let's go to woodlands

Today, the group is going to Woodlands!

I was wondering how to get there and decided to ride there. Although it's about 30km, it should be do-able, provided I get up on time. They meet at 7.30am!

Did not managed to try riding there because I overslept! (I will try it next time)
But as Mr. Teo was kind enough, he picked me and bike up in his 10 ft lorry! WOOT.

travel in style!

We met the rest who was eating their breakie at Woodlands MacD. Today the group consisted of the regular foldies (TW, Francis, Sharon & Sitoh), mtbs (me, TC, Thomas, Mac & Andy), fixie (Rodney) and bike of the day, a Surly Pugsley (Mr. Teo).

We were about to set off when Rodney's fixie had a leak..... Offers of pumps (three in fact) did not rescue the deflating inner tube. 'How about a patch kit?' said Mr. Teo. Then those who could, tried to help while the rest looked up, trying their best to learn something new. I think I should go get the kit too, for emergencies!

Meanwhile, the security guard had a little problem with us trying to fix the bike next to MacD. He pointed to a sign about 50m away and said, 'No bicycles'. Then he proceeded to tell us that by leaning our bikes against the glass wall, 'it would spoil the glass'. hmmmm.

Anyway, after two patches, Rodney's fixie couldn't be fixed (pardon the pun) so he had to go home.

how many does it take to change a tire?

So we zoomed off along the Woodlands PCN and went towards Admiralty Park where there was a congregation of Taichi Masters...

lovely weather

taichi event

After a short ride on gravel and pavement, we were at the entrance of the new Woodlands Waterfront!

Ooh look, ice cream!

From the waterfront, you can see JB and a short distance away, you can also spot the Causeway.

malaysia, just a stone's throw away

big bikes, small bikes, medium bikes

francis, mr.teo

sitoh, tw, gl on their foldies

wild monkeys found!

husky taking his morning walk

Moved on along the park and towards Sembawang Beach, rode for quite a bit before spotting some colonial houses.

Entered via King's Avenue to see the lovely colonial-styled houses.

francis, sharon

pink car, white house? don't match

After some exploring, we got to Sembawang Park. Have been here when I was little, those dice-like stools are still around!

ouch

yes we know, no cycling upside down

an old house now converted to a restaurant

step up

We stopped for a short break and drinks. Thomas & TW actually jumped into the sea to cool off! I managed to convince TC to let me try his full-sus Trek bike and it is a super smooth ride! Yummy!


















Later on, everyone headed back to Woodgrove for lunch and drinks. It was fun to explore the other part of the island and thank goodness the weather held up. Managed to hitch a ride back on Mr. Teo's lorry and Thomas enjoyed his ride at the back of the lorry.

ride on folks!

Another wonderful sunday ride. Looking forward to the next one!

emma is one

The little girl has turned ONE! Time flies, so do pigs.

lychee martini cake (sans alkie)

trying her new ride

pigs can fly

the old & the new ride

Came across this little blog, smallwheelsbigsmile, a couple of weeks back. This group of riders explores itsy bits of the island and it seemed really fun! The ride that I wanted to try started at Botanical Gardens which is not really a familiar route so I passed.

The next ride that was promised, so much closer, started at Kallang! So I dropped them an email and voila, I was so ready to go do a little exploring. They can also be found here on their lovecycling web.

Took me 20 minutes to pedal a good 8km to Kallang MacD to find a group of foldies having their breakie. After gathering all riders which included foldies, mtbs, singlespeed and fixie, we went to our first stop, the old National Stadium. It was due to be demolished and everyone wanted a last goodbye and a sneak peek at it.

We arrived at the famous steps and posed with our bikes! Everyone was busy taking pics as well...

One of the guys on a Flamingo foldie, GL, found a way into the stadium grounds and off we went!

where are you seated?

around and around we go

no more seats

bare

francis looking out for something to shoot

lovely skies

ride on!

 It was wonderful to be able to ride around the stadium for the first and last time. We left the premises before the demolition team arrived else we would have been squashed and become part of history.

Headed along Nicoll Highway towards Marina Bay Sands and had to maneuver ourselves along narrow pathways as the fencing was up due to the upcoming F1. Was a little pain in the *ss to do that actually.

waterfront along nicoll highway

Getting to the Helix Bridge at last!

looking for directions all over the place! from the left: tw, adrian, tc

We hit the huge MBS soon after Helix Bridge and everyone dispersed to take photos all over. Since it was still early, there wasn't much shoppers yet.

some uncle's flying pigeon got clamped in MBS

shall i do some shopping?

tc's full sus trek!

tw's cute lil brompton foldie

Next stop on the list, Marina Barrage! Oh we passed by the CBD area first, yucks. Anyway, we got to Marina Barrage and managed to ride up to the Green Roof via the other ramp.

The Green Roof, you can fly kites here!

a Batman kite, not a real bat

view from the roof

how many circles do you see?

the sun and it's aura

Everyone was really hungry and thirsty by this time and we went in search of a path home. We could choose to go back via Nicoll but it's a longer way. Managed to get 'insider' information from a construction supervisor who said we could link East Coast via the Barrage. We went through construction sites and for a moment, I felt like a construction worker who was going to work on my bike.

off the beaten path

We soon reached East Coast and popped out near Fort Road. The hungry bunch sped towards the food center at Mountbatten and wolfed down wanton mee, cheng ting, carrot cake, sugarcane juice!

Oh before that, we went past this place which used to have a cafe and you can go right up to the top level of the tower to chill out. Couldn't remember what it was used to be called but a friend reminded me, Cosybay.

It was a nice sunday ride. Let's do it again!