Biking Traveller

In loving memory

2010-03-30T13:36:00.000+08:00

Like the hills and the trees around, you watch over us as we ride on...
Against the head-winds blowing over the grassy plains we hear your laughter and chuckle...
From never-ending climbs to whizzing downhills, your wheels never stop spinning...
The pictures you took on your trips helped us to see the beauty inside of you...
And as the day draws to a close, we will always remember the things you taught us, the times we spent and the lives you have touched.

Ride on Ben... Ride on...

Ouch!!!!

2008-09-16T20:50:00.008+08:00

I wonder if it was because someone bumped me off a particular slope at Track 15 that left me haunted of the crash. You see, what happened was I crashed again at that particular slope. This time it was bad....

Thank goodness for gloves... These babies, saved my palms from pain.

Minor scratches on my right arm.

A blood clot on my left thumb...

Huge abrasions on my left thigh...

Abrasions on my right thigh....

And to top it of, a "Holey" t-shirt for landing smack on my chest and sliding downhill for a metre... Ouch!!!

Anyway, I guess that's what makes MTB fun man...
I am gonna own that slope the next time...

Till next time....

Tour de Hills

2008-08-24T13:48:00.006+08:00

Feeling itchy for a ride, I decided to do a slow easy hill ride so.....

Slow easy hill ride ok? Sure!!!
Coming down South Bouna Vista Road was fun till I met the unsurmountable wall of Vigilante Drive. The dream just ended there....

Then next up was Mt. Faber. We did this 2 times up different ways.

After doing that, I thougt to myself, I shouldn't be doing this on this bike.

I should be doing it on this bike instead!!!

Moi...

World Champ Nick!!! Dead out from the ride....

Total distance : 76km
Elavation : 1600ft
Ride Time : 4hrs 25 mins

Night Rides @ BT

2008-08-11T13:08:00.000+08:00

Went riding with company at BT at night....

Look who showed up!!! Yellow canary on a full sus tomac....

Monkey god vs Pigsy...

Posing for a shot.

Gimme a hug says Nick....

Reservoir Pic. BBQ and beer would be a treat!!!

Thanks for playing.

Pet Rocks

2008-08-11T12:46:00.000+08:00

Recently, I have just taken up a new interest in collecting pet rocks...

As always, I have never been a weight weenie so weight just doesn't bother me much. But alas, to my surprise, when I opened my first aid pouch, I discovered 2 pet rocks. I have decided to name them Ben and Nick.

Thanks for the ammo guys!

HS

New revelations...

2008-08-03T14:45:00.003+08:00

What cycling means to me today...

Check this out!

Something new I'm working on now and hope that more can be impacted in the course of the journey.

Cheers

I just wanna ride my bike.....

2008-06-22T23:43:00.006+08:00

Indian chiefs, hardware evaluators, smack-talkers, whiners, big-cannoneers, confused weight-losers and pro-biker ~~wannabes~~ enthusiasts.

After, tonnes of food, rain and shine, reckless drivers, midnight chats, salting through from too much electrolytes, watching the sun set and rise and set again, losing the feel of your legs and butt, 10h 37min and 241.87km later.

Does it matter anymore?

I just wanna ride my bike, ride my bike, ride my bike, ride my bike...........

My New Ride

2008-06-13T17:17:00.003+08:00

For details check it out here and here.

cheers

Back again with new discoveries : )

2008-03-22T21:40:00.020+08:00

It's back to the land of oil palms and rubber plantations, not to mention rolling hills and never-ending roads; Malaysia. Today we head back to the eastern side of West Malaysia towards Desaru for a leisurely tour.

From Singapore we depart for Tana Merah Ferry Terminal to catch the 7.50am ferry. Be there at 7.00am for check in. We had to wait almost half an hour to board the ferry. The ferry was a different one from what we took last time and it was much faster. Chilly winds on the top deck of the ferry forced me to break out my wind-breaker halfway into the journey. I was freezing! The journey took about 40mins before we arrived at Sebana Cove and disembarked. Greeting us was warm, fuzzy sunshine that promised to turn into a furnace later in the day. Thus, we began our trip.

Lalang swaying in the rolling winds of the plains

Fallen oil palms that were old, litter the scenery

Taking a shot at the junction to Tg. Belungkor. (28km of rolling hills from here)

The journey ahead...... gulp....

Michelle fully loaded... Lama...

Trying to beat the heat, we did not stop to take any pictures but rode all the way to Desaru where we checked into the Damai. It cost RM120 for a twin single room big enough to house 4. We too the RM140 room as the standard room was fully booked. While waiting for Ben to shower, I fell asleep on the sofa and only woke up at 6.00pm feeling like an abyss appeared in my belly. Nasi Goreng Kampung, fried chicken and cold chin chow managed to satisfy my hunger before we headed for a chill out session before going to sleep as we were both sleep deprived from the previous night of not sleeping.

Awaking the next morning, breakfast was a disappointment as there was only nasi lemak rice but nothing else to accompany it. No eggs, no ikan bilis, only cucumber. There used to be curry puffs and semosas the last time we came, but this time I think they really scrimped on the breakfast budget. The prata was oil soaked and soggy too. Well, that is why it's called a budget hotel. Anyway, I had a double portion of breakfast as I knew we had a ride back to the ferry terminal and food was scarce along the way.

After breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we headed down to the hotel beach where we took some picture.

Michelle Re-Loaded...

Hotel view from beach

Beach rock formations

2 unsuspecting tourists dressed in skimpy swim suits...
I wonder what the Malaysian authorities would say about their dress code???

Play Time....

Final check before the climb

Gravity Climb

You'll see many of such interesting trees along the way...

Time to fire up the N.O.S ....

Made it!

Beach at Batu Layar

My mini made it so far....

Curious kids looking at the holes made by beach crabs

Taking notes

What used to be a beautiful and natural rock formation is now covered with trash that is washed up to the coast and littered by the visitors to the rock formations. In Yosemite National Park this would be a protected area, but as we all know.... Malaysia Boleh!

Rock formation studded beach.

Low tide pleasures...

Rock formation studded beach

Crashing waves

Never-ending view of the beach curving into the background...

Couple strolling and enjoying the breeze...

Crashing waves pound the rock formations. Soon they will all disappear...

Lone girl...

Layered sedimentary rocks

Terracotta Warrior?

The peak! with trash at the foot...

Can you make out what this is?

Bullfrog? Roadkill?

Our bikes basking int he sun!

Colourful beach hut... Wonder what it is used for?

Highlighting the eastern side after Batu Layar Beach where you would find a gigantic Lalang field that leads to a bridge that turns out into a melon field that connects to Seaview Resort.

Beautiful lalang fields...

Picturesque...

Posing for a shot!

Moi... Picture courtesy of Ben

Travelling along this lalang trail, we reached a sunken road that has now become a river that meanders into the sea. Pee and picture time!

Flying High...

Wings outstretched and floating in the air...

Melon Patch... Wonder if the makcik would sell us one???

Upon reaching Sebana Cove, we decided to explore the left turn instead of going into the terminal. This was a good turn as it goes 12km into oil palm plantations and ends up in the town of Penggerang which is only 2km from the bum boat terminal!!! This means that there are now 2 roads that we can take to Desaru coming from Tg. Pengilih. We can take the coastal road or the plantation road that leads to Sebana Cove.

You'll be coming from this way if you come from Tg. Pengilih.

This is what you will see after the polis station.

Make a left after the drink stall!

Traffic-less road to Sebana Cove!!! Through oil palm plantations.

A curious kampung fella peering out at 2 spandex wearing cyclist taking weird pictures around his neighborhood!

Taking the same road back, we pass the marina and marvel at the huge bungalows with their private docks...

See what I mean.....

Gateway to paradise.... too bad it's not mine...

Friendly chat eh....

Heaven's grace....

Divine rays...

On our way back home to concrete urban Singapore....

Upon reaching Singapore, its straight to our usual beef noodle stall for a double portion or tasty beef noodles and winter melon tea. Sun-burns and crisp tan lines were evident the next day... All in all, the ride was a very fun and fruitful one as there were many things to see and do and also the discovery of the plantation road that leads to Sebana Cove. According to the auntie who lives in Penggarang, she said that many other cyclist use that road to get to Sebana... Guess we are not the first to discover this hidden trail. Next time, we will try this path and hopefully discover new paths that we can take. Till then...

Ride safe....!!!

Ride Details:
Avg speed: 20.6km/h
Max speed: 58.2km/h
Ride Time: 8hr 20min
Distance: 171.94km

KHS solo mini-epic

2008-02-24T21:15:00.003+08:00

Bought a new bike and love it. It's the KHS F-20-R white coloured mini roadie... For the full specs check here...

Anyway, I attempted something I wouldn't have done on a new bike. I decided to try a mini-epic on this bike to find out more about how well it rides. The results were quite promising.

So the route goes as normal starting from the west area at Bt Batok Central and heads to Mandai, Yishun, Hougang, Kovan, Old Tampines Road, Changi, East Coast, Keppel Road, up Kent Ridge Park from Pepys Road, Winding up South Bouna Vista and returning back to West Coast Road to Jalan Buroh then to Jurong Hill (I over shot and ended up in Tuas), then Boon Lay and finally back to Bt Batok. Took intermitten breaks of 10-15mins to have a hot drink and also to rest my joints as I had not been riding for more than 3 weeks. Still got me legs! Yeah!

Ride Verdict!

This bike rides very smoothly especially after changing the tires to Panaracer Tough Minits and also a Scott Speed Saddle. Managed to do coastal park connector at 38km/h comfortably but was over-taken by a bunch of roadies but managed to hang with them on the whole stretch of Jalan Buroh just by spinning. Thought I would take a rest by drafting them. They were not very fast, probably going 35km/h so it was quite good considering that I had already done 100km by then. The soft-tail kept rough bumps and road trash comfortable to ride on and also lessened the stress on the lower back.

This is a very good epic road bike as it folds and has a wheel-base that is slightly longer than your regular road bike. About 2 inches longer. Considering that it is lower than your average bike, it's centre of gravity is lower and also more stable. Bull-horns help reduce the vibrations on the front but make it harder to pound up hills. Maybe will consider changing to drop bars in future. The soft-tail is a boon on rough terrain and road trash. The bike is generally stiff on the frame but has parts that flex in front and the rear making the bike a very comfortable bike to ride especially on long distances. Top speed for the bike can reach 45km/h comfortably and can easily cruise at 35-38km/h even with its small wheel size. All in all, as a comfortable training bike, and an all-rounder if set up properly.

Ride Details
Avg Spd : 23.1 km/h
Max spd : 53.7km/h
Ride time : 5hrs 55min
Distance : 137.38km

Long overdue photos from a month old ride...

2008-01-23T06:06:00.000+08:00

Lucky day that the Singapore Flyer was lit for maintainence so I took the opportunity to take a few pictures. These are HDR (High Dynamic Range) images where I combined 5 identical shot but with different exposures at 1 stop intervals. This produced the following effects after the tonal and colour mapping which is a very tedious process. For more info, Cambridge has a very informative site that even teaches you how to do it in photoshop!

Basically, what HDR does is that it allows you to create pictures with the full colour resolutions that normal 8 bit(jpeg) cameras image formats cannot capture within a single shot. Raw(48bit) formats are better able to do the job of capturing more colour and exposure information but that also means that you will have huge storage and slow writing times during photo taking. The HDR process allows you to map colours and tones so that you are able to brighten under-exposed areas and under-expose over-exposed areas of a picture.

Back to the ride, I started at 1am and headed out towards BT when I see a flashing light approaching me at the junction in front of the BT fire station. Half-drunk and tired Ben just came back from a drinking session with the gang. We chatted for a while and he told me that the Singapore Flyer was lighted up and was worth a shot. And a good thing too. I was actually headed to the East Coast Park connector to take that picture that I wanted to take for so long so I had all my camera equipment with me. So I took the usual route but instead of turning left at Nicoll Highway, I made a right to the Esplanade Bridge where I started to take pictures.

Marina IR in the making

Ben, forget the 29er. Check out this baby's hubs and wheel diameter; 150m!!!

At the SG Flyer's location, I took some upward shots from the sidewalk. I was practically lying on the ground and using a super-wide angled lens for these 2 shots.

Reaching the canal between the East Coast Park Connector, I finally reached my photo site at 5am. It was cold cold cold.... The winds were blowing non-stop and the tide was high. I was forced to wear my jacket which I was thankful I brought along. So I unpacked and started what I set out to do.

That streak is the flying in of a plane for landing at Changi Airport. This picture was taken at 5.30am in the morning and it was actually pitch black at the site. However, using a tripod and setting the camera to manual with a 60sec exposure, I managed to capture this shot of the plane flying in from the horizon.

A moment in time

Tranquil morning

The rest of the pictures below are regular pictures.

Lalang

Fishermen in the morning

Trail of gas and pollution as each metal bird descents.

Sky high

2 modes of transport

Riding back, I passed the Castle Beach near the East Coast Food Centre and there was a sand castle exhibit so I took some pictures before heading back home.

kiss me baby

Overall, the ride was a good one with a very chilly morning and great things to see, all within one ride.

Long rides and Learnings

2007-12-30T01:55:00.000+08:00

It has been quite a while since Ben and I took a long ride non-stop. Well, last night I had such a ride.

We rode non-stop all the way from Dairy Farm to East Coast Mac where I had a huge breakfast before riding back from Orchard to Old Holland Road then back to The Rail Mall for a drink.

Sounds very boring, but that was how it was. It was just plain riding. The interesting part of the day was not the ride but the conversation I had with a friend whom I met afterwards.

After listening to my friend's story, I discovered a few things.

1.) People need a purpose in life.

2.) They seek what they wish to seek only to find out that it was the process they enjoyed and not the end result. (So what if the ends justify the means? Even if it did not, one could still enjoy the learning process!)

3.) Contentment is so lacking in people today as they want more and more things. There is never a perfect something/anything for them.

4.) Pain is something that is only a small part of life but people make it seem as though it is a huge part of their lives and get driven/affected by it.

5.) Most of the things we concern ourselves with usually has minimal effect over our lives but we tend to spend so much time and energy focused on them, not doing anything about it and neglecting the things that really matter to us.

6.) There is a time and place for everything. To concern oneself before it is time, is a waste of time and there is nothing you can do in reality.

7.) The greatest lesson I felt after listening to my friend was that one needs to learn how to be happy. Happiness is something that people associate with things or people in their lives today and in my opinion, that is not truly being happy.

To be happy, BE happy. You need nothing else.
Just BE...

While coming to realization of all the above, I am sad to say that I too am guilty of the charges presented above from time to time. However, it is the constant conscious effort to work around them that make us better and happier people as we grow and learn. I had a wonderful lesson this morning.

Thank you my friend!

Ride Details
Distance : 115.97km
Avg Spd : 22.3km/h
Ride time : 4hr 58min

There is an answer, some day we will know,
And you will ask her, why she had to go,
We live and die, we laugh and we cry,
And you must take away the pain,
Before you can begin to live again;

So let it start, my friend, let it start,
Let the tears come rolling from your heart,
And when you need a light in the lonely night,
Carry me like a fire in your heart,
Carry me like a fire in your heart;

There is a river, rolling to the sea,
And you'll be with her for all eternity,
But we that remain need you here again,
So hold you in her memory,
And begin to make the shadows disappear;

Yes let it start, my friend, let it start,
Let the love come rolling from your heart,
And when you need a light in the lonely night,
Carry me like a fire in your heart,
Carry me like a fire in your heart;

And when you need a light in the lonely night,
Carry me like a fire in your heart,
Carry me like a fire in your heart;

And when you need a light in the lonely night,
Carry me like a fire in your heart,
Carry me like a fire in your heart;

To cry is to feel JOY flowing,
Allow that...

Back again...

2007-12-24T02:50:00.001+08:00

As a major happening for the year ended, I breath a sigh of relief and can finally start blogging again. Ha...

Had 2 rides since the Sedili ride but don't think I would document them here as they were both midnight rides to our usual eating places. However, the thing is that I am now clocking rides that are usually 100km or longer. That's a good sign. Hope to keep that up to build base for longer rides. Planning to do Cameron Highlands this coming Jan 08. Hope the hotel rates and weather turn favourable.

Anyway, I'm slowly building a pack list of items that I would needing for touring and the latest items collected were

1.) Zebra brand stainless steel pot cum lunch box $18.50/-.
2.) maple fire stove that has an interesting adapter for steamboat stove gas canisters.

Canister gas that adapts to the standard threaded Lindel screw head of camping butane canisters by means of a custom made adapter(bottom left grey object)

Bottom end attaches to canister butane gas common used in steamboat stoves. These canisters are readily available all over the world and are cheap.

Original threaded Lindel screw top for standard screw top gas canisters.

Adapter attached to the hose.

Anyway, given the adapter, you have a choice of using either standard threaded Lindel Screw top canisters or the more commonly available canister butane fuels. As a side note, you will not be able to find the Lindel headed canisters in Singapore. Travellers from abroad, please note!

Wanted to test it out straight away so I did what anybody could do. I tested both items out on a simple meal of Cream of Chicken Penne.

Recipe:
150g of 14min cook penne.
1 packet of instant cream of chicken from campbell
water

Once setup, the stove looks like the MSR Whisper Lite!

A very even flame roars away as the water in the pot heats up.

Aha, the deed is done and my supper ready... The best part, total cooking time, was exactly 3min for boiling the water and 14min for cooking the pasta!

Nothing fantastic seated at home in the comfort of my armchair and hi-fi, but on a tour, this is something to die for, especially when you are cold and hungry! Well, that just about sums up about the stove and Pot.

A good thing about the lunch box is that the pot has a handle built in and the whole thing is self locking!!!

ps - the stove fits into the pot!!!

Next item on the list, bike overhaul!!!

Man you should have seen the crap on my bike after riding in the rain and using Finish Lines Ceremic Lube. My bike does not like it. The lube is great for rainy days as it stays on the chain, but after a wet ride, you find that it not only has stayed on your chian, it has also flicked off onto your chainstay, downtube and also your bike shorts. Damn!!! Your derailler turns from silver to black. My jockey cage turned black and even my shiny cassette turned the most deathly of colours, not to mention my drive side crank arm also turned black from the lube. I must say, the price of lube lasting in the rain is really really a pain in the ass...

I took it as a chance to get my hands really dirty. I did a complete overhaul of my bike. I took out everything from my bike and gave it a complete cleaning. All that was left were my cranks and headset short of me having the tools to remove them. It took me 7hours to finally clean and tune up the bike. Now my baby looks as bright as before and rides like the wind and I will stick to White Lightning for most part of the riding.

Save the ceramic lube for epics I guess.

The hills that never stop rolling...

2007-12-02T00:58:00.000+08:00

Finally I've managed to sort out all the notes of the Sedili Ride. For a detailed distance and waypoint account, please click here. My account is slightly different due to the distance I took for both days and where we bunked in. I started riding from The Rail Mall at 4.30am on the Nov 2007 where I met Ben. We had a light breakfast of noodles and a 100 plus before setting off. It was drizzling slightly. We took our usual route of Bt Timah to East Coast and the park connector to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

2 things to note at the ferry terminal. You can buy return tickets from Sebana Cove from Singapore itself saving you some money. A 2-way ticket cost SGD31.20/- from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal; almost the same price as a 1-way ticket(SGD25). On top of that, you will need to pay SGD$10 for your bicycle.

Indo Falcon Shipping
Tel: 6275-7393
6377-5638
6270-6778
Fax: 6276-1753
travel@indofalcon.com.sg

As we were late, we had to board the ferry immediately. Ben made sure that the porters handled our bikes properly after what happened to his bike the last time. Something funny happened during the loading of the bikes. Ben's Stumpjumper weighs about 10kg with all his gear and stuff, so when the staff lifted it up to the second deck of the ferry, they felt it easy. You should have seen the look on the poor chaps face when he tried to lift my bike above his head to pass to his colleague on the top deck. BTW, my bike weighed 18kg that day. Hee..... sorry dude... The ferry started up and we began our journey.

Overview of the route I took. Check out the red crosses; energy gel consumed.

Singapore Leg

Hitting the Malaysia leg of the ride at 9.30am after clearing customs, Ben and I rode part of the journey to the first Petronas station where I made final checks of waypoints and waterpoints that I thought I would need...(proven otherwise later). We rode off from the station at 11am and I took the inland route with lots of hill climbs. Ben took the leisurely coastal route. We planned to rendezvous at either Sedili Besar or Sedili Kechil depending how fast I rode. Following the route, there is little chance that we would miss each other as we would be coming from opposite directions. Just to let you guys know how hot it was that day, it was a burning 41 degree Celsius. I was really hot and overheated that day. On top of that, there were hills to climb.

This was taken just before the bridge at the junction of Lok Heng. This is the view of the coastal side from where I was standing. Ben must be on that side and sniggering away at what was on the left side of the sky around me.

This is what it looks like on my left. I really felt like that solitary tree. Bare, alone and dark clouds looming overhead. Well, after the second Petronas station at the junction of Bandar Easter, it rained buckets and bucket and more buckets. It was so heavy I could not see my outstretched hands save for a faint image of my gloves. The thing was, I had just loaded up on water at the petrol station and all this water had to come down on me. I rode on anyway as I wanted to reached Desaru that day. It was 12.15pm when I left the station. I carried on riding non-stop till I reached Sedili Besar where I took a 5min milo break. Along the way, I had consumed 5 energy gels. The rain was a good and a bad thing in my opinion for the heat was really unbearable. I wouldn't have made it that far if it did not rain as I would have been badly dehydrated and burned by the time I reached Sedili Besar. I rode on and passed Sedili Kechil when I heard someone shout very loudly at me. It was Ben. He was shoeless and resting at a bus stop waiting for the rain to subside. He said I looked terrible riding in the rain. I agree. I had muck, oil, dirt leaves and trash all over me due to the wet riding. We rested till 3.45pm before setting off for Desaru. By that time, the muscle behind my left knee was aching badly because I think my saddle was too high for hill climbing and my left leg is slightly shorter than my right. I ended up losing 50% of my pedaling power for the trip to Desaru. Riding towards Tg. Balau, I achieved my first century along the way. I never felt more satisfied riding along the huge lalang fields and fighting headwind towards Tg. Balau. We had the option of staying at either Tg. Balau or Desaru depending on the rates and quality of the accommodation. We reached Tg. Balau at 6.00pm and checked out the resort there. It cost 2 pax per night

RM160/- Standard Room - no hot water
RM235/- Deluxe Room - hot water

We decided otherwise. We headed out of the resort and made our way to the food centre just outside the resort and had in my opinion the most expensive Nasi Lemak. It cost RM3/- for rice, fried chicken with bones that was half the size of a chicken nugget, a slice of cucumber, a few peanuts, some ikan bilis and a teaspoon of belachan. But anyway, I was so tired that I didn't know what I was eating. I ate and slept on the table while Ben, still full of energy had a second helping of Mee Siam. We rode off at 6.45pm and made our way to Desaru. The first resort we checked out was the Pulai. Price conscious travellers, it cost RM450/- for a standard room. Go check out the resort next to it. It is called the Damai. It only cost RM130/- for a room for 2 that comes with a tub, hot water, air-con, TV and no mozzies. It even has a pool that you can use from 10am to 7pm. Further down is the beach if you wish to take an evening walk with that special someone.

View of Damai resort seaview.

View of the room. 2 Single beds, TV and attached bathroom!

Drying our gloves on the lampshade

Notice that bottle of 100 plus strapped to the rack of my bike, that came from East Coast 7-11 in Singapore. It travelled 176km to end up in the room. We got up the next morning and had breakfast of nasi lemak, fried mee hoon, fried mee and curry puffs before going back to sleep till 11.30am when we started to pack and make our way towards Sebana Cove for our return to Singapore. Along the way, we made a detour to Batu Layar where according to Ben, was an area with petrified wood and a nice beach. True to his word, there was a beautiful beach and petrified rock formations. In the states this would have been considered a national conservation area, but for Malaysia, you know the drill...

Guess what made this print?

And what made this?

Hermit crabs the size of huge garden snails made this hole.

Unique looking drift wood. Looks like a reindeer.

This is something for touring . Get a bike stand. It helps a lot and the weight is seriously negligible. Rather than rest your bike all over the place. It helps if your bike can stand.

Ben looks happy. I wonder why??? Maybe the thought of doing Mersing next made him woozy..

Batu Layar rock face.

Behind the rock face. Kena bluffed...

There is also the local mafia who you should be "afraid" of....
Peaking rock that reaches for the sky.

Fishermen fishing on the rocks.

Washed up trash and clothes on the shore.

Love declarations on a could be national conservation.

Final Stretch before Sebana Cove

The Gunung I passed yesterday.

Downhill ahead.... yeah!!

Pitcher plant the size of 500ml pet bottles.

They come in pairs too... :)

The blazing sun above my head.

The climb behind us.

All lined up.

My steed and gear. Total weight; bike 18kg. Bag 7kg.

Friendly mudskipper along the shores of Sebana Cove.

Our transport back to sunny island; Singapore.

The divider from the ferry terminal and the marina.

View of the marina in the overcast sky.

Marina house.

Caucasian couple and their yatch.

Nice Blue..

Another view of the marina.

Power turbines for boats.

This security guard is like Hudini. He was the one who led us to customs, opened the gate at the entrance of Sebana Cove, check boats, leads us back to customs, and also collects the boarding passes from us as we leave. He's a ghost!!!

View of the ramp to the marina.

Clubhouse view.

RM8/- Ice Kachang that looks so nice but does not taste good at all. It's mostly ice. Nothing much for the filling and taste. Lack of syrup and ingredients make it less than satisfying after a long hard ride. What a disappointment.

My Ice-Kachang monster about to eat Ben's Ice-Kachang.
Muah hahah......

The trophy bike on a podium! What better way to honour the bike that made its way through those hills and weather... :p

Upon reaching Singapore, we headed to Vicky's place as Ben needed to pick up something. We headed for beef noodles and then to Ambrosia for supper before heading back home. What a ride. Up next, Mersing!!!!

Ride Details

Cyclocomputer:
Distance : 254.41
Time : 12hrs 29min
Avg Spd : 20.7
Max : 50.6

GPS(includes ferry calculations):
Distance : 322km
Moving Time: 14hrs 44min
Moving Avg: 21.9km/h
Max : 50.8

My feelings on the ride....

2007-12-01T03:26:00.001+08:00

How I felt that day and clouds above my head, originally uploaded by bikingtraveller.

Still busy editing pictures and note for the writeup for the Sedili ride but here is one picture that I thought would tell you how I felt about the ride.

Solitary barren tree, big open terrain and looming darkness overhead... need I say more?

Sedili here I come... I hope...

2007-11-26T02:29:00.000+08:00

Yes! Finally, I'm going to Sedili riding. This came after crazy Ben recced the place and made notes on the water points and confirmed route. This will come in handy as I will be riding all the way to sedili besar to meet Ben. In any case, just pray hard it is not too hot and does not rain. I hope I do not become a broiled chicken when I get there.

Till I get back and post what my ride was like, you might want to check out Ben's version of the ride.

Ciao.....

Jurong Hill

2007-11-23T18:23:00.001+08:00

Another climbing route tonight. This time it's Jurong Hill. Ben seems keen to get me up every hill in Singapore. In no time, I think I should would be going up mountains if this keeps up. The route was simple, we headed to towards Jurong East then Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim before going all the way straight down towards Pioneer North Road. Wrong choice of road. It connects to part of the expressway. We should have taken the road to Boon Lay then go past the industrial estate and make a left towards Pioneer North Road. Lucky for us, it was very late at night and there were no cars on the road. We did meet many patrol cars though. We even saw a group of punk riders get stopped by a patrol car early in the morning.

Anyway, this seems like the season for hill climbs and short rides, but hell do I feel more tired after these rides. I have done 120km a night but hill climbing seems more tiring than long distance riding. Jurong Hill, just beside Jurong Bird Park starts with a long low gradient slope that gets steeper as you progress upwards. Hitting the car park midway, you will face another climb almost twice the gradient of the first part of the climb. Happy climbing!

Finishing the climb, we were aimless and headed to a Mac at Jurong West for coffee to replan our next destination. After much discussion, we decided to head for our regular Jurong West Nasi Lemak. At $4 a plate, consisting of ikan bilis, fish cake, chicken wing and egg, I felt that it was very expensive as the Nasi Lemak at Changi only cost $3 for the same stuff. The interesting this about this malay guy who sells nasi lemak is that he can speak almost perfect mandarin!!! Try talking to him. The stall is located at the market at Jurong West. After that, we headed back to Bt Batok for more food. We had eggs and toast and coffee. The funny thing was, we could still eat! I wonder if it was the hills we climbed. I don't eat as much even on long rides. This is like a makan ride disguised as a hill climbing ride...

Ride Details:
Distance : 28.2km
Avg Spd. : 18km/h
Ride Time : 1hr 39mins

The night of the climbs

2007-11-22T16:59:00.000+08:00

Crazy Ben was feeling nuts tonight and dragged me up some freaking hill that nearly wanted my life; Mount Faber. He said, "Hey, let's do Mount Faber tonight!" I only slept 4hrs the previous night and had to work full day the next and here's what he said to that, "We take a short ride tonight!" Ya right....short...He never mentioned anything about long winding, roads, hilly climbs and on top of that he even suggested BT off road at night... Uuhh.....

Anyway, we started the route and went to explore a way to avoid the BT traffic by using the small roads in the housing estate.
We entered the estate via Rifle Range Road and came out from Shelford Road to complete the first part of the trip. We'll do the Adam Road part the next time. There are many turns and roads to remember but ONLY 1 Route out of the estate. There are a few alternative(Marked by red lines) that connect to the route again. Please note that the Turf Club alternative is only available during the day as there is a gate in turf city so you will need to exit the estate and use the sidewalk along BT Road. After Vanda Link, beware of hilly terrain especially Pine Walk. IMOH, it sould be called Pine Hill!!! There is another major downhill/climb depending which way you are coming from inside the estate. I shall not disclose where it is, but I am sure you will remember it.... Have fun...

After BT, onwards to Tanglin and Grange Road towards Alexendra Road, Lower Delta Road, before the highlight of the night; Mount Faber! An idea of the climb at to Mount Faber is like a Vigilante Road Combined with a South Bouna Vista Road. During the other climbs, Crazy Ben was saying that he would not be using his middle chain ring, that was until he felt his legs ..."I think I'll will retract what I said when we reach Mount Faber!" hahaha.... My legs were burning when I was climbing Mount Faber. I wonder how it would feel like on a touring bike with 40kg on the bike??? Two words... Damn Scary...

The climb was horrible but the descent was marvelous. Coasting down the other side of the hill, you can see the picturesque sights of the Sentosa view in the clearing. At the foot of the hill on the other side is Pender Road. Try going down the hill without brakes, you'll understand why the road sounds like a particular animal...

After that it was all the way to West Coast Park Mac, for a long awaited chocolate milkshake. We passed the Murtabak place and decided to give it a miss since we had had it a few nights ago. I was craving for a chocolate milkshake tonight!

Finishing off from there, we headed to Clementi Road where I took Ben on another route to avoid the smelly Toh Guan Road. We used Clementi Ave. 6 exiting via Bukit Batok East Ave. 3 towards home. BEWARE, do not use this route during peak hours as you will be riding alongside cars that go very fast that are exiting at Bukit Batok East Ave 3.

Home and time to hit the sack. Zzzzzz...........

Ride Details:
Distance : 42.73km
Avg Spd : 18.2km/h
Ride Time : 2hr 14min

Short ride with new discoveries

2007-11-21T22:19:00.001+08:00

Supposed to ride at 2am but had trouble adjusting my brake pads at home and was late. My road wheel's spoke snapped on the previous ride so I had to change to my original semi-slick wheels but I forgot that I had to change the alignment of my brake pads. According to Murphy's law, everything went wrong that night. I had forgotten to change the spare tube in my saddle bag to the semi-slick version before riding out. This made me have to go back home to change it as I did not want to be stranded due to a flat tire.

Finally everything was set and it was already 3.30am. Ben had an appointment in the afternoon and wanted to be back by 7am to avoid the traffic so our trip was planned to be a short one. The 1st part of the route was simple enough. We went through BT towards Cavanenagh Road and made a right at Suntec towards the Esplanade and all the way to Keppel Road. Going to our favourite Murtabak place along Pasir Panjang Road, we stopped there for a bite. The strange thing was I felt hungry at that point but I just could not finish the Murtabak??? Must have been a psychological scar the last Kent Ridge ride left me.

After the food, the ride became more interesting. We hit Pepys Road up towards Kent Ridge Park and found a very nice treetop broad walk that connects to Kent Ridge Park. (Cyclist please dismount! Don't make them ban all cyclist from using it!) There are benches and rest stops you can sit at and enjoy the sunset from the broad walk. Getting into Kent Ridge Park, we headed to the exit towards Science Park and made our way towards Bouna Vista, Old Holland Road and towards Senapang Trial where we would emerge from the entrance of BT hill. At this point, Ben decided to explore the road that supposedly runs behind the fire station. No luck, it does not run through. We backtracked and headed back home. Being IBS, I decided to do another hill before heading home so I went up Hume Ave. for another climb.

Conclusion, I had to get used to semi-slicks again, found a nice broadwalk and an alternate route to Kent Ridge Park instead of murtabak puking Vigilante Road, went through Senapang Road and explored a new route behind the fire station.

Short and sweet!

Ride Details:
Distance : 46.60km
Avg Spd : 18.7km/h
Ride Time : 2hrs 28min

Discovery Route

2007-11-18T23:13:00.001+08:00

It's back to Changi for Nasi Lemak again but this time using a different route and having many new discoveries along the way. We set of as usual and used Mandai toward Bondary Road vai AMK ave 6. Making a left on Boundary Road, you hit Tampines Road then Old Tampines Road, in my opinion was one of the more interesting roads that night. It spans 6.17km and is mostly flat, runs behind a runway and you can see the Tampines skyline from the uphill climb at the end of Old Tampines Road. After that, as we proceeded right to Bedok Reservoir Road we saw a very bad accident where a taxi crashed into the middle of the road divider destroying the steel barricade. Wonder how was the driver? As typical Singaporeans, I overheard a man on the phone at the crash screen telling his friend about the crash and to buy 4D of the car no. plate! BTW, it 4549. Further up, where you will find a 7-11 that sells MARS ice-cream!!! Best Energy Bar in the world!!! Instead of turning right to Simei Road, we should have just continued on Tampines Ave 2 and would have hit Loyang Ave. instead of doing the extra mileage. Following Loyang Ave, we used the usual route towards Changi Village for our breakfast!

Coming back from Changi Village, we discovered a new road that leads to an Aviation Hub with a 1.6 mile runway and huge hanger. Excellent cycling road; long and straight but has strong headwind at times. Riding along the Changi-East Coast Park Connector, we saw the remnants of a lorry accident along Coastal Road. The driver was dead when we saw him. The lorry crashed into a tree on the oncoming side of the road and swerved 180 degrees, shattering the windscreen and throwing its carriage onto the middle of the road. That driver must have been going very very fast for something like that to happen. Would have posted a pic if I had a camera with me. Talk about road kill! 2 accidents, 2 rats, 1 toad, 1 bloated dog and 1 man(if the taxi driver wasok). Bad night...

Well, that only goes to remind us that road safety is just so important. Doesn't mean that at night, there are less cars it is safer. In fact, it is just as dangerous if not more as people drive faster/race and are already sleepy and don't see you as well.

We also found a way of coming back from East Coast without hitting much traffic during peak hours that we thought was well appropriate for the morning as we were tired and were late in a sense that the peak hour traffic had started. We took the usual route to Orchard and made our way along the pavements towards Botanic Gardens and entered Tyersall Avenue. It leads to Cluny Park Road where you emerge from Bukit Timah Road. Making a right at 6th Avenue, we went up Swiss Club Road, Swiss Club Link then Binjai Park where Ben tried to Sabo me by ordering a $4 plate of wanton mee for lunch just before a major climb at Hua Guan Avenue. There is a back road that leads to BT nature reserve's Senapang Trail where you come out from the main entrance of BT hill. Beware, if you are going there after a rain and you have slick tyres.

From there it was all the way back home before I started work at 5pm. I reached home at 2pm, cleaned up my bike and discovered that one of the spokes of the drive-side of the rear wheel was broken. Damn!!! I just had it repaired not long ago. Now I have to go to Peter Chew's place to get it fixed again. And since I'm riding 120km again tonight, I guess it's back to my semi-slicks again. I think I'm going to smell smoke from Ben tonight... :~(

We'll see.....

Ride Details:
Distance : 116.26km
Avg Spd : 20.1
Ride Time : 5hrs 45min

The Great Murtabak Hunt!

2007-11-15T23:33:00.001+08:00

After the crash at Jalan Kampong Chantek, I decided I had to re-visit the site and document the crash site. I headed out to Ben's late at night about 2am and we made our way there the reverse direction to take pictures of the damaged kerb and steep slope. You can see the video in my previous post on the full story. I shall not go into details here and will focus on something of greater importance... my hunger...

I was famished by the time I finished taking the pictures and was craving for a good murtabak thinking back on the one at Telok Blangah, thus began the quest for murtabak. Since we were at BT, I thought that the coffee shop at 6th avenue would be open. We rode there only to find that it was closed...it should have been opened if I remembered correctly..... anyway, further up was Adam Road food centre, I thought,"This time sure got one....". We reached, parked our bikes and I approached the indian prata shop in the food centre only to discover to my demise, "Solly boss, vee are crozing...". I could not believe it! It was as though it was a conspiracy. Ben even suggested a network of indian prata houses that would phone ahead to tell the other stalls to beware of a murtabak monster riding towards them.... 2nd last resort, Mr Prata just along the road by the old SMU, current NUS.

Typical of Ben when he said, "Ay, Hon Shin, later you reach there they say closed for cleaning". Now this was something that was highly possible as we ride past there quite often and we always observe that they are usually cleaning the place... Mr Prata was kind to me; they were open. I went in there and ordered a mutton cheese murtabak and a teh tarik, Ben being afraid that he would end up Jolly like a mutual friend of ours, decided to just have a teh tarik. The murtabak came very quickly and disappeared very quickly too... For second helpings, Ben ordered a cheese roti tissue and another round or drinks. That disappeared pretty fast too and we were on our way again.

Heading back this time along BT was the best ride of all nights as we were so early that there was no traffic to beat. Brilliant, till Ben suggested we take a right up the hill towards upp BT road from the main junction at BT plaza. After having a full murtabak and half a roti tissue climbing up a long long climb as like trying to squeeze out all that I had stomached. Now, South Bouna Vista doesn't sound that bad after all...

I was tired by then and decided to head back home to sleep and that concludes our short documenting, recovery and makan ride for the night.

Ride details:
Distance : 28.79km
Avg Spd : 16.9km/h
Ride Time : 1hr 42min

New toys and more crazy riding

2007-11-14T21:08:00.000+08:00

So its back to Viki's or some new toys. Bought a Garmin GPS 60 to better plot my cycling routes for future references. Got too tired of visually plotting the route using Google Earth . Now, I just upload it via USB directly into Google Earth PLUS after paying the US$20/- yearly subscription. In my opinion, it's worth it! Saves you a lot of eye-strain hunting blurred, clouded, not updated satellite images of google maps. You can also use MotionedBased to do the job. Haven't tried though but I'll do a full write-up once I have tested it out with the unit thoroughly, but in the meantime, here are some comments I have for the unit.

Quite bulky but it is very visible while travelling as it sports a larger than average display as compared to other handheld GPSs. The waypoint recording is highly accurate as referenced with the picture on google maps and physical location, subjected to full 3D capturing of waypoints. Try not to stand just outside the shop to take waypoint as you are usually partially sheltered by the building. This has resulted in one of my waypoints being 500m off-course which I later traced to it being that I did not have a full 3D lock on the location.

[Tip! That extra 2mins you spend acquiring a full signal would save you miles later on the way back. More, if you are elevated/climbing!]

Sexy design sporting user friendly water-proof buttons for easy single-handed use and rubber studded side-grips for those slippery and wet moments... hee :p

Route taken was half-manually plotted. As you can see from the pic, the light green line was plotted by me and the cyan one by the GPS.

Highlight of the day happened just as we started riding. I went tree-hugging just 20 mins into the ride... I was very lucky to only sustain minor abrasions and bruises on my left shoulder and thigh considering that I was going very very fast. Flipping my stem over really made a difference to the profile of my riding, not to mention the handling of the bike too. Check out the vid.

All in all, this ride was an interesting one as we located new bike shops and makan places. Had chunky grass jelly and soya bean curd along Upp Serangoon Road, also managed to find 1 of the 3 Scott distributors in Singapore called Swiss Valley along River Valley Road and we found a little bikers haven for cool drinks and chillin out. Go check out Ambrosia. It's a Mediterranean restaurant that has the coolest slushes and refreshing drinks. Didn't have a camera then so will write more and post more pics there when we visit again.

Till then....

Trip Details:
Distance : 103.51km
Avg Spd : 20.3km/h
Ride Time : 5hrs 5min
Crash speed : 60.7km/h

Crazy ride and more crazy rides...

2007-11-14T19:39:00.000+08:00

For the love of riding......

I had been looking forward to the ride with Belinda and company for 2 weeks and had always been postponed due to bad weather, till today.... BUT!!! I never intended to do the ride they did that day... 55km non-stop ride riding mostly 32km/h, pulling the runway at 35km/h, flying downhills at 55km/h and worst of all, climbing South Bouna Vista Road at 33km/h after 40km into the journey!

Whew, what a ride....

By the time I reached home, my legs were shaking like jelly, BUT I still had to go back to close shop at 9pm. Tough luck!

Met Ben at the cafe and he suggested a ride to explore(snigger) the Serangoon Viaduct. I thought why not, since I was not working the next day(bad idea, he had it all planned out).

Result, by the time we reached the viaduct, I had fallen asleep and woken up again after a huge nasi briyani just before the viaduct that I could not finish and the Zzzz... monster that was tormenting me. We reached the viaduct and I asked Ben what was so interesting about the viaduct and his reply was, "I just want to ride it!" By that time we had already done close to 40km just to ride a 1.93km viaduct! Curses!!!

We completed the viaduct only to decide to head to Punggol Jetty where the OBS departure was. We got a little lost and did an extra 10km trying to figure our way there. Interesting place that had 3 rolling hills and the threat of dogs that would spring out of nowhere. We ended up pedalling, just pedalling. We did not even dare to change gears or talk for fear of dogs hearing us and giving chase.

The going was fine, the gravity climbs were in our favour and NO dogs..... the return was different.... hills not in our favour; less gravity but longer climbs. Forgetting not to speak, I popped Ben a question, and before you knew it, "Woof Woof Woof....." Damn, you should have seen us climb those hills.... hahaha.... Ben, wide eyed and gaping jaws was like, "What are you doing ???"

By that time, it was already 7am and we were having a hard time dodging traffic and trying to get home. We hit Ang Mo Kio and headed for Lornie Road before turing into Sime Road through the Chinese cematary to Bukit Tinah Road. Beginners beware, do not attempt Lornie Road during rush hour. You cannot believe the number of idiots who would run you down without knowing. Huge trucks run you so close to the kerb you could bunny hop any moment!

Hitting Bukit Timah, we play dodge ball again. School traffic and huge buses as well as many vehicle turning in and out of the main roads make you thankful you have new brake pads. Had a quick chocolate milkshake at KAP Mac Donalds before heading home to what seemed like eternal slumber.

Ride 1 details:
Distance : 55.49km
Avg Spd : 27.75km.h
Ride time : 2 hrs

Ride 2 details:
Distance : 84.76km
Avg spd : 20.1km/h
Ride time : 4hrs 21min

Total computation:
Distance : 140.25km
Avg Spd : 22km/h
Ride Time : 6hrs 21min

Cancer and alternatives

2007-11-09T18:20:00.001+08:00

A close friend of mine recently sent this to me regarding cancer and I thought would be a good article to share with everyone. This is an article from John Hopkins Hospital, US on the alternatives to cancer treatment.

Kudos to JH Hospital !!!

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO (TRY) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from John Hopkins

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body.
These cancer cells do not show up in the
standard tests until they have multiplied
to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer
patients that there are no more cancer
cells in their bodies after treatment, it just
means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not
reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more
than 10 times in a person's lifetime

3. When the person's immune system is
strong the cancer cells will be destroyed
prevented from multiplying and forming
tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates
the person has multiple nutritional defi
ciencies. These could be due to genetic,
environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5.To overcome the multiple nutritional
deficiencies, changing diet and including
supplements will strengthen the immune
system.

6.Chemotherapy involves poisoning the
rapidly-growing cancer cells and also
destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in
the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract
etc, and can cause organ damage, like
liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7.Radiation while destroying cancer cells
also burns, scars and damages healthy
cells, tissues and organs.

8.Initial treatment with chemotherapy and
radiation will often reduce tumor size.
However prolonged use of chemotherapy
and radiation do not result in more tumor
destruction.

9.When the body has too much toxic burden
from chemotherapy and radiation the
immune system is either compromised or
destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and com
plications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause
cancer cells to mutate and become
resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery
can also cause cancer cells to spread to
other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to
starve the cancer cells by not feeding it
with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off
sugar it cuts off one important food
supply to the cancer cells. Sugar
substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,
Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame
and it is harmful. A better natural
substitute would be Manuka honey or
molasses but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical
added to make it white in color. Better
alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea
salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus,
especially in the gastro-intestinal tract.
Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off
milk and substituting with unsweetened
soya milk cancer cells are being
starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid
environment. A meat-based diet is
acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a
little chicken rather than beef or pork.
Meat also contains livestock antibiotics,
growth hormones and parasites, which
are all harmful, especially to people with
cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables
and juice, whole grains,seeds, nuts and
a little fruits help put the body into an
alkaline environment.About 20% can be
from cooked food including beans. Fresh
vegetable juices provide live enzymes
that are easily absorbed and reach down
to cellular levels within 15 minutes to
nourish and enhance growth of healthy
cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vege-
table juice (most vegetables including
bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegeta-
bles 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are
destroyed at temperatures of 104 deg-
rees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which
have high caffeine.Green tea is a better
alternative and has cancer-fighting
properties. Water-best to drink purified
water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins
and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled
water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and
requires a lot of digestive enzymes.
Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines become putrified and leads to
more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein
covering. By refraining from or eating
less meat it frees more enzymes to
attack the protein walls of cancer cells
and allows the body's killer cells to
destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune
system (IP6, Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti
oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.)
to enable the body's own killer cells to
destroy cancer cells. Other supplements
like vitamin E are known to cause
apoptosis, or programmed cell death,
the body's normal method of disposing
of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded
cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body,
and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit
will help the cancer warrior be a
survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and
bitterness put the body into a stressful
and acidic environment. Learn to have a
loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax
and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an
oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily, and deep breathing help to get
more oxygen down to the cellular level.
Oxygen therapy is another means
employed to destroy cancer cells.

CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS
HOSPITAL , U S A - PLEASE READ

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

John Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.

Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard.

He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.
This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as CorningWare, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, CorningWare, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Design Flaw of the Topeak Hexus 16

2007-11-08T21:28:00.001+08:00

Topeak Hexus 16 Design Flaw

Made a discovery about the Topeak Hexus 16 tool when I was about to install a new Shimano 8 Speed Chain on a bike. Apparently, the Hexus tool’s chain break does not have a housing long enough for the bolt pin to thread in to push the master pin .

The chain does not fit if put in straight.

You will need to angle the master pin down and insert this way for it to be able to sit in the place-holder.

Fully inserted, the master pin is covered by part of the housing.

This results is the bolt not being about to thread into the housing of the chain tool due to a short housing length. Alien Tools have a longer housing.

This is the minimal threading that the bolt needs in order to fit into the housing. Notice the protruding pin in the region of the place-holder. Compare with the picture above with the chain and master pin fully set in the place-holder and you will realise that it is impossible to screw in a master pin for a chain.

Forcing the bolt strips the thread of the bolt. (Look very closely in Hi-res at the beginning of the screw thread)

Well, I have written in to Topeak US and hope they will offer a solution to this as I hope I do not need to have to buy another multitool just because of a flawed design on the Hexus 16.

The Alien Tool from Topeak has a housing that is longer and is able to install a master pin perfectly. I wonder why Topeak has a different design and in the process created this problem???

Anyway, for all you guys out there who have this problem, go check out the Alien Tool. You will see that the chain breaker component has a longer housing than the Hexus version.

Cheers

Topeak Prepstand Elite

2007-11-01T04:41:00.001+08:00

As promised, the Topeak Prepstand Elite write-up.

Having a folded length of 1.23m, it is quite a tall stand that requires quite a bit of storage space.

Partially expanding the stand results in a 73cm base that is stable enough for holding the bike for normal repairs. Crank wrenching requires it to be fully expanded.

Fully expanded base of 112cm gives you unshakable performance while you work.

45cm clamp length

Small parts bin with locking lid

48mm clamping width for gigantic frame tubes.

Huge rotating lock ring to secure the folding clamp hinge. 5mm tube diameter QR for adjusting the main stand tube prevents the tube from sliding downwards during wrenching and repairs.

Jagged-ridged grooves on the 360 degree rotating clamp prevents the clamp arm from rotation up or down when wrenching heavily.

Huge clearance for even the longest of pedals for you to freely rotate the cranks for derailler adjustments.

Bike in neutral position, partially expanded base.

Clamp and stand tested when bike is rotated vertically. The force exerted on the clamp is much much greater in this position as weight distribution is at its minimum. The stand withstood the test. It did not flex at all.

Even hanging at 180cm clamping height, the stand was very stable partially opened. I'm impressed! However, the only minor problem I encountered was the freely swinging handlebars.

Problem of freely swinging handlebar.

At eye-level, the handlebars knocks right into your eyes/head if you wrench hard and shake the bike. Very painful experience to go through. Pre-empting this problem, I decided to find a solution even though Topeak has a handlebar stabaliser.
Cheaper alternative..... Bungee Cord!

Problem solved by tying up front wheel to the bottle cage using bungee cords.

Other Specs

Jaws : Non-marring rubber jaws 360 degree rotation
Clamp height : 122cm to 180cm
Material : 6061 T6 tubes
Stand Weight : 6kg
Max Weight : 25kg
Added Features : Carry bag, small parts bin, rubber bases

Overall, my rating of this stand is 9 out of 10 in terms of design, reliability and functionality.

"Easy Ride 3"

2007-10-31T01:11:00.000+08:00

Hi and welcome to the last episode of the "Easy ride" trilogy. This time we make new discoveries and get ourselves into more idiotic nonsense as we ride from 12.30am till 11.00am.

Our route?

Exploration of the Jurong park connectors that run around Jurong Lake, running over stupid toads, get threatened by dogs at the lake, taunted by a freaking bullfrog that hops into a tree hole and seems to say "Screw you with the dogs" while we were being barked at, headed for Nasi Lemak at Jurong West extension before going to Sentosa for a super fun gravity climb along the road to Sentosa Cove and back. Planned to stop at the great Murtabak stall along Telok Blangah but decided to head to West Coast Park Mc Donald's for milk shake. By that time, I was already tired and sleepy to the point of falling off my saddle.

Anyway, I entered Mc Donald's and ordered an ice latte for myself but the staff gave me a hot one instead, so I simply just asked for a cup of ice that in my midst of sleepiness and fatigue, knocked the ice over so had to get another cup. Given sugar sachets for my hot latte, I needed to dissolve the sugar in the latte before pouring it into the cup of ice. I added sugar into the cup of ice only to have Ben stare at me in disbelief and burst out laughing. "What was I thinking" I should have added sugar into the latte before pouring it into the ice. This is called, "Stupidity caused by fatigue!"

Headed back towards Hillview and was nearly beheaded by this drunk driver who opened door of the trailer as I was about to pass the vehicle. I missed it barely by 3cm. I became fully awake by then. Dodged the traffic at Clementi Road to head back to Hillview, only to reach there at 7.10am for Teh Tarik.

Along comes the regular gang of Belinda, Ricky, Joshua and Swastic, who tempted me for another 40km Mandai Ride. By this time we had already done 65km and another 40 didn't seem like a good idea, especially with Belinda and co. Temptation and the thought of doing 100km that day made me decide to give it a shot. Bad choice! Ended up feeling so tired that I was literally zoning out wherever I had the opportunity.

Ride ended at 11.30am and I went home for a shower before proceeding to Viki's to collect my Topeak Prepstand Elite that I ordered. Had our regular beef noodles and headed back home by cab. Ben and I were out cold all the way back home.

Came back, set up the stand and mounted my bike on it. Very sturdy stand and great clamping. I'll do a write up of the stand when I uncover more of its mechanical properties and efficiencies. Took a half hour nap before going out for a meeting at 8.00pm. That concludes my day since yesterday riding and running errands and over toads and now trying to rush this blog before I hit the sack.

Try avoiding this, you'll enjoy the cleanup on your bike when you get back.... :p

Till next time,

Zzzzzzz............

Total distance : 107.66km
Average Time : 19.5km/h
Riding Time : 5hrs 30min

Politically Correct

2007-10-29T22:27:00.000+08:00

Haha, back to my favourite joke site again, this time for some politics...

We all know how literally impossible it is to not offend SOMEONE these days, everyone is just SO F-ing TOUCHY... So this guide will help you on how to speak about the opposite sex in a POLITICALLY CORRECT way...

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT

She is not a BABE or a CHICK; she is a BREASTED AMERICAN.

She is not a SCREAMER or MOANER; she is VOCALLY APPRECIATIVE.

She is not EASY; she is HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE.

She is not DUMB; she is a DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY.

She has not BEEN AROUND; she is a PREVIOUSLY ENJOYED COMPANION.

She is not an AIR HEAD; she is REALITY IMPAIRED.

She does not get DRUNK or TIPSY; she gets CHEMICALLY INCONVENIENCED.

She is not HORNY; she is SEXUALLY FOCUSED.

She does not have BREAST IMPLANTS; she is MEDICALLY ENHANCED.

She does not NAG YOU; she becomes ORALLY REPETITIVE.

She is not a SLUT; she is SEXUALLY EXTROVERTED.

She is not a TWO BIT WHORE; she is a LOW COST PROVIDER.

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT

He does not have a BEER GUT; he has developed a LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE
FACILITY.

He is not a BAD DANCER; he is OVERLY CAUCASIAN.

He does not GET LOST ALL THE TIME; he INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE
DESTINATIONS.

He is not BALDING; he is in FOLLICLE REGRESSION.

He is not a CRADLE ROBBER; he prefers GENERATIONAL DIFFERENTIAL
RELATIONSHIPS.

He does not get FALLING-DOWN DRUNK; he becomes ACCIDENTALLY HORIZONTAL.

He does not act like a TOTAL ASS; he develops a case of RECTAL-CRANIAL
INVERSION.

He is not a MALE CHAUVINIST PIG; he has SWINE EMPATHY.

He is not afraid of COMMITMENT; he is MONOGAMOUSLY CHALLENGED.

He is not QUIET; he is a CONVERSATIONAL MINIMALIST.

He is not STUPID; he suffers from MINIMAL CRANIAL DEVELOPMENT.

He is not SHORT; he is ANATOMICALLY COMPACT.

He does not CONSTANTLY TALK ABOUT CARS; he has a VEHICULAR ADDICTION.

He is not UNSOPHISTICATED; he is SOCIALLY MALFORMED.

He does not EAT LIKE A PIG; he suffers from REVERSE BULIMIA.

He does not HOG THE BLANKETS; he is THERMALLY UNAPPRECIATIVE.

He doesn't have a DIRTY MIND; he has INTROSPECTIVE PORNOGRAPHIC MOMENTS.

"Easy" ride 2

2007-10-26T19:05:00.000+08:00

Sometime I wonder if I am too naive to trust people twice. This morning's "easy" ride was a bad idea. I really can't feel my legs today anymore. After yesterday's "easy" ride, I should have known better. Today's "easy" ride was called, operation "Nasi Lemak"

Red Line : Route Start
Blue Line : Return Route

Ride started at 2.30am

Started from Dairy Farm and ended up in Changi Village after making 2 detours at Hume Avenue climbing and taking Old Holland Road and coming downhill at 6th Avenue before heading the usual way to Fort Road from Bukit Timah. A new discovery we made this ride was that the East Coast Changi Park Connector has finally been built and completed. It is finally safe to ride from East Coast to Changi without having to use the dangerous Coastal Road and dodge traffic at Changi Loyang Area. Reaching Changi, we were both hungry and headed straight for our regular "Nasi Lemak" joint only to decide later to try another stall so that we would know of other alternatives next time we came.

After eating our early breakfast I had half a mind to take a cab back home as it was already 6:00am and I did not want to have to dodge the morning traffic. I was convinced by Ben to carry on after exploring the many ways of going back without having to navigate the many huge traffic invested junctions in the city area. We decided to take the same way back from the park connector then from Fort Road and then to Tanglin Road and Nassim Road to the old SMU or current NUS campus before turning into Bt. Timah Road and back to Bt. Batok.

As usual, the slp road coming from PIE exiting from the Shell station at Bukit Timah proves to be a hazard again. Another crazy lady driver was coming down the slope fro PIE and showed no signs of stopping as Ben was approaching the slip road. Then the most remarkable thing happened, she turned to talk to the person in the back of the car! Ben nearly crashed into the car and I nearly crashed into him. Or tires skidded violently and I was nearly run over by the oncoming car from the back. What's it with these drivers today? What sense of safe driving do they lack? Are they so self involved that they have no consideration for others?

Anyway we parted at the junction of the nature park and I proceeded to the light industrial estate to purchase my 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch converter for my torque wrench. I finally got it and will be able to torque my bike parts to the correct tension.

Ride ended 10:30am

Conclusion:
Not an easy ride but but a very good endurance ride. Tasted some good Nasi Lemak and discovered the East Coast Changi Park connector.

Total distance : 100.17km
Riding time : 4hrs 58min
Average Speed : 20.1km/h

The moment of truth

2007-10-25T19:31:00.000+08:00

Took me Scottie out for a ride this morning in the witching hours of the night to test out the results of my work. Enjoyed the ride with the smooth transmissions and superb braking. The ride goes as follows.

Started at 1:00am 25th Oct 2007

Route

I started at Bukit Batok and proceeded to meet Ben at Dairy Farm Road before turning to Petir Road connecting to Jelebu Road and Bukit Panjang Road before turning into Woodlands Road for the long ride to Mandai Road.

Upp thomson Road was the next turning that takes you to Lornie Road before passing through a chinese cemetery atKheam Hock Road. Can be pretty eerie at night as the road is not well lit and there are humps along the way and the chance of dogs appearing out of nowhere. We emerged from Bukit Timah Road to proceed on to Evans Road then Nassim Road.

Stopped at Treknology and Tay Junction at Tudor Court along Tanglin Road and rode all the way to Alexandra Road. Turning right at Lower Delta Road we enter Kampong Bahru Road. At this point, it started to drizzle and we decided to make a dash for the prata house along Telok Blangah Road. We were going at 40km/h for about 10 mins before we realised that the 3 weeks that we did not ride was starting to take an effect on the performance of our muscles. 10 mins in my opinion was all the sprinting we could do before we felt like cramping in the legs. The murtabak at the prata house was awesome. Huge crispy murtabak with lots of egg and filling as compared to the lousy murtabak at Railmall. We had a great stuffing before we set off for what seemed like the killer of the whole ride.

Taking Pasir Panjang Road and turning into South Bouna Vista Road and up Vigilante Drive to Kent Ridge Park. The bloody hill was more than 20 degrees gradient and was even more daunting as we were full of murtabak. Ben wanted to make it more challenging by only using the middle crank and not the granny. Halfway up the first part of the hill, we were both wheezing like broken whistles and our legs were feeling like they were slowly melting away on the slope. Finally we emerged at the top of Kent Ridge PArk after what seemed like an eternity of climbing.

Going through Kent Ridge Park and emerging from the other side from Science Park Drive while witnessing a liquid nitrogen tanker refilling the Science Park facility. There was fog all over the place as the super cold liquid was pumped into the facility. At first I thought the tanker was on fire or something seeing smoke all around the vehicle. Ben in his usual prankster mind was thinking, "Hon Shin, go buy a pail of that stuff and refill your insulated water bottle."

We exited by North Bouna Vista Road into Lower Kent Ridge Road then Kent Ridge Cresent, finally into the all too familiar Clementi Road for the final journey back home. The last leg was through Jalan Anak Bukit, Upp Bukit Timah Road then Diary Farm Road for Ben. I had a little more to go through Hillview Avenue to Bukit Batok.

An incident happened at Hillview Avenue just outside The Petals Condo. I was returning home along the road when this mother drivine here 2 kids in her car was stopped at the entrance of the condo waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear before making a left turn. I was riding at 35km/h and approaching. We made eye contact but as I approached her car about 5m away, this reckless mother darted out making the left turn! Damn it. What was she thinking? I shouted, was scared shit out of my pants, and e-braked till my tires skidded. It was a good thing I was using good brake pads from Kool-stop or I would have collided into that purple car with number plate 6612. What's more, this lady didn't even turn back and and just drove off. Talk about reckless almost hit and run accidents. She should have her license revoked and banned from driving for life.

Ride ended at 5.30am

Total Distance: 67.94 Km
Riding Time: 3hr 12 min
Average Speed: 21.2km/h

Given the idea of a test ride to be an easy ride, we never expected that the ride would turn out to be a torture as we were climbing hills more than 20 degrees gradient, dodging rain at 40km/h and finally riding on a full stomach of "Murtabak".

Jokes Insomnia

2007-10-24T07:20:00.000+08:00

Couldn't sleep so ended up in the jokes forum.(www.lotsofjokes.com) Here are the entries for a dose of morning laughter.

Elderly Man Sued for Stopping at Stop Sign
September 9, 2002 - Atlanta, USA
In a case possibly first of its kind, 67 year old Arthur Thompson is being sued by 32 year old Lynn Manaouski for stopping at a 4-way stop sign. In her statement she described how she came up to the intersection leading into her downtown condo, and rear ended the driver in front of her due to his 'complete and full stop'. She continues to say that of the almost 2 years of living in that particular condominium complex, she had not once been behind someone who had made a full stop at the stop sign, and that his inability to be 'consistent with typical driving patterns' caused the accident. As a result, she is convinced that Mr. Thompson is directly responsible for the accident and should be held accountable for all incurred costs of repair to both vehicles. When reminded that it is the law to make a complete stop at a stop sign, her abrupt response was "I am quite capable of deciding when it is a good or bad time to stop my vehicle."

Talk about obeying the law... This woman needs to be put on a leash!

Man Never Misses Trip To Gym For 5 Years
July 29, 2002 - Florida, USA
In an attempt to force himself into a healthy routine of exercise, a Florida man hired a hit man to kill him if he failed to show up to any of his 3 weekly workouts for the past 5 years. "At first I thought the ridiculous membership fees and that ludicrous up front joining fee would make me workout so I wouldn't waste the money - but that didn't work. Within weeks I was coming up with all sorts of lame pathetic excuses not to go. So I decided that if money wouldn't promote me to go, losing my life would. The hit man idea has worked like a charm, maybe even too good. There were some times that I truly would have preferred not to go, like that time I had bronchial asthmatic pneumonia. I've never had so much dark green mucus running down my face in my life, you should have seen that treadmill afterwards. But with all its ups and downs, my only complaint lately is that what I originally thought were expensive gym fees have been over shadowed by the high cost of the hit man. Now that I want to stop, I can't because I told him to shoot me if I told him I wanted to give up."

If only people were more disciplined, hitmen would be out of jobs... Hahaha.... Fat people could do with a little motivation.

Man Sues Coffee Shop for Ice Mocha Mishap
August 26, 2002 - Michigan, USA
After spilling an iced coffee beverage onto his lap while driving from a local coffee shop drive-through a Michigan man is now suing the shop for $800,000 in damages and mental anguish. The man claimed it was a "traumatic experience" that has negatively altered his life in many ways. He claims that he was unaware of the frigid temperature of his Ice Mocha or he would have taken better precautions with handling the beverage. The coffee shop owner said during our interview, "Anyone who doesn't know the temperature of a drink that has the word 'ice' in its name has much more important things to worry about than a moment of discomfort due to his own negligence. He sustained no physical harm, there were no damages to his vehicle or possessions except a brown stain on his pants, which I am sure is something he is used to."

Cafe owners beware, retard on the loose....

1st step to learning

2007-10-23T04:18:00.001+08:00

Today is a great day for me as I began the quest to learn more about my bicycle. As part of my life learnings in Being, I have decided to Be doing what I do consciously. I decided to service my bike as it cost $60/- every time I send it to Viki for servicing at East Cast.

So here is my task list.

For my Scottie

Replace Brake pads
Clean cassette
Clean jockey wheels
Install power link
Wipe down

For the Yukon I borrowed and cost me more than the rental of the best MTB in the market!!!

Replace derailler hanger
Replace chain
Calibrate rear derailler

Tools Required

Zinn & the Art of Moutain Bike Maintenance (4th Edition)
JTech Allen Key set
Stanley 250mm Variable Wrench
Park Tool FR-5G cassette tool with guide
Park Tool Chain Whip tool
Topeak Multi-tool with chain breaker
Lightning White Lube
WD4D
Finish Line Citrus Degreaser
Park Tool TW2 Torque Wrench
3/8 inch drive to 1 inch socket

Well, I managed to do all that I planned to do even though I did not have a 3/8 to 1 inch socket to re-torque the cassette. I just estimated the torque required before I get the socket. Not advisible though as you could over torque the lock ring on the cassette and end up having a cassette that is either unsecure or one that cannot be opened after riding as it the lock ring tightens during rides.

The torque wrench in my opinion is the most needed tool by all bike shops who service bikes. I've seen so quite few shops here that do not use a torque wrenchs and I wonder if the bolts on my stem would strip if I stood up and pounded on an uphill climb? It's these little things that look ok but are really subject to questioning when it comes to safety concerns. hmm.... maybe I'm being too anal about this, but as they say, better safe than sorry :)

As for the Yukon, I have decided to return it to its rightful owner. I borrowed it from my neighbour and had it serviced($120) with some part replacements due to the corrosion on the cables, chain and brakes. Took it to BT with Ben for a ride and ended up breaking the rear derailler hanger. It happened so suddenly that I was shocked for words. Ended up riding home in single speed that day. Anyway, I have finally repaired what I call the most expensive rental bike and am proud to return it to its owner before it costs me any more money... Let's see, my total cost comes to ....

Cab to Viki's $12/-
Servicing $120/-
Derailler hanger $25/-
New Chain $23/-
----------------------------------
Total $180/-

That is what I had to pay for a single ride on this Giant Yukon 2005 model !!!

A new derailler hanger now sits where the last one broke. Anyway, better luck next time as if i ever decide to go MTB.

Clean parts to set the record straight for a great ride. Check out the new power link that allows me to clean the chain completely without using a chain cleaner. I can now soak the chain in a bottle of degreaser. Yeah!!! Nothing beats clean parts of a bike. The transmission is now so smooth as compared to the dirty chain, jockey wheels, cassette and crank. Planning to take me Scottie out for a ride tomorrow!

Till then, I better get some sleep before I need to put degreaser to clean out the bog coming into my head now...Zzzzz...