Tampines, 35 km. The part of the trail named "monster mud madness" is part slush, part "porridge". This is historic; I've never seen conditions like this. Or seen an Olympian (Tinker Juarez) upclose. This is Singapore's longest mountain bike race: 100 km of "wheel torture". Somehow I (mostly) keep upright though the rear wheel slides when it loses traction or when it catches on a rock. Other parts of the trail are hard-packed, sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy. My team mate W falls on her face but is ok. I fall once and have a few other near-falls as I let competitors overtake me on single-track. What a day (which follows a sleepless night). It starts with me dropping a contact lens at home, losing a headband on the way to the race (left it on my bike on the car rack) and a back pocket tears such that stuff falls out. What went well: right tyre pressure and good lap times. The race ends with it being stopped because of thunderous rain. First I bake in the sun, then am chilled in the rain. But we have done enough laps to be considered finishers.
Photo courtesy of Freddy Foo
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