Tackling Upper Serangoon

Towards Bendeemeer
 
Upper Serangoon is a difficult road to ride. It hosts some nonsensical construction work that never seems to end, much like what's happening in Farrer Road, which always makes it difficult for the cyclist.

The annoying thing is that, in the past, you would only have to contend with barriers, barriers and more barriers on the side of the road taking up your space on the left lane, causing more difficulty for cars to give you ample space, nonetheless, if you kept left, you would be on your way to town. Now, if you were planning to go to the city, you'll have to weave out onto the third lane or you will be sent to MacPherson instead.

Confusing? Sibei.

So how do you tackle this?

The best way, in my opinion, without having to make a massive detour, is to go to the third lane and continue as per normal. But this is not an easy feat. If you are inexperienced, you would probably have a difficult time trying to switch lanes while travelling.

 The lane you want to be in is the lane to the left of the blue taxi (where the Honda Civic is).

The simple, and safest, solution, is to weave between cars, and thereby changing lanes, while all the vehicles are stopped. At this junction, the red light is very long, and I have never arrived at this junction where the light is green... so, you'll probably not either. There are risks associated with this though, and you have to be careful. When vehicles are stopped, remember to look out for motorcyclists splitting lanes too before you cross over to the other lane.

I usually manage to reach the front of the queue, and would try to take up the whole lane at this point of time, as this road is too screwed up. Everybody's confused, and it's best you disallow any driver any hope of overtaking you for your own safety. What's worse is that further into the road, under the PIE flyover, you'll meet a very sharp right curve which you would want to have the whole lane to yourself.

From Bendemeer

The same thing happens when traveling from Bendemeer to Upper Serangoon.

Honestly I hate this road more so than I hate the previous road. Don't know why, I just find that it's even more unsafe and difficult to tackle.

Again, you'll have to be in the third lane, which isn't that difficult to achieve with the same tactics outlined above - wait for the traffic light to become red, then change lanes. With this road, the difference is that there's a safer alternative should you not desire to change lanes. You could go straight and take the pedestrian crossing in order to go straight.

On a side note

On a side note, today I saw the funniest thing in lane changing. A cyclist in full roadie gear wanted to change lanes and what the did was the most innovative, perhaps arrogant, method.

Usually, you would signal that you wanted to turn right, look behind, see if you have space to go in. Of course, this roadie did it too, with that bit of difference that made all the difference. His arm was raised, but it was raised to tell the driver behind to STOP his car while he changed lanes, all while looking at the driver!

He got it his way.