#272 - Monday evening .....

 

Monday evening and I just got back from an 'easy' ride
in ECP. This coming Sunday is the WaCycles Jamboree and
I am soooo unprepared.

 

Unlike my first race last year (KipMart) where I had
around 4 years to train, this coming race I only had

3 weeks to get back in shape :-( ... and so, I had this thinking

that the best way to get back in shape was to climb

and climb Mt. Faber during the week night rides. After 2

sessions of climbing (Tue & Thu), I tried to do 2 laps of T15 +

1 lap of ButterFly Trail ... and I failed miserably!

I only managed 1 lap of T15, that is
without the hard climb from the Bukit Panjang side which we
call Personal Challenge and 1 lap of ButterFly. I also pretended
to be Absalon on his 1st race out on his BMC by throwing my
new Jamis Dragon (steel) into the bushes after I took a spill
for the ... 3rd time (I think).

  

I called our resident roadie, Roadie Rio and posed this
question : what do you do if you only have 1 month (or less)
but you want to race? You know the answer will be bad when

a cyclist starts to prevaricate like a doctor who doesn't know

how to tell you that you just got something incurable.

   

The answer : nothing much you can do.
So I said, please expound on that. The thing is, if you just
want to race to arrest the laziness that has been slowly but
surely creeping into your brain and body, then the only thing
you can do (with 3 weeks to go) is just go for looong easy-medium

rides. This will prepare your legs, your ass, your whole body

for the battering that it will get on race day.

 

BUT if you were NOT riding since the start of the year and all
of a sudden you woke up one morning and told yourself you want
a medal (Top 300?) in Wacycles ... then you need to get some
pixie dust, sprinkle it on yourself and think happy thoughts
so you can fly ... or pedal furiously. on a mountain bike.
you get the picture.

   

Sigh, so that's the verdict. So last week, we only went to
Mt Faber on Tuesday. Thursday was supposed to be a long ride
(Fort Rd - ECP - Changi V - back) BUT it rained, so no long ride.
I then went for the 2nd practice day of our group last Saturday.
It was supposed to be 3 laps of T15 ... and I could only do 1 lap
arrggghhhh. I swear those benches at Zheng Hua Park were calling
me! I even heard a voice when I was climbing Personal Challenge.
The voice was saying : Come on, get off the bike and push it.
Sooo much easier. Why are you doing this? It's so nice to sleep
late on a Saturday morning.

  

And so, it is now Monday night. Race day will be this coming Sunday.
It's not looking good .... and did I tell you that we're already
registered for the Iskandar Jamboree ? :-( groannnnn

 

 

 

 

 



#269 - Rainy Day Trail Ride

From ZH Park going to Rifle Range Road

 

A vidcap from Ghed's video of their ride back
from Gangsa to Mandai

 

Sunday started bright and sunny and I was actually on

my way home due to the fast approaching rain clouds

and thunder.... but who did I see at the end of T15 just

completing their lap #1 ? It's all my teammates !!! and

they were all asking me to do another lap with them!

 

Sigh ... ok... last time we rode together was last year.

I rode with them for another lap ... and that was when the

heavens decided to open up and let it rip.

 

Weather like this, it's scary to be still in the jungle

because you may get hit with falling trees/branches.

It's also scary when you are out in the open (open space

going to RRR) because of the lightning ... don't laugh!

Lightning is not a laughing matter here.

 

Anyway, apart from the heavy rain. Everything was fine.

I even saved 3$ because I didn't have to wash my bike

at Esso ;-)

 

 



#268 - Back to the Trail

This was taken today (Sunday). I just put it here
because I don't have a 'cover' photo for this entry.

So, let's start biking again.

It is normal for Malaysia Jamborees to be 45km

in length. Bearing this in mind, I thought of starting easy

since I still have Dragon Boat practice in the afternoon

(hehehe) ... But the thing is there's nothing to inspire me

to go mountain biking. No new bike, no new crankset,

no new anything at all ... sigh.

 

Never mind, I have a new iPhone 5 and I just jumped

from Starhub to M1 .... and so let's test if M1 signal is better

than Starhub ;-)

 

Off I went to hunt for a cycling app in the Apple App Store.

There are the usual apps like BikeMate, MapMyRide, RunKeeper

... and then something caught my eye ! Cyclist Ultimate! That must

be some really powerful app, to call itself Ultimate. Anyway, I'm

not reviewing the app. Just wanted a little something to keep track

of my bike rides.

 

I started here. I'm looking back. I'm actually going to climb
RRR which is behind me. In this pic, left side is exit of Durian
Trail and right side is the RRR entrance to BT MTB Trail.

So off I went. I turned on the Cyclist app at the RRR

entrance to BT MTB Trail (see pic above). I climbed

RRR, went to Zheng Hwa Park, went to T15 via Chestnut

BUT instead of going to the PCN (which is on your

left hand side when biking towards Mandai), I turned right

to this grass patch which eventually makes a U-turn back

towards the direction of Chestnut Ave.

 

I came out of T15 via this exit that leads to Bukit Panjang.

... and then I bumped into Sugar Rush Rey with his wife in tow.

After a few minutes of chin wag, I went back to Zheng Hwa

Park and then up to RRR again and finally I turned off the

Cyclist app once I got near this wine shop at RRR (see pic below).

Phew ! 

Summary of the ride. That was just 15.5km ?!
I'm in trouble.

I then proceeded to see how I did ... and I was

disappointed. Not at the app. But with my route.

That was just 15.5km ?! I was exhausted! ... and

it was just 15.5km? Tsk tsk tsk and I want to go

for a 45km jamboree? Sigh, so again, I need to

train more or throw more money at the bike.

Hehehehe but since all I can afford for now is

just this free Cyclist app, most probably I will

take the training route and not the throwing

money at the bike route :-)

Map of the ride. Notice that I didn't get to Mandai.
I made a right turn near the entrance to the PCN in T15.

Notice something in the map above?

There was never a time when the GPS signal

got lost? M1 signal is great huh?

I finished here. I'm looking back again in this picture.

 

 



#259 - Signs of the Times

 

MBA Sg met with NParks last Nov 12.... and here

is what went on.

 

Apparently, there are lots of major suff that's going

to happen in BT like getting rid of the long stairs

where we have no choice but to carry our bikes.

 

Also, if you think that NParks has forgotten about

Woodcutter already, think again. I got news that there

were more cyclists that got fined while at the first

stream. 'Lost' joggers were also being fined just so

that mountain bikers don't get the idea that we are

being singled out by NParks.

 

I read the meeting minutes when it was first posted

at MBA SG's Facebook page and so I went today to

the entrance/exits of Woodcutter in T15 to verify that

the signage has been changed.... and no, the signage

was not changed. Another plate was added saying

Unauthorized Personnel and Vehicles are not allowed

inside Woodcutter. However, the original sign about

no Mountain Bikes allowed inside Woodcutter is there.

 

I read the combined signs as "Unauthorized Personnel

and Vehicles, especially Mountain Bikes are not

allowed".

Close up of the new signs at the entrance/exits to Woodcutter.

 

There were also two new signs posted on the tree

 at the foot of Gangsa Hill. The signs are just a reminder

of what will happen if you have more balls than brains.

No biggie.

 

 

Anyway, you can tell that I have lots of free time

in T15 earlier this morning since I had nothing to

do but take pictures of signs. In fact, I was just doing

a recover ride because I was at the Giant MTB jamboree

last Sunday in Batu Pahat.

 

I'm just waiting for more pictures to pour in via

Facebook and then I'll be doing my race report :-)

 

 

 

 



#243 - WeekEnd Ride

DirTraction @Zheng Hwa Park

See the guy wearing black on the right side of the picture

above? I didn't get his name but he is from DirTraction.

Last week, a friend of mine, Sam, posted in our FB group

page that DirTraction would be in Zheng Hwa Park in the

morning and Tampines MTB Park in the afternoon to talk

to mountain bikers about the current state of our trails and

the plans for mountain biking in the future.

The only time I ever hear/see DirTraction is when there

are races in Singapore... and if you notice, there are hardly

any more MTB races in Singapore now. Of course, lots of

people, don't think they are doing such a good job as we

tend to compare the racing in Malaysia versus here.

However, hearing this guy talk was an eye opener. He is

level headed and he is very realistic. He explained what

triggered the recent illegal trail usage hunt. He also talked

about what's going to happen to the trails that we are using.

He explained why there are few races now and why the

races in Singapore are so expensive. Too bad I didn't get

his name but my friends from PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers

know him. Anyway, I left the session with a totally knew

outlook and even admiration for these guys who are fueled

by nothing but passion.

So, the things that I heard are the following :

1. Stop going to illegal trails. Scorpion is illegal.

ButterFly is illegal. WoodCutter is illegal.

2. Bukit Timah will be maintained in the near future.

Hopefully this will put a stop to mountain bikers

going to illegal trails.

3. More signages will be put up to warn trekkers/

trail runners that they are encroaching on trails

designed for mountain biking.

4. Tampines MTB Park will only be there for

the next 2 years.

5. It's ok to ride in T15 and Gangsa.

6. I might have to start going to Kent Ridge and like

that trail as it is one of the legal trails.

7. For 2012, the only place where races can be held is Ketam.

So, I might want to start going to and liking that place.

8. Lastly, if riders could donate a bit of their time

for trail maintenance, it would be very much appreciated.

I think a Facebook page will be created where DirTraction

will put the where and the when for trail maintenance.



#242 - Weekend Ride

Saturday morning brought nothing but rain ... and in the

afternoon, more rain. By the time the rain stopped there

was nothing left of Saturday to go trail riding with. Well,

technically, there was some time left but the trails would

be very muddy. 

With that in mind, I didn't really have much choice but

but to go and do ye olde city ride loop. But the rains have

put a damper on my enthusiasm that I didn't even bother

completing the loop. I went to the Sg Flyer/F1 pitlane

and did a u-turn home.  

and the next day, Sunday, I was still feeling lethargic.

I read in one of the threads in MTBR that I will need

to put in 'easy' days as well as 'easy' weeks in my routine

and so I made the quick decision that this week shall be

one of such 'easy' weeks.

I went up RRR, went to T15 and back again and that was

it. On the way back to Zheng Hwa Park from T15, I saw

the posse that I should have been on had I been up to the

task of some vigorous trail riding. Efren, Sugar Rush Rey

and Neil were on their way to do reverse Flowy Trail when

they saw me. Efren and Rey saw my Jamis HT and triumphantly

proclaimed that they have caught me testing my 'new' HT that

I  shall be using for the future Malaysia races that we plan

to go to. I corrected them and told them that that HT

was actually my first ever bike which I just restored.

Now they said that I had waayyy too much bike.

Hehehehe just wait till they see my carbon hardtail ;-)



#240 - Long Weekend

Above are pics taken during the long weekend rides

last weekend ... yup, I rode all three days :-)

... and by the way, see picture below.

Looks interesting, right?

Picture taken from wacycles.blogspot.com



#237 - A Week To Go ...

Mechanic John of MTB Brothers 'caught' me and riding
buddy Tabs yesterday at Zheng Hwa Park. 

A week to go ... before the KIP MTB Jamboree and

I am nursing my second bout of flu in a month. I think

that should already be a good sign that I have overtrained.

So yesterday and last Saturday I didn't have any choice

but to do a sloowww plodding ride in T15.

The rest of my friends sneaked to JB on Saturday to

go and recce the race site. Hehehehe from what I heard

they got hopelessly lost and didn't find the trail. They

did find the 'happening' places near the race site though

*wink *wink. There were a few of them who attended

last year's Jamboree but apparently, the race start site

will be in another KIP Mart site at Masai ...

If you take a look at the map below, it is approximately

opposite Pulau Punggol Barat. Actually, if there is

a ferry there, it would be perfect.

Anyway, at this time some of my friends have already

done their hotel reservations. That's right, hotel !

Our transport arrangements have also been done.

... and since last week, the talk around the office

is that if we will be doing this racing thing even

just once every two months, a nice little carbon

hardtail is beginning to look nice ;-)

#235 - Reboot

See the dial at the back? It's very good for one-hand fit adjustment.
... and it keeps it's setting

Ignore sweaty model and look at the nice profile of the GUB Mark helmet.

I'm back! ... and no, I didn't quit cycling to go back

to driving remote control cars :) I think I may have

fallen victim to the 'Curse of the Local Bloggers'.

I have been cycling on the same trails over and over

for the past four years. Many times in a trail ride

I slow down to take a picture only to remember that I

should not be where I am (you know those places *wink*)

or that within a split-second I decided that taking that

particular picture is not worth stopping my trail ride.

Now I understand other local bloggers (like Anvil)

when he says that we should all go to neighboring

countries where the trail riding is much more diverse

instead of taking pictures of the same places over and

over again.  

Anyway! That's it for my mini rant. I have been doing

a lot of things so that I could go on for longer rides and

hopefully join even just one of the many jamborees in

Malaysia. One thing that I did was to get this roadie

helmet GUB Mark.

CrestPursuit Owen brought three models of helmets

recently. As I mentioned above, the GUB Mark is the

roadie helmet and the other that caught my eye is an

AM helmet, the Laplace Q3. I don't have a picture of

the Laplace Q3 but everybody will find it familiar

as it resembles another AM helmet made by this

famous company whose name rhymes with BOX

*wink *wink.

I got the GUB Mark roadie helmet as I have been

looking for an airy helmet with adjustments that can

be done using one hand (e.g. by using a dial) ... and

lastly, said helmet must not require that I sell one

of my kidneys. That last requirement basically rules

out the delectable helmet selection offered by Tay

Junction Bukit Timah.

The GUB Mark helmet did not disappoint. Lots of

cooling holes in front and even lots of exhaust ports

at the back. It even has channels that divert airflow

from the front to the back of your head. It also comes

with extra pads. Lastly, the medium size fits my head

(55cm). The fit can be micro-managed using a dial

at the back of the head. The straps plus the dial cradles

your head snugly.

I have had this helmet for two or three weeks now

and I have used it for slow evening climbs at Mt. Faber

and hot twelve noon climbs in Hell Climb at Mandai.

All the holes in this helmet make sure you will be as

cool as the current environment would allow.

What would give you a maniacal grin is the coolness

in your head when you are going downhill in the 

evening at Mt. Faber. Definitely on a different level

that my other helmets (i.e. Fox Flux and Striker).

Ok, now you the question I ask myself at the end

of each review. What would I change about this

helmet? At this price level? Nothing. The helmet

serves my purposes perfectly.

... and as evidence that I am still doing my trail

rides, see pictures below  ... and hopefully

I have other stuff to update you with :-)

Lake at Hell Climb

She's come for the second straight week! Is she back
for good?

Fast riding at T15



#224 : Saturday Ride

Saturday and NoLights Louie was looking for a 'simple'

ride. I don't know her definition of 'simple' but I told her

I will be going to T15 and maybe do 2, 3, 4 laps?

Depending really on how I'm feeling on that day.

This seemed to satisfy her requirements and so

off we went to T15.

We met at Velocity and cycled to Rifle Range Road.

We then cycled to Zheng Hua Park and did just 2 laps

of T15 as she was supposed to pick up someone

at the airport. Some, of course, will say that that

was an easy ride. But the thing was since we started

cycling from Velocity we never stopped until

we were finally at Esso to clean our bikes.

I don't know, but rides like that ... I find it

good for the soul. There's another trail that's

good for the soul! Rooty Trail! I'll go there one

of these days...during the holidays, when I can

have the whole place to myself ... then I'll do 3

laps on my own pace... 

... but that's for another time.

#222 : Sunday Ride

I finally reached BT while there's still fog

While having my BB replaced yesterday at Hup Leong,

Mechanic John told me to join a group ride that will

be heading from Casuarina to Bukit Timah. Hmmm...

since I, nowadays, am more interested in spinning

on tame fireroads, my response was none committal.

So I left the house at 7:20 this morning and by around

8am, I met the trio of KK, Boom and Mer going to BT.

I also met FreeRider Eric blow Gangsa DH going up to

that trail leading to Casuarina saying that he'll be

meeting the rest of the peloton as they come into the

trail. I waved bye-bye and started spinning happily

in T15 ... ahhhhhhh ... peace and quiet and easy

trails. Bliss. I did four laps of T15 and on my 4th

lap ... I saw the peloton coming out of the T15 PCN?!

So, what gives??? I told them FreeRider Eric went into

the trail hoping to meet them! It turned out there

was a newbie with them and said newbie was really

scared of going into the trail! So they went to Mandai

Ave and entered T15 via the PCN !?! ... and the newbie

looked very familiar... it turned out she's my office

mate! She said she has been bugging Brother Louie for

any offroad rides but he said there were no such rides.

Hehehehe sneaky eh.

Apparently, Rochelle (the newbie) has been cycling on

PCNs all by herself until CrestPursuit Owen gave her

a phone number that somehow led to the MTB Brothers.

We continued riding and met the trio of Boom, KK and Mer

again on their way home. The MTB Brothers said they're

going to have lunch at Bukit Panjang and I told them

I will be going my way once we reach the Bukit Panjang

exit. Mike the (ex) Mechanic was leading the way and

he led us to this very short DH section which I can

tell leads to Bukit Panjang exit BUT I don't recognise

that section at all. Due to that, I descended very slowly

and at the bottom there was this mudhole which will

swallow half your wheel ... I sensed disaster coming and

so I just stopped near the mudhole hehehehe.

Mike showed Rochelle the newbie how to descend and

after the presentation it was her turn to go down.

She descended very, very quickly (I noticed she is quite

good in the DH sections) but of course when she got to

the mudhole, she didn't lift her front wheel and so

she endo'ed! She wasn't hurt but she was covered with mud

from head to toe hehehehe. Welcome to Mountain Biking :-)

By the way, while chitchatting with the peloton, I learned

Boom took part in the Tour de Timor last September!

Envious! 6 days, 600 over kilometers! I think the current

issue of SPIN has a writeup on this most Epic of all rides.

Saturday Ride

Fallen tree blocking trail to ZH Park

Woke up and the sun is out ... no rains today !

So I took my own sweet time, had breakfast with

my family and cycled slowly to BT.

What a difference a proper breakfast makes :-)

I Climbed RRR and then went to ZH Park.

On the way to ZH Park there is a fallen tree at the usual

trail... had to push my bike to the right and

up up up the trail used for going to Belukar Track.

So if you all are cycling tomorrow, once you clear the

bridge, turn right and climb to ZH instead

of going straight.

I went to the Mandai end of T15, u-turned, did

reverse Flowy Trail and it was inside that trail

when the heavens decided to open up and pour.

I ignored the rain and went to the Summit ...

but while going down from the summit, the rains

started to get even harder and this time the

thunder and lightning seems to be just overhead

... so no choice, I had to cut the ride short :-(

Tomorrow, I'll try again :-)



Sunday Ride

@exit of Rooty Trail

Inside Rooty Trail, just before you turn right (near exit)

Just before the stairs @Bukit Timah

@exit of Rooty Trail

I wanted to join StairRider Deck, AirTime Mark and Fast Pao

for the night trail ride yesterday. However, I already cycled

in the morning and I couldn't recover enough to do another

trail ride in the evening. So, today, I'm alone again :-)

I normally see the PadyakPinoy/MTB Brothers gang at Zheng

Hua Park on Sundays. But today, I didn't see them ... well, off

to Rooty Trail then.

Ever since I had the Wanton Mee in 6th Ave for breakfast

I have not been feeling well. I recognise these symptoms

and having decided enough is enough, when I was just
a few hundred meters inside Rooty Trail, I decided to
stick my finger in my throat and get rid of my breakfast.
Hehehehe there! Problem solved.

I exited Rooty Trail and when I got to T15 I met the missing

PadyakPinoy gang together with CrestPursuit Owen. They

have already finished going to the Secret Trail. I exchanged a

few moments of banter and I noticed they have a few newbies

with them. The group seems to be getting bigger :-)

I then went to the Secret Trail via the summit. I was supposed

to look for another hidden trail that was described

to me by Sam the Mailman ... I found the trail... but just a few

meters in and I found a fallen tree. It seems to have been

there for quite some time and I can't find a way around it.

Hmmm... next time, when I see Sam the Mailman and Bobot,
I'll ask them to bring me there. They might know another
way in.

Night Trail

L-R : Fast Pao, me, Roadie Rio and StairRider Deck

Magic Shine

 Today is Vesak Day (Buddhist holiday)! So from morning to

afternoon I've been a very good husband and dad :-)

I accompanied my wife and son to Orchard Road for ....

shopping! Anyway, I'm not complaining as my wife got me

a new Fox Striker helmet. More on the helmet later as

I haven't worn it yet.

One other thing my wife got me was a Magic Shine 900

lumens helmet light. ... and since she already paid for it,

might as well use it hehehehe.

NoLights Louie, after much convincing, threatening and

cajoling finally decided to go with StairRider Deck and me.

She was also the one who did the FB Event invite.

After everything was said and done, 5 riders went

for a night trail ride today.

The weather was very cooperative. Although there

were flashes of lightning seen from afar from the time

we entered the trail up to the time we rode home,

the rain never came. Also, the trail wasn't that dark ...

I think we had a full moon tonight.

It was Fast Paolo's and NoLights Louie's first time

to ride in T15 today and both agree that night trail

riding is more fun than the usual day ride. Added to the fun

factor is the fact that as the night progresses the cooler it

becomes. Unlike during the day when StairRider Deck has

already developed the habit of dousing himself with water

whenever possible due to the heat.

We went into the trail at almost 8pm and we were

already cleaning our bikes at Esso by 9:20pm.

... and everybody is smiling :-) even when we

were almost chased by dogs (again??)

It seems this night ride will be a weekly thing?

Group picture brought to you by NoLights Louie's iPhone