Saturday, May 30, 2009

Urban Assault...kind of...

Alrasvee and I set off from Woodlands at 9am for Clementi MRT but we never made it there. Halfway through, I attempted to pump Alrasvee's half inflated rear wheel, only to find a broken and missing Presta valve when I removed the pump. With a hiss, all the air escaped. He didn't have an extra tube and my spare Schrader tube could not fit his rims. We were at a loss. Fortunately, Ian came to the rescue in the rain with a spare tube! We owe him for that.

All drenched and cold, we headed to a cheese prata shop at the end of Clementi Road. I was glad that the sun was out as our wet clothes could then be dried. After a drink and meeting up with Vijay and Phyllis, we set off for Kent Ridge and the park connector network through the Southern Ridges. Ian, aka Xingg, showed us why he deserved to finish third for the recent downhill competition at Kent Ridge by leading us through flights after flights of steps! Way to go man =)

I suddenly felt I was a little too old. All the bravado of the past couple of years had seemed to disappear and I hesitated at each deck of steps. At certain parts, I found the courage to ride down, at other sections, I just gave up and carried my bike down =P Nonetheless, we gave the bikes a good thrashing as well as "stress test". My suspension felt so plush after the final deck of steps down Mount Faber.

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We had lunch before making out way to the Marina Barrage. As all of us had not been to the Barrage before (less Phyllis who had been there once by car), we took awhile to find the place. And it was definitely worth our efforts. At such an isolated location, it was surprising to find so many people chilling out, having picnics or just taking a stroll.

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My shoes were almost dried by then so it was great to just laze around and sun my socks. =P We were joined by another rider (sorry, I can't remember your name) but we had to leave for home shortly after. Alrasvee had to get home by 6pm and I am sure we "enjoyed" the ride back via the "rolling" terrain of Upper Thomson.

Damn, I think I took a knock too many yesterday and my muscles are acting up again.

Total distance: 80km
Money spent: $5.50
Participants: LSH, Alrasvee, Ian Yeng, Phyllis Tan, Vijay

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