There are times when you settle into a nice rhythm for your morning schedule that you dont think twice about what you are doing. It has been that way for me for my morning commute to work. Once I am done with my wake up routine, I look for my cycling tights, Jersey, pack my pannier with my work clothes (puncture kit and pump are resident in the pannier), wear my clipless shoes and scoot out on my Surly. Most of the regular stuff I use on my commute like the GPS / speedo, lights, locks etc are on the bike and I dont even think  about them. I have had very few times when I realize that the batteries are dying or may be I forgot a plastic bag protection for my saddle etc.. and these are easily fixed when I get back home in the evening.

Now, most of you know that I regularly ride a Surly LHT and a Trek XO-1. I am not sure I have mentioned before that I busted my rear wheel on my XO-1 as a consequence of riding it with a bent wheel. I ahd put the bike up for sale and so did not bother much about fixing the wheels and the bike had been lying idle for a long while. Recently, I was inspired to not let the bike lie idle and wait for a sale, instead get some wheels and ride it around until I can find a suitable buyer.

After searching for a week, I found a nice set of used light weight wheels, Bontrager race lite. I was thinking of upgrading to a heavier wheel but I think the bike will have better value with lighter wheels. I swapped out my old wheels and set it up with the race lites. the new wheels came with tires too, that was a good deal to have. Once I have a ridable bike, my feet gets itchy and I have to take a ride. So I figured I would commute on this light, skinny wheels for the week. Trouble is that it kind of interrupted my morning rhythm.

Things seemed to go fine, I took my bike through the elevator, pannier fitted and all and was about to pedal off when I realized, shucks, I am wearing my Mountain shoe (SPD) and my XO-1 is equipped with a SPD-SL road pedals. OK took the elevator back to the house, swapped my shoes out and out I went again. As I was about to pedal off, I realized the saddle was too low. Damn, I had earlier let a friend test ride the bike and I have not restored the saddle for my height. Luckily, I carry a couple of standard allen keys in my handlebar pouch and got the saddle back in its position.

The ride was very nice in the morning with crisp air and mild sunshine. I reached work and was about to hook the bike up to its usual lamp post when I realized, damn I am missing my lock. I had a chain lock attached with the bike which I removed a while back. I had forgotten to bring it today. Though the parking area is under the security guard’s nose, I know better than to leave a unlocked bike out of my sight and did the only thing I could. Rode the bike out. Of course, I had a good plan B. a little further from my work place is a shop offering a BikeLodging service, you can park it in their shop and take a shower for 10$. That is realy cool. I have mentioned The Bike Boutique before and I still think it is a good business to be running. I am not sure if the Lodging services is profitable, but it sure get them karma Points and some really good exposure to the spending public. I was glad they exist and after a quick shower, managed to get into office not too late.

Well, all this simply because I decided to switch my bike. I need to have a more streamlined process to endure such ‘mishaps’ can be avoided in the future…

Most people do stay safe. Still a reminder is good to get. Lance comments on his livestrong Tour video about some cyclists knocked down by cars. So do stay safe.

Cycling is fun. I suppose that is obvious from all the raving I do on this site. I have personally enjoyed the experience of riding round new roads (which are not part of bus routes) and discovering nice nooks. Most of my cycling is however done for utility. I commute to work (35Km’s 2 way). As a consequence, I end up rushing along with the traffic in the morning and have a bit of spare time to look around for interesting places in the evening. Of course the other type of riding, I do it occasional Touring, which is mostly recreational.

My LHT, a well oiled beast carries me around on these rides in style. But over the years, I have come to accept that I would not readily bring out my bikes for short rides (< 20km).  The effort of bringing the bike through the cramped elevators, likely change in clothes / shoes just goes over the bar of me enjoying the short ride.

I suppose that’s when I contracted foldinitis. Though the Tikit or the Flyby is a far cry from the versatility of the LHT, they fill a very neat niche. One of taking short rides exploring the neighborhood. I have been living in my current location for almost a couple of years and have very little idea of what my neighborhood offers. The other day when I was heading back from IKEA I realized that the small dirty canal behind my house turns into a gorgeous 100m wide river just a couple of Km’s from home. I guess the ‘discovery’ was part chance and part due to the fact that I was riding a bike.

Over the weekend, a friend of mine sourced out a mushroom farm near my place (I did not know they had mushroom farms in Singapore). The funny part is that the farm is just about 6 km from home, a literal stone throw away. Coupled with the fact that it is near Jln Kayu, the home of Singaporean Prata (flaky bread). 6 Km as you imagine is below my threshold for taking my LHT out. But since I have a couple of foldies (a surrogate flyby and an easily steal-able tikit) in my house, I could not come up with any excuse to avoid the trip. And it was worth while. Crisp ride in summer showers, little traffic, wide roads etc…

I have been out having fun ride on the foldies almost every weekend now and I can understand why it quickly seems like the go-to bike for people who have foldies. It is just so quick to take out and much fun to ride that you don’t think twice about cycling away. At least that’s how it seems when you live in cramped high rises. And I am enjoying every bit of the foldie experience.

Now, let me get back to stalking the PC / PS.