This is a picture I shot and stitched before the Trans siberian trip. I am home now and take this as a teaser before I bombard more pictures here.

Click through to see the details.

Came across this article in ‘Today’.

Latest estimates put the population to 17 million. I have been to Beijing and I should say it is a pretty congested town. It seems like they go through extreme measures to keep the vehicle count on the road down (similar to our weekend COE idea).

China is probably the largest car market right now and there is obvoiusly lot of money to be made in selling cars (They can have a COE system and an ERP system and I suppose the demand for car would not go down. It will be a good revenue stream for the Beijing Municipality. They can build better roads and better Public transportation with that money.

But it seems like they are doing neither. Instead, they plan to inconvenience car drivers by bringing back bike lanes.

Makes me wonder. If China (who are fighting for their right to develop at a rapid pace) can think of solving their traffic and pollution woes by introducing bike lanes, why does Singapore think the other way around?

I am not saying bring us bike lanes. I am just saying divert your attention from cyclists (and educating them) to Drivers (and how they can be made responsible for their actions on the road).

It is how one views things. I saw this on one of my favorite blogs (ogle at hot, stylish girls on bikes – whats not to like).

I do not expect this to happen all over the world. However, it is a measure of how much the notion of cycling as a means of transport has seeped into the public conscience.

The problem as I see it in Singapore is that the authorities and public view cycling as either a sport or recreational activity or at the very most, a mode of transport for the extremely poor and dare I say it, foreign workers. The second part of the equation is the notion that the people who ride are unwilling to learn the local traffic rules and will flout the rules even if taught.

Now seen from such clouded perspective it is easy to understand why the authorities are trying to ‘fix’ the cyclist instead of the drivers and more importantly the infrastructure. The typical cyclist is viewed as one with low economical value and hence there is very little need to provide for them. This idea also spreads in other areas. A colleague commented on how someone from LTA was quoted as saying that providing amenities for handicapped people was cost prohibitive (I quote without basis here). The notion of economic value add is at play here again.

The same is true in the rest of the world too. I suppose Copenhagen city council is willing to invest in infrastructure since the ones cycling are teachers, lawyers, doctors and tradesmen, all contributing to the economy and it is ‘worth it’ to keep these lives safe.

I sound morose but I guess that is how things are.

Getting back, I am not expecting very fancy railings or segregated lanes (it will be great to have them and will encourage more cyclists). But I can live without some middle manager quoting to the media and media misquoting to rest of the world that cyclists are endangering their lives and others.

This is a real pity.

I quote from the Channel News Asia Article:

More often than not, cyclists are at fault when it comes to fatal or serious road traffic accidents involving them.

This has been the case in more than 50 per cent of such accidents between January and September of the last two years, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary of Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli in Parliament on Tuesday.

Common causes for the accidents include changing lanes without due care, failing to keep a lookout, and failing to give way to traffic with right of way.

The rationale is akin to saying (for lack of a better comparison) that women with short skirts are at fault for being molested.

Oh Please this is an amateurish argument. If you cannot provide proper infrastructure, you might be better off keeping the mouth shut.

It is totally possible that this is simply bad journalism (from what I see being published on local news papers, I will not be surprised). It is also possible that the parliamentary Secretary is quoted verbatim. Either way, it is a step in the wrong direction.

I am not absolving cyclists of faults but any argument that blames the victims is a weak mechanism to shrug off ones responsibility and avoid a sensible debate.

A nice way to round up a long weekend. A bunch of travel plans went down the drain but in the end, the weekend turned out to be much fun.

Myself and my brother decided to do a quick loop around the island and though it could have been longer, we stopped short to avoid some night riding. Me on my NWT and my brother on his Tikit. 85 Km of very pleasant weather punctuated with muted sunshine and light showers.

It all started with a quickly decided ride to the Zoo via Mandai Road. We looped in through the Upper Seletar, a nice winding, traffic free route that by passes the more congested Upp Thomson Road. Once at Mandai, we decided to continue on to Sungei Buloh and down to Jurong east. The Kranji Road was not much fun with too many trucks kicking up dust and sand but that lasted just for a few Km’s.

A pitstop at Sungei Buloh and we continued on to Jurong to head towards Clementi. Well, after about 40 km we decided to get something to eat and we found a good place in Jurong East, under the MRT line (with the noise of trains screaming past at regular intervals). Post Clementi, we took Pasir Panjang Rd to town (bypassing West Coast Highway) and from town it is my regular commute home.

We debated on whether we should continue on along east coast, head to changi village and return via Lornie rd. In the end, we decided to take it easy and headed home to clock 85Km. A very easy ride to top up a relaxing weekend.

If you followed my twitter updates (on the right sidebar here), you might realize, I picked up a Tikit for my brother by availing the Black Friday deal. And since it was here this weekend, we decided to take it out on a foldie shakedown. So 4 of us, 2 Tikits, a Buzz and myself on the NWT, decided to go around on a little jaunt looking for good food in the neighborhood.

Based on hearsay, we decided to make a nice little Nepalese restaurant called Everest kitchen serving excellent momo’s our first stop. A short 6 km from home, we were at the restaurant and sneaked in the bikes (actually, the restaurant was nice to let us keep the folded bikes indoors).

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A hearty lunch and some really good momo’s later, we wanted to head to Serangoon Gardens to check out the place. Regulars may know the place but it was totally new to me. Though I have lived in the vicinity for more than 2 years, I have never been to this place. I should say the foldies were helping me to explore the neighborhood and am glad I did go there. I visited a cozy little italian restaurant called Ristorante De Parma with some very friendly people and binged on a bunch of desserts. The menu is a bit on the pricy side but it is worth every penny.

Again finding space for the foldies in the cramped sidewalk was easy enough and I look forward to getting back frequently.

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I am also looking forward to exploring more cozy corners. If anyone knows of any hidden secrets, do drop a note.

You might have observed in the past few posts, there were a bunch of equipment upgrades on my bikes. Some of them well worth it, some probably vain. There seems to be missing an essential component, that of riding the bike. Heh, It is about time I really road tested the NWT.

Al, requested for pictures of the complete bike and here they go.

First up, a 100 Km loop to Kota Tinggi. It was almost impromptu ride, my brother pushed me to join him and I figured it is a good excuse to take the NWT on a shakedown. You know bikes take a bit to settle down. Cables will stretch, tires will roll into place, brakes will wear in etc… I had a few things to check out too, like how do my panniers fit the rear rack, will I have heel strike, will my setup with skating wheels work fine with the panniers, how will the dual drive hold up over long distances etc…

I realized after the initial short rides, the shifters were a bit tricky to reach, so the first adjustments were made (I have not put on bar tape yet expecting more adjustments in the coming days). I swapped my B17 with the B67 from the Surly and the bike was ready for the road test. The bigger question was whether I was ready

For those who do not know about SE Asia, we do not have regular seasons, the only thing regular is the intense sun, high humidity and thunderstorms and usually they decide to mix and match combinations as the day progresses.

We started off about 0830 in pretty much high sun and the only thing I could look forward to was some cheap / great food in JB and if lucky, some showers in the mid day. Luck did not hold out for us and we were served with intense heat and near 100% humidity throughout the ride. As it is with riding out through the causeway into Johor Bahru, heavy traffic is the norm until you cross Kota Tinggi. So an out and back loop means that we are practically in heavy traffic throughout the ride. Added to it was the fact that the highway 3 was being extended and all trees have disappeared. Shade was scarce.

Well let me say that it was a very difficult metric century. We ran through a few litres of water and at least a litre of gatorade (each) before we decided to turn back. At the halfway point, we stopped by a street side coconut vendor (Thank god they are willing to brave the heat to quench the thirst of travelers) and gulped down a couple of coconuts before turning back.

It was a good decision in the end as my brother was pretty dehydrated and exhausted when we reached JB. The ride route as follows:

So how did the bike hold up in this ride. Well, excellently. The  setup is a bit more upright and the B67 was a good choice, no sore butt or shoulder. The trekking bars were great. There were indeed many comfortable positions I could use, a worthy choice again. I do not like the position of the levers, I may push them forward a bit but given the curve on the bar, the levers might flare out a little. I will have to try the setup. I will most definitely move the bell to some place near the stem. The bell is a great idea to communicate with my brother over short distances. Ding Ding and we stop to check each other out.

I liked the friction shifters. Infinitely better than the twist shifters. The Tikit my brother was riding had a very tight twist shifter and the rear dee was also out of alignment. He had a terrible time shifting. Not so for me, heh. If I don’t shift smooth at first, I just need to feather the shifter and I am sailing along smoothly

The Dual Drive was a revelation. I need to probably write separately about the dual drive. It deserves honorable mention. But let me say a few words, Shifting was precise and smooth. I did have to use a trigger shifter for that and with a quick flick, I go from pounding on the pedals to tootling with a whistle on my lips.  The best part was that I could stick to any of the 3 gears and still choose to use the entire cassette. That means less fiddling with the gears. If you have been riding with front deraiullers (which most of us are), this is really neat. And the gear range is very nice. Rolling hills, well, bring it on I say now.Al e-mailed me once to caution me about some of the quirks of the dual drive. It has not reared its ugly head till now and I will wait for them to surface. For now, dual drive is really worth it if you are considering it for your bike.

The only minor issue I had was the chain slip when I switched gears too quickly (on the cassette not the dual drive). That is because of the odd angle the chain has to take when in the extreme gears. A chain guide should patch it, but I am in no hurry for that.

Overall, the bike worked like a charm, an intense metric century in trying conditions is the best way to check out a bike I guess and the NWT passed the test in flying colors. Thank you Bike Friday!

Was looking at a tabloid this morning and posted all over was the article on Google Street view trike. A friend of mine was nice enough to share the article in the evening and translated a bit here and there.

I am wondering with my contacts in places high up, how did I miss this opportunity! You know, ride the bike around town, geek out on the trike setup, take pictures while on the job and and bring more useful information to the rest of the world. Hmmm, I should keep my ears more open

Some more information here.

Whenever I speak with people regarding my choice of commuting by bike, the consistent issue in discussion is risk. It is not a discussion but a statement to the effect “It is too dangerous on the roads.”. This always comes from people who do not bike at least not on roads. The reality I face and I make it a point to tell them is that it is silly to think it is dangerous. This has come up so often that now a days, my response is that of the road is not safe, it is because you as a driver are not keeping it safe.

It is an issue I dont think about much since I do not feel threatened when biking on the road. I feel pretty much integral part of the traffic. Rarely I get squeezed for space. I usually follow that with a fist pumping or if I can, I knock on the offending drivers window and ask him to give me space. Usually that results in driver apologizing (note this works in Singapore, I might not try that in some country where people are allowed to carry guns).

So I dont actively think about safety issues and since I do not bother with advocacy, I dont feel the need to raise the issue for others benefit either. But of late, when I went to the movies, I saw a traffic safety ad that bothered me much.

The reason why it pisses me off is not because they show reckless riding by the motor cyclist but because they do not point the finger at the truck. This is a classic fear mongering campaign which is effective in deterring people from motorbiking. The same attitude is extended towards cycling and cars are made out to be a safe habitat.

Well, I think the Traffic Police should balance the views and if they are threatening one section of the population, they should also produce videos and threaten the rest of the bunch too. As in this traffic safety ad.

My personal feel is that education about traffic safety should be more positive instead of showing death. Promoting gracious driving, stopping at the stop line, allowing pedestrians first etc.. should be the focus. I suppose that will slowly promote a gracious culture. Anyway, it anyone is interested in stats, I found the following from SPF site. Funnily, they mention that so many people died in a particular type of vehicle. I think It would be nice to know who was the other party involved in the accident. I that the reverse perspective will show a lot more cars / trucks involved in causing fatal accidents. That is the stat the police should be paying attention to. People how cause accidents and live to drive another day.

Anyway, do me a favor and pay attention when you are driving on the road.

F1 fever is hitting a high note. This the race weekend and final preparations of the track are underway. My riding route passes through most of the race track and over the past few weeks, things have been taking shape, lights, barriers, now kerbs are in place. Yesterday most of the roads were closed in the evening and I had to find my way across. The funny part was that I managed to get inside the confines of the circuit but could not find a way out on the other end.

Inquiries led me nowhere and someone suggested I walk through the underpass (where is the foldie when I want it ). Luckily, some parts of the circuit were not fully secured, I guess for people to walk in and take pictures. I managed to get out and follow along a couple of non traditional paths and rejoined my regular commute route.

When I was in the circuit, I could not help but snap my racer(ahem!) in the track. Looks more like a pick up if you ask me…