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Category Archives: Events and Rides
Posted by zimzum42 on July 28, 2008 – 10:35 am
Singapore is a city-state. This can be a bad thing, it is a bit of a bubble, and you can’t really get away from the ‘big-city’ feeling very easily.
But it’s also a good thing, it’s really easy to go away for a short break, Peninsular Malaysia is just to the north, and Indonesia lies close to the south and south-west, so you don’t have to go far or spend long travelling to get another stamp in your passport.
There are places to go to ‘get away from it all’ in Singapore. Perhaps the most obvious place is Sentosa, a small island just south of the CBD which has been given over entirely to the leisure industry. It’s a complex of beaches and such attractions, and as with everything in Singapore, is a historic site with a man-made gloss. I’m sure the island has had many uses over the years, but in recent times it was a British military base. It’s now a synthetic haven of pristine beaches and perfectly spaced palm trees. But it’s right on my doorstep, and it’s good for a quick few hours on the beach.
Another man-made wonder is East Coast Park. This is a six-mile strip of reclaimed land with a man-made beach. It’s wonderfully (or patronizingly) organized, with marked lanes for cycling, running and roller-blading, barbecue pits, picnic areas, exercise areas, the list goes on. The beach is a bit filthy, and it’s right next to the airport motorway, but it’s a nice place to catch the breeze and watch the ships go by.
Thinking of the motorway… Singapore has got to win the award for the prettiest motorways in the world. The one that leads to the airport is a stunner, three lanes of expressway lined with purple-flowered trees and other greenery. The central reservation would win the Chelsea flower show. Many of the motorways in Singapore are like this, the UK could learn a thing or two, and it certainly makes you feel better as you cruise along.
This weekend I decided to add riding across an international border to my cycling claims to fame. To the north of Singapore lies the Causeway, a road and rail link to Malaysia. It’s only about 16 miles from where I live, so I decided this was the ride to test my new chainset out with.
I’m sure there is a lovely picturesque route that I could take to get to the crossing, but as in London, I prefer to stick to the main roads. Not only are they faster, I reckon they’re safer. The roads are nice and wide so people have the chance to give you room, and people don’t fly around corners as they do in back-streets. Nor are there parked cars obscuring people’s view. All in all, it’s safer on the big, scary busy roads. I can understand why people think the back-streets are safer, but they are simply not. They’re for pootlers, and I’m not a pootler!
The border check is a good laugh on a bike. The queue of trucks stretches back a good four or five miles, and the car and scooter queue is not much better. But on a bike you can get into the car lane and filter all the way to the front, get your passport checked, roll over the bridge, and within ten minutes you’re in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
It’s only when you get out of Singapore that you can appreciate Singapore. It might be an authoritarian nightmare, but it’s damn clean, and you feel safe. Johor is by no means a bad place, but their tarmac could do with a being looked at, and their drivers could do with a lesson or two. Singapore drivers may leave a lot to be desired, but at least it’s not all a big race to them. The main strip in Johor is a bit of a drag strip, except everyone is crammed in and getting nowhere fast. I don’t reckon they get many white guys flying through the gaps on bikes either……
There isn’t much in Johor, I rode up to a nice mosque overlooking the strait which separates Singapore, and there’s a nice palace of sorts, resplendent with crocodile, and there’s a zoo which makes the cardinal mistake of allowing the elephants to be seen for free from the road. No way I was paying to get into that zoo after seeing the main attraction!
The biggest surprise was lunch. A main dish, four drinks and an ice cream, all for what the main dish alone would have cost in Singapore. Methinks it’s time to look into living in Malaysia, would save a decent bit of cash!
Rode the same route home out of a desire not to get lost. It was then that I realized the stupidity of riding flat out on the way there, having not ridden further than 10 miles in one go all year. Still, sheer determination won the day. This is especially true during Tour de France time, seeing those guys do that kind of thing day in, day out makes you ashamed to consider getting off the bike on a poxy 30+ mile ride. So thanks Carlos Sastre, you got me home without resorting to a taxi!
Posted by zimzum42 on July 26, 2008 – 7:59 am
For most of 2008 I hadn’t been on the bike much, January saw me moving to Beirut in the Lebanon, and there’s not much chance of riding a bike out there! It would be a lovely place to ride, but the fact that no one rides a bike out there means that no one is expecting to see a bike. Everyone wants a Mercedes in Lebanon, and for a tiny country you would be amazed at the number of cars there, I guess it affords you a level of protection from bullets that a bike can’t provide.
Anyway, the job in Beirut wasn’t that great, so when I got offered a new post in Singapore, I jumped at the chance.
I had never been to Asia until I arrived in Singapore, but it was pretty much as I expected. Everything goes up, and it’s damn humid. However, it is flat, so I boxed up the fixed wheel and had it shipped from London. It arrived intact (Thanks Excess Baggage Company!), so I quickly built it back up and headed out for a spin.
The first thing you have to realize about Singapore is that it’s damn hot, all the time. The temperature is a pretty constant 30 degrees, occasionally dipping to 28, and rising to 35 or so every now and then. It rains most days, real downpours, but it clears up quite quickly and the roads dry out fast.
But it’s the humidity that kills you, there is no relief, it’s always humid. Every ride, even a quick spin ‘round the block’, I come home drenched in sweat. I’m still sweating after a cold shower, so the only solution is to spend 10-15 minutes in the pool after a ride. I’m normally still a bit hot, but no longer pouring sweat.
This also means riding in minimal clothing. I’m still not up for the full lycra look, I brought all the kit out here, but something is stopping me, possibly the fact that I’m using ‘trainer’ style SPDs, and they just don’t look good with lycra, so I’ll have to invest in a new pair of SPD shoes! So for the meantime I’m the guy powering around Singapore in a ‘wife-beater’ vest, a pair of beach shorts and some rugby socks…
In many ways Singapore is great for cycling. It’s mostly flat and the roads are great, well maintained, wide and well signposted. As with most places in the world, it’s the drivers that are the problem. This is mostly their own fault, but it’s also Singapore cyclists’ fault, because most of them never exceed 3mph, and the drivers expect this of everyone on a bike.
In Singapore, ‘might is right’. If you’ve got a bigger car, you should have priority, you ought not to be impeded by someone on a bike or in a Toyota Starlet if you’ve invested thousands in a big BMW. It’s understandable in one way. Singapore, being tiny, attempts to discourage car use/ownership. You pay twice as much as anywhere else in the world to buy a car here thanks to a strict tax system. You are only entitled to own a car for 5 or 10 years, then you have to buy a new one. And you have to pay road tolls all over the place. Singaporean drivers burn through cash as fast as they eat their noodles, and as a result they really do think they own the road. But this just means it’s even more satisfying when you overtake one in the jams on Eu Tong Sen street!!!
Many drivers to treat you badly, but it’s no worse than any big city, and the majority treat you quite well. There are always idiots out there!
Off for a ride. Will write more another day, if I live to see it!
Well, I usually go west on my rides out so have been getting a better tan on my left side, to redress the balance I headed east into the depths of Kent, next it will be south, if I go north I hit the river after a mile so that’s out.
I decided to ride to Faversham on Thursday, home of Shepherd Neame breweries, funny how cyclists will identify routes with particular beers. A very hot day, I decided to ride the main A2 all the way there and I could see the heat haze coming of the road surface, with the school holidays now in play the traffic was reasonably busy but I was afforded plenty of space by drivers, as is usual when riding a recumbent trike.
My plan was to do a 40 mile round trip, returning by a more rural route. The main road is more or less straight, passing through a few villages and one major town (Sittingbourne), there are a few hills but only one major hill, even this is preceded by a fantastic downhill though so at least half of it can be coasted, I arrived in Faversham sooner than I imagined and after just 17 miles, even though I was not making a particularly fast pace, so I rode to the other side of town then round the town ring road before alighting at a pub for a pint of Guinness and a bag of crisps, it was just to hot to eat lunch.
After the break I headed back following much of National Cycle Route one, missing the off road sections, I had forgotten about the one killer hill going this way just outside of Faversham but it gets the heart pumping so no harm. The road wends its way through various villages and homesteads and I had forgotten what a beautiful part of the world I live in, riding through here reminded me why Kent is known as the garden of England, with its rolling fields of crops, country houses and quiet hamlets it was an entirely pleasant ride, I have been asked a few times by Americans to organise a trike tour in Kent and will probably do just that from next year just so I can get paid to do what I enjoy so much. There is so much great countryside here that you can easily be complacent about it when you live here.
My tan is a bit more even now, although I look a bit cut and shut with brown arms and legs but a white torso.
Total miles 42.6, average speed 12.5 mph, highest speed 38.1 mph.
Day Four (Monday)
Distance: 70 miles
Top Speed: 28.6mph (Swanage to Romsey)
And so it ends.
I would first like to draw your attention to two important numbers. The first features in The Primordial Tourer Pt. 3 - here, I note that my upper distance limit was probably somewhere around the 45 miles mark.
Next, I would like you to note the distance undertaken today at the top of the post. Frankly, I was somewhat surprised I made it back without collapsing from exaustion. I very nearly did a few times, but I survived. Just.
Crossing through Moors Valley Country Park, I again regretted the Bontranger semi slicks. One very steep, very sandy hill and a lot of cursing on my part. Looking back it was good fun though.
We also investigated Sustrans Route 25, the Castleman Trail, from Poole to Wimborne Minster, and then moving on to a disused railway line. This was, for me, probably the highlight of the route back. Relatively flat, hard-packed tracks, and mostly free of traffic. A win-win.
By the time we reached the New Forest, I was dead on the saddle. As David took great pleasure in reminding me several times, I was overtaken by a fat lass. Well, it’s true. I bet she hadn’t just cycled from Swanage though.
We reached home about half six, having left sometime after nine in the morning. I think that’s quite reasonable, and already I find myself looking forward to the next (hopefully shorter) trip…
And so that brings me to what I now believe are the ten commandments of touring. Feel free to disagree with me, add, amend or generally abuse them in the comments should you wish, but these are mine from my primordial experiences:-
1. Your bike is your lord. Have no other forms of transport before it. Make plans for “get outs” certainly, but too many escape routes can take the enjoyment from a ride.
2. Be charitable and help your fellow cyclist in need. Carry a decent multitool and spares. They may come in handy, even if you’re not the person who ends up using them.
3. Remember the Sabbath day. A day of rest (not necessarily Sunday) is a great idea - using it for some other physical activity the day before the longest ride of the trip is perhaps not the best plan.
4. Honor your bike. You are expecting to travel great distances on your steed, so take care of it. Give it plenty of TLC before setting off, and if necessary on trip route as well.
5. Thou shalt not murder. Not even the motorist who cuts you up then stops suddenly. They know not what they do.
6. Thou shalt be seen. Carry a good set of lights and reflectors. Use them.
7. Thou shalt protect the more vulnerable party. Watch out for those drifting pedestrians. Honor the footpath and those that walk upon it.
8. Leave no trace. Dispose of waste properly and be considerate of your surroundings and others.
9. Do not bear false witness against your bike. Throughout the trip, and even in this blog, I made a point of how because my bike was X it couldn’t do Y. Actually, the bike wasn’t the problem, I was. I wasn’t quite fit enough, and I wasn’t prepared enough. All of the issues I attributed to the steed could have been corrected ahead of the trip. Don’t blame the bike.
10. Do not covet your neighbour’s bike. Again, throughout the trip, I saw my cycling buddy shoot off into the distance. It was the equipment, I told myself through gritted teeth. Actually, it was probably his legs.
Inspired to further my report by the primordial tourer, I decided on Tuesday to take the day off and head off to Lakeside shopping park to spend my £6 Decathlon voucher, it seemed like a good excuse for a ride out and to actually use the ferry this time.
Knowing where it was made getting there a lot easier, I tried some alternative cycle lanes which were also slow, so it will be road only next time, but I did surprise myself by climbing some hills easily that I thought would be difficult, I must be getting fitter.
I covered the first 15 miles in little over an hour and arrived at the ferry dock, the ferry was on the other side, so I chatted with other people waiting while the ferry made its way across, I filmed the crossing and will provide a You Tube link at some point so its true majesty can be experienced.
 Until then you will have to feast your eyes on this library shot, a truly magnificent ship of the line I am sure you will agree.
I was welcomed aboard and parked the trike on the stern deck, applied the parking brake and went to pay my £4.10 day return fair, the trike going free.
I went to look for the bar but alas in the single cabin it was conspicuous by its absence. Instead you get lockers and a few seats to sit on.
On being quizzed about where I was going I was given a route by a knowledgeable local who seemed to think I would not be riding on the roads but hey ho, I did not have the heart to correct them. We arrived after a few minutes crossing and disembarked.
The dock on the Tilbury side is significantly more grand that the Gravesend side but equally it is a long way from the town centre, I followed the signs for Grays and made good time, in total it was about 7 miles to Lakeside from the ferry dock, the road surfaces were fine and the local wildlife (chavs), were less boisterous than the Kent contingent. Drivers were much the same and afforded me plenty of room as usual with the odd (ignored) beep of a horn.
I conducted my shopping then retired to TGI Fridays for lunch and beer, the staff seemed to like the trike but had some problems getting their head around me considering a 22 mile one way cycle ride to be fun. They did give me a free beer however and I fueled up on carbs and protein, also known as cheeseburger and chips.
I returned by a slightly shorter and faster route which I will remember for next time, when I reached the ferry dock, it was on the other side (again), so I waited for it to cross, I had had about 4 hours in the magical land of Essex and was ready to return to the green hills of Kent and hopefully miss some of the traffic.
The retun home was peppered with commuting cyclists, I passed two commuters going up a hill (who said recumbents cannot climb?), I was passed by one fellow, I then decided not to be passed by the cycle I could vaguely see in my mirror, after a while I realised it was a motor scooter, it caught me at the top of a hill but I left it for dead going down and did not see it again.
In total I covered 43 miles, average speed a measly 12 mph, highest speed 35.9 mph, managed to get a bit of sunburn to.
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