Falling Asleep

I was a little worked out with life yesterday night, so at 12mn I decided to take the bike out for a leisure roll. I didn't know where I was headed and I didn't know when I'll be back, but that was the point. Shouldn't plan too much, it only adds to the worries list.

There was another cyclist on a white mountain bike. He was climbing up NUS, so I gave chase. It was the fastest you ever seen me move up a hill. To my dismay however, I lost sight of him as I was rolling down to cheese. He was totally gone, as though he vanished into thin air. Either that or he turned in somewhere and I didn't notice.

So anyway, I went to West Coast Park and laid down for a while, while looking at the stars. It was 1am when I did that. My MP3 was play Tonight by FM Static. The last thing I remember was 'tonight I've fallen and I can't get up'. When I woke up however, it was 3 in the morning and my body was aching. I was freezing as well, so was the bike. The saddle was cold, the handlebar was cold and the shifters was cold. It really "helped" that I had to cycle home. So with my eyes half open I cycle home. Took a shower, ate and went flat on the bed.

How well do you know me?

Have you always wondered which friend true-ly care? And have you ever wondered who are just there? Well I have, so here's a series of questions about me. See how many you can ACTUALLY answer.

My Favorite Colour? : _ _ _ _

My Favorite Drink? : _ _ _ _ _ _ _

My Favorite Dish : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

My Favorite Sport : _ _ _ _ _ _

Those are the questions that you should be able to answer if you spend time observing me.

My Favorite Band : _ _ _ _ _

My Favorite Song : _ _ _ _ _ _

My Favorite EPL Player : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

My Favourite Plane : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _-_ _ _

My Favourite Jet : _/_-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It's getting harder isn't it? If you can't answer those question I really don't know why you bother talking to me.

My Neighborhood : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

My Storey : _ _

That's a giveaway for those who came to my house before. Alright, the final question, if you can answer this, means you're either my girlfriend or you're my best friend.

My Surname : _ _ _

(Yes, I have a surname. I'm part Chinese actually, but not to confuse you guys I like to just say that I'm malay.)

So, do you really think you know me?

(P.S. Blogger has some problems with the spacing. But oh well. Some are actually 2 words)

Moving

Moving on sure is hard, especially if you keep coming back. What a great day that was, we should do that more often. Rite, so, again, summary for the week.

Had dinner with Mau, quite surprised he was in school, STUDYING.

Congratulations to those who have started their University Term.

And Hello to those who joined the Poly Life.

Good luck to those taking A's and O's Level.

And try not to fail for those having their exams.

A few more weeks and this archi term will be over and then it's going to be me, you, our bikes and the miles of open road.

I'm in love all over again.

Our relationship is really being strained, but this is where we'll know if it will ever work out.

Everything else is sounding good. The guitar is sounding great, my ever so familiar sms ringtone is putting a smile on my face.

Starting to look on the bright side of things now, because we all know it, things have a way of playing out.

No quotes, just one big smile. (:

Problem

Blogger got problem again. Want to post also cannot post. GO and DIE luhh stupid blog. By the way, hope you like the song!

Slow and Relaxed

My ass luhh slow and relaxed. The day started out very early, like 11am. Wa lao, cannot let me sleep is it? Anyway, at 4pm somebody had to call and you had to go. Wasted. Then then then! Went to play basketball. Wa lao eh, fun but physical. After being tired out from jumping around, went to play soccer. Wa lao eh, nearly got owned by some indians, luckily, I fought back and put two goals in for the team. At least save some face eh. AFTER THAT! Still got cycling. Knnccb, cycle so fast until my leg want to cramp.

Keppel Bay, freaking nice place. Too bad got the haze uh, so no stars. Some truth did shine. Mr XINGG. Very funnie uh, 'YOU KNOW WE SEARCH FOR YOU HOW TIRING OR NOT'. WE?!?! W E !?!?. HELLO! Wa lao, fly aeroplane while your FRIEND is missing uh. Me and Lionel on full sus tired then still waiting for you and then another guy on another full sus came down looking for us. Then you on your hardtail sit there wait complain about the sun summore! Basket. Anyway, THANKS for waiting luhh. ok? I owe you guys one.

Wah, west side group. Ride until damn fast. RELAX uh! Tomorrow national day eh! Rush home for what! say speed '20~25km/h' and then turn out is '30~40km/h'. NOT FUNNIE LEI! My leg cramming then still ride so fast. My third chain ring also got problem, so was on the second chain ring, cadence damn high eh. Quite surprised that gear can hit 40km/h. Anyway, fixed that chain ring problem already, so next time you all say slow and relaxed, I'M PREPARED. Seriously, next time must cycle with relaxed people, like Ah Bi, that guy quite relaxed, or Romeo. Mountain Bike eh, mine damn heavy eh, the sus working somemore. Yea, but sia luhh, a lot of power uh you guys. Until the climb uh, then all suddenly slow down to 15km/h. -.-

To sum it up, knnccb. Next time slow and relaxed cycle SLOW and RELAXED luhh. Don't tell me 30~40km/h is your slow and relaxed. That's road speed man.

'I'M PREPARED'
~Callum

Raw Power

Power is everything. Too little and you're done for, too much and you don't even want to know what will happen.

Honestly, everything is going kind of wrong for me. Oh well, that's life shit happens doesn't it? I have to give up something in life. Something have to go man, I'm too busy to focus on one thing, my heart and my soul is never in one place. ARGH!

Anyway, cycling, very fun. Just some tips for those preparing to go long, very long distance. Power is everything. Just remember that. Power is everything. You need to have power for the climbs, power for the sprints and power for the distance. Again, power is everything. Technique is quite important as well.

Just because someone else does it, doesn't mean you have to do exactly the same. Pick your cadence, high revs or low revs is up to you, but I personally prefer a high cadence as opposed to using the monster gear. Again, it's personal reason. Climbs are torturing, so train hard and climb high. Burst are the most fun part of the ride, also the most tiring. It's pure power. So yea, basically, keep an eye on the road ahead, and for goodness sake, keep and eye on what's behind you. Falling out at that speed will be a disaster. Once you got your path lined it, get up and dance, maintain the cadence. When you're feeling comfortable get down, stay low and maintain that cadence and maintain that speed. Hold on to the bike. Fingers on brakes and keep your line clear, estimate your turning radius, it's going to be one fast turn. Know your limits. If you can't turn at that speed, don't. The brakes are there for a reason, use them.

I had an experience of sliding out during a turn. Not the best experience and definitely not one I would want to go through again. Basically 'speed is your friend'. When turning in, commit. Either give it all you can or brake hard and corner flat. Raise your pedal when turning fast. The bank angle is surprisingly high. The pedals might strike. Recovery is important once you slide out. Don't lay there and complain, get up, get off the road. Safety first, recover your bike later. Trust me on this. Please.

Preparing for a long ride is equally important. Overlook this part and you'll be in for miles of suffering, over do it and you're carrying extra weight. Obviously, check the bike. (duh!). Next, carry a spare tube, cash, and a fully charged mobile phone. Other things you might need would be like snack bars, (seriously, you'll get hungry), water and if it's a long touring ride, a camera would be nice. Don't carry those bottles with caps and stuff, carry sports bottle and just squirt the drink in. Wake up early before the ride, have a good meal two hours before the ride and then make sure you're properly hydrated. You might not see the point of this, but this would help you keep your focus, give you the strength and lessen the amount of water you need during the ride.

Ride in groups. Form a pace line. This will decrease the amount of effort required to overcome the aerodynamic drag. There are different tactics employed for different situations, so cycle in a group and gain the experience. Learn, don't copy. The important part about cycling in a group is to keep in mind that there are riders around you. Cycle safe and predictably, keep an eye out for things laying in the road and always signal when you're pulling out of the pace line.

Yea, so cycling is not as straight forward as getting on the bike and pedaling. There's a lot of thought and planning mixed with the soul and passion and the grilled with the pain and suffering when it comes to long rides. Power is everything.

"get up and dance"

~Callum

Mona Lisa

Right, long time no post. Been busy lately, really.

I'm currently taking a break from doing my architectural project. I've restarted all my plans and stuff. Long way to go man. I've just finished all the floor plans. There's still the site plan, the roof plan, section A-A, section B-B, elevation 1 and elevation 2 to finish. After that there's 3d modelling to be done and following that the 8 A1 presentation boards are close on its heels. Doesn't end there, HTA essay is due very soon and I've still got that marketing project lingering around. RWP individual presentation shares the same dateline as the marketing presentation.

There's something wrong with blogger again, so, no pics, again. Right, how do I round up my life so far? Well, I watched the NDP preview, that was awesome. Won't want to spoil it for you so just catch it on 9th of August. Cycled at Bukit Timah, well, that was fun but tiring. My bike is seriously heavy, felt it when trying to get around obstacles. Either that or I'm really really weak. Anyway, I got lost and the group searched for me.

THANK YOU. Really, thank you for searching despite all the plans you guys had after the ride. THANK YOU. for staying under the sun and waiting. THANK YOU. But, really, I can only try my best to make it this Sunday. I would really love to join, but I've got to admit, I'm lagging behind in class, no matter how fast I work it will all come undone if I spend the time I've saved cycling around. Once again, THANK YOU.

Not clocking up the Road Hours either. There's always something going on. Always. I wish this academic year ends. I need the ride. It's the only thing keeping me in check against a very competitive world. Which brings me to my next point.

It's time to check who is really your friend. Looks like I've lost. Everyone does have a hidden motive. Everyone does break, everyone hangs on to their morals, but once a situation arises it gets thrown out of the window. The scary part is when everyone turn on their friends. Friends are there for you, yet you swindle them, you take them in just to throw them out. It's wrong. There's only one way to find out who really are your friends, test them to the limits and see who can still care.

Here's some lyrics from a song.

"Here's another pity there's another chance
Try to learn a lesson but you can't.
If we can burn a city in futures and in past,
Without a change our lives will never last.
Cause we're going fast.

You can sit beside me when the world comes down,
If it doesn't matter, then just turn around.
We don't need our bags and we can just leave town.
You can sit beside me when the world comes down.

What can we do better, when will we know how?
A man says from a sidewalk to a crowd.
If we can change the weather, if you wanted to yourself. If you can't
I guess we all need help, yeah, I need help."

Read it, it makes perfect sense.

My Weakness

You guys are so freaking weak. Don't talk about your dreams, you will never achieve it. Don't dream about the riches, you will never have it. Just don't.

Almost every single plan I make with you guys will get canceled. You know why? Because you guys are uncommitted, immature, and weak. PROJECTS. What a very bad joke. Inefficient. Face it, that's what you are. Too slow then and still too slow now. One day without sleep and you can't take it? Want to hear my story? Hello, what course do you think I'm in? My course robs me out of sleep, 2 to 3 hours max sleeping time and during submissions if you can get 5 minutes you're lucky. Cannot ride? Fucking pussy or what?! What the fuck are you on? Pussy juice? I'm not asking you to do a 160km lap, I'm not asking you to climb Mount Faber. I'm asking you to come out and meet me for dinner. So what the fuck are you on?

Go ahead, mock me. I might never be Lance Armstrong, but you have no idea how fucking glad I am that I'm not you. I'm not saying I'm better, I'm saying you give in too easily. What the fuck la dude, what the shit did you expect? Party, girls and money? Wake up your bloody idea, forget dreaming about your future car because at this rate, you're be lucky to own a skateboard.

Yea, and I'm a man of my words. So the moment I sensed that our plans was going to be canceled, I made my own. And you guys just HAD to prove me right. You cracked under the slightest of pressure. It was just a small flex and you guys broke. Too easily. Weak.

So what's my weakness then? My weakness is that I still trust you. I plan to get rid of that.

'Just don't.'

~Callum