With Kenneth and Kevin zooming up Benjamin Henry Sheares bridge on the OCBC ride, it was a slow flat route for Cheng Piay, Airani and myself to East Coast, Changi and back on Sunday 4th March 2012. Since there were no slopes, I brought out the Brompton for a workout. We merry-ed up with Catherine at the western (Fort Road) end of East Coast Park.
As we left Changi Vilage after breakfast, we were quite surprised to see that Changi Village Market and Hawker Centre would be closed for the rest of the year. Singapore foodies woud be rabid about this so I facebooked the picture and friends immediately lamented. Some had plans to visit the following week!
ZenDogs conquer OCBC 39km Challenge from brainopera on Vimeo.
Kevin and Kenneth had a good time at the OCBC ride and they rode over and join us after their breakfast at Marina Bay. All this arranged via Twitter which is a really useful way to communicate for a bunch of cyclists on a ride.
With the NTU Bike Rally over, a leisurely tone prevailed and we detoured for coffee along Kallan Riverside Park at a place Kevin reccommended, called Loysel’s Toy at the Sam Tat Building there. Lovely coffee so I quaffed down about three cups – hydration!
It was relaxing to sit there and watch other people relax too. I was feeling quite mellow after that, even after the thre cups of coffee.
You can see the Brompton in the foreground; I was struggling to find the right pace with that bicycle and was missing my GT terribly, but eventually I found a rhythm. The Brompton does sport a nice new saddle now which is certainly lovely; I decided to buy and insert the Brook’s saddle sooner rather than later since it will last eons!
Airani pumped two tyres today, her Scott at Mr Bikes after buying a valve off them and then my Brompton at the F1 Pit along Marina Bay after finding the pump which is very nicely nestled in the bike frame. Yes, we made the lady do all the work again but she’s the most restless of the group so we have to keep her occupied. And she is the mechanic.
As we rode back along Marina Bay, I notice sea lettuce growing on mats placed on the breakwaters. Nice idea probably to provide green cover to the bank edge without roots digging into crevices and loosening up the breakwater. Hope something comes of it – our reservoir edges would do with some greening.
The best stop of the day was still ahead of us; Kenneth had left us by then to take on the Kallang Park Connector Obstacle Course and we reached Queen Elizabeth Walk to find a mobile ice cream man. No hesitation, yum-yum! He zoomed off minutes later to waylay tourists off the bus near the Merlion so we were lucky to meet him.
With the NTU BIke Rally over, we will begin to explore other routes soon. I am actually content to do the Changi Breakfast ride every week but the rest are getting restless!
See also Kenneth Pinto’s “OCBC Cycle Singapore 2012 and Loysel’s Toy“.
Otterman speaks... 