I should say it was our debut long ride.
Last week's ride was our first long ride since we took a hiatus two and a half years ago.
Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. I hopped on, and somehow, even though I'm riding a Giant now instead of a Trek, my legs and arms shifted comfortably into position and they literally started moving on their own, picking up right from where I'd left off two years ago.
There's another thing that hasn't changed.
The way your muscles burn after you've ridden for a long while. Thank goodness I hadn't lost it all so didn't feel s*** until 3/4 into the ride. :)
We started easily from East Coast, headed for a now-not-so-yummy dinner at a dim sum place along Aljunied, then along Geylang Road, up Jalan Besar, Rochor Road along Sim Lim Square and onto the road that connects to Newton Circle and up Dunearn Road.
In these two years the road there has considerably widened, it has been re laid, there is better landscaping, and the bus stops are way more visible now than they used to be.
All thanks to the Downtown Line. :)
We headed northwards from there, going up Woodlands Road, or is it Bukit Timah Road, past Bukit Timah Hill... the entire stretch, past Dairy Farm Road, Rail Mall, the Hillview area, then more road in the middle of nowhere, past Gombak Drive and Hillion and Junction 10.
Here we took a breather.
A much needed one for me. :)
Were there that many hills the last time? I don't suppose they could have added a hill or two for the sake of convenience, but for a while I thought this part of the route seemed a bit more challenging than I remember it to be. It might have been a stamina thing. Or it might be that there was this transfer of power thing which I don't quite understand but has something to do with how comfortable your ride experience is.
I assumed we were going back reverse on the same route but the Co Rider decided that it would be great to push forward to Jurong East and then take the West Coast Highway back east from there.
Great idea.
Great, great idea. >__<
First of all, more slopes... because Bukit Batok is not called a Bukit (hill) for nothing. We went via Bukit Batok West Ave 7, cut across into Bukit Batok West Ave 4, turned into Bukit Batok West Ave 2 and then up the flyover to Jurong East.
It wasn't too difficult getting to West Coast Highway from there.
By right, it would have been a pretty straightforward journey back, no?
And it was, except for two things.
One, my poor back, my poor thighs, and my poor butt, which by now felt like they were burning so bad I thought my back ache was gonna kill me, and Two, the rain.
Not just a drizzle, not even large water droplets, but serious sheets of rain that started to pour down when we were along that curve of road near Science Park II, so much so that we had to pause at the bus stop outside Haw Par Villa.
It felt surreal, standing there with the lightning on one side and the quiet dark of the theme park on the other. How long we waited there I don't quite know- I didn't check the time- but I know I stood there staring up at the carvings and the walls for quite a while, listening to the patter of the rain, wondering how eerie the theme park would be on a rainy, cold night as this.
We continued on when there was a gap, heading down Pasir Panjang Road past Vivocity, carefully dodging the waterfalls from the viaduct above our heads until somewhere along Customs House where the rains suddenly increased and we had to make a stop near the Fuji Xerox once again. >__< >__<
Honestly, I'm rather impatient when it comes to these things.
See, the very reason why I have the parka from Uniqlo for $30 was because I didn't want to waste time standing under a shelter through a drizzle that I can easily ride through. Sure, it's not as effective a parka would be compared to some of the thicker ones, but Uniqlo never said it was a rain parka and anyway, it is light, rollable, easy to zip up, easy to hook the hood, easy to bring around in my backpack and it certainly keeps me warm in the headwinds and stops the distraction of raindrops falling onto my head and my eyelashes.
But I couldn't ride in the heavy rain. Why? Because I was using a new power bank to power up my front light and apparently, that power bank had been made splash proof but not water proof. -_- :)
I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, having a front light on power is better than having no light at all, and anyway, we didn't pause after that anymore. Made it a straight route all the way back to home base at East Coast, despite the rains getting heavier again when we were at Sims Way, soaked, sweaty, burning back and all.
In these two years the road there has considerably widened, it has been re laid, there is better landscaping, and the bus stops are way more visible now than they used to be.
All thanks to the Downtown Line. :)
We headed northwards from there, going up Woodlands Road, or is it Bukit Timah Road, past Bukit Timah Hill... the entire stretch, past Dairy Farm Road, Rail Mall, the Hillview area, then more road in the middle of nowhere, past Gombak Drive and Hillion and Junction 10.
Here we took a breather.
A much needed one for me. :)
Were there that many hills the last time? I don't suppose they could have added a hill or two for the sake of convenience, but for a while I thought this part of the route seemed a bit more challenging than I remember it to be. It might have been a stamina thing. Or it might be that there was this transfer of power thing which I don't quite understand but has something to do with how comfortable your ride experience is.
I assumed we were going back reverse on the same route but the Co Rider decided that it would be great to push forward to Jurong East and then take the West Coast Highway back east from there.
Great idea.
Great, great idea. >__<
First of all, more slopes... because Bukit Batok is not called a Bukit (hill) for nothing. We went via Bukit Batok West Ave 7, cut across into Bukit Batok West Ave 4, turned into Bukit Batok West Ave 2 and then up the flyover to Jurong East.
It wasn't too difficult getting to West Coast Highway from there.
By right, it would have been a pretty straightforward journey back, no?
And it was, except for two things.
One, my poor back, my poor thighs, and my poor butt, which by now felt like they were burning so bad I thought my back ache was gonna kill me, and Two, the rain.
Not just a drizzle, not even large water droplets, but serious sheets of rain that started to pour down when we were along that curve of road near Science Park II, so much so that we had to pause at the bus stop outside Haw Par Villa.
It felt surreal, standing there with the lightning on one side and the quiet dark of the theme park on the other. How long we waited there I don't quite know- I didn't check the time- but I know I stood there staring up at the carvings and the walls for quite a while, listening to the patter of the rain, wondering how eerie the theme park would be on a rainy, cold night as this.
We continued on when there was a gap, heading down Pasir Panjang Road past Vivocity, carefully dodging the waterfalls from the viaduct above our heads until somewhere along Customs House where the rains suddenly increased and we had to make a stop near the Fuji Xerox once again. >__< >__<
Honestly, I'm rather impatient when it comes to these things.
See, the very reason why I have the parka from Uniqlo for $30 was because I didn't want to waste time standing under a shelter through a drizzle that I can easily ride through. Sure, it's not as effective a parka would be compared to some of the thicker ones, but Uniqlo never said it was a rain parka and anyway, it is light, rollable, easy to zip up, easy to hook the hood, easy to bring around in my backpack and it certainly keeps me warm in the headwinds and stops the distraction of raindrops falling onto my head and my eyelashes.
But I couldn't ride in the heavy rain. Why? Because I was using a new power bank to power up my front light and apparently, that power bank had been made splash proof but not water proof. -_- :)
I guess I shouldn't complain. After all, having a front light on power is better than having no light at all, and anyway, we didn't pause after that anymore. Made it a straight route all the way back to home base at East Coast, despite the rains getting heavier again when we were at Sims Way, soaked, sweaty, burning back and all.