Cycling in Singapore and Around

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The Bike

My bike is a Trek 7700 hybrid, the 2001 model of their highest-end hybrid (click here for the 2004 model). A hybrid is a fast and reasonably lightweight bike that is built to handle highways as well as rough roads and dirt. In a sense it's an all-round useful bike, from short trips around town, to long-distance touring. I bought it on 13th July, 2002 for $2100 SGD, and it has been worth every cent. It's amazingly maintenance-free and rides like a dream.

The main components are:

Trek Alpha ZX aluminium frame, Rolf Vector comp wheelsets, Shimano Nexave C900 drive-train and Rockshox Metro front suspension.

I've added the following additional accessories:

Two water bottles and cages, front and rear Smart flashing LED lights, a rack to hold panniers, Trek Pannier II panniers, Cateye Mity 3 speedo, Wrench Force pump and under-the-seat bag, a medium security Kryptonite cable lock, and a Cratoni helmet. -- It's well kitted out.

My cycling attire consists of:

Normal shorts, normal t-shirts and normal sandals. I really should get some cycling shorts but do without. I have Shimano cycling shoes but I've found it's better to have cool feet than to get that little extra performance. I also don't wear a rain jacket because it's less unpleasant to get wet than to sweat away under the plastic in the extreme humidity.

The bike has held up very well. So far I've convered 14,861 kilometres, during which it has only had one quite-needed service. The only parts that have needed changing are a single set of brake pads, but other parts have been changed to keep it in good running order, that being the bike chain and gear cables. Even though the wheels are really just heavy road wheels they are still perfectly true, despite a lot of pot-holes and travel along unsealed and rough roads. I do take care not to abuse the bike by slamming it down gutters, etc. The tyres are still original, and in fact before the service I had not needed to make a single adjustment to the gears for over 5000 kilometres. The bike's only weakness is the cassette, which easily gets water in it and runs roughly, especially when cleaning the bike. So overall I consider it money well spent. It's my Mercedez, or my Kingswood, I'm undecided.

Cycling Stats and Facts

Here's are some statistics and facts, erm, opinions about cycling around here.

General
Total Distance cycled	14,861 kilometres
Furthest single day's riding	162 km (more than an American century!)
Furthest cycled over a weekend (Friday night to Sunday night)	305 km
Furthest cycled over seven days	510 km
Furthest cycled over a calendar month	1615 kilometres (February 2004 - a normal work month!)
Fastest speed reached	63 km/h, on Pulau Singkep, Indonesia
Accidents	Just one, the day after I bought the bike. I broke my hip.
Countries cycled in	Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
Other countries I'd like to cycle in	Thailand (of course!), Laos, Cambodia, China and Australia (at least on the new bike)
Hemispheres cycled in	Northern and Southern
Favouite aspect of riding around the region	It's almost never cold, day or night. Most of my local riding is done at night.
Biggest gripes about riding around the region	It is usually hot and it rains so much
Favourite places to ride	Indonesian islands in the region
Favourite cycling food	Bananas, raisins, coffee, snickers bars
Singapore
Favourite cycling routes	Around the back of Changi Airport, and around the top of Kranji. I vary my cycling routes all the time, always in search for quiter roads.
Favourite roads	None in particular!
Least Favourite road	Braddell Road - it has no redeaming features
Biggest gripes about riding in Singapore	The traffic is awful, too many buses, taxis stop and cut-in as they feel like, and wild dogs await down dead-end roads.
Favourite cycling meals	Masala Thosai (a vegetarian Indian dish)
Indonesia
Places cycled in Indonesia	Bintan, Karimun and Kundur (Riau Islands), Singkep and Lingga (Lingga Islands)   map
Number of cycling trips to Indonesia	Four
Favourite aspects of riding around Indonesia	The scenery, the friendly people, the quietness, the escape from Singapore
Favourite cycling meals	Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and martabak
Favourite island	Pulau Singkep   map
Least Favourite Roads	Coming out of Tanjong Pinang, Bintan. Lots of traffic including vans and motorbikes, but managable all the same.
	Travelling east along the top of Pulau Lingga. The hills were extremely steep, up and down for fifteen kilometres. I thought I was going to burst a blood vessel!
Other places I want to cycle around in Indonesia	A loop from Batam, around Bintan and cycling back up through the islands below Batam.
	Belitung and Bangka islands, much further south and much larger than the other islands I've been to.
	Sumatra, Bali, Lombok
Malaysia
Places cycled in Malaysia	The western (Johor Bahru, Gelang Petah, Skudu and Pontian) and south-eastern (Punggai and Desaru) cornors of Johor State.
Number of cycling trips to Malaysia	Five
Favourite aspects of riding in Malaysia	The friendly people, getting out of Singapore, going through immigration on my bike
Favourite Roads	The coastal road around the south-eastern corner of Johor. The coastal road from Kukup to Malacca should make a good ride as well.
Least Favourite Roads	Most of the Pontian Road, and the road from Johor Bahru to Skudu. The traffic is just full-on and extremely tiring. Not fun.
Other places I want to cycle around in Malaysia	Up the west coast from Kukup to Malacca and Port Dickson
	Up the east coast to Thailand and beyond

Cycling Log

Distances Cycled
Period	Distance	Accumulated for Year	Total Accumulated	Notes
June 2005	28+ km	1,928+ km	14,861+ km
May 2005	110 km	1900 km	14,833 km
April 2005	89 km	1789 km	14,723 km
March 2005	1017 km	1700 km	14,633 km
February 2005	501 km	682 km	13,616 km
January 2005	181 km	181 km	13,114 km
December	100 km	6,883 km	12,933 km
November	167 km	6,782 km	12,834 km
October	625 km	6,615 km	12,665 km
September	134 km	5,989 km	12,039 km
August	426 km	5,855 km	11,905 km
July	412 km	5,428 km	11,478 km
June	656 km	5,016 km	11,066 km
May	342 km	4,349 km	10,399 km
April	755 km	4,007 km	10,057 km	I didn't cycle for the first seven days (visiting Australia), or for five days in the middle of the month (in Thailand)
March	502 km	3,252 km	9,302 km	I didn't cycle for the first ten days (bike being serviced) or the last six days (visiting Australia)
February	1,615 km	2,750 km	8,800 km
January	1,132 km	1,132 km	7,183 km
Distances Cycled (before 2004)
Jul 13 2002 - end of 2003	--	--	6,050 km	I didn't cycle much between July 14 and September 18 2002, due to having a broken hip, and travelling

March 29th, 2005.

Clocked over 1,000 kilometres for the month! That's the first thousand K month for over a year, and the third ever. Tonight's ride was a fast ride through Bedok, Tampines, Pasir Ris, around Changi Airport and back along East Coast. Average speed at the 36 kilomentre mark was 27.7km/h and the average distance to home was 27.0km/h, completing 53 kilometres in under two hours.

March 19th, 2005.

October 24th, 2004.

I chased the rain today, on a ride to Sengkang, Seletar, Yishun, Admiralty Road, Kranji, Jurong, Tuas and West Coast. It rained slightly while I was riding, but the roads were very wet for most of the ride. That means I got pretty wet from the spray coming off my wheels. This is the furthest ride I've done in a while, being 113 kilometres, and boy did my legs feel it. I had my usual Snickers/100 Plus stop at the petrol station near Jurong Island to give me a boost for the last 28 or so kilometres back. I was amazed at the effect today, since not only did I have more energy, but my legs completely stopped aching. I clocked an average of 26.5 km/h at the four hour mark, making exactly 106 kilometres in that time. The average usually drops a lot in the final few kilometres, since I slow down and pedal quickly in a low gear to warm-down. It helps with reducing aches the day after.

April 27th, 2004.

Woo hoo! I finally made ten thousand kilometres on the bike (10,003 to be exact)! I cycled around Changi Airport, via East Coast Road and back via East Coast Park, then made a loop around the river past the Esplanade.

April 10th, 2004.

Peter and I cycled the "Desaru Loop" in Malaysia. We took the bum-boat from Changi Point to Tanjong Pengelih, cycled around the coast to Desaru via Punggai, then cycled directly to Tanjong Belungkor and took the ferry back to Changi Ferry Terminal. We had planned to cycle a little further north but were concerned we'd miss the last ferry back.

The ride was mostly very pleasant, especially in the southern sections where we travelled along very quiet roads through attractive kampongs. Desaru was different to my expectations; I had imagined something akin to Surfers' Paradise, but it instead consisted of quiet, almost run-down resorts. By-and-large there was very little traffic, besides a couple of sections, and in particular the main road going south towards Sungei Rengit, but we experienced nothing like the traffic out towards Pontian. Overall I found the place a great location to cycle, a far sight better than the other side of Johor. The terrain was pretty flat, with a fair amount of gentle hills.

The trip was really a journey of endurance of sorts, because the heat was stifling and it was so humid that sweat just poured off even when cycling into the headwind that we faced for much of the outward journey. We drank a heck of a lot, including water, 100 plus, coffee (bad for dehydration but good for energy), coke, ice tea, everything really. When the guy at Desura asked me what drink I wanted from the menu I replied 'all of them'. Thanks to copious refuelling the heat was only 'trying' rather than defeating.

Stats -- distance for the day: 153.78 km; distance cycled in Malaysia: 99 km; average speed from home to home: 24.2 km/h

April 9th, 2004.

I made my fastest time on the 'fast' part of the Changi loop - up East Coast Road, along Changi Road, around the back of the airport and ending at the one-way section of East Coast Service Road. I stop timing there because the bike path is slow. The breeze was a South-westerly, so most of my speed was gained on the outward leg. My previous best average speed for the run was 28.2 km/h, and I still had more speed left in me this time, but was feeling a nausea (really feeling close to being sick) that refused to pass after the Changi Road hills.

Stats -- distance: 34.89 km; time taken: 1 hour 12 minutes 37 seconds; average speed: 28.82 km/h. I also made a total time of 1 hour 35 minutes to complete the 45 kilometres home, which I think is about five minutes faster than I had ever done.

March 21st, 2004.

Today's ride was fairly eventful. I went on an extended 'dog route', the core of which is going over the top of Kranji and down Lim Chu Kang Road. Instead of going up Thompson Road I rode through Sengkang, across the top of Seleter Reservoir, and along Admiralty Road, and instead of Bukit Timah Road (which I find a stress at the end of a ride) I came back via Jalan Buroh and Pasir Panjang Road.

The first event of note was that I almost got collected by a motorbike. It's the closest call I've ever had and I was furious. The shit of a rider turned barely six inches in front of me. I'm not sure if we would have connected if I hadn't jammed on the brakes, but it gave me a hell of a fright. I should have given chase and taken down his license plate number to shame him on the forums, but didn't think of that till after. At least I swore profusely at him which got his attention. I'm not sure if he cared or not. A truck pulled up beside me at the next intersection and the driver told me he'd seen what had happened and would have been happy to be a witness had we connected. I was touched by the gesture, and that immediately lifted my mood

The second event of note is that Sengkang East/West Ave is now completed, which is a pretty pleasant alternative to Yio Chu Kang Road. Traffic around Sengkang can be pretty heavy but it's improving as more roads are completed.

Thirdly, after successfully avoiding evil black storm clouds for a while my turn came, and the skies opened at Yishun. I found a coffee shop and waited for the roads to dry, and then again, a loud thunder storm came through, with a lot more rain. Again I waited, and read the newspaper, until I finally got on the road after more than two hours. I enjoy stops like that, at obscure coffee shops deep in the HDB heartlands. I had originally planned to cycle 100+ kilomteres today, with a loop to Tuas checkpoint, but I cut it short due to the rain stop and ended up completing 90 kilometres and getting home just after 10 pm.

March 16th, 2004.

I finally cracked an average speed of 30 km/h from the bottom of our HDB block to the end of East Coast Park. It's tricky because the first kilometre consists of winding through the housing estate followed by three sets of traffic lights, so the everage speed gets a bad start, and then there's usually a hold-up of cars parking along the service road. Anyway, it's been a long time since I was so puffed!. Stats -- One-way distance: 10.6 km; time taken: 20 minutes 57 seconds; average speed: 30.4 km/h.

Internet Links

These are the best local cycling resources I've found. Follow the links and follow the trails, you can't go wrong:

Singapore Cycling	An amazing resource for bike touring in Singapore and nearby regions of Malaysia and Indonesia. Really really good stuff.
Biking Southeast Asia with Mr Pumpy	A well-presented site with describing cycling tours in South-East Asia. I've spent a lot of time planning to (dreaming of) following these routes. This site rocks!
toGoParts.com	A Singapore site with lots of local information including an active forum

Some other local pages of interest:

Kevin's Bikelog	A local guy's cycling experiences in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
Treknology 3	The shop where I purchased my bike

This page was last modified on Saturday November 12, 2011