About a long long bicycle ride

I barely made it home yesterday evening.

All I really wanted was to wash off all the grime and get some good rest!

When I signed up for 128km Bike Rally organised by the NTU Sports Club in March, I thought nothing of the distance involved.

On hindsight, it turned out to be somewhat tougher that what I expected.

The Bike Rally is not a competitive event. It is 'only' a 128km bicycle long-distance event that took us round Singapore, touching the 4 ends of the island.


I registered for this event without realising that the last time I cycled properly was well over 5 years ago, back in my university days in England.



The Rally kicked off at 0700 at East Coast Beach Food Centre. From there, the 400-strong cycling contingent moved en masse for the first leg of the journey - along East Coast beach, towards the city, past Mountbatten Road, Nicoll Highway, past the monumental Singapore Flyer, past the Esplanade, down Shenton Highway, past Vivocity, and reached the first checkpoint - Labrador Park.

The break last merely 10 minutes even though the first leg took about an hour. The lead cyclist took off again for the second leg of the Rally. I quickly put on my helmet and scampered off, determined not to be left at the back of the pack.

I still felt good, but because my bicyle was a single-speed bicycle, cycling on straight, flat roads become very tedious. Many other cyclists, with their more advanced multi-speed bicycles, easily overtook me. It's not that big a problem, anyway. But the difference is very telling: The leading pack of cyclists were soon out of my sight - so superior were their bicycles.


From Labrador, we cycled down West Coast Road, into Jurong Port Road, Pioneer Road, past the ghostly silent industrial parks of Jurong, past the fringes of Jurong West, and stopped at NTU's Sports and Recreation Centre for the next rest point.

By then the sun's withering heat was visibly taking its toll on some of the cyclists. I replenished my fluids and gratefully munched on some sandwiches. I was feeling really hungry and very parched.

The second leg (from Labrador Park to NTU) took well over an hour-fifteen minutes of non-stop road cycling - no easy task!

After a half-an-hour rest at NTU, we took off again, from NTU to the expansive roads of Lim Chu Kang (where massive trucks sped past us, rattling our bicycles), past the cemetries, into Neo Tiew Road, past the farms, and to my great relief, we stopped at Kranji Dam for the next break. This third leg was much easier than the second leg. It was certainly much shorter (about 45 minutes), and much more enjoyable, as this route took us past the peaceful and tranquil greenery of this isolated part of Singapore.

At Kranji Dam, Johor Bahru was hazily visible on our left side as we took a breather. Then we proceeded on the fourth leg of the Rally. We went into the Sungei Kadut industrial region, the dusty Woodlands Road, and the nightmare part of the race: Mandai Road.

Mandai Road is an endless and unforgiving road - unimaginably long, fringed by endless rows of trees on either side.

But what took the stuffing out of me were 2 slopes - the gradients were not very steep but the slopes were as far as my eye could see. That meant relentless pedalling just to keep my bicycle moving. Along the way I laboured past exhausted cyclists who had already given up cycling and were pushing their bikes up the slope.

With every push of the pedal, I remembered telling my PE classes about getting to the top of the slope as quick as possible during the 2.4km race. With this piece of advice echoing in my head, I grinded my way up, pushing out all thoughts of slowing down.

Reaching the top of these slopes took the wind out of me. Even as I tried to regain my breath, it was hard to control my panting, after all that effort to clear those slopes.

We cycled past the Mandai SAF military camp and the Zoo.

From the crippling Mandai Road stretch, we headed into Yishun Avenue 1, went past Orchid Country Club, and finally turned into Yishun Stadium carpark, for the next rest point. The time taken for the fourth leg? One hour and a half.

By then my joints were creaking. Even my arms were locking up, stiff from gripping the handle bars. My quads were beginning to get very tight - not a good sign at all.

I consumed vast amounts of water - knowing that hydration is critical for muscles to go on working longer.

From Yishun, we wearily climbed onto our bikes and moved off again, for the fifth leg of the arduous journey. This time, we continued all the way to the end of Yishun Avenue 1, into Seletar Camp, down Jalan Kayu, into Sengkang, past the new flats, into Upper Serangoon Road, and stopped at Serangoon Secondary School. This journey again exceeded the one-hour mark.

It's the same scene over and over again - bikes left by the wayside as exhausted cyclists massaged their tired muscles, munching on bananas and sandwiches, drinking Gatorade and water feverishly. Some were staring into blank space, while others were lying down. Quite a few were talking about the long distances, their tired limbs, the hot weather. I steered clear of such unmotivating and useless chatter that served no purpose.

I refused to sit. I remained standing, moving around here and there to soothe the arms and legs. I did not want to do anything that would jeopardise the momentum. If I sat down, my muscles would certainly 'shut down' and lock up into cramps.

I looked at those whose eyes remained alert. There were a few. I marvelled at their strength, which must reach great depths from their inner beings.

A large bus soon halted outside the school. Quite a great number, perhaps 20 - 30, alighted and I soon recognised some of them as they had been next to me when we started the Rally in the morning. I realised that they had dropped out of the Rally, perhaps due to fatigue or heat exhaustion. They certainly looked glum. It must feel terrible to drop out.

I told myself that I must finish this thing. I steeled myself for the next leg of the Rally.

Once I saw the lead cyclists moving into position, I clipped on my helmet, wore my Oakleys, tightened my gloves and moved into position. Of course I was tired, but I would rather stay with them and finish this one helluva race than to linger behind with the stragglers and fall far behind.

From Serangoon, at about 2pm, we cycled into Hougang Avenue 7, and turned into Tampines Road, past Giant, Ikea, into Pasir Ris, into Loyang Avenue, past Changi Village, and finally stopped at Changi Beach Car Park for our final rest-point.

By then, I was numb. My muscles were literally burning up. My head was spinning and throbbing against the helmet, even though I drank so much. My shoulders and neck were darkened red and I was too tired to splash sunblock. Utterly foolish.

From there, we would be cycling back to East Coast Beach - the finish line. But there was another massive hurdle - the endless stretch of Changi Coast Road. This road is immeasurably long. It took me a good 15 minutes just to cycle from the start to the end of this road. From there we hit the very start of East Coast Beach cycling track, going past National Sailing Centre, OBS, PA Sports Club, Bedok Jetty and finally crossed the finish line at just over 5.00pm.

I was bloody glad to cross that line.

We took off at 7am and returned back at 5pm. In that span of time we hit the 4 corners of Singapore.

Excluding the rest time, I was on the bicycle today cycling for a grand total of 7 hours 30 minutes.



I don't know if I'll do this again next year. Give me cycling anytime, but today's Rally really takes the cake. I'll probably stick to running next time!



But I'm very proud. Listen, I finished this 128 km Rally with a single-speed bike.

This single-speed bicycle is a gift from my dad so I really have no qualms about using it again. Of course, I could have rented a multi-speed bike, knowing that it's far easier.

But then again, the glory and pride is greater now, isn't it, now that I've conquered this race with a 'primitive' machine.

Anyway, some of the cyclists remarked to me, 'you solid ah, cycle with single-speed bike!' 'Wow, I noticed you're on a single-speed bike.' 'Wahhh, you god ah, so steady!' 'My bike cost me $4K you know. How much your bike?' Hilarious.

Mine is free of charge, thank you.



This is probably the toughest physical test I've undertaken so far.

And I'm glad I passed it. It's been a tremendous experience. Nah. I've no regrets at all about joining this bike Rally. Yea it's tough, it's damn tiring, but it's also fun.

What a good way to end the term, eh?