Mall Friday

Weekend!!!! :-) It's finally Friday! Tomorrow is Trail Ride

Day! But today I accompanied my wife to Suntec and Marina

Square. She's been into swimming since last September

and she's now looking for more sporty clothes :-)

Little did she know that I laid a trap for her

again! Mwahahaha!

Rollbar mount for GoPro Hero

Also while mallwalking at Marina Square, I saw

BoulderActive at the main square. The organizers built

a rockwall inside the mall. I think this is the coolest

BoulderActive yet.



Edit : you may view the video here as well

Sunday Ride

Kona Abracadabra

Today's ride is almost the same as yesterday.

Only difference is that I told myself I won't be such

a masochist and skip the BT loop.

I did go to T15 though before I went to

reverse S-trail.

I also brought two cameras with me as today

I plan to take it easy and just go and film today's ride.

My filming session was just about over when the

vanguard of the PadyakPinoy peloton caught up with

me at the stairs going to the BT Visitor Centre.

Good thing that I saw them today as I managed to see

two things that prior to today I thought existed only

in magazines / urban myths.

First one is Sonny's new Kona Abracadabara.

I took a photo of the magic link but did not manage

to get a complimentary test ride as their mobile phones

suddenly started ringing.

It turned out Raffy took a spill and had dislocated his shoulder.

The other part of the peloton is in the clearing that you can see

when you are in Rifle Range Road. So the whole group decided

to go opposite the flow of the track to see if they

can help Raffy.

This is when I saw the Second 'thing'. Bobot went

downhill on the side of the stairs on his bike !!! Fantastic ! 

He did it sooo fast that he was long gone even before

my digital camera could boot up!

I was shouting at him to do it again so I could

shoot the video but he was loonggg gone.

Ok, since I didn't get that video, you guys would

just have to be satisfied with this video.

Chesty

I prepared an ambush for my wife at Suntec

Harvey Norman ... and I got this ! mwahahahaha

No more hitting low branches on the trails :-)

with this thing, I can attach my GoPro to my 'octopus' tripod



behind Funan IT Mall



on the overhead bridge from Marina Square to Suntec



Sunday Ride

Cloudy morning but no rain :-)

 Good news : Sunday morning and there's no rain.

Bad news : It rained in the afternoon yesterday.

Ahhhhh peace and quiet

 I went back to yesterday's route as I think I will

reach a state of Zen! Yup, climbing and concetrating on the

roots ahead, you will definitely forget whatever deadlines

you have in the office.

Anyway, that was not to be! I did climb that trail I was referring

to. However, I did not climb it with a Zen like trance and

feeling of well-being! I more of climbed it in panic! LOL!

... mushrooms

It went like this. I was on the wooden 'bridge' at the foot of the climb,

taking pictures of some mushrooms ... then I heard some rustling of leaves...

I thought I saw someone crouching, darting from one tree to another...

must be my imagination, right? There it was again! I ignored it....

 then I heard it 'ngork ngork ...' I turned around. No one.

'Ngork ngork ' .... then it was no longer 'ngork ngork',

I heard something like a squeal (?) and then

lots of footsteps were running towards me!

Wild boars!!! <== take note : plural

I hopped on my bike, flew onto the bridge, went to the climb

and just kept on spinning until I reached 3/4 of the

way up! If I was wearing my HRM, it would have

been beeping madly by then.

I fell down when I slipped on a root. I turned around...

no more pigs :-) I went down to the foot of the climb again

(but did not go to the bridge)... and started filming.

This tree @T15 has been there for sooo long there is already a path around it.

Bobot. He podiums DH races using XC bikes.
One of these days, I'll ask this guy to do a 'clinic' on MTB for
people like me who has (lots) of problems going downhill.

A few minutes after I got to the top, Bobot from PadyakPinoy caught

up with me. He told me the whole gang went to Pulau Ubin so he's alone.

.. and no, he didn't see the wild boars. He came from the 1st stream.

Also, he said, ContiComponents has opened a showroom at ... I forgot.

I'll ask him again next time.

Here's the video I took today. Didn't get any footage of the wild boars.



Sunday Ride

Train tracks ...

 ... I don't know why I took that picture of the train tracks that goes above

Bukit Timah Road.... maybe it's the first interesting thing that I saw when

I was lugging my bike on top of the overhead bridge. Yup! I didn't do

a u-turn from BT Road to Dunearn to get to Rifle Range.

I was thinking carrying my bike over the overhead bridge is

good training instead of going to the gym LOL.

As usual, Sundays are for solo, relaxed rides. Today

I went to the second stream and did a u-turn back.

On the way back to Bukit Timah, I saw the whole PadyakPinoy

gang going to the end of the trail. FreeRider Erik apparently discovered

a new trail there. They asked me to tag along but my visa is up to

noon time only so I had to beg off. Anyway, Mike the Mechanic

was there and maybe next time he rides with us, he can

show us that trail :-)

Also, I saw Boom again on the trail. I saw him yesterday

at Ketam as well. Must be training for the upcoming races hmmm...

As usual again, since this is the first time I'm doing this trail

alone, I had a bit of brain fade which I paid for by leaving some

skin on that trail. Good thing it wasn't much.



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

Group Ride

Fallen tree @BT

Big group. 8 riders including me.

Hah! I did not forget to take pictures :-)

There's a fallen tree in the BT loop today no doubt

due to the heavy rains we have been experiencing

lately.

The proposed route today was a killer. We will

be entering BT loop via the carpark at BT Visitor Center,

go to Zheng Hwa, Sc, 3rd stream and then turn back

to complete the rest of the BT loop. Just typing that

sequence has already given me leg cramps hehehe.

However, when we got to the trail entrance, it became

evident that I was not going to do any long trail rides today.

The mee pok that I ate for breakfast at 6th Avenue wanted

to come back out of my mouth (arrghhh) !

Good thing Roadie Rio and StairRider Deck did not

show up or else I'll be really doing the full trail. So since those

two slave drivers are not around, I went with the rest of the

group and had lunch @Casuarina.

Immediately after lunch, it rained heavily! All of us

decided to go home even if we were being pelted by the

heavy rain. The logic was that the cold wind and rain

will 'wake' us up and make us pedal faster.

A lot better than employing the mindless pedalling

technique.

By the way, since I was 'sick' today (euphimism for slow),

our cameraman for this ride was AirTime Mark.

He's surprisingly fast given the fact that the trails

were very slick today. Click here for the video.

Group Ride

It's old age. That's what made me forget. I forgot to

take even one single picture for today's group ride.

Funny thing is I've always wanted to take pictures

at Sembawang Hill Hawker Centre. I just feel that place

is a quaint, little place offering not just a varying

selection of food but a bit of ambience :-)

Anyway, after breakfast at Sembawang Hill Hawker

Centre, we proceeded to go to T15. This is the reverse

of our normal loop.

There are lots of climbs in this loop. However, the climbs

did not seem to be that difficult. One of the group suggested

that maybe because we tackled the climbs first. If we go our

normal route ... and then at the end of it come back to T15

then that should make us vomit our lungs out!

Hehehe next time, I think we'll do that :-)

Also, we're hoping to do a night trail on the 1st day of CNY.

That's a Thursday. The start of the loop is the reverse of the 

BT loop exiting Rifle Range. This night trail route will not

be that difficult because ... it's at night! We don't want to

dial 911 and guide an ambulance to some far off

jungle in Bukit Timah, right?

Ok, here's the video for today and I hope the video

makes up for the lack of picture today.

Group Ride

@Casuarina during lunch

There were only five of us for today's group ride.

Apart from that, there was this consensus that today

would be a shorter than normal ride because

most of us need to be home earlier than usual.

With that in mind, there was no choice but to skip

the BT loop. We went up to Rifle Range and went

straight to Zheng Hwa. On the way, we met a lone rider

doing his laps. The rider was Sam Cheng, my friend of

countless years and owner of HobbyLink RC Shop

in Far East Plaza.

From Zheng Hwa, NoLights Louie realised that the

guys she rode with today were really set on going home

early as nobody rested. Everyone straightaway went to

T15 via Bukit Panjang PCN and went to Sc.

Still no rest at Sc and when Sc was cleared,

everyone rushed to the exit trail that leads

to Casuarina.

But before we went to the exit trail, we went first

to this little secret trail that is supposedly an extension

of Gangsa. Don't go in there! There were lots of

fallen trees and it seems the trail has been forgotten

already. I'll try to go in to that trail every now and

then to see if the fallen trees have all been cleared.

...and finally! We all went for Chinese food today

instead of the usual chicken briyani. I forgot the
name of the restaurant but their roast pork is
really very nice and the skin is crispy
and crunchy.

All these adventures were done in record time

as we finished eating at 12:45pm.

Ooops! Almost forget. Here's a short video

of what went on today.

Sunday Ride



It's a miracle! I haven't been to T15 for

quite some time now... and I think the authorities

were only waiting for me NOT to show up and

finally get rid of all the fallen tress in there.

Yup, that's right, no more fallen trees!

Here's today's video clip... but apparently

YouTube recognizes that I have imbedded a

song clip in the clip and decided to suppress it...

so no music :-(   ... I'll try to upload it somewhere

with less stringent checking and update this post.

Group Ride 2011 Jan 8

Obligatory photo of the quarry

As i said before, the group ride on 18th Dec 2010 would

set the tone for the next group rides. True enough everybody

wants that particular loop... and I mean everybody!

We even got NoLights Louie going for the Bukit Timah part

of the ride.

We did miss AirTime Mark, who woke up late (Paolo

does not believe this excuse though), Sherwin who

had to bring his son to a soccer game and Rio who is

battling a cold from not biking for 1 month

(withdrawal symptoms).

However, instead of those regulars, Mike the (ex)Mechanic

showed up today. There is also Jun who volunteered to be the

 sweeper. So today we were a little bit more cavalier in the way

 we treated our bikes as we had a bike mechanic with us.

No problems in fixing anything on the trails :-)

Lunch was @Casuarina... we have to find another

place to eat guys! Chicken Briyani is nice but I'm growing

feathers! Also, we finally found a place to wash our

bikes @Upper Thomson.

Also, I almost forgot, we met these guys on the trail.

We inquired about their carbon frames and the

price seems very competitive. I have added them as

friends in Facebook. Who knows? My wife might

get me something for my birthday! Ahem ahem...

Anyway, here's today's vid. ... and since there are

lots of scenes there where NoLights Louie is pushing

her bike, let's see what happens to her next week...

New reality show? Stay tuned !

1st Group Ride of 2011

Finally! After a very long absence...

First group ride of 2011 and so the gang is still not
complete. Some are still on holiday in the Philippines.
Since there are just four of us on this ride, I took the
opportunity to be the slowpoke of the group today.
I went with the group to Bukit Timah loop and of course
after that we went to our new 'exit'.

This is the problem with me, I am in shape for almost
a year, then I go on holiday and one week later, all
my conditioning is gone! ... or I may be feeling the effects
of old age LOL.

Here's today's video and for those who were not
around today ... don't worry we'll be doing this loop
from now on :-)


New Year's Eve Sneaky Ride

1 week later from original sneaky ride but still same weather!

It's New Year's Eve! ... and of course, we really just had

to test Paolo's new Trance and Sherwin just had to go back

to those rocky downhill stuff that he didn't manage

to clear last Christmas Eve.

Here is today's video and see if Sherwin did clear the rockies

and if the Giant Trance is really more than enough for

Tampines Trail :-)

See you next year!!!

Sneaky Ride on X'mas Eve

We really just had to test Sherwin's new Revelation Ti :-)

We had to cut the sneaky ride short due to lightning

It's Christmas Eve and companies here in Singapore normally

send their employees home early in penance for keeping them

long after office hours for the rest of the year.

However, some of us realise that Holidays are purely for family

gatherings and that it would be very difficult (nay, impossible!) for us

model husbands and fathers to get our trail fix. In light of this

logic Sherwin invited all our friends (via FB) to go to Tampines

Trail once we were dismissed from our respective workplaces.

But the holidays have claimed the riding times of most of us

and only Sherwin, Deng and I were able to go riding.

Here's the video clip of our sneaky ride. We had to cut the

ride short though as there was thunder and lightning. LOL. Clearly,

we were reminded to go home early to our families :-)

Leaving you with pics from the fresh section of NTUC. Had to do some last minute grocery shopping.

Saturday Ride

My FS bike, Sis Louie's in the background

Stream

Stream ... we were wondering if we could drink this ...

I went back to the Philippines for a much needed

vacation last week. Hence no trail rides or exercise

of any sort.

So Friday came and as usual the roll call of who's riding this

weekend came. I was thinking of giving this ride a miss,

but hey, the worse that could happen is that I push my bike.. right?

Since I know that I will need all the help I could get,

last night I was thinking which bike to bring... my HT would

be faster but harsher than my FS. My FS would be slower but

I know my spine would thank me later.

For some reason I knew that my friends would ask to go to

a 'different' trail today. Don't ask how I knew. I just felt it.

Anyway, with that in mind, I brought my FS and boy was

I glad that was the bike I chose. 

We did go to a different trail today. Last time we tried going 

there, StairRider Deck and I got lost. Today, the trail gods smiled

at us and we found the right way. Since Sherwin is already 'laspag',

we took his hints (e.g. 'we're gonna climb this on the way back????')

and decided to go all the way and have our lunch @Casuarina :-)  

Here's the video for today's ride and I think this

will set the tone for the next few rides :-)

Eye Protector and Silicon Case for GoPro Hero

Prince Eye Protector

As usual, I got suckered again. I reviewed StairRider Deck's Oakley

Radar Path and being stingy (hehehe) I said that there are better ways of

spending your money and that I should be ok with those XLoop

shades being sold in 7-11.

I did buy one of those XLoop Shades for just 20$. This is a double whammy 

as I realised that similar 'eye protectors' are sold at the Beach Road Army

Market for 7$ only. ... and guess what, after buying it, I stashed it away

because I managed to epoxy my 1998 Oakley Minute. 2 months later when

I was going to use it for the first time.... it cracked! In two places!

It was very muddy in T15 then! I had to dodge all the flying dirt being

thrown by my front wheels! #$@! XLoop Shades!

But while loitering around Mustafa last week I saw these Prince EyeProtectors.

They are for racquet sports (squash, etc.). So they should be good. Only

thing is they are clear. That works for me. Also if you have been buying all sorts

of anti-fog sprays, forget about it. The only thing that will ensure your

lenses don't get fogged is 1. go fast and/or 2. lenses should be well ventilated.

Going fast could be a problem with me but these lenses are very well ventilated.

I have yet to experience fogging on these eye protectors. They also

come with straps so that they don't sort of dangle in front of

your face. Best of all, they are only 23$ !



XSories Silicon Case for GoPro Hero HD

The Silicon Case above is actually for the HD version of

GoPro Hero. What I have is the GoPro Hero Wide Angle.

The holes are exactly the same... except that I think

the HD is a bit bigger than the Wide Angle version. This Silicon

Case is actually larger than my Wide Angle camera.

I decided to write this 'review' because I believe this Silicon Case

just saved my camera from being mangled by a branch that decided

to attack me in BT. The wayward branch left green and brown marks

on the base of the camera that's attached to my helmet, I was actually

almost separated from my bike due to the impact but there was

not even a scratch on the camera. The only thing that happened was the

camera tilted backwards.

If you have a GoPro Hero, go and buy this Silicon Case. It's just around

25$ at CRC. This surely beats the price of a new case in case

you crack it.

Sunday Ride

Rainy Sunday Morning

Today's ride started with a very heavy downpour, thunder and lightning greeting me.

Good thing I met ReyToots and another rider on the road to BT. The ride to the trails

seem easier (and safer) when there are lots of you on the road. We saw all the other

Filipino riders camping at 7-11. They hollered at us to go and wait the rain out with them.

But we have to ignore them as we were riding with another person which will not be named :-)))

Anyway, the ride was quite fast as the rain really has banished all the effects

cycling in a tropical heat could bring. Every climb was easy and all the flat bits were

really taken very fast. Here's a really short clip of today's ride.

I went out of the house @8am and by 11:30am, I was already at our front door

with my wife looking at me disapprovingly because it looked like I played in the mud .... wellll ...

I did :-)

That brings the weekend to a close. See you next weekend !

Another Exit to Mandai

Continuation of yesterday's wet ride. This link is for the video clip of an alternative

exit to Mandai from T15. So if you are getting bored of the usual exit, you may try this route

once in a while... just beware because this is where we got chased by dogs in one

of our night rides.

Sunday Ride

It rained heavily at dawn today. This ensured that today's ride will be cool (opposite of yesterday @Ubin).

-

I went to Sc trail and took a video of my ride :-)

I also took a video of an alternative exit to Mandai from T15 .... but that is still being processed.

-

By the way, I am very surprised at what became of my clip once it got uploaded to YouTube. I mean from the original AVI, converted to MP4, there was already some loss of quality. But from MP4, uploaded to YouTube, the quality became hideous. I have no idea how to remedy this...

The thing is, if I upload an AVI file, it will take a lot of time since it is almost 5 times bigger than the MP4 version...

-

Anyway, I'll see what can be done for the next video clip upload.

GoPro Hero

mwahahahahahaha (Dr. Evil laugh)

by the way, don't bother going to carrefour @suntec because

the last two units of gopro hero has been bought by 'everything is rideable' deck

and ME ! mwahahahahaha

almost forgot : pics courtesy of 'nolights' Louie... funds for camera courtesy of my ever understanding wife - JenJen :-)