Rush. Rush. Rush. This was the description for the series of events happened to me for today.
After finishing my afternoon agendas, I sent my bike for inspection in the evening before the rode with Toa Payoh began. My new triathlon bike has been making squeaking sound ever since I gotten hold of it. Initially, I thought it was normal but my suspicious arose as I experienced difficulties in pedaling it. The shop owner of the bike shop (at Zion Road) confirmed my suspicion. The crank set and rear derailer had not been aligned properly. However, talk about rip-off!! I was charged $25 for the service rendered. Gosh!! Without other alternatives and running short of time, I agreed to the fee. : (
Subsequently, Yean, Ka Liang and his father had cycled to Zion Road to meet with me. Together, we rode via Orchard Road, Newton Circle and reached Toa Payoh to meet with the rest of the group. It was a huge group for today’s ride. There were about 14 of us. The group made up a mixture of roadies and mountain bikes. Tonight, our route would cover Mandai Road, Choa Chua Kang to Bt Timah. Talk about déjà vu. I would still remember the rode with Alvin, Eddie, PS and the rest where I was exhausted and could not catch up with the rest. Tonight was a chance to prove myself again. Ha.
The ride was extremely smooth along the journey. Perhaps it was due to the alignment done at the bike shop. I could pedal the bike with no problem and manage to conquer one slope after another with little trade off in speed. On average, I was riding at 30km/hr. Geez!! Hee hee
The group’s stamina does not match equally with each other. At several junctions, we would stop to wait for the rest to catch up. Nevertheless, this also provided the chance for us to chit-chat and know each other better. At Bt Batok petrol kiosk, we decided to rode to Adam Road Hawker Center to have our supper before we spilt off from there. Unfortunately, after 700m before reaching the point, my tire was punctured. Luckily, there was mechanic support in the group. Ka Liang and Calvin came to my rescue to change a new tube. At 12am, the group greeted each other good-bye and reminded ourselves to meet together at next Saturday. In the end, although there were some confusions and disobeyed of cyclist’s rules at certain T-junctions, but the ride was fun and enjoyable overall.
