Yo~ Back in front of the computer, man. Guess what? We've completed our first long-distance bike hike on 29th Aug 08 as planned! 127km in under 16 hours with minimal rest, covering urban, broad roads, hilly and rural terrains, except for undulating dirt tracks.



This was the route we took, mainly skirting on the perimeters of the island. The route drawn on the map is not exactly correct bcos it is agar-agar one, but close enough. Click for larger view.

Here's a rough recount on the log of the hike.

0900hrs: Met up with derek, had breakfast at 805. The weather didn't look too good, all gloomy with a slight drizzle. Nelson the bugger was late as usual, haha. Went to the supermarket at plaza to get some packed food for field cooking, and moved over to jon's house.

1000~1030hrs: Met up with nel, went up to jon's house to do some last preparations, as well as going over the planned route one last time. First time using jon's old bike, but got accustomed to it quite easily. Did some simple leg stretches and officially set off!

1030~1200hrs: First part of the hike, from Hougang to Changi. Went along the upper part of Tampines road, into the Old Tampines road, bypassed Ikea, went through Pasir Ris, and took a pit-stop at a bike shop in Elias Mall. Changed the worn-out tires of my bike, while derek got a soft padding for his bike's seat.

Continued through Pasir Ris town, bypassed the interchange, Downtown East, Loyang temple, Hendon camp, Old Changi Hospital, Aloha Changi, Changi Sailing Club, and reached Changi Village.

1200~1300hrs: Stopover at Changi Village for lunch. Nasi lemak! That's what Changi Village is famous for haha. Stocked up on energy bars from nearby convenience store, downed a can of red bull, and we're good to go.

1300~1430hrs: Went around the perimeter of the entire Changi Airport, bypassing Changi Beach, SAF Ferry Terminal and Changi Ferry Terminal. The long bike track of about 8km by the side of the airport was damn shiok, long and straight and flat. Transition to East Coast Park, bypassing all the water leisure spots and stopped over near Mcdonalds for a short break.

By this time the drizzle has stopped. In the distance we could also see PSA and the city area already.

1445~1630hrs: Bypassed Suntec and Marina Sq, Funan, Boat Quay, Chinatown, SGH, and came to Harbourfront Centre. Stopped to top up water supply, and went a little further down to Keppel Harbour for the next resting point.

1645~1800hrs: Moving off, bypassing Telok Blangah, NUS and Pasir Panjang. Somewhere along West Coast we had a little accident. Derek buang-ed cos his bike's gears had some problem, but luckily it wasn't very serious, just some abrasions and superficial grazes. The lame thing is, after he buang, he sat in the middle of the pavement and was he giving the 'ouch i'm hurt' face, and then he suddenly took out his Snickers bar and started eating, like no link one lor.

Went on toward Jurong, bypassing Pandan Reservoir, Science Centre, Jurong Town Hall, Jurong East MRT, and stopped over at the central area at Jurong Town Council (Jurong East).

1800~2000hrs: 2nd pit-stop at a bike shop in the vicinity, to change my bike's rear brake pads, and did some maintenance/repair work for derek's bike. Had dinner at the hawker centre there. The western food nice sia, and the auntie quite friendly also, LOL! Sorry ah, only the few of us know what's going on, haha.

Over dinner, derek gave some cold jokes. Very lame and cold.

Q: 豆沙包和馒头去看电影, 豆沙包哭得很伤心, 馒头却没有表情, 为什么?
A: 馒头没有 fillings (feelings).

Q: 豆沙包和叉烧包去看一样的电影, 豆沙包哭得很伤心, 叉烧包却笑得很开心, 为什么?
A: 叉烧包有不一样的 fillings (feelings).

Q: 豆沙包和烧卖去看一样的电影, 豆沙包没有哭, 烧卖却哭得很伤心, 为什么?
A: 这个电影豆沙包已经看到腻了。

Sun has set, and transition from day to night took place. More challenging now...

2000~2100hrs: Moving off, bypassed Jurong East swimming complex, the one with slides and wave pool. Also bypassed Jurong Point and Jurong West, and went all the way up north on Jalan Bahar, bypassing Civil Defence Academy, route to NTU, various christian and muslim cemeteries, and came to Lim Chu Kang Road, the most challenging part of the entire hike.

The whole stretch of road lasted for approx 10km. The first few kilometres was good, bcos the road was broad (3 or 4 car lanes at least) and flat. And then it transited into rural terrain, where Sungei Gedong camp is. The road now became hilly and narrow, and sometimes dark. Lots of immigrant workers hanging around by the stretch of road also. We went uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill...

After one hell of a journey through LCK, we finally came to the LCK jetty, which we realised was shit. There was no nice scenery, and totally nothing worth to see there. The area was so freakin small, and looked more like a hot spot for smugglers. There was a police coast guard settlement and a coast guard dispatch jetty, that's all. Oh ya that place was smelly too.

2100~2200hrs: Cut through the LCK agricultural areas and Neo Tiew (lots of immigrant settlements here). As usual rural areas had narrow and dark hilly roads, which was quite challenging. Went across Kranji Dam and took a break at the playground.

Odometer marked the 100th kilometre of the day!

2230~0000hrs: Bypassed the Kranji Turf Club and War Memorial, and went onto Mandai Road. Mandai Road was another killer - long and winding, with various uphill-downhills. The entire road spanned for about 6 to 8km.

Went into Yishun, and across Yishun Dam (otherwise also known as Seletar Dam). Took a short break there before going on into the Seletar Airbase/camp area, and out to Jalan Kayu.

0000~0130hrs: Last stopover at Jln Kayu for supper. All of us were hungry and shagged like dog sia! Ate alot and rested for a while, and the surrounding was beginning to get cold.

Just a short distance away from home now. Moving off, cut through Sengkang area and all of us split up to head for our respective homes. By this time, my right knee was hurting like mad already. Overused my knee due to alot of running done recently, and this intensive bike hike.

Heard from jon that when we reached home, the odometer clocked 127.3km! :D

Successfully completed one of our biggest challenge yet, with minimal casualty sustained. After this hike, i realise better that nothing is impossible, and IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING! :D

Some disappointing things were that we didn't get to do field cooking due to the lack of time and some essential equipment. We also skipped Sungei Buloh and Kranji War Memorial bcos by the time we reached those 2 places, it was dark already. We learnt that next time we gotta plan rural routes before urban routes.

Some pix~









Didn't take much pix bcos we concentrated on rushing.

29th Aug 08 127km bike hike, 成功! :D