Life cycles: The one thing

Sunday, July 12, 2015

The one thing

Around my home, 11 km. My bicycle creaks incessantly. It's not the seat post. Is it the chainring? Chain? Crank arm? Bottom bracket? To get rid of the noise, get rid of the bike? That's over the top.

On a whim, I change the pedals. I crank it up, no noise, no matter how hard I try.

I've neglected my pedals for so long. I brush off the dirt and oil it with tender loving care.

What's the one thing in your life you need to change?

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Annual distance

2020 distance: 16 km (well, the world changed) Cumulative distance since 1995: 72,372 km

2019 distance: 0 km (yeah, I know)

2018 distance: 293 km. My lowest annual mileage ever, lower than 2002 (the year I started cycling regularly). Cumulative distance since 1995: 72,356 km

2017 distance: 1,374. It's the year of my most eventful overseas ride: getting seriously lost, bailing out twice and suffering my first pressure injury.Cumulative distance since 1995: 72,063 km

2016 distance: 2,253. Another turbulent year, with lowest mileage since 2002 (the year I started cycling regularly). Did two expeditions: Sri Lanka and Sabah (with the latter, I've cycled in all states in East and West Malaysia). What affected cycling? Mostly work, and not doing any charity rides this year (in past years, I did 1-2, which adds 1,000 km).

Cumulative distance since 1995: 70,689 km

2015 distance: 3,072 km. A year of upheaval, including not completing a charity ride (a first!). A last burst effort to make the numbers leaves 2014 still the all-time low mileage, and I have fun along the way

Cumulative distance since 1995: 68,436 km

2014 distance: 3,061 km. The lowest mileage since I started serious cycling in 2003. Inversely proportional to the travails I face outside of cycling.

Cumulative distance since 1995: 65,364 km

2013 distance: 3,204 km; the world is about 41,000 km in circumference, I've cycled 2.5 times that distance. Yet, new things still happen to me.

Cumulative distance since 1995: 62,303 km

2012 distance: 5,122 km; I go on two epic rides. The first is my toughest ever, including one day with 18 hours on the road. The second involves catastrophic failure and is the first time I abort a ride while abroad.

2011 distance: 4,407 km; I cycle the highest, get the coldest so far (2,600m, 7 degrees Celsius plus wind and rain) and meet just about the warmest people in Taiwan.

2010 distance: 4,928 km; I take part in two charity rides and two trips in Borneo (the second one being a charity ride).

2009 distance: 3,500 km; somehow, I manage to cycle a little further than last year. This year, I also do a multi-day stage race - in Timor Leste. What a ride, what a country.

2008 distance: 3,235 km; lower by almost 2,000 km compared to 2007's already-low distance. Partly because I run more, ride less. To recover, I ride in the flatlands of Cambodia. Which turns out to be harder than Laos.

2007 distance: 5,125 km; a dramatic drop compared to last year's 6,729 km. The year of my most complex expedition to date: cycling in Laos.

2006 distance: 6,729 km. I suffer my worst injuries, tear my bicycle shorts in seven places. Win my first (and only) SACA race medal. Cycle deep into Thailand.

2005 distance: 8,523 km. I retire my Iron Horse, replace it with a little red Tank. Raise funds for charity. Embark on my third epic 1,000 km ride, from Singapore to Tak Bai, Thailand, via the spine of Peninsula Malaysia.

Year 2004 distance: 7,497 km. I continue my adventures in Singapore and abroad, in Indonesia and solo exploratory rides in Johore, Malaysia. And an epic 1,500 km ride from Singapore to Thailand.

2003 distance: 7,956 km. I go places, not just in Singapore. I cycle in a mountain bike jamboree in Penang, Malaysia and an epic 1,000 km ride from Singapore to Betong, Thailand.

2002 distance: 1,777 km

1995-2001 distance: 300 km