New world record in one-hour cycling set - 91.556 kilometers

This sleek, human-powered missile on wheels is called Eiviestretto and it's one of the world's fastest recumbent bicycles or HPVs (human powered vehicles). On August 2nd, Francesco Russo of Switzerland rode this custom-built streamliner to beat the world record in one-hour cycling by covering a distance of 91.556 kilometers (56.89 miles). The new record was set on the DEKRA Test Oval track in Klettwitz, Germany.

Source: Gizmag 

Bike vs Plane... Guess who won?

Last weekend’s closure of Los Angeles' 405 freeway - dubbed "Carmageddon" because of the predicted ensuing transport chaos in a city famed for its traffic - saw an unlikely showdown between a plane and a group of enthusiastic cyclists

[...]

The challenge was accepted by a group of cyclists calling themselves Wolfpack Hustle, who were given a one-hour head start over the aircraft on account of the time it takes to transit through the airport on domestic flights. And it was the cyclists who easily came out on top, arriving at their destination before the aircraft - which had suffered take-off delays - had even made it into the air.

Taking just 1hr 34mins and averaging 24.4mph, they arrived in Long Beach 1hr 20 ahead of the plane journey, which required a taxi ride from the airport to complete. The plane’s time was also eclipsed, according to Twitter, by a metro/walk combination (1hr 44) and even a girl on roller blades (2hr 40).

Source: BikeRadar netbook games www.netbookist.com

This is probably the biggest joke of all time. Reminds me of flying to Kuala Lumpur. You spend more time on the ground handling your check-in, baggage, eating food and waiting in the plane on the ground. Of course, this 50km stretch that was blocked is a bit different from the 400km to KL...

Disc brakes: solving the stuck closed hydraulic disc brakes

No, I only have Deore XT. Photo: Vik Banerjee

 Can't fit the wheel back into the front because the disc brake calipers are stuck closed?

Hydraulic disc brakes... well it's the first time I dabbled in them and I was a bit new to them. Never realised that you shouldn't depress the brake when your rotor is not wedged between the calipers.

Yes - after the accident I had to get the bike back and I had to take the front wheel off. But probably while transporting the brake lever was pulled, thus closing the disc brakes, and because it had no resistance, it was permanently stuck at that position.

So after searching around the internet, a lot of people said:

Use a flathead screwdriver and pry it open.

It worked! Except for mine I used a knife in a multitool. After getting rid of all the gunk, it was then ready to accept the brake rotor again! Except there's a bit of brake drag, and that needs another method of combatting...

Hangzhou's Bike Share

The Biggest, Baddest Bike-Share in the World: Hangzhou China from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Some shocking facts:

• 60-minute FREE rentals, if coupled with a public transport trip, you get 90-minute FREE rental
• The number of public bicycles probably is the same as the number of bikes in Singapore
• Less than a kilometre to each stop... seriously?

No doubt, this video talks highly about the Hangzhou bike share, but I'm sure there are fallacies and other things that aren't covered in this video. I wonder what. How is vandalism handled? What if a bike is spoilt? And although the spokesman claims that because the bike rental is free and therefore few have any impetus to steal the bikes, I wonder if that's true. Also, if someone needed a brake lever, wheel, etc., can't he get it free?

No idea, any first hand experience from anyone here?

Cyclist getting run down and survives!

What do you think of this? Real, fake, scripted, BS, nonsense, LOL?

SAFRA: WAI U NO HOST RUNWAY CYCLING DIS YEAR?

COME BACK! WE NEED YOU!

I was a bit perplexed by the fact that SAFRA has been all quiet around this time, because usually they would be making the Runway Cycling event well known by around now. Apparently not... apparently this year they aren't gonna host it.

How disappointing!

GPS Your Ride

Cool!

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/47117460/

I just realised my Android is so much more powerful with the tool LOCUS. Locus is a mapping tool that allows you to do a lot of things, including download online maps and use them offline, with GPS, which was essential when I went touring.

Not only did I leave my GPS trail, heh, I left a PHYSICAL trail too!

Nice beautiful view of... whatever this is.

In this ride, I was testing out the new NE park connector again, because it has some slight off-road trails. Good for getting familiar with SPDs.

One Facebook Share!

OMG! WOW! LOL! HAHA! I'm gonna grab somebody and drink a little more...

Thank you Followers and the First Facebook Sharer

I'm hysterical... whoever is the kind guy to take the honour of sharing my blog, tyvm!

Hopefully it's because of my bike commuting posts, not that Off Topic Post, which seems to be the hottest post in this biking site... wtf? No wonder Stomp is so popular, it's so off-topic all the time.

Who says I've stopped writing?

OKAY,

I must thank Starringme for posting my blog's site all over the SG forums... although this site hasn't been updated much - recently - because I've been writing more commercially. And as a personal page... well, I can only write as much as work allows me.

But let's just say I have been writing on stuff related.... more sexy things to come!

Starring me.

I started commuting only recently in April this year... When I got my bike:



A $120 Aleoca Formula XT (second hand). When I first got the bike, it looked brand new except for deflated tires... Right now, it looks used. But I really want it to look old! That way I won't have to worry about it getting stolen... It has since gone through numerous face-lifts and voluntary defacement, all in the name of deterring thieves from getting my bike.

Why all the paranoia? Well my first commuter, this $20 piece of heavy steel:

Got nicked after I spent money installing new rear grip shifts and a front basket. I was a changed man.

I than went researching on how to secure my bicycle better and commuting in Sg, and that brought me here.

Till next time, I am Starringme.

Dahon takes the CAKE

Here's what Dahon has in store in the future, and it is titilating for you commuters! They started this site to display all their innovative products that you would want to have on your ride. Of particular interest to me are the speakers for your bike. Go see!

http://www.thinkbiologic.com/

Rain, rain. Go away.

My oh my. These days it has been raining real hard again. Almost everyday, the weather forecast would say that it would rain tomorrow, likely in the afternoon. That's great, assuming you're a hardcore commuter who commutes rain or shine, because that means no problem in the morning.

Of course, if you're a fair weather commuter, that means you'll be skipping the commute altogether... like I am. Pity!

Mental Block

Does anyone have anything to contribute to this blog? I think I have been squeezed dry, suddenly I don't have much to write about commuting, despite doing it so often recently...

If anyone would like to come onboard as a writer for this blog, please do leave a comment with your contact!

Not Bad!

Not bad, I found another site on biking in Singapore, and it seems to be quite well established already. It's just not easy to find bike commuting bloggers that often!

Check it out:

http://wanderlustcycling.blogspot.com

To Slang It or Forget It

Ever since the starting of this blog I have been using a lot of uniquely Singaporean slang, from vulgar hokkien peng slang (sibeh jiatlat, KNNBCCB!, etc.) to street Malay (tahan, saman, etc.).

This is probably the distinguishing factor that you would experience from my blog as compared to other Singaporean blogs on biking. Everyone else speaks perfect English, at least for the most part, unlike my blog whereby every post is littered with street language. That probably is the most unique aspect of the Singaporean persona: that we speak some form of warped English - "Singlish", so called. Singlish, as it is, is merely using the Queen's English as a datum to judge how Singaporeans speak, which is why back in the late 90's and early 00's there was a campaign to get rid of it, with its reign of terror kicking Phua Chu Kang out of work, but I digress. My reason for writing in such language, to an unknown effectiveness, is to emphasise that this blog is based, formulated and produced in Singapore by Singaporeans - no foreign-talentism here (ah-ha - xenophobia a la Singaporean) !

The question is: does such slang enhance the experience or does it makes it more distasteful? I do understand that Hokkien slang is one of the most crude around, and can be rather insulting if taken literally. More notably, Singaporean slang which makes it difficult for foreigners to interpret the message. I'm sure if you asked your FT colleague what "sibeh dulan" means, they can only give you the WTF face.

I thought education gave people brains?

More cyclists caught riding illegally on footways

SINGAPORE : The Traffic Police have clamped down on cyclists who flout traffic rules.

Their target is those who ride on footways, because accidents with pedestrians can result in serious injuries.

More than 600 summons were issued to cyclists for riding illegally on the footways in the first nine months of this year.

...

Riding on footways is currently only legal in Tampines. - CNA/ms

Full article here

Wait a minute. How can you promote cycling when you ask people to ride on the roads when they have this fear that the road is inherently dangerous? Granted, I don't like riding on footways, but sometimes, it's safer. Much, much safer than riding on the road. Try Lentor Avenue heading towards Yio Chu Kang. When you meet the slip-road entering the SLE, you get what I mean.

This is epic fail. Epic, epic fail.

Me? My Impetus to Pedal

A little bit about me before all hell breaks loose in this blog. I bike commute quite often, especially when I have no need for a car - which often means when I am not sending large loads around that I cannot haul easily on a bicycle (hey, I don't come from China where they can haul loads five times the total size of a bicycle) or when I am sending people around (it isn't too acceptable to sit pillion on a rear rack or on the back of a tandem - especially on the road).

Before I got my driving licence, I was a even-more-frequent bike commuter than I am right now. Before, bike commuting was a necessity to get away from public transport that got expensive when I ended my tertiary studies (hence losing the 45c a trip concession), being a national servant got things worse as a I counted my allowance, and saw that public transport fares were always high on expenditure percentages. I could lose perhaps 20% of it just to pay public transport. Alas!

I went to work by bicycle, saving the cost and increasing the fun and convenience of commuting. I went to town, NUS, Pasir Ris with a clunker, a Trek 850 (rusty, fugly but runs pretty good), parked right outside whichever destination I was headed to, saving the time I would need to spend walking being a slave to bus/MRT routes. It was independence at 18. It was a one-time $150 21-speed private transport. It was simple, user-repairable and quite fast, given that it was either public transport or bike.

Life was great. My friends said I was crazy, siao, siao-on, and I hear a lot of walaus and WTFs from colleagues and friends. In the end, they got used to it, but occasionally people who I still met get a fright or two. I'm sure seasoned bike commuters know what I'm talking about. They haven't tried it yet to know that it is perfectly normal to commute by bike.

Yes, I do have a driving licence now, but that doesn't mean I have totally abandoned bike commuting. I still move around by bike when it isn't raining, especially when I am alone. I don't like being cooped up in a car, I don't feel as safe in a car as I do on a bike. There's just something magical about being able to have perfect 360 degree view by turning your head and hearing sounds from the road as they were meant to be heard - not filtered through glass and a aluminum frame. In fact, I often do more kilometres (were you expecting "miles"?) on a bike than in a car. It's more joyful and feels more like teen spirit.

Bike Commuting in Singapore

I am serious. It's possible, even in Singapore, where your mother would tell you that you'd get run down by a car, die a horrible death with your head dismembered, arms dislodged a few kilometres away, and other gory misfortunes will happen to you. The thing is, it literally is an old wives' tale. It doesn't happen as often as long as you have a deep sense of self-preservation, follow traffic rules, know your limits and stay safe. Singaporean roads are not that bad for bicycle commuting. You might have to fight with an errant SBS bus driver (a black sheep) and then be given grace by one SMRT bus driver (an exception), but you're not in India where might is right.

What is this blog about, you might wonder. It's about bicycle commuting specifically in Singapore. You won't see a post with a title "why should I commute on a bicycle?" or "how am I saving the earth if I ride a bike?" I won't write about those because the West have already done it for me - use what the West provided to find what the West created - Google. Instead, this blog will talk about things like, "why should I commute on a bicycle in SINGAPORE" and "Does having a public campaign to promote turning your light off for an insignificant amount of time and using a candle instead make us any greener? Why not ride a bike everyday instead if you are serious about green".

Posts will be terse, easy-to-read, and hopefully with pictures. It's just not easy to ride and shoot. Hey - hit-and-runs usually are carried out in cars with a partner!