Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Lesser Known Side of Bukit Timah

As the Chinese proverb goes “Yi Shan Bi Yi Shan Gao”, literally translated as “one mountain higher than another”. It means that there will always be someone out there who is more capable, skilled or has more experience. 01052010_001

Today’s ride with Pan and his team-mates was interesting, not to mention tiring as the pace was pretty quick. We went to several areas which we seldom trekked and it was a good eye-opener. And of course, at the pace we were hitting the roads, I wished for a faster and lighter hard-tail!

It’s about time to do a thorough servicing. When I reached the entrance of Track 15 in the morning, I found my rear wheel wobbling. First thing in the morning,Pan’s team-mates The nut securing the hub had come loose. We tightened the nut by hand and fortunately it did not come loose in the trails. Half a lap of Bukit Timah later, my fork was emitting weird noises. True enough, the top bolt had come loose and Pan saved the day with his multi-tool. Then towards the end of the ride, I was down with a rear wheel puncture. The Presta valve had dislocated itself from the tubing. Small issue though as I had a spare tube.

I am finding the entrance of Bukit Timah more difficult with each ride. My wheel keeps slipping and I went down at least twice today. I had to clear the slippery sections with momentum before my tires could get any grip and only by doing that did I manage to clear the entrance twice. It’s time to let my mind ponder over new tire choices! =P

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Total distance: 21.5km (off-road); 25.6km (on-road); 7km (Ventura Race)
Money spent: $0
Participants: LSH, Pan and his team-mates

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