Noose Episode 9

Features cyclists too!

Check out this great MSN video: Episode 9

Danny and Lezyne

Completed NTU Bike Rally 2012, but still don't have much time to write about it... Stay tuned!

When trailers overtake you... Brake!

Check this out, in almost all my rides with trailers overtaking me. They always overtake me with decent space but than cut in too early... Now I know why... Ride safe!

Commuting to Lavender, pleasant surprises.

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Mission? To avoid the busy and highly dangerous Upper Serangoon Rd, CTE exit.

 

I have passed up the above park connector/service road a couple of times and thought that it follows the river pass the highway to Lavender.

 

So far so good, a bridge that goes over the highway with small slope at the side for ease of pushing my bike up.

Love this shot taken with my iPhone, effect "Boost" added from Picasa.

 

Spotted two Choppers that look like there need some tender loving care!

After I was done with my errand I took a slightly different way back, taking the bridge further south at the end of Geylang Bahru Lane... And than to the back roads of Macpherson Road, where the smell of awesome Prawn Mee caught my attention! It's seems pretty famous and I was hungry...

 

It looks good!!! The finished the soup, every last drop! It was just so rich! And the prawns despite being inside the soup, which usually means soggy prawns... But not this one! The prawns were actually still crunchy, testament to the use of fresh prawns! Go try! No regrets!

On the way back, I decided to visit the site of former Bidadari Cemetry, and was most pleasantly surprised! If was so peaceful, and the aged road just sort of transported me into the olden times. This place has great history but is slated for HDB housing. Visit when you have the time!

Just a minute ago I was in lots of heavy traffic and it was such relief to be riding in the park.

At the top of the hill, there was a round about and a tree bearing fruits(no idea what fruit though). It just felt so calming with a gentle breeze flowing in, that I just decided to sit down and read my school notes in the cool shade:

 

After the relaxing outing, i decided I didn't need those aerobars on my slow commuter and decided "slamming" my stem was the way to go. Check it out:

Even when there was no spacers left, I wanted the bars to be lower... So I inverted the stem! Loving the look! Ride safe everyone, and regarding the Remy Ong incident? It's now in the news... With different accounts of what happened... Is he a liar? Only time will tell.

Rumour or Truth?

REMI ONG! Singapore Best bowler, National athlete, International Bowler. You totally don't deserve my respect. After what happened today, i think the whole world should know what you just did. A disgrace to Singapore.

At around 1pm at Safra NSRCC outside the sailing club, you were speeding and you hit a female pregnant dog and you ran away, thank god you left your car plate at the scene. The Female dog was lying unconsciously in the middle of the road, i was there and a couple of cycling quickly blocked the road and carried the dog away. The female dog was pregnant and you fled the scene. 10mins later, the dog went in to a fit and 10mins after that, the dog was dead, with two broken legs, external bleeding and miscarriage. Did you finally realized what's wrong?

more cyclist came and helped out, we called the SPCA and the Police. We took the number plate with the dog and this will be spread around Singapore. And guys, the story still haven't end yet.

He came back to scene with his Girlfriend, and the story he told us and the story the Girlfriend told us are wonderful.
First, he said, he ran over the dog and the dog is already lying on the road- Fucking hell, you were driving a Porsche, and everybody knows that the height of you car, there's no way you can ran over. Instead, you actually hit the dog, therefore your car plate dropped off.
Secondly, you said that you fled because you didn't know what happened, and you went to fetch your girlfriend - Fuck you, you girlfriend said that she SAW that you didn't hit the dog, wait, so your girlfriend saw that you didn't hit the dog, and you said that you went to fetch your girlfriend after the scene. So what is what?

and the only thing that we suspected you came back, is because while you went to fetch your girlfriend, she saw the missing car plate, so went back to the scene and retrieve it because your afraid that we might track you down.
Remy Ong, it's a small world huh? None of the cyclist acutally knew you were Remy until i gave up your identity.

Going viral on Facebook... I believe I have seen dogs around NSRCC/Changi Coastal area... It's like seeing another cyclist being knocked down... What's wrong with driving a little slower?

If the driver here had hit a cyclist/pedestrain, would the same have happened... Strangely, in a separate incident... I believe where a cyclist was hit, the car's plates also dropped and the driver drove away... I guess justice has it's way of making sure the guilty is not let free. Or so I like to think.

Crank Arm Steady has moved!

Check out their new and improved site! They have to be the most happening cycling group in Singapore! Sidebar link has been updated as well.

Once there, get teased! There's something about fixed gear and a pace line... We are just short of a Velodome here in Singapore... Come on investors! Maybe OCBC?

Review: Nusa-Iskandar MTB Adventure ride 2012

Woke up 4am, had a "as slow as possible" ride to conserve energy towards Kranji MRT. Unfortunately, it included riding through Mandai Road...

Special Thanks to Family that gave some White cards for faster clearing of customs! Thank you Kenneth from PurebikesAsia for the PowerGel, William from TropiCare for Goodie bag storage, Owen from Crest Pursuit Cycling Apparel for organizing the bus from customs to race venue and back! Shout out to SMU riders, Ben from Shimano, Organisers, my fellow NTU Teammates and everyone else that shared the sufferings along the way!

 

Spot the shameless advertisement

Shimano sponsors!

Giant sponsors!

Start line! I'm nowhere near! =(

Crazy amount of riders, some 1040 riders in fact! MAD!

Once the race started, had to wait a little since I was in the middle, than a slow increase in speed to ~35km/h drafting a guy in front. Was wondering if I wanted to increase my speed, but thought otherwise. It was a long ride(68km) ahead after all.

The 5km road start seemed all too short as the whole group of riders came to an almost complete standstill when there was a bottle neck where only one person can move across a narrow bridge. As you can imagine, 1000 to 1 will cause havoc... Eventually people found alternative routes and more alternative routes and it was pretty unpleasant as the people who rode slowly got ahead and choked up the trail all over again.

Afterwards, it was the first climb some 150m in elevation and yet another choke point. But this time i waited about 8minutes to enter a really impossible apparently "World Class" downhill section, I walked through about half of it, injured my ankle, got some vines entwined into the rear hubs that wasted so much time! Once I was on my bike riding and not walking it was really scary skidding about downhill at speed, and to add to my fear, a guy ahead was lying on the floor in pain...

After I got used to the skidding I started to enjoy the downhill only to have it end and a short road section and steep hill and downhill and routes around the palm plantation and again and again!

The pit stops were the highlights of the race, volunteers rush to your side, checkpoint stick, peeled open banana, F1 quick refill of water and off you go! At the third checkpoint I was offered what seemed like a can of redbull and I grabbed it for it seemed too good to be true. I drank half and wondered if I was drinking too much at one go...

My thoughts replied almost instantly as a stitch on my right abdomen started voicing out its concern, I could push my pace anymore and just maintained.

The most torturous parts had to be the insanely steep, long and loose inclines. I knew I had trained for a long ride but was the training sufficient? About two thirds of the way in, I started pushing myself, I wanted to finish the race with nothing left... I overtook many during the climbs, where most were pushing, I wanted to finish badly without pushing my bike and kept telling myself I could do it. Than came a steeper than usual climb where the clean lines were taken by riders pushing up, leaving me with lots of loose ground to climb. 

I eventually spun out, put my left leg down and that leg cramped! The hamstring/thigh muscle that cramps forces your legs to straighten putting me in pain and I had to stop. I put my right leg down and that cramped too! The pain of two of  your major muscles pulling is quite something, so much that it made me tear. I had to stop and take a rest.

Unsatisfied, i continued my way up pushing my bike. Strangely I could still go on at a decent pace but was really careful to not put too much exertion on my hamstrings/thighs. At the base of the next incline, I didn't want to push my luck and ride up, as I wanted to finish the race!! So I just dismounted and pushed. To my surprise up the time I reach the top, my stitch had subsided and happy I could go on.

I took at slightly longer rest at the 2nd last pit with 2 bananas and a drink, and bit down hard to dig deep and find a higher pace. "Botak hill" dawned on me and it was yet another climb, with the sun at it's peak, no vegetation to shield you and as if the ground was reflecting even more sun to somehow melt you. I pedaled on. Granny gear, no one ahead and behind me. It was a lonely climb where I was wondering what about a quote I saw somewhere. was it Lance Armstrong?

Why do you do it(cycling) if it is so painful? -reporter

Are you kidding? I do it for the pain. -LA

Just before the last checkpoint my triceps started showing signs of cramping and I had to stop halfway downhill. Never had so many cramps before! Crazy! At last checkpoint 6! 5km to end point! downhill, left, right, the road! I have never been so happy to see road! Once on the road, i got into "time trial" position and spun that crank so hard. playing mind games again. The guy ahead is number 100th if I overtake him I get a medal! I overtook 5 guys haha. I finished 242nd and was so spent! And just got off the bike and stoned.

The team won 2 helmets from the lucky draw, a picture with Shimano staff and a long ride home later, it was over! Thank you loving family for supporting me when I got home! One heck of a ride!


Oh ya, if you wanna check out the stats of the ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/4095941

My iPhone app of choice: Strava Cycling

Ever since my friend introduced this app to me, besides the segments of road where you compete with other Strava users you see your progress each time you ride. How fast you was the ride today?

You get to see simulated Power calculations based on your bike's weight, and track your mileage... Which seems like a lot since I always reset my meter each ride and never actually know how much I cover each week/month.

Nusa-Iskandar MTB Adventure ride 2012

I'm going for this:

Getting excited! It's more reason for me to ride! I'm now tapering (a term I never knew till recently, which basically means toning down training or resting before a race/event) down...

I have no idea about the conditions of the trails there, the climbs, the people riding, just don't know what to expect. Don't know how I will do in terms of pacing for a 60km offroad ride either. Well, I will blog about it after then!

Ok, not just bmx... Road bikes too... WHAT?

And in case you haven't seen this:

The BMXers are really killing it!

Drew Bezanson Returns from Justen Soule on Vimeo.

The amount of creativity and faith this guy has.... Completely mind-blown.

NTU Bike Rally 2012 Tips

It's your first time embarking on a trip greater than the epicly termed century ride (100km=century ride), and you don't know what to expect... Or you are a seasoned rider but can do with some tips anyway...

Courtesy of Graz Cycle Chic

1. Adjust your seat height!

Probably the number 1 mistake I see for beginners, I have ridden with a couple of Cycling events and this is the most common. You won't feel it for the first 30km or so, but after that your thigh muscles are just too tired to output that kind of strength.

Example, when climbing a long set of stairs to you take them 2 or 3 steps at a time? If you do, you notice you are expanding lots of energy faster than just taking one step at a time. It's a endurance ride, 128km is no joke!

So set the seat high, preferably when your leg is on the lowest part of the down stroke, it is slightly bent. Of course this can be a little dangerous, if you can't reach the floor... So you can use another way to adjust the seat, i.e. when you are seated, you should be tiptoeing on the floor! Again, lower the seat if you find tiptoeing dangerous... Extended periods on tiptoes can induce cramps!

2. Chaffing cream or Vaseline

This Chaffing cream has received some rave reviews... Or you can use what I have been using since I learned it eliminates abrasion for road marches (In army), yup to save yourself from a painful shower later!

Apply a generous amount between your thighs or just about anywhere you think you might get abrasion, maybe even around the openings of your shorts (Btw avoid wearing FBT shorts, they are too short! You might get some serious abrasions!). Bring it along in case abrasions develop and just apply it over for instant relief!

3. Sunblock!

Don't wanna suffer from a serious biker's tan! And mainly because I got sun burnt during the recce ride... Haha!


Misc. Inflate your tires!

I like maximum at the front and about 45 psi at the rear, I ride and Mountain bike (Which is similar to the rental bikes), The rear is not too hard so you get a sore bum, and the front usually has front suspension to soak up the bumps. Very important as these are your only contact to the ground, properly inflated tires mean less rolling resistance and thus equate to less energy expanded allowing you to go further for longer!


Variations include, changing your tires to slicks if you have the budget. Or even getting yourself a road bike... 
Misc. Water bottle and some snacks

There are water points at every checkpoint, but in between your are on your own. Bring along a small snack, like a fruit bar. You need to keep yourself fueled or you will burn out quickly!

NTU Bike Rally!!! I'm excited!

NTU Bike Rally 2012 Recce

At 5.30am in the morning at the Singapore flyer, about a hundred safety cyclists gathered for the annual round-island recce ride. The point of the recce? For both the organizers and cyclists  to familiarize themselves with the route, logistics, any possible dangers on the road and so many more...

I eventually saw 136km on my Odometer on and my legs were pretty shot. Hopefully I will have enough time to post some tips on clearing this epic 128km (Those going for 168km are probably seasoned riders anyway...) round Singapore ride! Cheers!