Cycling is like life. Cycling with no goal is meaningless. What meaning is there cycling in circles? Or living aimlessly? Meaning comes from direction and destination. Join me in my life's journey on a mountain bike :)

Blogging since 2003. Thank you for reading :))

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Getting acquainted, reprise

Jun distance: 368 km

To Mandai Road, 33 km. Bikeshop man fixes my rear derailleur and I'm off on another test flight. Riding a bike is like flying. A bike has a cockpit, just like aircraft. We navigate by the seat of our pants and use aerospace grade materials. And we soar through the air, with minimal contact except at the saddle and (not always) handlebars and pedals. Test is successful. Despite mushy tyres and heavy shoes, there is noticeable improvement in acceleration and speed. Tank is 2 kg lighter and I reach 37-40 km/h easily. The Easton frame and racing geometry are proving their worth. Still, it remains to be seen how I will fare against real life roadies. 1,000 km rides. And offroad with a rigid aluminium fork.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Getting acquainted

To Old Upper Thomson Road, 29 km. "Click click." The sound of cleats in clipless pedals. The beginning of thrills without spills. I start getting acquainted with my little Red Tank. While I'm a little sad to part with my old, faithful, trusty and rusty Iron Horse, my Tank is nippy. Twitchy even. I persuade bikeshop man to lower the handlebars. That's better. I do the circuit at the former car race track. There are other cars there, parked by the roadside. I suppose, like me, the car occupants have their pulse racing and sweat dripping. The difference is, I'm riding my bike. I stop a few times to tweak my cockpit until it is just so. Rear derailleur isn't behaving itself though. And Tank needs getting used to. At a traffic light, I almost fall beside a police car. And, as if they know I'm on a brand new frame, a few pedestrians and another cyclist buzz dangerously close to me.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Finally, the end


To Yishun Central 1, 33 km. My home feels empty. The spot where she stands in the kitchen waiting for me is empty space. It feels funny without her. After almost 22,000 km, my Iron Horse is retiring. Because it's tiring to have to keep changing threaded forks that get worn out; I've worn out the threads of two in 3.5 years. After visiting 11 shops in the past few months (excluding two that were closed and including some on-line), I finally decide what's worthy of the memory of my Iron Horse. I see it hanging on a wall in Yishun. It feels good, it's the right top tube length, but it's white. I see another one nearer home. It's red, and the price of additional components sounds right too. Bikeshop man says it's a better buy than another horse. A kid with a new Iron Horse admires my retro one. I walk home to my empty kitchen. Bye bye, horsey.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Last ride that never was

To Tanjong Pagar Rd, 29 km. Question: what's worse than not having money to buy something? Answer: when you have money but can't buy anything. Today's ride is supposedly the last rite for my old bike. But bikeshop man declines to sell me a Jamis frame. The closest size he has is 1" too long. Insufficient standover height, and the bike will wobble when going downhill, he says. Second bikeshop sells Voodoo, but even Buffy the Vampire Slayer is creepy, so no bike that proclaims "practitioner of black magic" for me. Third bikeshop doesn't have Iron Horse in my size.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Long, hard and high

To Kranji and Mount Faber, 102 km. Today's universty training ride is the longest and hardest I've ridden for the centennial ride preparation. Never before have there been so many roadies (at least five, or a quarter of the group size) and they ride a mean pace. This ride is also the highest we've ever climbed, to Mount Faber. I like it long and hard, pushing man and machine to the limit, against generally younger men on more sophisticated racing machines. Two of them wear track shoes and wear me down. I guess I've decided what frame to get now; one that's light and which will perform well. No straight-gauge tubing. Goodbye, Iron Horse ...

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Window shopping

To Still Road, 50 km. I visit three bikeshops today, looking for frames. There aren't many exotic frames about but those I see are nice and have nice price tags too. It's interesting is how quotes vary from shop to shop. Labour costs range from $0 to $60. Cable prices vary as much as three times. All in all, it'll cost between $200 - $400 on top of the price of the frame, for headset, seatpost ... some of which are thrown in free. Of course the $400 tag is quoted by the shop that charges for everything. Still, I learn something from that bikeshop man; he says my current bicycle is in "racing" position.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Back in the saddle


To Airport Road, 92 km. I'm back in Singapore and back in the saddle. Harvard is better for cycling. There are more cyclists and bike posts on the pavements for locking bikes. Even the weather is better. Well, I have to make do with where I live. This week's NUS training ride is at Paya Lebar Airport: runway cycling. I go three rounds. I try to draft the Singapore cycling team but they deploy their drag chutes. There are few roadies today, but some mountain bikers give me a good run, especially one with a 1668 number plate. I also see bikers from Wheels are Turning, cycling association and togoparts. Alano offers me his rigid fork, which I grab. But alas, it doesn't fit. Darn, either I get a fork custom-made, or a new frame ... Too bad I didn't win a bicycle or anything for that matter in the lucky draw. This is the fourth consecutive year where I've cycled on the runway and go home with just the goody bags.
Photo courtesy of Siva