Ride the Lobster qualifying ride report

Route

The route that I am taking is based on the Eastern Park Connector in Singapore.

The length of the whole route is estimated to be about 42km. This would allow me to achieve my objective of riding 84km on the first day and 89km on the second day by riding 2 rounds around the park connectors.











Day 1

I woke up on day 1 feeling nervous. The longest I had ridden prior to this attempt was 42km when I wanted to see how the route was like. Now I was about to embark on an attempt to ride 171 km over 2 days. Not something that I was particularly looking forward to.

The day started with me checking out the weather forecast.

Humidity 89%
Temp ranging from 26 - 32 degrees Celsius

Not particularly cooling either. Plus the humidity can make things really difficult.

Partaking in a bowl of cereal, I got my gear together in preparation of the ride.


Gear

Bag to carry stuff
Hat for protection against sun and maybe rain
Sponge for groin protection
Shades to look cool
Water bottle for hydration purpose
Handphone + Earpiece for entertainment
Wallet for money





With my gear all set, I set off at 8.30 am with the words "I AM GOING TO DIE" screaming in my head.


Why was I looking so happy?

Siglap Park Connector

The first part of the journey was the Siglap Park Connector. It was relatively short and painless, although the route was a bit winding with numerous ups and downs. There were some pot holes here and there which made for a slightly more difficult ride.


Start point.

Going towards Bedok Reservoir Park

Signpost showing where I was

Photo to show I was there. The signpost was correct!

Does this count as elevation?

Bedok Reservoir - SunPlaza Park

Next part of the journey was to Bedok Reservoir. From here I was to proceed to SunPlaza Park

Bedok Reservoir is just across the road

Bedok Reservoir proper

Bedok Reservoir

Track inside Bedok Reservoir. It was actually closely packed gravel, though there were some parts that were still loose, which did make some of the riding feel very slippery.

Next part of the journey - Towards Pasir Ris Park 6.7km away

Map showing where I was

Part of the riding track to SunPlaza Park

SunPlaza Park

Waiting at a traffic junction

SunPlaza Park - Changi Beach

This was one of the more painful parts of the ride, mainly due to lack of objects of interest and also due to the road seeming like it'll never end. From SunPlaza park, I rode up to Pasir Ris, made a turn and headed up to Changi Beach park.


Signpost showing where I was

Riding across a bridge that spans the canal. This canal leads to Pasir Ris Park.

Reaching Changi Point

Taking a much needed break

Changi Beach Park - East Coast Park - Siglap Park Connector - Home

I was at the North-Eastern end of Singapore. I proceeded to turn South and rode the Coastal
route, which brought me to East Coast Park. Riding along the beach, I would come back to Siglap Park connector and home, thus completing one round.


At Changi Beach Park

Just in case no one knows they are at Changi Beach Park

Coastal Route. The longest, most boring part of the ride. You just can't see the end.

I was lying. I can see the END(of the Coastal Route)

Enjoying a packet of sugar cane juice.

DAY 1 PART 2

After a quick lunch of instant noodles, I had to set of again. I was feeling ok. A bit saddle sore, groin hurting quite a bit. I set off once again at 2.20pm having finished the first round at 1pm. Didn't have the mind to take as many pictures this second round as all I wanted to do was to finish this and get home to get some rest. I finished at about 7pm. Was feeling sore, dehydrated and quite a bit crazy. Total time taken for day 1, 10 1/2 hours.

Rating calculation:
Distance ridden: 84km
Subjective rating: Extreme Temp: 42km

Final Rating	Objective Rating	Subjective Rating	Prev Day Carryover	Next Day Carryover
148	118	30	0	24.5

Starting from home

Start point of Siglap Park Connector

Bedok Resevoir

SunPlaza Park

East Coast Park

Siglap Park Connector

Day 2 Part 1

Start of a brand new day. I decided to start the day much earlier so I woke up at 6am and started off at 7.20am, after a breakfast of bread. Also, I decided to do things differently as I was getting slightly bored with the route. For day 2, I rode the route the otherway. Also, for the first part, I would ride one round around Bedok Reservoir to account for the 5km increase in total distance for me.

Weather forecast for the day:

Humidity 94%
Temp ranging from 24 - 30 degrees Celsius


Starting from home

Reaching East Coast Park

Taking a break

Reaching SunPlaza Park

Reaching Bedok Reservoir

Reaching Siglap Park Connector

Day 2 Part 2

I was pretty much gone in the mind. Wasn't thinking and pretty much zoned out by this point of time. It was all about putting one leg in front of the other. I reached home at around 12.30pm and had a lunch of Wonton noodles. I set off again at 1.30pm. I decided that I was too tired to try to navigate anymore, so I changed the route again. This time I would ride only part of the Siglap Park Connector (2.2km), the East Coast Park (8km), the Coastal Route (7.9km), the Changi Beach Park (3.9km) and then turn back and ride the same route again. This would give me a distance of 44km. The reason I chose to do so was that it was long straight routes most of the time. It would allow me to zone out.

I finished at 6pm.

Rating calculation for day 2:
Rating calculation:
Distance ridden: 91km
Subjective rating: Extreme Temp: 42km

Final Rating	Objective Rating	Subjective Rating	Prev Day Carryover	Next Day Carryover
162	132	30	0	28

Not very happy that I still had so much to ride after riding so much.

At East Coast Park

Sugar Cane Juice to reward myself

Taking a break at one of the shelters along the Coastal Route

Beautiful day.

Aftermath

I was sore and tired but elated. I had complete the ride. I managed to do something I had doubts I could do. I pushed myself to my limit and maybe even beyond. I was so dehydrated, I kept drinking water.

I was also late for a birthday party. Opps.

Ride the Lobster qualifying ride

84/84 km completed for day 1.

89/89km for day 2.

More to come.

Balls hurting.
Balls smashed and battered.
Can't feel my balls.
WHO NEEDS BALLS?! I AM CRAZYUNICYCLIST! DEVOURER OF MILES! CONQUEROR OF RIDING TRACKS! OVERLORD OF THE EASTERN PARK CONNECTORS!

ed: We are sorry for the outburst by the blogger. He is not in the right state of mind to be blogging. The report will be up as soon as he is sufficiently rested.

Good Lord

I enjoy a debate as well as anyone and admit there are some truly hostile, ignorant atheist out there, but some of the misconceptions and ignorance displayed on this website are truly mind blowing.

Top 100 quotes from Fundamentalist Christians

Funny FM2008

Across the Universe

I <3 T.V Carpio.

To a certain extent, I <3 Jim Stugress as well. He's got really dreamy eyes.

Perverse world

You know we live in a perverse world when Amber means step on the accelerator while no one will try to go past a Red light in the middle of the night even there is no one around.

The very same people who stop at these Red lights seem to have no qualms drink driving. Dutch courage or just an inflated sense of one's immortality?

A perverse world we live in.

Number thingy

I'm going to do one of those number thingys that are incredibly cliched and overdone.

1 wheel
2 times I got lost
3 bottles of isotonic drink
4 hours taken
5 km is the distance i rode round Bedok Resevoir trying to find the next part of the Park Connector Route
Wicked 6(k)
7 o'clock is the time I finished
8 times I would have to do this route for the Ride the Lobster qualifying ride
.
.
.
(Can't be bothered to do anymore)

42 km ridden.

Here comes 2008!

New Year's day has come and gone in the blink of an eye.

2007 was a nice year, filled with lots of events. Partings (R.I.P grandma, you'll always be in our hearts) and new friends made.

2007 also brought some really nice movies that I really loved and picking my top 5 of the year 2007 wasn't really easy.

I hereby present my top 5 list of movies for 2007.

Honorable mentions:

I don't want to sleep alone. Thought provoking, obscure, un-understandable. For people who do not like dialog.

Stardust. Neil Gaiman. Has right balance of action, love, and comedy. Book was still better.

5:
Hairspray Genuinely fun movie of the year. I really enjoyed this simply because it was SO fun! Travolta in drag was pretty amusing as well.

4:
Superbad Despite the name and grave reservations, this movie had me laughing from start to finish. Mclovin was a really cool character as well.

3:
Hula Girls I cried while watching this movie and cried again when I watched it the second time. A touching tale of girls who overcome trials and tribulations to do what some people can only dream of.

2:
300 Visceral. Bloody. Violent. God damm good! THIS IS SPARTA!

1:
History Boys Despite this being too intelligent by half for me, this remains the show that I want people to watch. I still have a deep impression of it despite watching it at the start of the year. A strong cast really helps.

Here's to a good year at the movies in 2008!

Cause and effect

Premise:

I watched Warlords. It was depressing. So many pointless deaths. In the end all was for naught.

I watched Nanking. If anyone was capable of more pointless deaths then the Chinese in Warlords, then it was the Japanese in Nanking. It irks me that to this day, some Japanese are still unwilling to admit to the atrocities committed in WWII and believe that the rape of Nanking was exaggeration. The later generation should not live for the sins of their fathers, but sadly things are never that simple.

Conclusion:

I watch way too many depressing shows. I should watch something happy and psychedelic.

Premise:

Girls with long legs like to wear really really really (did I mention really?) short pants.

Something about seeing a girl wearing polo tee with the cullar turned up, mini-skirt and a cap, with the hair tied back, turns me on. Hmmm....

Conclusion:

I girl-watch too much. Bah. Life's short. Live for pleasure.

Premise:

I searched the whole of Vivo city + Harbourfront center but could not find a Santa hat.

Conclusion:

Santa hats are really popular and have been sold out months ago. Cause I never saw any shop selling them.

Interesting ideas

Erin McKean: Redefining the dictionary

If anything, her presentation is a perfect example of how a presentation should be like.

So sweet

Scrubs cast helps crew member propose

I <3 Scrubs.

Amazing voice

This guy has a nice voice X2

Guys vs Gals

Was talking with a female friend and we happened to start talking about the fashion sense of a particular girl.

The girl in question was wearing a black dress that came up to slightly about mid-thigh, with boots that came to just below her knee.

Female friend asked me what was wrong with that outfit.

"Well, if she's wearing boots, then the whole point would be to show off her legs. If she's wearing such a long dress, it'll cover up her legs. Ergo, point of wearing boots will be defeated. She should either wear a mini-skirt or hot pants"

Female friend says, "That's almost correct. But it's due to the height of her boots, not the length of her dress. She should wear shorter boots."

Interesting how a guy would want a shorter hemline, while a girl would aim to have shorter boots, and yet both want to see more leg...

Maybe there is hope after all

An old man and woman step into the train.

Up pops 2 girls, a guy and another couple.

Randomness

A: So who do you think is more clever? L or Light?

Me: I think L has better hair.

GAH! I never realized what a bimbo I am. In fairness we were talking about how I wanted hair like L.

Note: L and Light are characters in the popular anime and manga series Death Note.



Is it me, or are girls wearing lighter and lighter colored tees that are getting thinner and thinner, while at the same time wearing darker and darker bras?


I want to run a marathon once in my life.


Wonder how much of my 13th month bonus will be spent on Christmas presents...


Honey banana prata is heavenly.


I can see my skills in beach volleyball and floorball improving every week! Happy~

Lovely Wedding Dance

Fuck!

Bad day today, so I'm in a fucking bad mood.

These swear words help.

Not for the under-aged and weak hearted.

Cluedo!

Word of the moment

Epiphany

Can't seem to stop saying it. It sounds nice.. hmmm...

I'm going to pun hell with these guys

Asia Pacific Unicycle Convention

This November, Singapore will see the largest number of unicyclists ever gathered in Ngee Ann Polytechnic for the Asia-Pacific Unicycle Convention 2007(APUC 07). Teams from Singapore, HongKong, Korea and Australia will be completing for the title of Asia-Pacific Unicycle-hockey champions.



You are cordially invited to the games which will take place on 3rd November 2007(Saturday) from 10am till 6pm at Ngee Ann Polytechnic(Multi-purpose court). Event highlights include unicycle hockey matches between some of the best teams in this region and a 15-20 minute Taekwondo demonstration by the Korean Unicycle team where their Uni-hockey players are also Taekwondo Masters!



On 4th November, the Singapore unicyclists will be guiding our overseas friends on a tour though our beautiful city on unicycles(might as well be the largest parade of unicyclists on the streets of Singapore ever!) or for a 1/2 day offroad ride at Bukit Timah Mountain Biking trail(dependent on actual weather conditions & demand).



For more information & updates, please refer to www.sgunicyclists.com

Hope to see some people there!

8

Is the number of people who pushed a door when the word "PULL" was written on it, while I sat for 2 hours at Starbucks.

Ice - Cool Cranberry

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really ignorant or are those producers really trying to be slippery about things.

Case in point - Ice-Cool Cranberry juice.

Point A - It's 100% juice! I admit, I didn't read the fine print. 100% juice screams to me that it's squeezed juice. Only reading the words "from concentrate" did I realize my mistake.

Point B - High fiber! Errr since when can you get fiber from juice? If I knew that, I would have packed a lot more cranberry juice during my Army days to prevent constipation.

Point C - with Grape Juice. I THOUGHT I WAS BUYING CRANBERRY JUICE! Why is the grape juice added in like an after thought? Why is it not "Ice-Cool Cranberry AND Grape juice"?

Happy 25th Birthday!

Thanks to all those that remembered and wished me happy birthday. Love you guys!

Even bigger thanks to those that gave me something.

And without further ado, I present my presents. (Yes, I know I'm going to pun hell for that)


New Bag

Cupcakes. I can't bare to eat them. They're too pretty.

Soccer ball + Boots cupcake

Different angle

Liverpool cupcake

Liverpool European Cups sneakers

Note the 5 stars, each one for the each cup we won.

I can't bear to wear these either.. Too pretty.

Knights who say "Ni!"

T-shirt!

Happy me!

Tired

Beach volleyball then floorball.. Gah, I'm tired.

Wonders of makeup...

Before



After

I love to brag

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Rainy day

The corridor outside my office will henceforth be christianed as Boulevard of Drying Umbrellas.

NERD!

Super Sunday

Crazy Sunday filled with fun.

Beach volleyball was a blast as usual. Think I'm finally getting slightly better. Maybe the new shades helped. :P

But I guess the highlight of the day was a floorball session. It was going to be my first time playing and I guess I was rather looking forward to it. A totally new game to play! Yay~!

I ended up, whacked on the knuckles by a stick, kicked in the quadriceps by someone, and stepped on my big right toe which reopened a new wound.

And I can't wait for the next session!

Pasir Ris to Boon Lay

Guess that for a blog entitled Life on One Wheel, I haven't really shown my life on one wheel. Guess that means I need to get off my sorry arse to blog about unicycling once in a while. It's not that unicycling is not fun, just that I tend to be too tired to blog about what I did after I have completed it.

Case in point: Pasir Ris to Boon Lay, an overnight ride I just completed this morning. We started at Pasir Ris MRT and set off at about 10.30pm. Cue crazed pedalling and madcap cycling, we managed to reach Boon Lay at 5am in the morning. Surprisingly, under then feeling extremely sleepy, I haven't really felt any ill effects of said ride. Total distance travelled > about 37 km.

Shouts out to JH, that crazy bitch actually did it on a 20" unicycle.
Felix and Minzhi for their virgin ride and actually completing it.
Aijia for bravely soldiering on.

Let's do this soon again!

New sunglasses

Oakley Livestrong Radar

So happy~ I'm starting to get an inkling of why girls like to buy stuff so much.

Big hole in my wallet though... :(

Never thought I would be this!

Your Score: Exclamation point

You scored 61% Sociability and 41% Sophistication!

Yes, you are fine around others. Fine. But you wish you could have just a *little* more alone time. Okay, well, a lot more alone time. In fact, you'd be happier if you didn't have to go out nearly as much. You get along very well with the period, who tries mightily to take up as much of the load as he can. But fools will not listen. You want to scream, "Cut it out, for the love of Safire!"

But, all of that notwithstanding, you do your duty. And, if sometimes you feel like a Chicago street hooker, you also remember that you really do have an important role to play. Your soul remains pure. Hold your head high!

Link: The Which Punctuation Mark Are You Test written by Gazda on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Hairspray

At it's heart, Hairspray is truly a feel good movie. Set in the 1960s, it's a musical that gets your feet tapping and your body grooving. I mean, seriously, who can resist good old 60's music (heres looking at your emo-punks, death metalists and hip-hoppers).

Portraying the fight of a young, short and rather stout girl, as she fights to dance in on a TV show, while at the same time championing the rights of African Americans. She eventually wins the day and gets her man. (Honestly, don't most stories end like that anyway?) Thus, at heart it's a feel good movie about a girl, rising against all odds to save the day.

But looking deeper and you realize that it was more then that. It was about not being afraid to be different. It was about daring to stand up for your rights as a human being. It was about equality among men and women.

Even then you could see some of the differences in thinking about then and now. In one scene, they were protesting against segregation and they held up ply-boards that read "Integration not segregation" and "TV is black and white".

I would like to point to the phrase "TV is black and white". I mean even the African Americans then were calling themselves black. They were in fact promoting the segregation by stating quite clearly that there is a difference. Compare this with the current situation, where people are increasingly working towards being color blind. We are Singaporeans. Not Chinese, Malay or Indian. In America, they are Americans, not black, whites or yellow. Even this segregation along international lines might be blurred in the future with the increasingly globalization of the planet.

Irrelevant aside:

Friend A : Why did they have to have John Travolta in there?!

Me : Probably to have a throw back to his days in Saturday Night Fever and the disco era

Friend A : Well, yah. But did he have to be that fat?!

Me : Well someone had to pass the genes to the daughter. The dad was too thin for that.

Friend A : Ok, I give you that, but why couldn't he have been cast as the father?!

Me : ...

Answers on the back of a hairspray bottle. :P

Han Shot First

Warning! For Star Wars geeks only.

Was read Star Wars: Legacy of the Force by Aaron Allston (why do so many people have names that practice alliteration?!) and came across this interesting easter egg.

On page 232, line 4, was this gem

"He's fine," Leia said. "Han shot first."

If you don't understand that, then you're not a Star Wars fan.

CUNT

I have truly experienced what it means to have xiao li chang dao (literaly translated from Chinese to daggers within smiles).

I hope that lying backstabbing cunt of a whore rots in Hell.

I'm that good?

I AM
64%
OPTIMUS PRIMETake the Transformers Quiz

Irrelevance 101

I was drinking 100 Plus after a particularly strenuous session of unicycle hockey when I burped.

It wasn't one of those long and satisfying burps, but rather one that was punctuated with numerous short (for lack of a better word), silence.

And then I realized that it sounded like the the mechanical sounds that Transformers make when they transform!

Subsequent attempts to reproduce said effect amounted to failure.

I love this house

It looks amazing. Minimalistic. Simple

I want one!

Murphy's Law

What can go wrong will go wrong..

Hur hur hur