Head for the hills

To Mount Faber, 94 km. I wish it'd rain so I can stay snug in bed, but it's just cloudy. I head for another Bike N Blade training ride. I'm the only one on a mountain bike. It's nice to hear the tyres hum. The wind is whistles through my helmet. I'd whistle too but I'm trying to keep up with a guy with a triathlete's build. We stop and wait. Someone has multiple tyre punctures; not just the inner tube, but the tyre itself. I file off sharp points on the rim with a tyre valve. N pumps up the tyre. "It's a good pump", says V. "It's not the pump, it's the pumper," I say. Two and a half laps round Mandai, three laps up Bukit Chandu, one lap up Mount Faber and we call it a day. Some roadies have beehoon goreng, I have mee goreng. As befits our respective tyre widths. I'm glad to have a mountain bike, it's so versatile and robust, eg less prone to punctures.