I felt that I had to do one MORE off-road before the Lunar New Year (start of a new year in the Chinese calender). Reasons being, I miss the trails and it will be my last few rides before I change both my forward and rear derailleurs. So off I went after breakfast today =)
My plan was to cycle down Woodlands Road to the Bukit Timah Natural Reserve Visitor Centre, tackle one round of the trail, then go for half a round before turning into Zhenghua Park midway and proceed on the T15 trail, ending at Mandai and taking Woodlands Road home. I did just that.
The weather was excellent and the BT was populated with both bikers and hikers. I ran into so many female cyclists on the trails today; makes me wonder if the extreme sport of mountain biking had suddenly taken off in popularity among the younger women.
I had intended for a leisure pace today but somehow found myself pushing for speed through the downhills and certain sections. The climbs were definitely a different matter as it gets pretty hard to modulate your speed up steep rocky slopes when you are struggling, hence I had to put in effort to scale them. Fortunately, the weather was good and the ground was so dry enough for my tyres to get a grip on most places and as long as I had grip, strength was not much of a problem.
I am starting to dislike the entrance of the biking trail though. Always caught out on the wrong gears and with very poor tyre grip, I tend to struggle up and even lose my footing at times. The long travel on my fork does not help matters as it reduces handling significantly. Yet it is not the toughest of climbs which I had experienced. Someone sponsor me a set of Panaracer Fire XC Pro please =)
For the first lap, I took the quarry loop and on to the Belukar Track. A couple of trees had collapsed but I had no problems bashing through to the other side. Then I came to a tree which had fallen right across the path. It did look a lot bigger than the usual clearance level I have to make, but seemed perfect for hopping across. Reducing my speed, I cleared the front wheel without a problem, and felt my crank dig into the trunk. Somehow, it could not clear and the rear wheel dangled in the air, refusing to inch over the trunk. I tried a couple of times but gave up, opting to half-hop and push off with my feet against the log.
As I neared one of the steepest and most slippery climbs on BT but one that I had mastered, I shifted my gears in anticipation. Still, a judgemental error caught me out on the wrong gear and as I attempted to manuovre the bike uphill under brute strength, the poorer handling due to a longer fork travel got me into a damn ravine which I failed to climb out. The bike started to tumble off the steep incline sideways but I managed to control my fall and got my CNY gift of eight parallel cuts on my calf from the chain ring!
Well done. Nonetheless, I moved my gears into the correct position and scaled the climb without a problem. When I reached the Visitor Centre, I washed the dirt away and smeared saliva over the wounds to clog the bleeding. I suddenly remembered that the teeth had dug into the log earlier and now it gave me the cuts. Darn!
It was close to Chinese New Year and everyone was in a cheery mood when you shouted out your greetings. People were also giving way on the trails and that made my day. After a rest, I started another half lap, past that dreaded entrance and through the all familiar route till the barriers across a road. On the opposite side, the barriers had been removed and the trial somehow widened with lots of gravel.
Think it was simple? The tyres simply did not bite in excess gravel. You brake, you skid. You go fast, you skid. And it was a downhill section =) I basically control skidded all the way down to the junction where I turned into Zhenghua Park.
Nearing T15, quite a few bikers said hello as they passed. I met two Caucasian riders at the entrance and we rode together to the Gangsa 5X jumps where the lead rider waited for his friend and I carried on. Somehow, on the climb to Gangsa, I rammed my rear derailleur into a stump and it dragged the chain as I rode on. As a result, the derailleur hanger is more twisted out of position than ever, ensuring that shifts between the lightest two rear gears are not possible. I have to congratulate myself again.
The fast paced ride to the end of the trail pumped in a little more excitement as I encountered a few riders head-on. I was approaching this girl at high speed when the trail narrowed and had no choice but to veer on into the rockier ravines as she passed.
As I climbed over the gate, the two Caucasians pulled up. Explaining that I was heading home, we bid our goodbyes and I was on my way down Mandai, Woodlands and finally home.
Lunch was of precedence, then repair of my bike. I cleaned out the fork, headset as well as the drivetrain. The rear derailleur still refused to work after some tuning and I gave up since the new one from the UK had arrived in Singapore but Kerry is facing some problems with Speedpost regarding the delivery.
So now, the bike sits beautifully in my room. Happy Chinese New Year to all =)
Total distance: 26km (off-road), 45km (on-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH
My plan was to cycle down Woodlands Road to the Bukit Timah Natural Reserve Visitor Centre, tackle one round of the trail, then go for half a round before turning into Zhenghua Park midway and proceed on the T15 trail, ending at Mandai and taking Woodlands Road home. I did just that.
The weather was excellent and the BT was populated with both bikers and hikers. I ran into so many female cyclists on the trails today; makes me wonder if the extreme sport of mountain biking had suddenly taken off in popularity among the younger women.
I had intended for a leisure pace today but somehow found myself pushing for speed through the downhills and certain sections. The climbs were definitely a different matter as it gets pretty hard to modulate your speed up steep rocky slopes when you are struggling, hence I had to put in effort to scale them. Fortunately, the weather was good and the ground was so dry enough for my tyres to get a grip on most places and as long as I had grip, strength was not much of a problem.
I am starting to dislike the entrance of the biking trail though. Always caught out on the wrong gears and with very poor tyre grip, I tend to struggle up and even lose my footing at times. The long travel on my fork does not help matters as it reduces handling significantly. Yet it is not the toughest of climbs which I had experienced. Someone sponsor me a set of Panaracer Fire XC Pro please =)
For the first lap, I took the quarry loop and on to the Belukar Track. A couple of trees had collapsed but I had no problems bashing through to the other side. Then I came to a tree which had fallen right across the path. It did look a lot bigger than the usual clearance level I have to make, but seemed perfect for hopping across. Reducing my speed, I cleared the front wheel without a problem, and felt my crank dig into the trunk. Somehow, it could not clear and the rear wheel dangled in the air, refusing to inch over the trunk. I tried a couple of times but gave up, opting to half-hop and push off with my feet against the log.
As I neared one of the steepest and most slippery climbs on BT but one that I had mastered, I shifted my gears in anticipation. Still, a judgemental error caught me out on the wrong gear and as I attempted to manuovre the bike uphill under brute strength, the poorer handling due to a longer fork travel got me into a damn ravine which I failed to climb out. The bike started to tumble off the steep incline sideways but I managed to control my fall and got my CNY gift of eight parallel cuts on my calf from the chain ring!
Well done. Nonetheless, I moved my gears into the correct position and scaled the climb without a problem. When I reached the Visitor Centre, I washed the dirt away and smeared saliva over the wounds to clog the bleeding. I suddenly remembered that the teeth had dug into the log earlier and now it gave me the cuts. Darn!
It was close to Chinese New Year and everyone was in a cheery mood when you shouted out your greetings. People were also giving way on the trails and that made my day. After a rest, I started another half lap, past that dreaded entrance and through the all familiar route till the barriers across a road. On the opposite side, the barriers had been removed and the trial somehow widened with lots of gravel.
Think it was simple? The tyres simply did not bite in excess gravel. You brake, you skid. You go fast, you skid. And it was a downhill section =) I basically control skidded all the way down to the junction where I turned into Zhenghua Park.
Nearing T15, quite a few bikers said hello as they passed. I met two Caucasian riders at the entrance and we rode together to the Gangsa 5X jumps where the lead rider waited for his friend and I carried on. Somehow, on the climb to Gangsa, I rammed my rear derailleur into a stump and it dragged the chain as I rode on. As a result, the derailleur hanger is more twisted out of position than ever, ensuring that shifts between the lightest two rear gears are not possible. I have to congratulate myself again.
The fast paced ride to the end of the trail pumped in a little more excitement as I encountered a few riders head-on. I was approaching this girl at high speed when the trail narrowed and had no choice but to veer on into the rockier ravines as she passed.
As I climbed over the gate, the two Caucasians pulled up. Explaining that I was heading home, we bid our goodbyes and I was on my way down Mandai, Woodlands and finally home.
Lunch was of precedence, then repair of my bike. I cleaned out the fork, headset as well as the drivetrain. The rear derailleur still refused to work after some tuning and I gave up since the new one from the UK had arrived in Singapore but Kerry is facing some problems with Speedpost regarding the delivery.
So now, the bike sits beautifully in my room. Happy Chinese New Year to all =)
Total distance: 26km (off-road), 45km (on-road)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH
