this point ... and now I have a choice, whether to go to T15
or go window shopping.... arrgghhh my laziness won.

 

 

My view while eating Bak Kut The.

 

I went to wash my bike at Esso, had brunch at the hawker at Sian Tuan Ave
and then went to ogle at stuff I can't afford at BikePlus and T3 along
Bukit Timah Ave. I headed next to BikeHaus but they are closed on Sundays
(I forgot). I cycled along the pavement and went to Tay Junction but you
need to go up a short incline to get to the store, right .... Ahhhh I'm
still too lazy to do that and so I continued cycling along the pavement
until I got home.

 

Ahhhh easy, relaxed off-road ride, hot Bah Kut Teh in the end plus
windowshopping :-) what more can you ask for? ... yeah yeah of course
having more $$$ to be able to buy those items I am looking at is
always nice.

 

 

This shop sells the ever drool worthy Bont shoes.
I hope I get a pair as a Chinese New Year present ahem-ahem

 

 

 



#227 - Sunday Ride

Some members of MTB Brothers congratulating me on my new purchase :)

Ken-san and Brother John taking a rest before their rescue mission

Brother Rey's Magic Link equipped Kona

Brother Rico's NEW Ellsworth Moment

Mike the (ex) Mechanic's racing machine

Sunday and the last day of  'testing' my new Reign.

Today is the day when all of the small stuff that needed

changing on my bike were finally done. Bash Guard,

check! Change Switch-R to Thomson seatpost, check!

Change to original tires, check! Install straight handlebar,

check!

... and so while spinning like an uncle on an old Pigeon

bike along Bukit Timah, I heard someone behind me

say 'good morning!' and when I looked, it was Brother

John from Hup Leong and Ken-san the gracious host for

the MTB Brothers X'mas Party. I got hassled a bit by

brother John for being sooo quiet the past few weeks and

then suddenly showing up with a new bike ;-)

John told me that there's only the two of them since

the rest of the MTB Brothers peloton has been

bitten by the 'wake up early and cycle' bug. Apparently,

everyone went to Casuarina and will be entering the

trail from that side at 7AM!

Anyway, the three of us decided to go straight to

Rooty Trail. Along the way, we met another member

of MTB Bros, Christian. ... and so four of us went in

Rooty Trail ... BUT only three of us went out. It turned

out Christian's RD went into his wheelset. John and

Ken-san went back into Rooty Trail on a mission

of mercy. Me? I took the easy way out and went

to T15.

The thing that I learned from using this AM bike

is that I need to get stronger before I can go around

like I do on my XC bike (duhhh). I mean everything

is possible : short, steep climbs / long climbs / running

over roots, rocks, drops ... but you better be sure that

you have enough gas in your tank ... did that come out right?

Ok, it's like this, on an XC bike, there are some roots

in Rooty Trail that I can not clear. The roots just stops

my bike. You may say that I need to lift my wheels,

yes, that's true, BUT on an AM bike, I just run

over the same roots... it's just that it takes a lot

out of me in terms of energy.

Anyway, I wanted to go and do Reverse Flowy

Trail and maybe roll over the bumps at Gangsa

but it started raining heavily... and so I cut the trail

ride short and went to Esso.

Once, I got to Esso, the rest of the MTB Brothers

came! Hehehehe in the end, the 7AM ride did not

happen. After taking a few pictures, Ken-san and

John came with their rescued rider, Christian in tow.

Sunday Ride




Mike's Ellsworth Truth and Benjie's weightweenie Scott



Have you all seen the route for the 4 Hour Enduro

at Ubin this coming May? There are lots of flat

parts where one can go full speed and (hopefully)

regain some time lost when one is not that good

in the technical parts.

Lots of my friends either have a weird sense of
humor or just plain suicidal because I have not heard
anyone going for the Duo. Everybody is planning to join
the Solo Category.

Well, I think in the end, I will go with the flow and
join the Solo Cat also ... that is barring any untoward
incidents like having cold feet or severe solar flares.

So with that in mind, my steel hardtail had to lose the

680mm riser bar to give way to my 560mm Ti straight bar

and barends.

Off I went to T15 for my Sunday spin... and I didn't see
the PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers group in ZH Park, so off I
went to Mandai. From Mandai, I did a u-turn and when I came
back to ZH Park I saw Mike and Benjie there.

I learned those two are going to join the Enduro Race as partners
and they were practising today. They told me everybody else
went to Ketam to start familiarising themselves with the trail.
So, these two guys are practicing at BT when the race venue is at
Ketam and their buddies are all there ... hehehehe sneaky!

I also saw Chris at ZH Park and he told me he's going to

stick to me like glue because he doesn't know how to get out

of the trails.

Chris' new wheelset comes with Chris King hubs in blue

We went to Esso to clean our bikes and while drying our bikes
I saw he has finally bit the bullet and bought this ultra bling
wheelset!



Sunday Ride

Airborne Zeppelin ... sigh ...

I saw this Airborne Zeppelin at a Gas station on my way to BT.

I ate my 'breakfast' of packet of cashew nuts and pineapple juice

while chatting with the nice owner.



Cane Creek Double Barrel shocks + titanium springs on
Mike's Ellsworth Epiphany

Hup Leong Mechanic Ah Long's bike.
I think he hates mud :-)

Rear guard of PadyakPinoy/MTBBrothers

Today was supposed to be Kayak day! But I got a last
minute SMS saying that Kayak lessons are postponed
because the coach is joining a DragonBoat race.

Later on I received another SMS saying that there won't
be any Kayak lessons next week either because there's
another DB race (PA Paddle @Bedok).

.... and it was raining in the morning! The rain relented
at around 8:30am and I went for a spin to T15 via Rifle
Range Road.

There seems to be very few people in the trails today.
However, I saw a small group of guys having a "meeting"
at Zheng Hwa park. It turned out that Sam the Mailman
was quelling a mini-mutiny. The guys are saying that
they are already bored with the trails they normally frequent.

When Sam and FreeRider Eric saw me, they were
relieved because they pacified the group by saying I'll guide
them to HellClimb!

So, basically, that was what I did today, I showed them
my route and guided them to the entrance of HellClimb.
I didn't go with them as I had to get home early today
and give my son a haircut :-)

Sunday Ride

 I was happily spinning to ZH and was just going to continue

my ride to T15 when I noticed some guys from PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers

ogling at a new bike.... then John the Mechanic (from Hup Leong) saw

me and shouted 'Hey, take pics of this bike it's the first 2011 Epiphany in SG!'

Oohhhh ok! So here are some shots of this 2011 Ellsworth Epiphany

which belongs to Bong. He is now the number 1 contender for

Top Kidnap Victim as he currently has a Ti On-One 456, Kona, Abracadabra,

this Epihany and various other bikes which I haven't even seen.

Ellsworth headbadge on the left. Apparently, this red version is 'special'.
The downtube badge on the right, proclaiming that Ellsworth frames are
still made in the USA! 



ICT suspension

Even the seatpost clamp is very nice. I believe this one will eventually give way
to a red version very soon.

Even the point where the shock is attached has a big 'E' on it.

Lito's Manitou R7 fork. This has 30mm stanchions.

Lito's weightweenie Scott Carbon HT is also sporting some

new Manitou R7s. Why he chose this Manitou over his SID?

He told me that his SID only had 80mm travel and 28mm stanchions!

Unbelievable! I couldn't touch this guy in the DH sections and he just

told me that his former fork was a noodle!

Anyway, this Manitou, he says, now has 30mm stanchions and 100mm

travel. Hah! I wonder how fast he'll go now that his steering is more

accurate?!

Turner Sultan 29er and Ellsworth 2011 Epiphany!
drool :-(



Sunday Ride

@T15

 I stand corrected. Not all the fallen trees in T15 have been

cleared. See picture above for an example. There are lots

more @the PCN that connects Mandai and T15.

It seems the fallen trees are being cleared in a 'first in, first out'

fashion. Also, today's mud consistency is porridge.

Yesterday's mud consistency was clear soup (i.e. like

those served with chicken rice). So today's ride was

more slippery than yesterday.

Resting @Zheng Hwa on the way back

Guess who 'caught' me @Esso

I got 'caught' by a handful of riders from PadyakPinoy in

Esso while cleaning my bike. After the clean-up and post

ride bite/drink, we all went to Tay Junction for some

windowshopping and eventually, everybody went their

separate ways while calling out to me that next Saturday

is the RedBull DarkKnight Downhill Race in Kent Ridge.

Apparently, 2 guys we know will be taking part.

Hehehe yup, only two guys but I'm quite sure

that the Filipino MTB community will be watching in full

force. You definitely can't miss them. 

I might go and try to 'cover' the race... if my cameras

can take pictures in low light conditions ahem ahem...

i need cough cough new camera cough !



Sunday Ride

No one around ...



No one around ....



No one around even in Zheng Hwa !

Today's mushroom collection ... uhh ok, the lower right pic is not a mushroom.

Today's leisure ride is anything but usual. It was dark and

drizzling the whole time I was at BT/T15. It was so cold

it made me wonder if I would catch a cold after the ride.

Also, there were very few people around @ the trails today.

Might have something to do with the drizzle. Since everything

was wet, it was very slippery. I entered T15 via Bukit Panjang

since I know from yesterday's ride that all fallen

trees from 3 - 4 weeks ago have not been cleared yet

and also the 'normal' entrance' to T15 (from Chestnut)

is very muddy.

Anyway, I didn't bother taking any videos since I was

doing the same old same old. See you next weekend ...

that's Christmas !

Sunday Ride

This Sunday was dry and sunny for a change.

However, all the fallen tress from 2 or 3 weeks back

are all still there. There are also newly fallen trees

in some areas. Maybe these fallen trees will just be left

there and it will give our trails a new 'shape'....

Anyway, as usual, Sunday ride was done in a leisurely pace.

So leisurely that I had time to notice all the colorful

new mushrooms and small flowers in our trails.

I dodged lots of photography enthusiasts in the Mandai PCN

trying to hone in their craft in macro photography.

I left home at 8am and was washing my bike at 11:20am.

So when I got home my wife was still smiling :-)

Today's mushroom collection



Lots of small flowers providing color in our trail today ... uhhh I'm not
sure if the middle one is a flower though.





Sunday Ride

Today's Mushroom collection :-)

Along Rifle Range Road

Yay! I managed to capture the dew drops :-O

Nothing special about today's ride. I was alone and the

pace was leisurely. It was so leisurely that I managed

to take pictures of mushrooms along the trail.

The trail is still muddy. The fallen trees have not been cleared

yet. There are lots of fallen trees along the stretch of PCN

from T15 to Mandai. I didn't see it on my way there

because my route took me under BKE. But I encountered

all of them on the way back.

Hope you like the pics :-)

Sunday Ride

9AM and BT is still a bit foggy! Wet and muddy trails today :-(

I saw this carbon bike @Tay Junction on the way home. Cheap?

Today's ride is nice and quiet. Most freeriders all went to the

Yew Tee Flat Out Challenge and the PadyakPinoy group all went

to Pulau Ubin.

I went in via Rifle Range and I saw Bobot of

PadyakPinoy/ContiComponentsdoing his secret

practice.. shhhh! Anyway, the trail is wet and muddy today. I've

had some hairy moments but luckily no falls.

I just did one lap of T15 and I was out of there.

On the way home, I went by Tay Junction wanting to buy

a pair of no brand titanium barends. I was thinking at the most they

should cost around 70$. They don't even have packaging!

When I finally asked them how much the barends are,

I almost fainted when I got quoted 95$! These EC90

barends from CRC are just 100$ ! They are Easton carbon ones!

Sigh... not my day to get Ti barends then.

On the way out I saw 2 roadbikes outside with a sign

saying they are on 'Sale'. Both are carbon Specialized roadbikes.

One is 2699$ and the other is 2999$. I wonder if those prices

are considered cheap for roadbikes?

Anyway, I don't have 2699! So I pedalled home thinking

where could I get cheap Ti seatpost and barends ....

Maybe I go talk to Owen?



Sunday Ride



stream at T15



I just realised that ever since I did the initial review of my Inbred, I have not talked about it again.

For my F1RST fork, I had to feel something wrong before I did the review.

So for this relaxed Sunday Ride, I decided to do a short video clip of how the On-One Inbred and the F1RST copes with the trails I frequent.

From watching the clip, I realised that I might have put too much air on my fork. It has 90PSI now,

maybe I'll make it 85 or 80PSI next time. Also, the GoPro Hero wide angle camera has this way of making all trails flat. In cases where the trails are not that flat, I slowed down the video.