Face fate

Nov distance: 255 km

Woodlands, 51 km. I'm almost whacked by a cab as I leave the carpark. I yell once, steel still comes. I yell again and swerve, cabbie waves apologetically. Better than waving goodbye. I go off the beaten track, to places which I've passed by but never looked. Lighting flashes, thunder rumbles. I tempt fate and keep exploring. I think I can get away with it, but I'm wrong. The drizzle turns into a down pour. I sit and wait. A foreign worker stops at the bus stop and talks to me. "Water?" He asks if that's gotten into my camera. "Monkey," he says, pointing across the road. Two of them walk on the railings, then sit side by side. Companionship. A lorry passes, packed at the back to the gills with foreign workers clutching black dustbin liners, that flap in the wind and glisten in the rain. It's their only protection against the elements.

At least, I get to stop at a bus stop, with a roof over my head. The down pour turns into a drizzle. I wave goodbye to foreign worker and ride off into the sunset. A car turns into my right of way. With my wet rims and brake blocks, I can barely stop. The car stops. I go on living.

Trouble comes in threes

Sembawang, 65 km.

First, I rush out of the house and forget my sunblock. Go back and get it? Forget it. Second, I get "bombed" by a bird. The bird crap is so close to my nose I can smell it (the crap, not the nose; though my nose smells, it has no smell). Third, while dismounting, I scratch my top tube with my cleats. Ugh, such a newbie mistake. Ugh, what an ugly scratch.

But good things happen too. Despite massive floods a few days ago where cars drowned (and no one did) in a "once in 50 years" phenomenon (so says the Minister for Environment, today is cloudy yet sunny. I dont' get sunburned. My fellow cyclist leaves the start point but sees me and comes back for me (I'm a minute late because I stop to wash off bird crap and my bike isn't stolen in the process). And we ride so slowly, I see things I might not have noticed.

Like passing over 50 Suzuki Swifts parked by the road, colour coordinated (black, red, yellow and white parked based on colour - I'm going so slow I can count them). Like how tree-tops mirror clouds; when trees line both sides of the road, the tree-tops frame either side of the puffy clouds. Clusters of green cloud-like leaves and "cotton wool" clouds of white.

Haiku

On my bike I ride
The miles pass, my heart is light
And my world feels right

Ode to my bike

Your frame supports me
Your wheels transport me
When I feel blue
Riding you sets me free

Exploration

Sembawang, 42 km. It's been overcast almost all day. I sneak out hoping the rain won't fall. I wander about, checking out the promising places I'd passed before. Everyone of them peters out. As I turn back on an abandoned road covered with dead leaves and branches, the ground shifts, my bicycle stalls and I fall gently - on broken glass. Fortunately, no blood is shed. Why would anyone put glass out in the wild? It's not like it's a dump. As dusk falls, the rain drops fall. I speed. Fortunately, it remains a drizzle. I also avoid a fountain of blood as I filter past two lanes that lead to an expressway. Like a miracle, the traffic just cleared in time for me to get in lane. Light rain and suddenly, light traffic. Wow ...

Same route, different thoughts

Woodlands, 48 km. I've been cycling north for the past few weeks. Surprisingly, I'm not bored yet. Though the route is with little variation, my thoughts seem different. I used to rue living here. This time of the year ("winter"), it tends to rain. And this island is so small; just 120 km to ride around it. I'd wished I lived in US (where I can ride to different states) or in Europe (where I can cycle to different countries). Having watched a documentary about ice storms and snow, I realise I took for granted I can cycle most days of the year here, even if I need to fly to ride further distances. As I cycle home, I happen to turn my head and see the sunset as a huge orange poised above a train track. Nice ... I open my eyes, see what I can see. And don't take sight for granted either :)

Last night, this morning

Woodlands, 49 km. Last night, the thunder rumbled and the rain poured. Some streets were flooded. At least one car stalled. Some firemen removed a manhole cover and a 1-meter water gushed up. This morning, I hurried to ride under the cloudy sky, anxious to finish the ride, to be wet only with sweat pouring down, not rain. Also in a hurry is a taxi-driver inching out from a side road. He stops, I go since I have right of way. He moves. I yell twice and brake ... unable to stop before him, I end up in front of the taxi. He stops a handwidth away from me. He waves apologetically. What if he'd hit me while I was riding and the impact hurls me onto oncoming traffic. My poor bike might be irreparably damaged and so might I. Still, having had such a close call after so many km on the road isn't bad, is it? I cycle on. As I pass familiar sights, I realise they look better because I'm wearing sunglasses. They make colours richer. Without them, objects are washed out in the harsh sunlight. Illusion, or just prudence? If looking through coloured lenses makes things look better and help prevent cataracts, surely looking at life differently helps too?

Journey or destination, a means or an end?

Oct distance: 148 km

Woodlands, 55 km. I didn't have to peer out the window to check the weather. The sunlight streaming in and the heat streaming in tells me it's a sunny day. I know I'll head to Woodlands but make several detours. It's not like I'm in a hurry to get to my destination and back, I'm out for a ride and so I ride.

I pass some boys and their toys - golf and model airplanes - and realise we've some things in common.

• Mostly boys: though golf does have a higher proportion of girls, most mountain bikers and aeromodellers are guys.
• Toys: they all slice through the air (including golf balls and clubs), so aerodynamics and aerospace materials are used. Bicycles do go airborne a little and roll on the ground. 
• Weather affects us: we bake in the sun and are at risk of lighting strikes when it rains.

Some things are different.

• Getting there: usually, cyclists can get to their start point on their own. Unless golf courses and fields are at their door steps, golfers and aeromodellers need a separate set of wheels.
• Health: cycling is healthier. Golfing would be healthier than it is, if done without buggies and caddies. Aeromodellers do some walking but mostly stand there and twiddle thumbs and whirl. Cycling can be hazardous to health though, because of traffic or crashes.

As I cycle home, it suddenly pours. I wait 30 minutes. Better to chill out at a bus stop than get home and spend more than 30 minutes cleaning my drive train :p

Mind games

To Woodlands, 47 km. I have a right not to ride. When something feels like a chore, to do it is a bore. When it's done for fun, it should be fun. So I lie in bed until I can stand it no more, then stand up. The sky is grey. Is it as grey as far as I can see, or beyond? Not that I can see far, when the sky is blocked in high-rise Singapore. Hence, I yearn for wide, open spaces. I fire up my Mac to look at the weather radar. All around where I live, a bright green hovers. That means rain. Will I get wet? The answer need not be blowing in the wind. Less than an hour later, the bright blob has become a piddling puddle. On the road I go! The road is slick with rain barely 2 km away from where I live. I pack my camera with me. Once in a while, I stop and shoot. To see the beauty in the ordinary. Even if it is an incinerator.

Things (grey sky) might look bad, but the bigger picture (weather radar) puts things in context. Even if it's bad, it might not last that long. Even if it does, look for the beauty in the ordinary.

Reverso

Woodlands, 46 km. I didn't cycle last week. Why bother when it feels like a chore? I am mired in malaise today too, until evening. I'm seized by the urge to rise and ride. And so I do. I usually ride to Woodlands clockwise. Today, I do it in reverse. Without the need for arm warmers or sunblock to ward off sunburn. Nor sunglasses and contact lenses. Nice and simple. Traffic is heavy and there are a few close calls. When traffic thins out, I look at the sky. Wispy cirrus clouds after the cumulo nimbus in the morning. I rue riding without my camera. Shots missed: smoke stacks silhoutted against the greying sky.