We'd finished the circuit in a typical dilly-dallying style of biking- don't rush, don't speed, don't be bothered about pace. We settled our direction- west, it was going to be- and headed out.
To the end of the park and onto a road, past the Jln Batu housing estate we went and then along the big river that eventually winds into the Marina Bay and then we passed by a large garden and then the area around the newly renovated and rejuvenated National Stadium and finally, the Marina Barrage, which to me, always looks like to be a gigantic river with bougainvillea on either side.
We made an OJ stop, and then dinner.. which, by the way, was a mere couple of hours after a fulfilling lunch of ayam goreng with rosy pink bandung, cheese fries, skin and all.
It was enroute back that I came up behind him, this cyclist from China. He was pedaling steadily; no braking, no sudden stops, just chugging along smoothly towards his destination. I wondered if i should overtake, and then I decided not to.
(Not then anyway.)
After all, there's this thing about workhorse bikes.
They might be creaking and rusty. They might look dusty with some of their gears off perhaps, but boy, do they keep a good steady pace. The riders themselves might wear no aerodynamic gear that sticks to you like a second skin, but regular clothes like jeans, cargo pants, work boots and anything else, but they break no sweat pedaling at all.
The riders look like they'd lose to you, gear and all, in a biking competition. They look like they'll be slower than you because of all the plastic bags of groceries dangling from the handlebars and the sack of rice bound to the rack behind their seat.
But don't bother overtaking them.
Especially if there're traffic lights ahead of you.
You'll end up looking kind of silly, having sprinted ahead, thinking that you'll be in the lead, only to find yourself stuck at the traffic light and them turning up nice and steady beside you, even successfully overtaking you.
You'll end up doing weird shoutouts like "从你背后跟着你比较安全啦!" which make you cringe in complete embarrassment afterward and you'll be so glad that you're never seeing that person ever again.