Speed

There is no words in my vocabulary to express my feelings to make you fully comprehend how it felt, how good it felt to finish a half island round. Sixty odd kilometers of road, two wheels and one cyclist. The ingredients were there to fill me up with one and a half hour of fun. Flat out fun.

The ride was good, went from West Coast, to Ang Mo Kio, to Woodlands and back down to West Coast. But you know what the best part was? It was 2am in the morning and the road was all mine. It was a non-stop ride, traffic lights were there, but there was no need to stop. There wasn't any traffic! Ive got to admit though, I was a little aggressive during the ride. There was an attack almost every twenty minutes. There was just that urge to go faster. The last attack as I rolled into West Coast Park was my favorite. The attack started as soon as I cleared the flyover, attacked the climb at NUS and then flicked to high gear for the descent.

Another positive factor about cycling at night is that the bike does not get dirty so easily, simply because of the lack of cars to spray their exhaust fumes on the frame. It was cooling as well. Water supply was more than sufficient and the bike just had to be wiped with a piece of dry cloth to remove dirt that came from the road, and that was it.

A few hours later however, I found myself on the saddle of my mountain bike. After a few hours of riding, my knee was busted, and as I cycled home on my bike, I've finally figured out why people who take up road never put it down. More than anything, it's the speed. Speed; relative rapidity in moving, going, etc.; rate of motion or progress. I'm not going to lie and say that the road is more comfortable, because it's not. But oh my, the speed. It's just the speed. It's never ever going to let you go. It's going to consume you.

Yea, it's just coming from me. Maybe I'm obsessed. Maybe it's only me. But yea, this is why I think the road stands as what it is today. Which begs the question, should you tamper with a road bike? Some people, ok, two people I know changed their dropped bars to flat. WHY?! Their argument is that it is more relaxed. But seriously? The bike is forcing you down and now you want to force yourself up? You're fighting the geometry. And what about aerodynamics? The best way to maintain the streamline is to stay on your drops, that is a fact, it's not here to be disputed. So what happens when you lose the drops? You lose that edge, you know that don't you? and Mountain Bike parts, they just don't belong on a road bike. The gear ratios are different if you haven't notice. Yes, there are some mountain bike parts that you can use, but really? Do you really want it? I don't know. That's just my stand. A hybrid is a nice idea, you get more comfort than a road and more speed than a mountain, but just think about what you're losing.. You're losing every single thing the road was striving for.

Sounds like total bullshit luhh for those who don't understand. But really sia, crossbreeds? That good of an idea? Last time, there was this kid, he had a road bike with a flat bar. He was quite proud of reaching 27km/h and sustaining that speed. erps. So yea, I don't know, just give me your comments or something on hybrids.

"It's never ever going to let you go"

~Callum

On the road

Hahah, well, everybody had a taste of what it was like to be on a road bike today. Not the easiest to cycle on huh? Well, congratulations on joining my ranks.

Congratulations to Mr Lin Jia Hong. Great fall, and even greater courage and bravery in getting up. I think we all had our laugh during the fall, but ahahaa, sorry for making you go down that slope, sorry for your jeans, sorry for your watch and thanks for trying. Really, from my heart, you were really brave.

The road bike. It is perfect piece of engineered machine isnt it? The geometry definately stunned most of you guys on the first try, but what makes it different makes it special. The seat is high, the handlebars are dropped and the structure is rigid. For a very good reason. You can find it out for yourself, but yea, that's my whole point. You won't know what I'm feeling until you really have tried it for yourself. No matter how much I talk about it, no matter how much I try to say, you will never get it unless you're doing it.

Short and sweet post. But yea, that was my day today. SUPPOSE to be a study session, but with bikes in the picture, everything changes doesn't it?

"It is perfect piece of engineered machine isnt it?"

~Callum

Dennis

Today Dennis came back, he was transiting through Singapore to Australia, I think. Anyway, played soccer, some of us. Some people uh, really just could not spare one day to come out to play soccer, with us. Whatever the reason luhh huh. But yea, thanks to those who turned up. Wynn, Kumar, Jason, Jian Yao, Sam, Ian, Syazwan and two other people that we don't really know.

Wa lao, soccer was suppose to be relaxed eh. Chill uh, don't need to play until so aggressive. Haiz, took a tackle from behind, got me quite pissed. Oh well, it's just a game. By the way, just like to remind you guys I scored the finishing goal, thanks Jason.

Yea, that was a picture. Some of them left uh, so it was a part picture. After that however, played basketball. SP VS SA. A little unfair, SA had basketball trained players while SP had me. We had to prepare for dinner, so needed to make a quick basketball game. First to score 7 wins. SA started off with the lead, Ian scoring the first, Ian scores the second and Ian scores the third for SA. SP was 3 goals down and Jason thought he could quickly end it. '4 more goals only' was his exact words. Then, there was a turn of events. Jason took a shot, the ball smack the ring. Ian and Wynn was quick on the rebound. Wynn gets it. Throws it to me and I took the shot. IT'S IN! We're one up! Ian was commenting on the 'virgin goal'.

The game continues. The ball started and Wynn took the shot. IT'S IN AGAIN! We're one goal down. We start again. Syazwan takes the shot, and it's in the net! The scores are even. SA is now taking us seriously. We're back in the game. The ball restarts. It gets to Wynn, and he puts another one in for the team. Score is standing at 4-3, with SP in the lead. SA was taking this threat and marked our players. The ball gets to Syazwan again and he takes it! 5-3! The game restarts, Wynn takes the shot this time round, 6-3! SP only had one more goal. The ball was with me to start. Only one goal left, and I took the 3-point shot. IT GOES IN! We've won. 3 goals down and we're now 4 goals up. What a turn of event. But heyy, nice game, great moves and yea, lucky shots. OUH! And Jason, that last ball I put in was a three-pointer if you didn't notice.

Alright, I went home to shower, Wynn, Syazwan and Jason however showered in school, in the same cubicle. I'm not even going to say what happens next, but it was quite graphic. Alright, dinner was next, but I had to draw cash. So there I was queueing up and there were two inconsiderate people. Yea, that's why I was late. Really.

I met up with the guys and Dennis and Bryan was having a slight confusion. My phone was with Dennis and Bryan called. Dennis picked up the phone and thought it was me, Bryan was on the other end of the line and he thought it was me as well! Funny, but yea, confusion was cleared up. We took the sky train to T3 and well, things happened.

Yea, it's up to your imagination on what we were doing. So anyway, did you know that the MRT connects T2 and T3? Well, we didn't, so don't blame it on me. Thanks to my perfect timing though, we met Dennis right after he checked in, or after whatever he did, I'm really not good at remembering what people are doing.

Yup, that was us, walking. Towards the skytrain. Because SOMEBODY wanted to take it so badly.

Making our way to T2 for Fish & Co. and meeting Bryan.

That picture would mean that we made it to Fish & Co. Yea, that's my Teriyaki Salmon. Fish & Co. is not halal uh by the way, for those of you interested to go. So yea, had a meal and then moved on with life. By life I meant taking photos.

If you are wondering why my eyes were looking the other way, it was because SOMEBODY snapped the shutter at the count of 2.

That was all six of us. After that, was time to send Dennis off. No hugging or crying uh, since Dennis didn't want it. The rest of us was quite on though.

Bye-bye DENNIS! ahaha, ok, now that he's gone, next was us walking around.

Nice pic huh? Yea, walking around Terminal 3, quite boring though. So I though I'll liven things up.

Some sort. Yea, use your imagination.

A picture at the 'Daisy'. No idea what that was about. Art stuff.

My new boyfriend? Gay, I know. Shut up.
Our picture is in the reflection. Everyone was very smart to be looking at the camera LCD though.

Left Syazwan in the MRT to take 196 home. He's the guy in black. Yea, thanks to careful timing his face was blocked. DAMN.

In the bus towards Clementi. Haiz, well, that was it, our day out. I won't mind if this happens every month. Quite fun. Beats things I do nowadays. Yea, for those who wants the pic, I don't know how luhh, tell me then we'll think of something.

"...it's up to your imagination"

~Callum

Get out

Today's wake up time was 7am. I had lessons at 8am, but guess what, I just didn't feel like attending. Really, architecture is stupid, engineering rocks. Argue it in whatever way you want to, maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong but whatever. I don't care what you think, you're not me.

My memory is getting worse. Smug messaged me saying that we could meet earlier and I just couldn't remember what we were meeting for. So I played along agreeing to meet earlier in the hopes that he would give me hints on the occasion for us to meet. He didn't. And I was still in a daze of what we were going to do, or what I was suppose to bring.

Had to meet Wynn also, so I thought maybe if I could push meeting with Smug back, I could spend more time with Wynn. But I needed to know what we were meeting for. So I had it, and I called Smug. He talked to me in the 'wtf' tone, but heyy! Really, I just couldn't remember. I couldn't meet Wynn cause Smug was more important, yea, just shows how I could forget important events. So met Smug and yea, that was it.

Yea, next was Oliver. My mum was making way too much noise about the bike being in the room. So yea, had to take it out. But heyy, for some of you who haven't had a good chance to see it, here are some of the changes. The wheels are quick-release with Quando hubs. Said to be high performance, but I think it's bullshit. The rims even said 'for Disc Brakes only' but it's clearly for V-brakes. Oh well, guess they pasted wrong stickers, but I'm generally quite happy with it.

The handlebar stem. Yea, that's changed as well. The stock stem was better, but oh well. The stock was an alloy, so the threads where the screw belonged kinda fell off. So the threads was gone and the stock headset was useless, which meant the stock stem was useless as well. Changed to a new one. Waited one week for this to arrive, and thank god it did. It's black and it's hybrid. It's adjustable, the headset has pre-planned angles of 50, 30, 10 or minus 10 degrees. That, theoretically would enable me to ride it comfortably as a mountain and comfortably as a touring.

Yea, got that thing to protect the chain stay from chain strikes. I don't really remember what it's called but yea, makes the bike look cleaner. So yea, that's basically the changes that it went through so far, from handlbars, to wheels, to headset and to that. Having some problem with the rear tube though. It has to be rode often otherwise it'll be flat. Doesn't make sense huh? But yea. Had to get the bike out of the room and then had to clean the room. I liked cleaning the room though. When you clean your room, you cleanse your mind, and you find spare change that rolled on the floor.

Next, cycled around.










Yea, that's my hair after the ride. Felt fast, really. From Farrer Road back to Clementi Via Clementi Road. Quite downhill, so that would explain the speed. But yea, that is what happened to my hair at that speed. Should have used a conditioner so that the effect could be more drastic, but yea, had clusters of hair pulled out though the vents in the helmet.

Finally. Wow man, today, had a lot of near black out moments. What is wrong with me? How could I be blacking out so often. I'm not Juanz. Yea, she blacks out way too often. It's scary. Especially when you're on the road and only inches away from cars. I don't know, would definitely need to see a doctor very very soon if this continues. I don't like this.


"...you're not me."

~Callum

Oops!

Oops! Magazine. Is Singapore Polytechnic's very own magazine. From my point of view, it is absolutely rubbish. Please, let me elaborate.

There is that fine difference between a magazine and a tabloid. I'm very sure the Oops! recognizes itself as a magazine - ' a publication that is issued periodically, usually bound in a paper cover, and typically contains essays, stories, poems, etc., by many writers, and often photographs and drawings, frequently specializing in a particular subject or area, as hobbies, news, or sports.'

Essays. I am very sure we were all taught on the proper style, or techniques, or formats on how to write an essay. Writing in a formal language does not make it an essay. It just makes it a formal writing. The writers stereotype way too much for my liking. No references were made and they just assumed their facts, I can tell, because I'm the one who actually reads these articles instead of looking at pictures of cute girls. And yes, I'm one of those that has to have a first hand experience with people and their lifestyles before giving a bold and bias statement. Oops does not seem to practice that, the editors are free to write what they feel irrelevant of the facts on hand.

That was just one of their mistakes. Next, the bias opinion. You're a magazine, give me two sides of the story. It's not about your thoughts alone, yes you can have your own point of view, you should, but as a reader, I want to read and I want to decide. I'm reading your article and it feels like you're forcing me to agree with you, and I just don't. You're not presenting me with facts, you're just presenting me with your stereotyped views and frankly speaking, my views are stronger. I'm just not going to listen.

What I feel, is that the editors just want their names published and enjoy the free passes to parties and such. Yes, I am saying they are slacking on the job. Nothing in the magazine is worth the time reading. For goodness sake, you guys are the schools press, I would give up almost anything to write an article and have it published for the masses to see. The editors here seemed like they cannot care any less about the quality of the articles. No soul, no passion.

Alright, I'm damn proud of Smug. He managed to organize quite a successful show. Went to have dinner where we rubbed in on how his NP friends failed to show up. Tasted Mee Rebus, which made me miss my old life. I use to eat Mee Rebus every sunday, without fail. One day Halim, I'll go down and join you once again, just like old times.

Yea, basically that was it luhh. OUH! Meeting Dennis this saturday. Fish & Co. man, no changes to dinner plans. If ANYONE, ANYONE tries to interfere, they'll have to go through me.

"... join you once again, just like old times"

~Callum

Basketball sia

Woo Hoo. Skipped GEMs today, but, my group members were so thoughtful that they kept me updated. Went to Farrer Road to do some s t u f f. Came back and it was time, time to play basketball with my classmates. Went to Clementi, and thankfully there was a court.

Honestly speaking, I did not know whether the court was ready yet. But thankfully, it was! Phew! If you guys asked me if there was another court, I would seriously not have an answer.

Fun sia, 10 people playing. In half a court. A lot of body contact, like finally. Been longing for this man, but, did not expect to be brought down by Sue, and definitely did not expect to be poked in the eye by DS. But, it's basketball. Thanks for playing uh guys, all of you guys, Harith, Winrose, Ding Sian, Sue, Fun, Iman, Joel, Fadhil and Jaz. Seriously, thanks.

After the game, went for dinner at Cityvibe. The most bullshit mall ever built. The worst building in Clementi. Heck, why was it ever built?! It is so small, so narrow and FILLED with nothing. There was hardly room for us to seat together and have a meal. Toilets were on the second floor and basically, that's the only attraction on the second floor. The next plan of action was to go back to school to jam. Random right?! I know, I didn't expect it also!

Me and DS went back to my house, to have a shower and then we headed straight to school. We climbed over the school gate because we were too lazy to walk to the main entrance, which was a hundred meters away, which is far. Really, it's far. REALLY LUHH!

Anyway, back to the point, wow, Moberly. What a shit place that is. EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, was broken. Both jamming studios was out of order, one Karaoke room was out of order and the other only had one mic. So we sat down and argued about what to play. It was either Wii or pool. We argued for so long and no decision was made, till it was 8.38pm. That was when my hero, Harith, went up to the counter to book the pool table. And guess what...

'Sorry, we don't accept bookings after 8.30pm'... WHAT THE HELL?! We have finally made a decision and we were slammed in the face. Ding Sian was very pissed at this point of time. He had good reasons, nothing was working, and now we had nothing to do. Time. Wasted. So he went home, out of frustration I guess, the rest of us stayed on, for awhile, and then went home, in disappointment.

One more thing to note. Wow, me and Iman like quite similar sia. Order same thing at Long John and, HAVE THE SAME FAVORITE SONG! AWESOME! But that's as far as it goes luhh. He's a Muslim first and foremost and that's where everything starts to differentiate. Yea, just like to note that.

'REALLY LUHH!'

~Callum

Words

Thank You.

That word seems rare now days. Why? I just cannot comprehend how people could forget those two words. I mean, after everything someone else have done for you, a simple smile and 'Thank You'. It's irritating. I'm never at the receiving end of a 'Thank You', which is good. No really, it's ok, it has taught me to appreciate simple manners.

It's easy to catch my attention. It is even easier to blow me away with simple manners. No, I do not need it overdone but I need it to be there. But really, a simple gesture would really make everyone's day.

Moving on, man, the roads. I'm starting to miss it. When I've cleared my projects, definitely a blog post on the best cycling roads in Singapore. I'm starting to miss the roads I've covered, especially Neo Tiew Road and Lim Chu Kang Road. It was a totally different experience from the normal Singapore roads. For once, there was no traffic at all. No double yellow lines, no bustops and my favourite part, NO TRAFFIC LIGHTS!

Wow, long and smooth. I love that road. I really really do. Nothing else could ever compare to the feeling you get when you're on it. Nothing. Mark my words. Half Island trip this Sunday if I can clear my 'to-do' list.

Moving on. JC-Poly nonsense. Man! Give me a break already. Where, the hell, did you get the idea that my life in poly is slack? Someone told you? Well drop me a name and I'll whack the shit outta that fella. PLEASE luhh, wake up your bloody idea. Just because I can afford to cycle every week does not mean poly is slack, it means your time management sucks! You think you got a lot of things to cover uh? You think your A lvl cert damn big uh? Just because I don't complain about my deadlines means I don't have any is it? Utter nonsense.

If I told you what the hell I have to manage with, you'll be cowaring under your books. Next time you're about to complain about how stress your life is and how desperately hopeless you are, shut up and manage your time you pillock.

Sorry uh, but just had to say it in your face. You're not the only ones with problems. Yea, I used to listen but now things have change. I have my own problems to solve. Which leads us to the next topic. People who complain so much and never do anything.

You know those Proton cars, a lot of noise but very little movement? Yes, that is what you are like when you're complaining. You'll sit down on your arse and guess what? You're not moving! Be like an Honda for goodness sake, silent yet efficient. I don't mind if you're an Aston Martin either, really loud and really powerful. Complaining never gets you anywhere. Never. Be mentally strong. Please. I can't handle your problems and mine at the same time. I 'm just a boy, I'm not a hero.

The DotA nonsense again. Why uh, can i just ask, why must everyone who talks about DotA uses words such as 'noob' 'pwned' 'ulti' 'fucker'. It's a computer game, sit down, have fun and shut up. I have never seen so much flare and the need for dominance, it's a game. You guys are 'pwning' 'noobs' by using your 'ulti' in a GAME. Can you please get it in your head? It's a game. It will never leave the computer screen. It's a GAME. Just because a group of you are talking about how much 'pwning' you guys did last night on the game does not impress me at all. As a matter of facts, I seriously think you guys are seriosuly uncool. Please, take offence here. Goodness, talking so proudly about something you guys accomplished in a GAME. If it really gets too lame, as in, if you guys ask me out and talk about a whole bunch of bullcrap and how cool it is, I'll just go out cycling the next time round. At least it's real.

"...a lot of noise but very little movement"

~Callum

Recovery

Had to clean my bike today. It is a very very very painful process. Mud was everywhere. EVERYWHERE! I spent two full solid hours cleaning the whole damn bike. The paint job is in horrible condition. Rocks pelted the down tube and it is in a very ugly state. The chain stay and seat stay suffered the same fate. A piece of rock was wedged in between the pedal and crank arm, aww man, the pedal is in bad shape thanks to that. The crank arm had a few scratches here and there thanks to that piece of rock, but yea, the paint job is ruined.

The drivetrain was filled with dirt and so was the back wheel. Had to clean each spoke manually. Damn, I wish I had those low-spoke wheels. Splashing water on the bike didn't seem to work. So I had to go into every single face of the bike. Then there was the brakes, the cantilever brakes caught a lot of mud, so again, had to dismantle it, clean it and then put it back together. Yes, it was all very tiring to clean it. But, yes! It's done, it's clean now! ^^V

As for me, yupz, everything is working fine. My right leg is back to normal, my left hand has normal blood flow, shoulders are all ok. GOOD! Now I can focus on my studies, damn, grades are dropping fast, like a rock being thrown down a cliff, like a guy jumping down a building, like.. Yea, you get the point.

So, moral of the story. Don't ride on mud. As in, the mud mud. The soil. You know what I mean luhh. Damn hard to clean road bike, the thing all very tight. As in, not the thing very tight, the frame design. Ya, you know what I mean luhh. Don't get any dirty thoughts.

"It's done"

~Callum

The ride

Today, I grew up.
It is the ride that would separate the boys from the men.
It is the ride that lasted 160km.
It is the ride that rolled you in and out of weather conditions.
It is the ride that took you to places that you did not know existed.
It is the ride that kept you one the edge of your seat.
It is the ride where you rolled along with the cars.
It is the ride that would tire you out.
It is the ride I rode today.

Yea, you can argue what defines a man. No, I'm not very good at shooting balls using a stick. No, I'm not very good at controlling computerized heroes or leading an army with a touch of my keyboard. But that's not what I believe in.

I believe in long rides.
And the stories they bring.
I believe in simplicity.
And the idea that complex problems can be solved in simple ways.
I believe in firsts.
And then lifestyles that last.
I believe in the power of giving back.
And never giving up.
I believe.

An update on how things went.

Started out at 2pm, I had to wait out the rain, it was way too heavy and way too unpredictable. When it finally cooled and settled, I rushed out of my house and the roll began.

Sweet and smooth all the way to Changi Coast Road. I was on the verge of boredom and that's where things went downhill. That 3km stretch of road was where I decided to put the hammer down, what a mistake. The road after that was uphill, and my god was it torturing. It was at Pasir Ris Drive 12 where I thought I would not make the whole journey. I was on right there, on my saddle planning to drop out at the next fall out point.

It was on that very critical moment, that moment where my mind could still change its decision, it was on that critical moment when I heard my bike. It was there, talking, right there, gently whispering and urging my legs to keep on paddling. The sound of the tyres on the beautiful black tarmac and the beautiful sound of the freewheel just kept me going.

After I overcamed the mental barrier, the physical barrier was next. It hit me twice, first was in Lim Chu Kang and the second one was at West Coast Highway. By the time I was in Sengkang, my water supply, all 1.5 l of it was dry. And thanks to the very clever ulu route, there was no convience store. The heat was hardly noticable, but the humidity, omg, never go out just after it rained. But there was haze and dump trucks, which made breathing very difficult. During most of the journey I had dirt in one eye and that was irritating, when going at that speed, you really want both eyes open so that you can gauge distance and depth. So anyway, by the time I reached Lim Chu Kang, I was straving, you could actually hear my stomach growling. My legs were tiring, my eyes were shutting and to make matters worse, it started to rain. I had water splashed up on my back and on my pants. A few minutes later however, I was in Boon Lay and thank god! CIVILISATION! Pulled in into a gas station, bought drinks and a cury puff. About to pay at the counter when the staff asked me, did you pump any petrol? Well, if you see a guy with a bicycle helmet and is covered in mud, do you honestly think he needs petrol? Yes, I was covered in mud, soil had slipped onto the road thanks to rain and I ran over quite a few puddles. So yea, drank the whole bottle in one gulp and then in one bite i downed the whole curry puff.

After that 're-fuel'-ing, I pulled out and oh my, had a sudden burst of energy, so the Tuas Loop was easily dealt with, until I got onto Pioneer Road. That was went every single part of me start to fail. My right ankle was sprained, so it could no longer push down on the pedals. My right knee was busted, so again, I could not apply pressure to the whole of my right leg. My left leg wasn't doing so well either, it was starting to cramp. My shoulders were sore, my left hand was numb and my back was just killing me. That was my limit, I only had a few more kilometers to cover, only a few more, but I had it. I had to find somewhere to stop and call for pick up.

So I cycled on looking for my extraction point, and soon I found a petrol station, OUH! but guess what, I was already verging into the West Coast Highway. So I thought what the heck, I just have to inch my way to West Coast Park and complete the route. And so I did. But I was so out of steam that I could not sprint to the finish like I imagined, instead it was just my mind moving the bike. The rest of me died the moment I turned into West Coast Highway.

And, ahh yes. I'm finally off the saddle of good! The whole ride was time consuming, took me more than 5 hours to complete it. Dissapointing but could not be helped with the humongous amount of traffic lights.

Alot of talking points in this ride. Saw alot of roadies, expected huh? Since I took a pre-planned route. Had ALOT of stunning views. Seletar was an eye opener. So was Kranji. So was Tampines. So was Lim Chu Kang. Honestly, I really felt as though I missed out, all this places were right there in my backyard, it's just that I'm so surrounded in the comfort in my own home that I never actually bothered to open the window. (Get the methodology?)

The route I taken was mostly ulu, so not much supercars and not much superbabes either. But yea, I did not really have much fun on this trip. No photographs even. Ouh, but the good news is for the whole trip, not a single honk by any vehicles! I came back with all my limbs and came back with experience. Yea, too tired now to actually do a proper post, why don't we just meet up for dinner or something and I can fill you in on how everything went?

"I believe in long rides"

~Callum

The Plan

Tomorrow is my big ride. My first ever round island. 160km.

Right, so things to bring.

1) Bicycle. (duhh)
2) Spare Tubes
3) Tire Levers
4) Allen Key
5) Wallet (with cash inside)
6) Hand phone

Thing to wear

1) Shirt
2) Pants
3) Underwear
4) Helmet
5) Gloves
6) Socks
7) Shoes
(Like kinda obvious rite?)

I think that's all the important stuff. Now for the route, for those of you interested.

Will kick off at West Coast Park. Since I'm feeling a little under the weather with the consistent coughing and the cramps, I'll have some 'fall-out' points where I could decide not to continue and take the immediate route back home. Those points will be bolded(Like so). Right, so anyway, the route.

West Coast Park
West Coast Highway - Pasir Panjang Road - Telok Blangah Road
Vivo City
Keppel Road - Anson Road
Tanjong Pagar MRT
Cecil Street - Fullerton Road - Esplanade Drive
Esplanade
Nicoll Highway - Mounbatten Road - East Coast Road
Siglap Shopping Centre
Upper East Coast Road - Bedok Road - Upper Changi Road East - Xilin Avenue - Changi Coast Road
Changi Airport
Changi Coast Road - Nicoll Drive - Telok Paku Road - Loyang Avenue - Pasir Ris Drive 3 - Tampines Avenue 10 - Tampines Industrial Ave 5 - Old Tampines Road
Paya Lebar Airbase
Tampines Road - Hougang Ave 7 - Upper Serangoon Road - Sengkang East Drive - Sengkang East Way
Compass Point
Sengkang East Way - Anchorvale Road - Sengkang West Ave - Jalan Kayu(North Bound) - West Camp Road - Seletar Club Road
Seletar Airport
Yishun Avenue 1 - Yishun Avenue 2 - Canberra Link - Sembawang Way - Woodlands Way - Woodlands Avenue 7
Causeway Point
Woodlands Square(South Bound) - Woodlands Avenue 3 - Woodlands Road - Sungei Kadut Avenue - Choa Chu Kang Way(South Bound) - Choa Chu Kang North 5 - Choa Chu Kang Street 52
Yew Tee CC
Choa Chu Kang Street 52 - Choa Chu Kang North 5 - Choa Chu Kang way(North Bound) - Sungei Kadut Drive - Neo Tiew Road - Lim Chu Kang Road(South Bound)
Cemetery
Lim Chu Kang Road - Jalan Bahar - Jalan Boon Lay
Jurong Point
Jalan Boon Lay - Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim - Tuas West Drive
The Loop
Tuas South Avenue 1 - Tuas South Avenue 3(South Bound) - Tuas South Avenue 5 - Tuas South Avenue 4 - Tuas South Avenue 3(North Bound) - Tuas West Road - Pioneer Road - Jalan Buroh
Pandan Reservoir
Jalan Buroh - West Coast Highway
West Coast Park

That's the route, I really hope I stick true to it until the finish. Of course, the fall out points are all over the place once I've crossed the 40km mark, and yea, as stated before, I have a direct access to home sweet home from those points. I haven't really planned for weather yet but lets all hope it holds.

"...stick true to it until the finish"

~Callum

Feels Good

Feels good to be back. I stayed up the whole night yesterday, didn't get any sleep at all, but it was deliberate. I was usually asleep at 4am and then awake at 12pm, no matter how hard I tried to make it for morning lectures, I never could. Enough is enough and I decided to stay up one whole day so that I could resume my normal sleeping pattern, which would allow me to wake up at 7am.

Spent the whole night out with Nigel and my bike. When I reached home, I showered and looked at the clock. It's still 6.45am, and lecture was at 8.00am, heck, I'm too early. I powered up my laptop and played 'TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED'. That game is addictive, so much so that I did not notice the hands of time slipping by. It was 7.25am when I realised, so I panic-ed.

I slid my breakfast down my throat, and hurried out of the house. Rushed the bike down while continuously looking down on the display. Time was slowly ticking away, I had to get to school by 8am, I had to.

Reached school at 7.51am, slammed the bike into parking and hastily headed for the toilet to clean up my sweat filled face. OUH! This was there I met the lab TSO, he stays a couple of blocks away from me and he took a car to school this morning, and guess what, he saw me rushing on my bike, and then when he reached school, my bike was already parked. Yea, he admitted I'm faster and then blamed it on the traffic jam. But anyway, walked in the ADRC at 8am and my oh my, so little people turned up. Aww man, what a waste of effort it was to rush down. The lecture ended and I took a nap in class, and then went for GEMs, and then was SOCCER!

Played with my classmates, some of them. Ting and Flash wasn't playing, actually, Flash wasn't even there! WAH LAO, I stretched my calves and thighs, and guess what cramp-ed? THE SHIN. Very very painful to walk, and to make matters worse, I didn't know how to stretch it.

But I enjoyed the game, although it was for that short period of time, I enjoyed it. Cycling was next. So after soccer I excused myself from the group so that I could clean up and prepare for cycling, and guess what, another surprise.

Mr Smug was FIRST. He was 15 MINUTES early! That was a surprise, so he waited under my block until I rolled out of the lift. Then we waited for the other 2 people, which was late. I hate people who are late for stupid reasons. If they were on public transport then yes, I would be O.K. with it, haiz.

While having dinner, we couldn't figure out where we should move to, where we should cycle to. So we just headed to SP, and sat there arguing on where to go. That was when a smart idea came up, Smug dared me to cycle down a flight of steps and I accepted it, well, kinda used to this kinda of things, so it went ok for me. Wynn then had a go and his leg slipped off the pedals, but his butt was firmly on the saddle, damn, no fall. It took some pursuasion to get Smug to do it, and he finally agreed on doing it after saying, 'This is stupid'. Yupz, so all 3 of us went down a flight of steps, and then did a Tour de SP. We just went around Singapore Poly and basically, yea, that was it.

Still having no destination, we just went where the bike took us. We just headed for the darkest path until we appeared at some on ramp to the AYE. Then, there was the sign, (FARRER RD). DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! The thought of Serene Centre just pop-ed right in, Smug was smiling all the way as we followed the sign.

Ok, yea, so that sums up my day. Feels good to sleep at the right time, feels good to play soccer again and it feels good to be cycling again.

'we just went where the bike took us'

~Callum

Endurance

Yes, I know, long time and yet no meaningful update. Simple reason, I just can't seem to upload any pictures on my blog! Yes, it is that irritating. But never mind, I'll just bring you guys back up to speed on how things are turning out with me on the steering wheel.

Had my JC2 crit, the fly or die crit I was talking about, and well, to sum it up, I managed to take off. Later that week had a dose of basketball and soccer, like back to back on 2 days. Cycled here and there and that was it. Still haven't realized my dream of doing an endurance lap. Bought an R/C car, had fun with that on Saturday. Still haven't heard a word from my girlfriend, seriously, what could have happened? Anyway, kept myself free on Sunday because there was a PLAN to play soccer, but it was cancelled. Oh well, should have seen that one coming, so here's a tip. When indoor people asks you to play sports, just say yes and quickly make other plans.

I'm being dead serious here, don't bother filling yourself with hopes of playing a good game, cause first, it won't happen. Second, if it does happen, it would only be for a short while before people start running out of steam. Third, you realise you have absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the day because you wanted to rest before and after the game. So yea, just don't bother.

PLEASE REPLY MY SMS! Five days already, what the hell happened? I'm worried. I can't say more, I don't even know if you're reading this. You never do.

Moving on,(yes, I'm trying to drown out my worries) had my management presentation today, wow, that went well. We did not even rehearse it once, not even once, but when the time came everything just flowed, as if we practiced it over and over and over and over again. It seriously felt as though we were a team. I had the honor of starting and ending the presentation, and my team members just couldn't let me down. Yes they were not used to presenting, yes they had their MSTs but my god was that flawless.

That presentation really did lift up my face abit with a smile despite the gloomy weather. And OUH! Tomorrow! Playing soccer! We just planned it today and guess what, tomorrow we're playing, if the weather holds. Which brings us back again to the first part of the post. See the difference?

Finally, my endurance lap. I've been wanting to do it for a long long long time now. It's basically a 'Tour de Singapore'. Yupz, you got it, a tour of Singapore. Planning to kick off with the usual west to east, and then up up up to Lim Chu Kang, and then a straight dash across Lim Chu Kang Rd(cemetery), a detour to the west side industrial area and then the home stretch along West Coast Highway. I'm still new to this, so I expect to complete the 160km route in 5 hours? Or less? I know I can't do it in 4 cause I still lack the power to maintain a speed exceeding 45km/h. I'm really banging on this to be done on Saturday, planning to kick off at 8am to avoid the blazing afternoon heat. But if it rains too heavy on that day then I might reconsider, if it's a slight drizzle then I'm still going to power through. So yea, this is an invite to anyone who wants a 160km lap at an average speed of 37km/h and sprints that might kiss the 60km/h mark. Don't tag the tagboard if you want to join, just drop me an SMS.

'...I don't even know if you're reading this. You never do. '

~Callum

I really miss you

Sleep

Sleep is a natural state of bodily rest observed in humans and other animals. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and it is more easily reversible than hibernation or coma. It is common to all mammals and birds, and is also seen in many reptiles, amphibians, and fish. In humans, other mammals, and a substantial majority of other animals that have been studied (such as some species of fish, birds, ants, and fruit flies), regular sleep is essential for survival.

If you could understand any of that, well, good for you. I haven't been getting a nice sleep lately. I want to wake up with a smile and go, 'YES! I'M AWAKE' but nowadays it's always 'OH SHIT! I should have been awake an hour ago!' I need to stop making plans in the morning, should keep my weekends free also.

"I want to wake up with a smile"

~Callum

Good Moments, Bad moments

6.45am and my alarm rang. I was awake and ready by 7.20am, all dressed up for my presentation. This was not something I would want to screw up, there was no chance I would take public transport. Not for this. I rode off on my bike, in the formal shirt and jeans. While cycling, I saw the lab TSO walking towards the bus stop, I rang him with my bell and we waved at each other. Felt like we were in a commercial.

My jeans got dirty, thanks to the exposed chain rings, but, I made it to school and was still in a presentable state, due to the fact that it was the morning and also due to the fact that I maintained a 12km/h speed.

The presentation, well, I forgot one whole paragraph, but that wasn't the end of the world. To me, the presentation went quite ok, just needed to make small changes here and there, but otherwise, that was it. Quite fast, quite simple and I cleared my doubts about some things. Mr Goh was really really really helpful, he actually listened to my intent and helped me with it. THANKS!

After that went to Pioneer to play basketball, I cycled there, and locked my bike under DSs void deck. Then we went to play basketball, which was fun when David came in, a little 2 on 1 which to me, was really fun. SOCCER was next. I played with a bunch of malay kids, like primary school kids, and I don't know luhh, two of them wasn't very happy with me being around. Heyy man, soccer is soccer, it doesnt matter who you're playing with or who you're playing against. But anyway, retreated back to basketball and DS taught me how to shoot, which is quite useful since most of the time Im just throwing the ball and hoping that it will go in. A guy then walked up and asked us for a friendly match, but I had to refuse, I needed enough energy to cycle home.

It was damn fun luhh, for the first time, cycling, soccer and basketball all in one day! The feeling of running and jumping around was all very exciting. Then, there was this girl who I saw yesterday, so called up my fren to tell him about it, turns out he's playing pool. Well, indoor people.

When it was time to cycle home, I looked at my bike and immediately realised that some punk tried to steal it. The lights were all gone, including the ones on the rims!(i juz bought that!), the cycling pouch was halfway out but the worst was the quick release wheels. The punk released it half way, I don't know why, maybe he was too stupid. Anyway, when I was cycling home, the wheel began to wobble and thankfully I was using V-Brakes, so the bike gradually came to a stop. Flipped my bike over and tighten the wheels, and then cursed and swear and the stupidity of theives nowadays.

Reached home with a pissed face. Despite the soccer and the basketball, the idiot who tried to steal my bike really spoiled my day.

"...it doesn't matter who you're playing with or who you're playing against"

~Callum

First Day of The Month

Yes, new month. I don't know why I'm so excited but I just am. Finally, had a decent sleep except for an SMS. PAC! Must you ALWAYS message me in the morning? Do you not know I'm asleep! (actually this is his third time only uh, but what the hell, must stop it before it continues)

I woke up at 12pm! WOO HOO! Got my sleep!(somesort) YES! I went out for GEMs, cycled my bike for the first time this week since the weather is convincing and oh my, what a pleasure it was. Of course, I was going TRIGGER-shift HAPPY. Had to push my bike once I reached school, locked it up, (somesort, now quick-release wheels uh, a little worried) and went up to class. WOW! There was only one girl, one me and one lecturer! So she did the lesson quickly and we were done by 1:30pm. That was quite a waste of time, but yet, it's informative.

Reached home, text-ed Smug and he was O.K. with going out, so we did. He was late, as usual, but this time he actually had an excuse. He had a flat tire. And of course he argued about how he cycled fast with the flat tire. We went to the gas station, no, not to 'pump some gas', but to pump some air. We couldn't get the pump working, so we tried another pumped, and that worked so we were on our way. OH MY GOD, I should have just brought out my road bike. Smug was being so smug about how easy it was to cycle. I was of course crazily shifting gears PANTING to keep up. So we cycled around and I got my lights! YES! You know, the one on the rims? Yea, so now when Im cycling there's a mini light show on my bike. (^.^)V

Cycling home was quite a torture for Smug. He was on a road bike and we were on the pavement. I have to admit, I honor his bravery. My favorite part was when there was this really big curb in the path, cause by the roots of the trees growing and breaking up the slabs. Woo hoo, it was quite dark, so I didn't see the increase in height until it was about a meter in front. Naturally, i slammed my brakes, ohhhhh, yeaaaaa, you should have heard the screech. Oh man, that was nice. Warned Smug about it and moved on.

Yea, so that's what happened. LATER is my presentation. A do or die man for this one. I really don't want the PP, so much so that I'm not taking any chances with this presentation, I've even got a script ready so nothing screws up. Please don't let anything screw up, please don't, thi s has to work, it just has to. please.

OUH! Saw this girl. Wow, she looked like Michelle Chia, (i think tt's how it's spelled). I was cycling, you know, usual, and then she saw me on the bike, and I saw here saw-ing me, so I made eye contact. She held the eye-contact as I whizzed pass. Not bad, proves two things, she's hot, she's not afraid to stare.

And then met another girl, like pri 6 or sec 1? I dunnoe. But she was in a rush to get somewhere. So, she ran, right across my bike path! Again, ahhh, yeeaaa, heard the tires screeched as it desperately fought to halt the bike, but a nicer sound came out, her voice. She shouted 'SORRY!' as she ran. That, just puts a smile on my face, because firstly, she apologized and secondly, her voice quite sweet uh. I don't mind that voice picking up my calls every now and then.

Yes, been listening to Hero by Foo Fighters lately. Damn, nice song. I could play it, but would love to try it on SOMEONE's acoustic. (yea, it's a hint).

Right, to sum it up. My bike now comes with it's own light show, would love to see that girl again, would like to applaud Smug on his bravery, would like to hint to SOMEONE to lend me his guitar.

"...she saw me on the bike, and I saw here saw-ing me"

~Callum