The leaves were rustling in the soft Saturday breeze just at the break of morning. Overcast skies looming on the horizon.
The occasional lorry zooms past on the nearby motorway. And the sun finally takes a peek... out of the blue yonder greeting me ever so gently as it reflects off the window sill.
I reluctantly get out of bed feeling happy somehow that Im going to be rewarded to a great ride afterwards.
It was one of the most "unorganized" Saturday morning's in Cyclospore history I must say. Everyone was in some sort of fuzzy state. Late to awake and miscommunicated ride details. First to arrive was Gabriel (absent for 2 weeks) and next was me and Rocket Rupert. Reuben followed shortly with Daniel sleepily rolling in and Ming Wei arriving soon too.
The traditional exchange of handshakes were seen to and we chatted amongst ourselves with Reuben and me keeping quiet. (Wondering how come these guys have so much to chat about I guess?)
Bukit Brown was on the itenerary initially but majority decided against it as most wanted a Chill and Relax ride! (Hence the new term coined - Chillax) heheh!
We decided to head on down to the world famous Zoological Gardens off Mandai Road and then made it our stopover for a cuppa and toast (add in Chee Cheong Fun, Congee and Butter with Half Boiled eggs)
To our surprise, the Zoo was abuzz with tourists and locals alike. Perhaps due to the fact that the day before was a Public Holiday. Tourists a plenty too! We were not the only cyclists as there were other factions gracing the many food outlets in the vicinity.
Cyclospore decided after much hesitation to stack our bikes to be a little more considerate to other fellow cyclists.
We enjoyed exchanging jokes and bantering and lapped up indulgently the offerings of an Orang Utan run eatery.
Soon, time caught up and it was getting super crowded. We decided to push off... but to where? Should we go here? Or there? Or you know, maybe there would be good...
I suggested Waterfront after some thought as I thought that it was a good and nice place to go which won't be too crowded at this time and also some guys have not been there. Anyway it was just a stone's throw away.
So off we went-a-pedalling slowly at a snails pace. Bikes were complaining to the owners and all as we under pedaled them... but, heck! We are not in a race-leh! So just cycle and enjoy the surroundings.
That we did and we were going to be faced with a steep 5% incline near Kranji MRT and I sped up and told Gabs that he had to make a choice as to whether he was game for the rather steep climb or he preferred mainly flats.
Gabs hesitated a little and then shuffled between climb and then choose no climb. In the end we took the no climb option with me pulling the group (cannot use peloton as the group not big enough). We were soon at the entrance of the legendary Woodlands Checkpoint (spelt as always jam). There was small talk and some joked at the traffic lights while waiting for the lights to turn that whether anyone brought along their passports! .... we then made our way around the old Woodlands Bus Interchange.
I decided to take a more adventurous route and it involved dismounting our bikes and pushing our bikes up a ramp which lead to a park connector. And that we did to everyone's SURPRISE! haha! Caught them off guard there!
But there were smiles on everyones faces as Dan waited for Gabs who was a little behind on the slope.
We could soon see in the distance the massive gridlock build up for vehicles heading in to Singapore. What a sight. It was then a downhill experience which saw speeds in excess of 100km/h minus 80km/h. :-P
Riding along the coastline where Johor was on the horizon, well not actually on the horizon but just opposite from where we are. Surprising how near it seems but yet so far when we have to make our way across with immigration clearance and all.
Well, that's not what we're doing here today, as we continued and made haste to soldier on to the entrance of the sprawling Woodlands Waterfront as Rocket wanted to conduct big business of sorts.
We waited in the shade patiently and took pics of the bikes lined up and I even had the honor to test ride the bike which Omega Pharma Quickstep ride currently and Mark Cavendish rode last year! - The Venerable S-Works Venge. Super Supple Ride with lots of potent character and fiery speed waiting to be unleashed upon command. Powered by none other than the pro-tour proven Big-S Dura Ace.
As
Rocket Rupert emerged looking relieved, we rolled on to the jetty and went to the end of it. Rupert's Bar end cap decided to take a salty refreshing dive into the sea as it has not seen a lot of water lately or so it whispered to me! kekeke!
And so that was the adventurous and thrilling story of a post Good Friday ride which all of us enjoyed. We parted at the lights. Big smiles on everyones faces.
I accompanied Ming Wei half way back and Rupert, Reuben, Gabs and Dan headed the opposite direction with Dan clocking in more miles by following Gabs to Thompson and back.
That's how the story of a rather "unorganized" Cyclospore day out unfolded. Hopefully we will have more of these to come as it seems that every ride it gets better and we always have some exciting stuff going on for us!
So if you (anybody at all!) are reading this, please do join us on our Chillax rides as we welcome everyone to share and partake in the camaraderie that the joy of cycling has to offer! Saturdays at Sembawang Shopping Centre - 730am will be our Rendezvous point.... and Secret Training rides are organized "secretly" albeit not so secretly too if you get what I mean.
Happy Easter one and all! :-)
Ride Safe,
Matt
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