Back on the Road

Well not exactly the road per se but more the path. My long awaited return to cycling has come. I guess the reason why it took so long was the mental block about just getting all the gear together and plonking myself on that seat and pounding the road. Now that I have finally, it is a good feeling. But as with all first time cycling attempts this was not spared from dramas.

This time around my best mate, Selvam and I after much, much, much talk (we have been talking like almost a year) we finally found time for to take a ride together. It was meant to be an early morning ride on the Changi Park Connector Network (PCN) but that would not be the case.

After dropping the wife off at work, I headed to Tampines to get Selvam. The weather which looked perfect took a turn on the way there with a sudden downpour of torrential rain. Thank God for the KPE which got me out or shall I say under. Soon we were on our way to Changi Point which would be the start of our ride on the PCN, when the rain came again. Thankfully the rain stopped when we hit the Changi Beach carpark.

We unloaded our bikes and just when we did, the heavens opened! This time it was here to stay. We ran to a nearby shelter and soon was joined by a crowd of people who were doing the same.

 

In the foreground are a bunch of students camping and learning how to tie knots. Yes clove hitch, reef knot, cross lashing kind of knots. In the background are “orange” guys from SembCorp who were supposed to be doing some landscaping work. All Stuck!

This was not how I envisioned my return to the road. After almost 45 mins of chatting and quietly laughing at the knots instructors cheesy attempts at humour, we had enough. If we are not going to ride we should do the next best thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It started with a warm cup of coffee to warm up but the rain did not let up so…..order up!

 

 

The food was surprisingly good. I messaged the wife to tell her that my bike trip has now become a foodie trip to Changi Point. While we were chilling out here, she was playing Incredible Hulk.

Eventually the rain slowed by mid morning (10ish) and so we decided to hit the road. I am glad we stuck to it. It was a great 30KM ride. The PCN was a great idea, there was no need to contend with heavy vehicles and drivers in cyclist unfriendly Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

We rode from Changi Point to East Coast Parkway before turning back towards Changi Point. On our return trip we stopped at these rest point and soaked in the view and the breeze. It was great!!!

I noticed on the other side of the pictured waterway was a large yellow beacon. We decided to head there to see see.

 

It was the Tanah Merah beacon. It was located on a tip of a break water and the view from there was awesome! Too bad just had my iPhone with me to take some okay pictures. Here is the view towards the East up the breakwater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the view West wards, up East Coast Park and way in the distance is the CBD. This photo does not at all do justice to the view to be honest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So as we headed back to Changi Point, I was already thinking about our next cycling trip and promising myself that it will not be 3 months or 3 weeks later but 3 days later, unfortunately as luck would have it the bike is in the shop for servicing and hopefully I will get it back soon.

M Riding