Aaron fooling around with the walkie
12th of December 2009
After months of planning, discussions and late-nights, the much-anticipated
Tour of Singapore is finally upon us.
This is my take on the goings-on of that day.
3:30 PM: Most of the riders were already gathered at The BK Whopper Bar at
Clarke Quay.
I was quite surprised though, as I was expecting a lot of late-comers.
We had a quick bite, briefed the participants about the routes and by 4:30 PM, we’re all set to go.
Official number of riders: 53 of which 3 were females. There were only 2
single-speed bikes.
Shidi & Adwin from KL
Oh, in our midst were also 2 riders from KL. When I first heard that they were planning to come down for the TOS, I thought they were just fooling around.
Until I saw them in Haji Lane.
It was their 1st ever trip to the Lion City. Mad props boys!
James being “peaceful”
From Clarke Quay, we made our way to TR Bikes for a quick stop before moving on to the 1st leg of the tour.
Everyone was in high spirits.
The ride from East Coast to Changi Coastal wasn’t much of a challenge to most of the boys.
Oh, I always find myself riding alongside The KGB and more often than not, our conversations would always make no sense.
Vira needs a haircut
The recce ride that we did prior to the real TOS was a big help really. The ones who were already familiar with the route always kept a look-out for the other riders.
After a quick stop at Changi Coastal, we then proceeded to our next destination: Seletar.


The ride towards Seletar this time around was a bit different as there were more people and we had to ensure no one lost their way. It was all good though. JJay had always been pessimistic about her chances of completing the tour, but the boys were very supportive and there will always be at least one rider accompanying her.
I was riding next to her some 3 kms away from Seletar Dam when she suddenly said: “I’m gonna do my happy dance the moment we reach Seletar!”. True enough, she did!


Next up was Kranji Dam.
I could sense that some of the riders were already tiring. Fatigue had set in and some were beginning to struggle.
The fitter ones though were having the time of their lives.
Wei Jie & Ben
A few riders decided to throw in the towel when we reached our next stop over at Kranji. I had expected that. But it’d have been great if everyone had been able to complete the tour together.
Nevertheless, it was great to see that the majority of the riders were still standing strong and were raring to go.



Our next destination is Boon Lay.
This particular leg of the tour is by far the most treacherous. Initially I thought it was just me, but after talking to the rest of the boys, I concluded that this is
“The Death Stretch“.
Why? Because it tortures you mentally. I know it mind-fucked me bad. Bey had to keep sane by singing some CD anthem or something.
Jon told me that he had to concentrate on the road markings and block out his surroundings.
More than once did I entertain the thoughts of giving up, but again, the sight of my fellow riders, friends & some that I’d even consider brothers, spurred me on. (It didn’t help that I had a major headache going on)
And so I continued cycling. To be honest, I was on “auto-pilot”. My mind was blank, but my legs kept on moving and moving and moving.


I felt so relieved when I saw the familiar sight that is Boon Lay.
I was hungry. The boys (and 1 girl) were hungry.
We made a quick stop, grabbed ourselves some Nasi Lemak and after a quick session of psyching each other up, we moved on towards the final stretch of the tour.
The War Memorial – City Hall.




The final leg of the tour was undoubtedly the best for me personally.
All of a sudden, the familiar surroundings of the cityscapes were around me.
Everything becomes familiar. The boys were going crazy.
People like Arm, Cong and James were going super-fast.
Others decided to just ride a little slower and take in the night scenes.
When we reached the Harbourfront area, we thought we might be able to see some party-makers (ZoukOut was held that night) but alas, none were seen. The place was pretty quiet. I guess we were the only crazy ones to actually be outside of Sentosa at that hour.
At approximately 2:30 AM, the final group of riders arrived at the Memo.
Along in that group was one very special person. Jjay.
She actually completed the whole damn tour! The very person who kept insisting that she’d falter and give up. Mad props to you woman!
Wing Tong, that one-armed bandit, he completed his 2nd TOS in the space of one week.
Shidi & Adwin - 1st visit and they’ve actually circled the whole island. Wicked!
And so, after close to 10 hours of riding, laughing and sweating (not to mention fighting all the thoughts of throwing in the towel) I have completed the TOS.
Twice.
I still find it surreal. I still can’t believe that we had actually rode around the island together.
Nothing beats the feeling of riding with people who share the same passion as you.
Nothing.

I thank each and every single one of you guys for making this ride possible.
Let’s hope this won’t be the last.
Oh, mad props to my man Aaron and the Pokaywak boys for helping us out! Thanks guys!
Special thanks to our sponsors and supporters:
Nookmag
PEONFX
Nike
Burger King
TR Bikes
Gee Hin Chan & Co.
Flesh Imp
New Balance
One.
Some photos were contributed by: Haiqal