My Excuses

It's been very long since E and I rode in the morning.

On Tuesday, I could not wake up in time and E had to do ride by himself. Felt really bad so I scheduled to ride again this morning.

Woke up with a terrible headache. I think it's because I closed most of my window and left a small gap. The wind last night was never seen before in Singapore. (since when do you 'see' wind?)

I had enough of excuses so I washed up and gave E a morning call. Turned out he was sleeping when I called. We decided to cancel again.

Thought about the kind of headwind cyclists faced. Tonight will be a good time to experience that, if the winds decide to blow again.

Hopefully, we're not going to blow this chance to cycle by giving excuses.

Xk(4) relationships

today on the mrt, a man asked me about old hag. i gave him the old spiel, but now updated with the patent expiry and slashed prices in the market (where exactly, i don't know). we continued talking cos i didn't wanna stop. and it turns out he's in publishing like my dad! then he said "tell you dad what he's doing is wonderful". well i smsed him, and i hope it put a smile on dad's face. hopefully taking that chance blessed my dad.

take (wise) chances when it comes to (potential) relationships. be really interested in people. for who they are, and not (just) what they can do for you. you never know where God might lead you.

My Reasons

are uncertain now.

Race or Recreational? Why do I like to compete so much?

XK (3) True love

i used to own a yellow bmx. it served me really well. especially with the training wheels. then one day, i decided enough was enough. i'm a kid no more! the wheels came off, and i was officially a cyclist.

soon my fingers started getting black and blue. they were being abused by my kneecaps. huh. so out went the yellow kid, in came the blue. bigger, better, faster. wow! totally fogot about the little guy.

then my parents bought mountain bikes themselves. WOW. biggerer, betterer, fasterer. blue? what blue?

and then came the silver bike. and another yellow bike. and you know where this is going right. in came da bike. and now, old hag.

my bikes kept getting replaced. i no longer appreciated them, cos they couldn't fit my needs, wants, desires. i had no loyalty to the bike - only to myself and what i required.

is that what love is today? why do we fall in love? "because you complete me". sure you do. but what happens when "do" becomes "did"? do we then throw them away, like some... bike?

the power of commitment - to have and to hold in sickness and in health, till death do us part - goes beyond the condition of the bike. it goes into the very heart of the bike. it goes into your own heart.

and therein lies the power of God's love. it is unconditional. U-N-C-O-N-D-I-T-I-O-N-A-L. it don't matter if you've got a BBB (broken bottom bracket :p), it don't matter if you're punctured, it don't matter if your spokes come off, it don't matter if your brakes don't squeeze, it don't matter if your gears can't work, it don't matter if your chain clinks and clanks, it don't matter if you're dirty, too old, too small. it don't matter.

it don't matter if you can't say what you mean, or mean what you say. it don't matter if your actions never fit your intentions. it don't matter when they do. it don't matter when your evil heart reigns above your super-ego. it don't matter when you've lost faith. it don't matter when you don't believe anymore. it don't matter when you find yourself in a dark place. it don't matter when you're stuck it a rut. it don't matter when you'd rather stay in the well than come up for air. it don't matter if you're drowning in unbelief, in sin. it don't matter if you've got low self-esteem. it don't matter if you're selfish and you know it. it don't matter if you're proud of being humble. it don't matter if nobody likes you as much as you'd like. it don't matter.

God still loves you.

the problem is, you gotta accept it.

will you?

E is nostalgic

the days of bar end shifters and bright orange bar tape. haha its hilarious looking at the pictures taken before we gave our steeds the make over. and recalling how bent on going fixie/single speed we were that we spent moolas over it. much wasted. but also derived the best memories. and now that we are going the way of the STIs and of HRMs, we are on to the new phase/season of cycling in our lives. training!!!

My Mechanical Problem

If there is a problem, fix it!

Things can still go on with problems. Yet, at the end of the day, I will inevitably think, what would it be if I actually tried to fix the problem?

Eventually, the hampering problem just causes other parts to fail.

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I need to fix my bottom bracket.

My First Joyride

It's been some time since I last wrote here. Hopefully after the exams I'll get more to write about.

Here is something I wrote on Saturday:

First ride with the Joyriders(http://joyriders.sg/). Didn't really know what to expect.

I guess it's this uncertainty that made me hesitant to join them despite Victor's many invitation.

So since today everything seems to be aligned and my bike up and running, I decided to go and give group riding a try. It helps that Teck and Eugene are coming along too.

The ride was not much of a 'group riding' like being in a peloton. Victor later said that it was more like a warmup lap(30KM for a warmup lap!?) for most of the other riders to do their own pace. This is also more newbie friendly because they'll assign people to take care of the slower and newer riders.

I'm new but I'm not really slow so I rode off the front most of the time with Vic. I think I did push quite hard and was rather aggressive in overtaking. Hopefully I didnt step on anyone's toes.

I nearly did collide with a lady rider. We were passing by a group of riders named "Absolut"(vodka?), when I heard someone call my name. It was Eugene! He smsed me earlier saying that he was tired and won't be joining us. I replied "Ok :("

Yes I'm a terrible friend for making him feel guilty. But I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the ride :)

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I had a serious mechanical problem during the last 5KM or so. My BB cup started to come off! I didnt realise it then and I thought it was my cleats giving me problems and causing my pedalling to become wobbly.

I couldnt hand tighten the BB back so I just rode back home slowly with Eugene and Teck.

On the way back I wondered what might have happened if I went with Victor for their 70K Changi ride. :/

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The company was amazing and I met made a couple of new friends. The group leader is a pretty friendly lady. I really felt the joy. :D

Although I suspect it's also being able to view all the expensive bicycles around me.

I was staring at someone's Liquigas team issue Cannondale (Supersix?) and it's BB30 and SI cranks. I think that's when Blackie got jealous and started to worsen my BB problem.

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Some EC analysis: The food and drinks at the Shell station seems to be a tad overpriced. If they charged this higher price because of the cycling group, then I'd say it's pretty smart. Same thing for the drinks at Longhouse.

Mars Bar - $1.90
100 Plus - $1.30

Riding with friends - Priceless.

E's last hour as a 23 year old

ouch.