Cycling Life

Cycling is part of my life and since 1997, I have been logging in my cycling mileage. 2008 and 2007 were two bad years, only managed to ride on commuting. I injured my back(slipped Disc at L5S1) on 5 Jan 2007 in the course of my work and was off the bike for more than 6 months. I underwent spine surgery in Jun 2008 and another 6 months off the bike. My back injury had also deterred me 2 years of cycling tour. For the last 12 years, I had cycled 64,436 km and my average yearly cycling mileage is 5369 km.

1997: 6893 km.

1998: 6913 km.

1999: 4956 km.

2000: 3872 km.

2001: 4611 km.

2002: 4522 km.

2003: 6039 km.

2004: 6696 km

2005: 7822 km

2006: 6408 km

2007: 2128 km

2008: 3576 km

My love flame with cycling is still burning strong and this page covers how cycling has affected my life.

Humble Begining: My love affair with bicycling begins here.

Family Cycling: My sons have been my cycling companions and the joy of riding together as a family.

Cycling In Taipei: I spent a few years in Taipei and I explored Taipei on a bicycle.

Commuting: How I find every opportunity to ride to work.

Why I Ride: What motivate me to ride.

My Bicycles: To show off my steed of mean machines.

Humble Begining

My love affair with cycling started not as early as most children today. My family was so poor that we could not afford a bicycle. However, this was common in my childhood days where bicycles were assets and not many people had. I had never seen a bicycle rental kiosk and a bicycle that could fit my fragile frame during my childhood . I had no opportunity to learn cycling until 12 years old but I enjoyed riding pillion at 7. I started riding pillion owed this to my friend, Ah Leong who was about 5 years my senior, had a brother-in-law who owned a 3-speed Raleigh bicycle, a British bike. At that time, only the rich could afford and most people would be happy to have a China made bicycle.

Although sitting on the hard top tube of the bicycle riding on unpaved rocky road hurt my buttock. But I never missed the opportunity to be a pillion rider and I did that without my parents' approval. I became a regular pillion rider cruising around the kampong roads. I enjoyed the evening ride and breeze blowing on my face. I admired those who could ride bicycles and they were my heros. To my foolishness, I listened to Ah Leong and ever stole my grandmother's money for him. Although he was not a good guy but he was the one who had brought me to the world of cycling and certainly, some sweet childhood memory and my love for cycling started from him. He passed away about 10 years ago for over dosaged of drugs.

I considered myself a late starter as a cyclist at 12. Thanked to my childhood friend, Ah Meng whose father ran a provision shop just below my flat, had a sturdy single-speed China made bicycle, that mounted with strong steel rack meant for delivery. It was a heavy giant bicycle and I was far too short to reach the saddle. Ah Meng, my junior for a year or 2, who was about my size, handled this monster very well. This had motivated me to learn cycling with this bicycle. Just like what Meng did, my right leg had to go through the bicycle triangle frame in order to reach the right pedal. I could not remember how long I took to control the bike and how many times I fell and the bicycle landed on me. The battle marks engraved on both of my legs remained as evidence of hard learning. I could imagine the sense of success when I could balance and control the bicycle. Meng's father shop was later closed down and their family had shifted. Since then, I had lost contact with him.

From here, I realised what a wonderful thing a bicycle was. It gave me the freedom to explore, be it the neighbourhood, the country I lived in, or the world. Once I could control a bicycle, I never missed any opportunity to ride although I did not have a bicycle. Most of the time, I borrowed. I remembered I used to ride uncle Kai Meng's bicycle when my mother visited her half brother staying in Old Airport road. He was same age with me and I used to envy him having a bicycle. He was a generous guy. I remember once I walked 15 km to visit him just to ride his bicycle. This was done without my parents' knowledge.

I have been riding on other people's mercy until I did well for my secondary 2. My father rewarded me with a 3-speed British made Raleigh bicycle, my dreamt bike. This bike had brought me a lot of teenager's life that many had not experienced.

I rode 6 km to school until I completed my GCE Advance level. I rode together with my younger brothers as my pillion and teenager friends. More than once, we rode from Bukit Merah to Ulu Sembawang, a 30 km ride just to visit my penpal's fruit farm to pluck rambutans. We had fun but too much sun until we got sun burnt. We never heard of sun block lotion and probably, even we knew, we could not afford it. We did not know how to fix a flat tyre and we had to push bicycle and sometimes for a few km away to find the nearest bike shop to keep the bike moving. We had no water bottle and sometimes, no money and drank water at the public tap to quench our thirst. We had gut and did not fear the danger ahead. That sheer gut had brought us many Singapore scenic spots like reservoirs, Mount Faber, Changi Beach and Kallang river etc.

The 3 speeder did not satisfy me as I entered my A level. I could not afford a racing bike and to satisfy my thrill for speed, I had modified my bike, which had driven my father mad. There were few crazy things I did together with my bike. During my secondary 3, I was attracted to a girl who was a distant relative studying at Fairfield Secondary School, a few km away from my home. I used to ride in the evening to see her coming out from school from a distant. I was a stalker at 15! I could not remember when I stopped doing this. I believed she did not notice my presence and none knew of this weird behaviour.

My weird behaviour resumed when I was attracted by one of my classgirl during my Pre-University one. This girl, came from a rich family and was chauffeured by Mercedes after school. I used to follow behind her Mercedes from Margaret Drive to somewhere in Sungei road, a good 10 km or more, I normally arrived at her place as her Mercedes arrived. I believe none discovered what I did including her.

I was a self-taught fitness cyclist. I did my own circuit training at Mount Faber, which was a few km away from my home, and the circuit was about 10 km. I rode in the evening and on some good days, I repeated the circuit of climbing the hill 2-3 times. I was very super fit at 17 and one of the fittest guy when I was enlisted for Military Training later. I could finished a 5 km run in combat attire in just over 19 minutes.

My love for cycling never die even after I joined the Army. There was a short break due to my intensive military training. 16 months after enlistment, I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and saved enough money for my dreamt bicycle, a $800, 10- speed Italian made Legano racing bicycle. In 1975, $800 was a lot of money and could almost afford a motorcycle. I had been using this bicycle as a mode of transport between my Bukit Merah home to Seletar Camp. A 30 km ride for a single way and I was so proud that I always beat the speed of a bus. This bicycle accompanied me for 2 years until I bought myself a motorcycle when I had my girl friend. My cycling life took a break until I became father.

Family Cycling

Although I did not have a bicycle then but I occasionally enjoyed leisure riding at East Coast park with my wife, Judy and my daughter, Ivy as a family outing during weekends. Ivy had always be my tandem pillion rider as she could not ride a bicycle until 12. She was motivated to ride after her two younger brothers had mastered the skill of riding.

My 2 boys, Yirun and Yichun are borne with my cycling blood, especially Chun, both of them were able to ride a bicycle within a week in 1992, at the age of 4. They were very much fortunate than I did. They learnt riding from me and learnt from a bicycle for kid. We enjoyed riding together to the neighbourhoods until my posting to Taiwan in Aug 1992.

Cycling with my family resumed after my return to Singapore in mid 96. My sons are my riding companions. We usually ride from home to Changi Coast Road on weekends. We had numerous local rides and also completed a more than 100 km night ride around the country. We had ridden on Pulau Ubin, Pulau Tekong and as far as to Desaru of West Malaysia when both of them were only 10 or 11. Since then, we rode a couple of times to Desaru and finished 120 km within a day. In end 2002, we rode to Kota Tinggi together with my students, Simon and Jiaqi.

Display below are some of the photos taken during family cycling in exploring Singapore. The 2 boys are my sons, Yirun and Yichun and they were about 9 and 10 years old respectively when the photos were taken.

Group photos on riding trip to Kota Tinggi with Simon, Jiaqi, Jiaqi's father, Jiaqi's younger brother and friend. The young man in yellow jersey is Yirun and the red jersey guy is Yichun.

Photos taken on 23 May 04 on riding along Changi Coast Road. The second rider is Yichun and the last rider is Yirun. These photos were taken when Singapore Amateur Cycling Association conducted its time trial Race.

Cycling In Taipei

My bicycle touring traced back as early as 1994 during my stay in Taipei. One fine day, my colleage, Vincent Lee, took me to a bicycle shop near my residence in Taipei and I bought myself a Taiwan made, Giant brand 24-speed mountain bicycle. It was a mono-carbon frame equipped with Shimano XT components. With this bicycle, I had always looking forward for weekends and holidays for my ride. Usually, a single day's ride and sometimes, multiple days' trip. I had ridden almost all the attractions at Taipei county, including Yang Ming Shan, northern and southern of Taipei county attractions and the northern coastal line. Sometimes, covered more than 100 km in a days' trip. Too bad, at that time, I did not log in my travel experience and fortunately I had taken some photos. These riding experiences remained the fondest memory for my stay in Taipei.

Basically, Taipei is a basin and to see the beauty of the Taipei county, whichever direction to start from, have to ride over hills and to return to Taipei, have to climb hills again.

One of the most memorable trip was with my wife, Judy. We rode from Taipei city, headed south, passing Mucha, Shen Kern village, Shi Ting village and Pin Shi village where there were many waterfalls. We also rode past Shi Fern waterfall and spent a night at Yae Ren Ku (Wild Man Valley). She screamed for help when she found a snake in the bathroom while taking shower! Later, we met our Taipei Political Warfare counterpart, Lu Kai Sheng, then a Colonel from Republic of China Army and we released flying lanterns that night. It was a 2 days' ride. We had also ridden day trip to TamSui, Yang Ming Shan, Shin Tian and MuCha tea farm. We also did a night cycling to NeiHu

Shi Ting village Ku Liang temple

Shi Fern water fall

Yae Ren Ku (Wild Man Valley)

Pi Tan in Shin Tian

Night Cycling

I had also ridden with 2 young staff, Bryan and Chua from Hukou Base. It was a 3 days' ride, we rode from my Taipei city residence to Jiu Fern and spent the night at Jiu Fern. The next day, rode up to the northern mountain, the most scenic area in Taipei county and downhill all the way to Shuan Shi village, the most unspoilt village in the Taipei county. We climbed hills again and spent the night at Yae Ren Ku( Wild Man Valley). The last day journey, basically similar to the trip I went with my wife (see above)except we met with typhoon on the way back.

Rui Fang-town before Jiu Fern	On the way to Jiu Fern	Cafeteria at Jiu Fern	The northern mountain
Before Shuan Shi village	Shuan Shi village	Replenished energy	Shuan Shi village

Pin Shi village

Shen Kern food stalls

On solo ride, the memorable rides were to Wu Lai, Shuan Shi village, San Hsia, Gong Liao village and north east coastal line etc. I had covered the whole of Taipei county. The bicycle that brought me much happiness belonged to my brother in law now.

WuLai	Yang Ming Shan	Yeh Liu	The famous queen head
San Hsia with Mr Chai	Shin Tian	Kuan Tu Bridge	Middle of no where
NE Coast of Taipei County	NE Coast of Taipei County	NE Coast of Taipei County	NE Coast of Taipei County
Tucheng	Tucheng	Tucheng	Middle of no where

Commuting

I started riding bicycle to work regularly in 1997 where my office was in Pulau Tekong, an island away from the main land. It was only 7 km ride from my home to the jetty for the boat ride. I put my bike onto the ferry and when I arrived at the island, rode another 3 km to office. The most enjoyable part was at the end of the working day, I would ride around the island which had a 7 km paved road where my office was in the middle of the road. Sometime, I rode off road along the coast line and into the forest. When I rode my racer, I would ride along the Changi Coast road when I got back on the main land. The commuting became less regular from year 2000 to 2003 as my office distance from home shorten to 4 km and due to sending my son, Yirun to school reduced the opportunity for bicycle commuting. I never miss the opportunity to commute on Saturdays and school holidays when I did not have to send him to school.

Since Jan 2004, I have been commuting to work by bicycle 3 to 5 times weekly and logged in 6696 km, mostly on commuting. I would ride to my office in Tampines through the Changi Coast Road from my Pasir Ris home, 26 km or 34 km on a single way, depending on which way I take, except raining days. I usually start commuting at 5:15 am and reach office before 6:30 am. If you see a lone rider on weekday, between 5:30 am to 6:00 am along Changi Coatal Road towards Xilin Avenue, riding mostly a ferrari red Cinelli Super Corsa with a Carradice Saddlebag, a Litespeed Blue Ridge touring bike with rear rack or a tesi red Tommasini Tecno, the chances is the rider must be me. This is because the 3 bikes are uncommon in Singapore.

Although I have to take the ice cold shower as early as 6:30 am but I really enjoy the quiet early morning ride when there are few cars on the road and enjoy the cool fresh air. I would usually ride the shortest and safest way home in the evening when the traffic got heavy. If I have a short day or plenty energy in reserve, I would take a long way home and attack a few hills.

Benefits of Commuting to Work by Bicycle:

Is the best form of exercise to start the morning and arriving at your job refresh and energise the whole day, unlike your sedentary colleagues experience.
Able to ride and exercise without having to cut into family time.
I never have to stress out about traffic jams on my bike in the early morning and at the same time, clearing cobwebs and blowing away job-related frustrations. When arrived, ready for a brand new day.
Riding your bike to work or school and back may be the best way to create time for cycling. When commute by bike, time normally spent sitting in an automobil or waiting for public transport is used productively as part of the training hours. The trip home can be lengthened as much as time, daylight and energy allow.
It is very much more economical to ride than to drive, especially in Singapore. It saves one car less on the road.
The health benefits: My posting to Taipei 4 years had ballooned me from 63 kg to 72 kg with a 88 cm waistline. My active cycling had helped me get back in shape. I am now back to 62-63 kg with 79 cm waistline. My resting heart rate is below 50 and my BMI is about 22. I hardly fall sick.

Commuting Tips: When I began commuting to work by bicycle, almost everyone considered me a freak. They thought it was very dangerous. It is not as bad as most people think. It just takes some discipline to start commuting and maintain. Once started and fit into the routine, noone would want to lose it. Here are some tips that may help:

Be positive: Roll out of bed the minute the alarm rings and don't think about anything. The longer you lie there moaning about how early it is, the harder it is to extricate yourself from the sheets. To wake up early and don't think; "I have to get up and go to work." should think, "I'm going for a ride!" "It's my favorite part of the day."
Route: Distance from home to office is not a problem. If the distance is too far, either reduce the frequency of riding or drive some distance until the riding distance is comfortable to the individual. If the distance is too short, take a longer road. I think 20 to 35 km is just nice. Recce and choose the route that is less traffice and less stop. Scout out a longer route and ride for an hour or more as time and commitments allow. Do intervals, time trials, or hit the hills hard to get a great workout while you're homeward bound.
Working Attires: For me, I prefer to bring a week of working attires to office by pannier and the soil clothings be brought home at the end of the week with another set of clean attires for the week. I leave a pair of business shoes in the office so to reduce weight and the sharp edges in the pack. No pannier is not a problem, the Carradice Saddlebag is a good option for bike without braze-ons, some bring the working clothes by car and some would like to carry with messenger bag or backpack, or whatever arrangement fits the situation.
Safety: Make sure you can see and be seen when riding in early morning. Tail lights and head lights are must have. I used to believe that having tail lights was enough until I had a minor accident at a traffice light junction a few years ago because I had no head lights and the driver claimed that he could not see me although I had the right of way. So, to see and to be seen is the way to ride in the darkness.
Shower: No shower facility in the work place? No problem. You just need a hose connect to the tap or a pail and a bailer would serve the purpose. In order not to cause inconvenience to other users, take the shower as early as possible. Meanwhile, get coworkers interested in commuting by bike and lobby your boss to install a shower.
Security of Bicycle: Where to park the bicycle? The most secure method is not by lock. It is to it keep next to you or a room for storage. Make friend with the security of the office building and not surprise that there are some secure places that the security officer could offer.
Sufficient Rest: Sleep loss is the biggest risk. Make up the deficit with an earlier bedtime because it's vital to get enough rest. Lack of sleep can lead to deep fatigue, lost of concentration and poor performance in everything you do.

In Singapore, you can commute by bike all year long because of the tropical climate unlike countries with winter snow. For a distance less than 10 km, it make more sense to commute by bike as travelling time is about the same with automobil, considering waiting time for public transport and looking for parking space if you are driving. My advice to all bikers is get in the saddle and commute considering all the benefits. I suggest that everyone try commuting for at least two weeks. Getting up in the pre-dawn hour may be the ultimate test of whether you really want to ride. It would not take that long to get over the initial pain/disgust of riding that early in the morning!

Why I Ride

I live to ride and ride to live.
I ride for the rush, for the wonderous feel of balance and the terrifying thrill of speed, sometimes even passing a car or two.
I ride because it provides solitude - an opportunity for self discovery and self renewal, for a clearer vision, a wider perspective and a better self .
I ride because the romance of the road is its presentation of opportunity, its possibility of what could occur.
I ride because it is a way of nudging into a state of mind and onto your own path to freedom. A feeling of independence.
I ride because I like that very good in-control feeling. A sense of accomplishment.
I ride because not many people do - to be enviromental friendly.
I ride because I can distance my worries and a less cluttered mind.
I ride because it improves physical health and mental outlook. It boosts my self-esteem and ego.
I ride because bicycle is the cheapest means of transport and I do not have to pay COE, road tax, insurance and parking fee etc.

My Bicycles

I had owned 2 MTB, a carbon Giant and a titanium Colnago. Since I did not spend much time off road, I switched back to road riding and a series of road bikes were owned. The road bikes that I had before were: 1997; a Shimano Dura-ace equipped Fondriest TopLite, the one and only Shimano equipped aluminium road bike and my first serious road bike after 20 over years. The Fondriest stayed with me until end 1999 and replaced with a Campagnolo Record equipped Pinarello Prince, a very good aluminium racer until I crashed it. It was replaced with a Campagnolo Record equipped De Rosa Planet, another aluminium bike. The only Titanium racer I owned was a Litespeed Ghisallo which I rode mostly in 2004. At the moment, I have 3 bicycles, a touring bike, a racers and a Randonneur.

Litespeed Blue Ridge

Frame: 51cm Titanium frame with braze-ons for loaded touring. It came together with cromoly fork. It had been upgraded in 2008 to a sturdy Infinity Tange Steel fork

Drive Train: Campagnolo Centaur 9 speed group set, Stronglight triple chainring crank (46/36/24, upgraded in 2008), 9 speed cog set (14/28). Phil wood alloy/stainless steel bottom bracket.

Wheels and Tyres: Mavic T520 36 spokes with Campagnolo Chorus hubs. Continental Top Touring 2000 32C.

Others: Tubus Cargo steel rack with Busch & Muller DTopLight XS tail light(upgraded in 2008), Deda handle bar, Ritchey WCS 110 stem, Paul Component Neo Retro cantilevel front brake and Paul Component Touring cantilevel rear brake with Kool Stop brake shoes (upgraded in 2008), Brooks B17 Aged saddle, Shimano A530 pedal, Cateye AT100 cycle computer, Cateye HL-EL320 front light, Esge/SKS P45 fenders, Deda "Dog Fang" chain guard, Easton bar tape, Elite stainless steel bottle cage.

Upgraded Litespeed Blue Ridge

Old Unloaded Litespeed Blue Ridge

Old Loaded Litespeed Blue Ridge

Tommasini Tecno

Frame: 53 cm Frame constructed with Dedacciai's SAT 14.5 Nivacrom steel tubing, personalized microfusion lugs and dropouts. Classic, very light and stiff frame. A classic Itallian lugged frameset with Chrome rear triangle, head lugs, fork and front derailleur hangerchrome lugs, stays and fork crown. Fork:Tommasini AIR Nivacrom, steel tubing, microfusion fork crown.

Drivetrain: Campagnolo Centaur 10 speed shifters, brakes, front and rear deraileur. Crank: Campagnolo Chorus crank arms with TA chain rings (49/39), 10 speed chorus cog set (13/26). Wipperman 10XI chain, Phil Wood steel bottom bracket.

Wheels and Tyres: Campagnolo Record hubs with Mavic Open Pro rims. Continental GP4000 23c tyres.

Others: Limited edition Brooks Swallow saddle (792 of 999), Brooks "D Shape" saddle bag, Centaur alluminium seat post, Chris King threaded headset, ITM Hi-Tech 225 handle bar and Nitto Technomic Deluxe quill stem, Cateye Micro wireless cycle computer,old School Shimano road pedal, Cinelli cork bar tape. Elite stainless steel bottle cage.

Tommasini Tecno

SYCIP

This is my first 100% custom made bike that built up in Jul 2008. This steel bike is built by the SYCIP brothers in Sonoma County, Califonia of USA based on my specifications. I customed it to a Randonneur:

Frame and fork: 52.5 cm seat tube with 53.5 top tube frame constructed with Reynold 853 steel tubing, Henry James lugs sets and stainless steel dropouts.

Drivetrain: Campagnolo Centaur 10 speed shifters, triple front deraileur and 10 speed rear deraileur. Crank: Campagnolo Racing Triple crank arms with TA chain rings (49/39/29), 10 speed Centaur cog set (13/29). Shimano Ultegra long reach brakes, Wipperman 10XI chain, Phil Wood steel bottom bracket.

Wheels and Tyres: Campagnolo Record hubs with Velocity Aerohead front rim and Aerohead off centre rear rim. Continental Contact Sport 28c tyres.Honjo Hammered fenders.

Others: Brooks Team Professional titanium rail saddle, Nitto Crystal fellow Dynamic 626 seat post, Campagnolo Record threaded headset, Nitto Noodle handle bar and Nitto Technomic Deluxe quill stem, Brooks perforated leather bar tapes, Cateye Micro wireless cycle computer, Cateye HL-EL4100 front light, Shimano A520 pedal, Acorn Medium saddle bag or Carradice Barley saddle bag. Japanese brass bell with retro mount, Nitto bottle cage R.

SyCip

Bikes Previously owned

Trek Alpha SL

Litespeed Ghisallo

Fondriest Dominio Carbon

Cecil Walker Professional

Cinelli Super Corsa
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