I left home at 12:15. I was late. I walked towards the bus-stop slowly. I went across the overhead bridge as I saw my bus went off, which made me walk even slower. Just at this moment, 359 came. I half-ran across the beam, slid down the railings and caught the bus.
I reached bedok quite fast, considering that I live in the east and from there, my class took a bus to East Coast Park, where we rented bicycles. Joelle and I got the special red bikes for short people, 92 and 86. I had a feeling that my bike was a little too short for me though-my legs could not extend much when pedalling...
We progressed in the direction towards changi coast road. An average distance of 100m was held between the first cyclists and last, and it only increased as time went by. At first I was kind of excited; I kept on moving from the front to the back, speeding up and slowing down, but I got quite tired later, and just cycled at a normal pace near the back. We had neared Tanah Merah.
There was not much to do while cycling. Just concentrate on the track and enjoy the view. I looked in front-gen and dillon leading just like expedition leaders. I turned back and saw two or three tiny figures growing bigger gradually some 400 metres away-Cheryl and kat, riding leisurely and chatting. I turned back and fixed my eyes on the cyclists in front. One of them was recklessly swerving from side to side as rhthymic screams accompanied the bike show-Emman, still terrorizing joelle by moving in front of her bike every now and then. In front, I saw someone on the ground. Jk fell off his bike. I approached and as I was getting off my bike which happen to be still cruising slowly, my foot got stuck and thus my bike fell along with me, directly behind jk. I did not get hurt, but the situation then was rather awkward. Jk had a minor cut, but it was alright after a while.
Everything was going quite smoothly until we went onto the straight part of Changi Coast Road, along side the runway of Changi Airport. At that time, I was not sure why, but I was lagging as last. The others were at least 50 metres ahead of me. Suddenly, I heard a rattling sound below my bicycle seat, the pedals seemed easier to pedal than ever. The back wheel freed itself from the chain and my bike slowed down, finally coming to a halt. Probably those who took any notice was Ben and cmc. The rest shrinked into the distance.
I laid my bicycle onto the floor, ben and cmc watching. The chain was stuck between the axle and the metal frame. I grabbed it from a safe angle and pulled it free slowly from its trap. I tried chaining the chain back onto the back gear, and after several attempts, it worked, but it was set at low gear. I got onto the bike and pedalled, but as soon as I have covered no more than 10 metres, I heard another rattle. It came loose again. I put it back and being quite confident that it would work that time, I told Ben to hurry off himself and catch up with the others. Off he zoomed, and just as I was about to maintain speed, the chain fell off again.
Cmc carried my light bag and I pushed my bicycle as I ran. My speed in comparison with all those cars racing alongside the track on East Perimeter road threw cold water on me. After 100m, I decided that this was not the way. At this speed, we would not get anywhere. Once again, I tried fixing my chain and after several times of getting on and off my bicycle, I successfully got it working in low gear. Cmc and I moved on. Each time I saw a shelter, how I hoped that someone was waiting there with help. My hands were black and I pedalled furiously, yet my bicycle moved as fast as cmc's who was pedalling 5 times slower...
Each time I tried changing gear, the chain fell off. So this had to stop. After passing by the 2nd or 3rd shelter, we saw ben riding back for us. Waiting at the next shelter was Joelle. We four continued on our way and I saw an bright orange light going on and off 100m away. Reminded me of SOS signals. Well, those were just Cheryl and Kat taking photos and waiting at the next shelter. In contrast to the science center experience, I felt very......"un-alone", with so many people waiting.
Cheryl and Kat told us that the rest were turning back (which makes me wonder now why Ben rode off after we stopped as he was going to ride back anyway). If it was because of the lack of time to finish the entire trail, it was quite disappointing as we were going to see the same scenery on the way back. If it was because of me and my wonderful bike, I apologize for that.
At the shelter, we wasted much time trying to clean my black hands with water bottle water and toilet paper to no avail. Four things we wasted: Time, effort, everyone's water and joelle's toilet paper. Oops.
And Joelle, cheryl and kat eating the melted chocolates in a paper packet was disgusting.
While having nothing to do at the shelter, I manually set my bike to higher gear with considerable effort, which meant my hands had to get oily again. Still, there was something queer about the clutches that made them dislodge the chain everytime I change the gear with the handles. Half an hour later, emman and pyq zoomed past. They were on their way back already. After wasting a lot of time making ourselves comfortable on our bicycles, joelle, cmc and I set off as one of the last few people.
Cmc's heavy white zinc bag was weighing him down all the way. Joelle was really kind to help him carry it all the way for around 3-4km. I am really amazed at her perseverance and endurance to carry such a heavy bag, despite her size (ok I am in no position to mention that). I am sure cmc is too, and thankful also. Good job joelle:)
We cycled considerably slowly, partially due to our energy drain, and also because of the bag which pulled all of us back. We stopped frequently for no apparent reason and stared ahead.
Soon, we three were last. Realising that the others were already far ahead, probably even waiting at the bicycle rental shop waiting for us, we picked up speed. However, each time we thought we were near, I saw another landmark that told us we were not.
Ominous clouds loomed over our heads and it started drizzling. We cycled faster, but with joelle carrying the white zinc bag, she could not get any faster. At times, cmc and I suggested either one of us took over the bag, but she insisted on carrying it to the end. The rain escalated and a strong and chilling wind blew against us as we rode. After passing by many bicylce rental shops which to our disappointment was not ours', we finally reached ours' considerably wet. Fortunately we entered the shelter before the downpour emerged.
After some rest, we left East Coast Park. This is so far, the best class outing ever. We cycled approximately 20 km, 10 km less than the others. Nevertheless, I felt happy at the end of the day, especially with the company of cmc and joelle along the way. You two have really made my day, and many others like dillon and ben too, who organized the outing and helped me with my bicycle in many ways. :) Let us go there again in November. This time, let us meet earlier and finish cycling the entire circuit- past changi, loyang, pasir ris, tampines and bedok!
THE END of a very enjoyable day
Lessons Learnt: Never take Bike E86
Never give up or I would have had to push my bicycle for 12 km
How strong Joelle can be
Never Bring a big bag cycling
Never put off anything till later, you never know when a storm is approaching
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