One legged NYC bike courier

See http://redsports.sg/2008/04/24/cycling/

New bike and heading for NTU Bike Rally

I chanced upon this post by The Big Z in which he talks about riding with one of his kakis. The cycling tips he offered during their Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network tour has her enjoying the ride so much, she makes a purchase on the way back - a GT Outpost Disc 2008!

And they are now both heading for NTU Bike Rally 2008! They write well for an enjoyable read or maybe it was because it was cycling stories! Maybe TKX will be inspired to actually register for the event now!

Check out the Big Z’s other posts on offroad cycling. Some of them will make you go “ouch!” But listen to that joy of cycling in his words…almost makes me want to try the double black diamond at Ubin. Almost.

Changi - ECP ride with Pedal Ubin guides

Some of us Pedal Ubin guides enjoyed a day of just pedalling last Saturday. We rode Changi to ECP and back on a very hot and sunny morning.

Cheng Puay blogged about his miserable crash which saw him crashing into a railing. Joelle crashed with a nine-year old kid at ECP the way to the ride. Apparently he made a sudden right turn that took her out. But smiles all around in both cases. We have had several years free of accidents on Ubin so it seems we are less careful when on our own. Well, at least we got to use the first aid kit. And come Brave Soldier.

The heat got to me - I only drank 3L+ so I bailed on the Sunday ride. Some bits of the the bike are making scrunchy noises so I think I did not completely clear gunk out of the hub despite my best efforts after the last ride. Time for servicing by a pro. Since we rode from HV (met Adrian at Pasir Ris) we clocked dst 63km, Tms 3:34:50, Avs 16.9km/h, Mxs 49.5km/h.

Shut Down Day

I’m going cycling!

Two more days of marking, then…

it’s breakfast at Changi once again. It’s time we restarted up for the NTU Bike Rally on 1st June 2008. This ride is about 70km, so a good enough beginning. It’s really hot though, so will not be as easy as the start of the year. Better check my Camelpak’s in order.

NTU Bike Rally 2008 preparations

I got most of cycling kakis to ensure they registered for the NTU Bike Rally 2008 and the cheque for Joelle finally posted off last week.

I was ill in March, then it was Lekowala’s turn recently and in between I lost some precious Saturday mornings to coastal cleanup preparatory work and other volunteer projects. End result - no km clocked at all since February I believe!

So its time to get reacquainted with the bike. Morning route possibilities include Kranji Reservoir, Changi Village and Marina South before hitting NUS - definitely next week when its all exams and marking. So I better stick some clothes in the office.

I will also be joining May’s practice rides which escalate distances each week until we are ready for the 128km ride.

What’s with all the lightning?

Ahhh…and the next three hours?

Adrian’s flu saved us from battling the rain as we cycled to Changi Village in the early morning, it seems. Hope he gets well soon.

The reason for steel water bottles

Nalgene was the brand of polycarbonate bottle we all swore by in the 90’s. We used the hardy leak-proof bottles for holding alcohol and formalin during lengthy zoological expeditions in Southeasia Asia. They were certainly expensive but some cheap plastic bottles we had used before discovering Nalgene were unreliable - many leaked fumes into our vehicles as we travelled overland.

In the very late 90’s, I watched with fascination as Nalgene produced polycarbonate water bottles for the masses. The tough bottles eventually became more colourful this decade and increasingly popular. I finally overcame my mental barrier against using Nalgene for drinking water this year since these bottles looked completely different - I have a couple of bright orange bottles now.

In recent years, I noticed another trend - steel water bottles became increasing popular amongst cyclists and hikers. And in December 2007, Canada’s Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) apparently took polycarbonate bottles off their shelves and are scrambling to supply customers with steel bottles.

The reason? The presence of bisphenol A in plastic bottles which can potentially leach into water and pose a long-term health risk. Nalgene, however, says their products are safe.

In any case, you will find steel water bottles in local cycling and outdoor accessory shops these days. When I visited Queensway a couple of months ago, Nalgene bottles were on offer. Brand promotion or was this an attempt to stem the impending drought of disfavour?

You might recall that the danger of using soft water bottles to house drinking water long term was highlighted last year. I know many switched to hard plastic water bottles at the time. On 9th April 2008, the Today Show featured, “How safe are plastic bottles?” [Video].

The message? Avoid plastic bottles with labels 3, 6 and 7 - this includes the hard plastic many of our water bottles are made of. The IATP’s healthobservatory.org advocates this as well: Smart Plastics: Common Questions and Answers and Smart Plastics Guide Healthier Food Uses of Plastics.

There are many reports out there with varying information and claims so I’ve decided to sift through those later before posting to ICCS News. There apparently will be a US government study (probably FDA?) that will issue a report in May about these products and is bound to evict a flurry of responses. I will keeping tabs then. Right now, I am not entirely clear.

Meanwhile this cheerful news was reported in Science Daily (3rd April 200 - “Common Organic Compound Found In Many Household Products May Pose Health Risk To Breast Cells” [Source paper: Dairkee, S. H., J. Seok, S. Champion, A. Sayeed, M. Mindrinos, W. Xiao, R. W. Davis & W. H. Goodson, 2008. Bisphenol A Induces a Profile of Tumor Aggressiveness in High-Risk Cells from Breast Cancer Patients. Cancer Research, 68: 2076-2080.]

Essentially, they say,

“Bisphenol A, a chemical that leaches into food and beverages from many consumer products, causes normal, non-cancerous human breast cells to express genes characteristic of aggressive breast cancer cells.”

Steel water bottle anyone?

See also: “Freshen Up Your Drink,” by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. Time, 13 Mar 2008.

Bicycle theft at MRT stations

Is it steel prices that are fueling the theft of cheaper steel bikes at MRt stations? And since when did Kembangan become a hot spot for bicycle theft (2005?).

See the Cycling in Singapore blog.

NTU Bike Rally 2008 webpage

NTU Bike Rally 2008 webpage is now at this location: http://ntusportsclub.ecpresence.com/bikerally2008/bikerallyweb/index.htm