No bicycle lanes, but more space? Game on!

If you refer to my old post on "An Unofficial Bicycle lane", I talked about how great it was to cycle on the small buffer between the double yellow lines and the curb. I'm not alone!

These passionate people for the Lovecycling.net forums have began collecting data on Singapore roads, in a bid to make some additional space for us cyclist. For an example, there are 2 lanes in a one way road, right lane has 4m width, left lane 5m, but a car probably needs only 3m, so can the two lanes be reduced to 3.5 m and leave a 2m gap for cyclist?  And as the article says, it will benefit motorists and cyclists alike!

Cheers for such awareness, and hopefully when LTA is all done with the accidents and floods that have been happening we cyclists can be taken care of too. In the mean time, ride safe and Happy Lunar New year to all!

Bike rack too high!

This was what I saw At Yio Chu Kang Community Club, I saw the bike and rack from afar. And thought the rack was a new design...  But once I got closer, what I see is in the picture...

The bike (very cool and retro btw) is seems o be trying very hard to park into the rack, so is this an honest mistake? Did the workers who installed the rack think twice? Are they definitely not cyclists?

This obviously is a mistake! But yet why is it not corrected... Well that just brings me to the conclusion that only one person ever uses it. Food for thought.

I got myself a roadie!

After the Malacca ride, and riding a friend's road bike... I was convinced that I needed a road bike. And as I am a rather avid fan of Togoparts... I found a bike that suited what I wanted... About $600, 105 components... The person selling asked for $700 negotiable... When I got there, I was told the bike wasn't his but his friend's... We eventually settled on $588... Huat ah!

Back from the first ride with the bike and, to be honest, it felt like a a really light mountain bike... Probably thanks to the MTB SPDs I was using, the rather high stem and spacer placement, the seat lower than usual (I have not adjusted it to my liking, little by little I will adjust it till the sweet spot!).

The comfort was incredible, the acceleration extremely addictive, and of course the amount of control I had. All this in comparison with my Time Trial bike, I knew I have made the right choice of getting a road bike haha...

Gear changes are so much quicker again, comparing with the TT bike. This translates to better accelerations as I'm always in the gear I want to be in, when I want it. But it terms of flat land top speed... The aerodynamic advantage of the TT bike is impossible to neglect, I still love my TT!

I am now very addicted to the quick acceleration (how many times I said acceleration?), might use this bike for commutes to school!

A good read about GPS trackers and guy that lost 6 bikes...

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/Who-Pinched-My-Ride.html?page=all

I have always thought about putting a bait bike, camping nearby and than alerting the police when I have found their secret hideout... Any1 has a free iPhone to spare?

CCTVs in HDB

After less than a month reading on the newspapers and news that the common areas of HDBs such as lifts, letter boxes and even bicycle racks would have CCTVs installed I was skeptical about how long they would take the implement the scheme and whether we the residents would have to pay more...

To my surprise my HDB block has them! There is a catch though... My block has 2 bicycle racks, only one has CCTV installed (and since become full!), the letter box and lift area has no CCTV!

So it seems, the only reason they were installed were for bicycle security! Omg, hip hip horray! Now I just got to contest with other people parking at my usual space. I'm seeing new bikes there too, abeit not locked properly... I will suggest them to read my blog's guide when I see them...

Or maybe I should put an ad on my bike... Hmm...

The Holstee Manifesto Lifecycle Video

The Holstee Manifesto Lifecycle Video from Holstee on Vimeo.

The one phrase that stuck with me was, when you get lost... You find yourself! When I was cycling in Japan, getting lost was actually something I looked forward to... Sometimes its good, other times not that good, but the good time are so priceless!

I haven't been riding lately, as school begins the nightmare starts and soon the deadlines will come. Luckily I will always have cycling to turn to!

Firestarters Episode 1

There has been a few local television programs which had dedicated some air time to the humble two-wheeled machine, but thanks to catch-up tv we have the following:

http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/episode-1/1gqfqwlw3

It talks about a Singaporean cyclist who made his own bamboo bicycle and than traveled a crazy distance to prove it's worth! I came across this bamboo bike first in September last year i think, and read a newspaper article and now this.

As a sort of after thought, I keep thinking to myself, how much cycling has been growing. Just head down to ECP on a weekend, and you see the countless leisure cyclists, while commuting I pass by many many other commuters, locals, uncles, aunties, ang mohs with helmets, panniers, blinkers and SPDs, Chinese nationals and Bangladeshi workers in old beaters wearing slippers with no lights in pitch darkness... The list just goes on! God I love cycling!

Time Trial selection for 32nd Asian Cycling Championship pictures

You can view the album here:

Asian Selection Event Trial for 32nd Asian Cycling Championship and 19th Junior Cycling Championship

Date: 8 Jan 2012
Location: Changi Coastal Road 
Registration starts 630am 
Registration fee: $20

Why it costs $20 to register for a selection beats me, but I should be going down with my camera to catch the action! I wonder if I will ever attain such an elite physical level...

I hope it also spurs me to train harder and see if this is what I want in cycling... Time Trial racing!

Details taken from Singapore Cycling Federation

First commute to school of 2012!

They say this year is the end of the world, live life to the fullest!

Let me share what's in my commuting bag!

 Column 1: Aleoca Front blinker, Velo 5 Cyclometer, Mars 4.0 Rear blink, Knog backup blinker

Column 2: Light rain coat, cap
Column 3: SAF toiletry bag, GIYO handpump, tire levers, Gorrilla grip / Allen keys, spare tube
Column 4: Force 21 15L waterproof sack.

Although the weather forecast was clear, I decided that bringing my wet weather stuff gave me a peace of mind :) I should write about my experience in wet weather riding soon!

Anyway, the commute to school, was rather peaceful. Light traffic and taking the Mandai route to Old Choa Chu Kang Road and entering the service road of the Catholic cemetery added to the tranquil feel. The commute felt moderately fast, thanks to fresh legs and the Malacca ride.

However on the way back was rush hour, so I decided to cut through Bukit Brown Cemetery instead of the crazy busy Lornie Road or an even longer detour down to Chancery Lane. I was hoping the route was unblocked, as there is much hype at the moment... While riding through, it seems many of the tombstones were maintained and now had wooden sticks with serial numbers. I read they were going to archive every single one, the first such effort apparently.

Anyway, halfway in:

 I nearly fell when I couldn't unclip as I entered a offroad trail where lots of mud looked churned up by horse's hoofs, and two men ahead undisturbed by my appearance discussed about how their tractors were going to enter the area. As I passed, I felt a little sad that the area will be replaced by a road in due time.

 I stopped by at MacRitchie Reservoir, where i captured the above awesome shot. And some others:

Have a great year everyone!