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a "wish you were here".
Saturday, June 28, 2008 this is for you jinx.a postcard a get-well-soon as part of our trip preparation team rfth day tripped to desaru for some hot sun and strong winds the conditions today in desaru were by far the best simulation of the kind of things we can expect in thailand today saw the rfth crew complete the desaru leg in record time no small part because of the efforts of chi-hao really super proud of you you have really come a long way so far when i think back about the training camp you have really improved by leaps and bounds it has been painful it has been bloody insane at times when i look back and see the expression on your face i know you are suffering but you just keep going to me that sight of you when ur whole body is red and your eyes become puffy and i can literally see u dehydrating in front of me when the perspiration drips untill your entire body has a white glaze because of the salt you lost i think it is truly the hallmark of dedication to do something that hurts frankly you are the real winner here today no one suffered as much and the ride down from thailand will no longer be about who is the fastest but it is about who can take the most pain and just keep going. allez chi-hao, allez. Posted by Anonymous at and so it is.
Friday, June 27, 2008now that things have settled down, I can well and truly pen my thoughts on the accident. I cannot relate what exactly happened (my version) during the accident as it is still undergoing investigation, but maybe I can shed some light on why I do what I do. This is my second close brush with an accident in less than a year, my second witnessing of someone whom I care for getting hit by a vehicle. Both times it could well easily have been me lying by the road. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Immediately post accident, I always struggle to reconcile with the realities of the sport that we love. Until the day you've been involved in a crash, it always seems as though we're living on borrowed time. Well and true, we love and enjoy what we're doing, but I ask myself if we've really thought for the people who care for us, people such as our parents and loved ones. Is it fair for them, if one day, something bad really happens? Where lies the line between living for yourself and living for others? Accident, as defined by Cambridge Dictionary means "something which happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, and which often damages something or injures someone." Yet even in accidents, there will always be someone at fault in causing the accident. My answer, to the question of living for yourself or for others is this. First you have to answer to yourself why you do the thing you do. Only then can you think about convincing the ones you love, the justification for the sport you pick up. Accidents will happen, but it is well and truly up to us to minimize the the possibilities of causing it. Then decide, if you'd rather live for yourself or for the someone whom you love and care for. But once the decision has been made, you don't look back. That's the only way you avoid regrets. In a way, decision making has the hallmarks of riding a bike. You can't stare back too long when you're riding, you can only glance back, or you'd crash. The best way to ride is to stare straight ahead and pedal the hell away. I will never truly escape the fear of a major accident; but it is that same fear that keeps me on the tip of my toes, checking, riding, making sure all bases are covered. At the same time, the exhilaration, the freedom of being on the bike. Absolutely priceless. There aren't many things in the world that I'd trade it for. Posted by Xihao at Ours is not to question why
well, what can i say? sometimes in life, good things happen. other times, not so good things happen. its hard (for me) to know exactly what happened because i wasn't there but the short of it was that one of our team mates, Jinx, was hit by a motorbike at a junction as he was riding home. how the guy could miss seeing him, with his blinkers on, and see xihao, who had no lights on at all, is still a mystery and the irritating part was that the guy was apparently unrepentant (and unhurt as well i might add). so poor Jinx, who had already sustained a torn meniscus, now has a fracture on the same leg. at the risk of sounding morbid, sometimes it does seem to me that we are merely waiting for our time to come on the bike. i mean, sooner or later everyone crashes, its just a matter of how bad and whether you live to talk about it. this isnt defeatist thought, it is merely reality; if you don't want to crash, then don't ride because at its root, cycling is an unforgiving sport. unforgiving to mistakes made, whether by you or by others. i remember that very night, chi hao was asking me (after i very nearly crashed myself) if we would "confirm crash" during the trip itself and my reply was very simply "it depends". it could happen to anyone, from the rank amateur to the very best professionals. nobody is immune from the hands of fate. i suppose another question that could be asked is "Why?". why Jinx? why me (if and when you crash)? why ride a bicycle in the name of a charity that a few months ago you never even heard of? how far does the love of riding (or the love of pushing your limits) go? i guess if you ride a bike; for me at least, you could come to two conclusions. One is to be stoic, you know, ce la vie, that's life, lets go. The other is to ride with fear in your heart and that is a shame because you should never do something you love with fear inside you. Maybe the question could be phrased another way. Why not? Why can't I? personally, i would rather die and live a fuller life than one that is half lived in fear. people were meant to fly on the bicycle, fly away, break away from life. i think there might also be a third option, which is not to think so much and just get down and do it. this is of course the best option (but one that i struggle with, unfortunately) because you lessen the existential angst. i hope as i get older, i get dumber, because i sure would be a lot happier =) This kinda brings to mind one of my favourite poems (i promise my next few posts will not be so boring), which is the Charge of The Light Brigade, by Alfred Lord Tennyson. It really captures the essence of just getting down and Doing It. I hope you will be as inspired as i was when i read it last. The Charge of the Light Brigade Half a league, half a league, half a league onward. All in the valley of Death Rode the Six Hundred "Forward! The Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!" he said Into the valley of Death Rode the Six Hundred "Forward! The Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Some one had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred Cannon to right of them Cannon to left of them Cannon in front of them Storm'd at with shot and shell Boldly they rode and well Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred Flash'd all their sabres bare Flash'd as they turn'd in air Sabring the gunners there Charging and army, while All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery smoke Right through the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre stroke Shattered and Sundered Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred Cannon to right of them Cannon to left of them Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd; Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well, Came through the jaws of Death Back from the mouth of Hell All that was left of them Left of six hundred When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wonder'd. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble Six Hundred! This is why we ride. Posted by Anonymous at Thursday, June 19, 2008 its that time again. the time where you start to feel human once again. after cycling approx 3 to 6 hours a day 5 days a week, my body, not used to the constant struggle, has begun to rebel. my right knee hurts when i jump out of the saddle or mash down on gears. there is a spot in the middle of my back that hurts whenever i bend over the handlebars and when i raise my arm in the mornings. i have 2 saddle sores in sensitive areas. luckily i havent crashed, or i would have more to worry about then just niggling injuries. we must count our blessings after all. even if day after day i wake up and feel as if im back in the army, back in the jungles again. that familiar sensation of weakness and disorientation that strikes you when you become conscious. strangely, once you get on the bike, once those skinny birdlike legs begin to spin, the weakness melts away and we are strong again. the pain flares and then numbs and goes away, replaced by other sensations. the vague fear of hitting a pothole when drafting behind someone. the screaming exultation of a blistering attack. the tunnel vision when chasing, your heart rate soaring towards 200. breathe, my friend, breathe. i am starting to understand why pro cyclists dope. which idiot wouldnt? the level of recovery and performance that is demanded of them day after day is simply inhuman. i mean, im just an ordinary recreational rider and after just one week of higher intensity training i can feel the matches burning out one by one. it is intoxicating. you feel good, you think you have good legs and so you push and push harder. but cycling is a cruel sport; one moment you are flying in the clouds, the next ... gone, thrown out the back of the train like a piece of trash. again, we are forced to red line ourselves, to go as close to disaster and blowing up than what is sane. only then will we know our limits and how far we can go. im sure that none of us truly realises our potential just yet; that is both exciting and scary at once. and while we dance on our pedals, dance with disaster, flirt with speed and wink at reason, we find out a little more about our strength and our weaknesses. in return for knowledge, in return for peace of mind, we sacrifice our bodies. a worthy transaction. (?) allez. allez! Posted by Anonymous at At long last..
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 The Ride from the Heart Crew So after 3 days of checking Ride from the Heart's blog to see who the winner of the King of the Hills competition is from Saturday's Training, you will finally get the answer... After 135km of roads, including 4 loops of Mandai, 1 loop of NUS, 1 loop of Telok Blangah Hill and 1 loop of Faber, one small shadow emerged as the winner: Tim "The Attacking Machine" Tay  Tim and his attacking machine Wheels Made for Attacking
as you can see, most of Tim's equipment are all made for attacking..so yeah..you get the point.. Anyway, last weekend's training was great as the Ride from the Heart Crew managed to squeeze in about 200+km in 2 days of riding. As we move into the final stages of preperation for our trip, everybody is working overtime to make sure that everything runs smoothly! Training is now in overdrive so rest well yeah people! Train hard and Rest well guys! -jinsheng Posted by Anonymous at the curious incident that is riding
while i am hardly qualified to really talk about riding, having only ridden for less than a year, after getting on the bike and seriously going into training, i guess i'm beginning to find a certain curious pleasure in the act of riding. the act of riding is like a roller coaster. some times your legs are good and the pedals are light as a feather and you go, the wind rushing into your face, into the space between your ears and your sideburns, whistling its sad tune. other times your legs are heavy, your lungs burn, everywhere hurts; your fingers, your back, your nose even. for me, the suffering somehow always outweighs the pleasurable moments. i am still waiting for the day when the good times outweigh the bad times but somehow i also think that that day will probably never come. and so it shouldn't, because if there was no suffering, then there likewise is no meaning in riding a bicycle. i mean, sure, you can ride nicely and slowly and leisurely and enjoy that too. but think back to all the times when you felt like a demigod on the bike. and invariably, it will be the times that you were gasping like a fish out of water, the searing accelerations putting an equivalent inferno into your thighs; the curses you scream at the others in front. take climbing on a bike for example. i cannot think of another aspect of the sport that is as painful. if you do not hurt on a climb, then you are probably on flat ground but you just don't know it. there is only one way, revel in the pain. what else can you do? marco pantani, one of the best climbers in the world in his heydey (before his death from cocaine overdose) was once asked why he climbed so fast. he was known to attack at the base of climbs, where others were just getting warmed up. his reply: so the pain will end faster. we look for pain but when it comes we want it to end fast, so we ride faster. i wonder, sometimes, if we are schizophrenics at heart. maybe we ride because riding is like life itself. maybe we ride because we seek perfection. the ups and downs in a ride are like the ups and downs in a life. you hang on and cling to a person's wheel when the going gets tough. and sometimes, during a ride, for just a second, or a millisecond, you pedal the perfect stroke. it feels totally natural and effortless. or you fly up a climb, the bike gently but powerfully rocking underneath you, the distant, insistent humming of the chain in contrast with the silent, hollow space you left behind in your wake. perfect. and so we try, again and again, for those tiny moments of perfection. sometimes they come after 100 miles, sometimes after 1000. they are there, teasing, watching us, sometimes even taunting us for we must invariably suffer before we can touch them ever so briefly. and that is why we ride, ever so softly, ever so despairingly, ever so persistently, ever so ... human. Posted by Anonymous at Go the Distance
Tuesday, June 17, 2008Having not cycled for a week, coupled with the "Series of Unfortunate Events", our very fruitful meeting with YY yesterday, and the recce team briefing, I've had the privilege to reflect on our goals, and objectives of why we're doing this. Thinking about the training ahead, and the daily distance we will be covering on the first week of the ride. It's definitely daunting when you haven't been riding for a week. This may sound uber cliche, but it really reminded me of the Michael Bolton song "Go the Distance" from Hercules. I'll be there someday We started out this expedition with many diverse objectives, but the underlying pull factor for all of us was our desire to impact lives and give back to society. This expedition is not just about raising money. At first it was very hard for me to see how we could credibly and tangibly say that we could impact lives by inspiring others as we had nothing concrete to show for this aspect. Now that we've received more support from our partners, it doesn't look as daunting as before. We started a journey that looked impossible. Many times I've asked myself if the sacrifice of sleep, time and everything else we've had to forgo to make this happen, is actually what I want to be doing. Just like the kids who need your financial support, and the kids we want to inspire to start organizing their own initiatives to give back to society, the road ahead is not and will not be a smooth one. But does it mean you give up ? No. You push on and you fight harder to make sure you complete the journey. Despite all these difficulties, we will be going the distance, all 1000 miles of it. And there is no better time to do it but now. Posted by Anonymous at And the Jersey goes to...
Saturday, June 14, 2008Okay...so we did not go to Desaru today to train..BIG DEAL...it was much more fun doing the roads of Singapore..all 135 KM of it..and to top it all up...we had our own King of the Hill competition! Interested to find out who won? Stick around for our next post... :) -jinsheng Posted by Anonymous at nicoll highway
Friday, June 13, 20082 flats on 2 consecutive trainings, another ruined by the rain. someones trying to tell me something.. anyway nicoll highway, I'll be back ... taran (unrecognizablegirl86) Posted by Anonymous at wet wet wet.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008when you put a team of riders all looking forward to ride and train and then it rains, you get a bunch of very grumpy riders. Posted by Xihao at Diamonds are not this girl's best friend
Monday, June 9, 2008I learnt two things this weekend... 1) never wear rings with bling to ride. or don't wear rings at all. i wouldnt have a bandaged finger if i did either of the two. the actual wound is too graphic to post.but yes. having a bandaged finger on ur writing hand is not very convenient at all. 2) my fork is carbon i can feel tim rolling his eyes. haha. yes. i remember being told this before. but it didn save itself into my harddisk..i think it went into the short term memory area that i conveniently forgot. heh sarah..hopes to be riding again soon Posted by Anonymous at S**T Happens #2.
Saturday, June 7, 2008ARGH...my FUJI is in the shop.. i have no pictures of it...but my BOTTOM BRACKET AND TIRES ARE KAPUT &%*$%*$ ahwell..onto my trusty Trek i go for tmrw's training.. Jinsheng :( Posted by Anonymous at epic.
there's only one way to describe today's ride. 5 hours in the saddle, 4 of them in driving rain. that's what it takes I guess. good ride folks. recover well, everyone. Especially Sarah. Posted by Xihao at not again....
Friday, June 6, 2008tim n bikes dun seem to agree.haha. why ah dear? no bike for the moment = i have no tim to ride with me. =( anyway.last nite was quite fun.apart from tim n the bike which almost gave me a heart attack. i like the speed haha. scary but shiok sarah Posted by Anonymous at S**T HAPPENS.
Thank God I am OK, but my bike was not so OK.  rear D.  rear D hanger.Looking on the brighter side, my team was there for me. Thanks Guys. Cheers. Hope to hit the roads soon. tim. Posted by Anonymous at OUR IDENTITY - TEAM "RIDE FROM THE HEART"
Wednesday, June 4, 2008TEAM JERSEY 1  MENS' BIB LADIES' TIGHTS TEAM JERSEY 2 MENS' BIB Finally, it is done.Posted by Anonymous at Ride from the Heart SALE!!!
Since its the period of the Great Singapore Sale!..The Ride from the Heart Crew is also having our own sale! Be one of the few who owns the Ride from the Heart T-Shirt going at only $15 each! All Sizes (XS-XL) available! Or get cycling jerseys and bibs from us! $40 each or $70 for a set of a jersey and a bib! All sizes for both jersey and bib (XS-XL) are available! Coffee from Boncafe also available. Organic Freezed-Dried Coffee going for only $10 (Retails outside for alot more!) Just click on merchandise above in our navigation bar to view pictures of our sale items! Buy something yeah! All proceeds go towards The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund! Please email us at ridefromtheheart@gmail.com to place orders! Posted by Anonymous at Ride from the Heart - Roadshow @ The Beach Hut
 Photo courtesy of Charles Luo (More photos will be uploaded soon!)It all started at 2pm on a sunny and hot Saturday afternoon on the 31st of May 2008. The Ride from the Heart Crew was at the Beach Hut at East Coast Park. At exactly 2pm, the horn was blown by our Guest of Honour, MP for East Coast GRC, Ms Jessica Tan and that flagged the Ride from the Heart crew's second roadshow! First up was our expedition leader Xihao and expeidition 2ic Arnold (i really meant to type Jianbin). As they began their four hour shift on the trainers, Dennis and his bevy of ACJC girls also started selling team merchandize such as T-shirts and cycling jerseys! Other stuff like bears and flowers - courtesy of Buds and Buddies, were also being sold..and who can forget THE 15 TUBS OF ICE CREAM we had to sell as well! Time flew by as Xihao and Arnold were at the halfway mark of their shift. The ice cream was selling like hot cakes with a long queue forming behind the counter. Bears were also flying off faster than you can say er...Bears (okay..that was lame, pardon me..its really early in the morning and i am still kinda sleepy). Then it came..the one thing the team has been dreading..RAIN! we rushed all our stuf into The Beach Hut and covered the tables and the all important ice cream freezer. The cycing continued as the rain pounded in on us. Our two riders were drenched but in the name of charity, being drenched like a duck is worth while! The rain soon lightened up and allowed us to continue selling our stuff as the skies cleared. 6pm came. Next up on the trainers were Tim "The Attacking Machine" Tay and Me. Everything was going great and donation cans were being filled as the Beach Hut was filled with the voices of our very own Taran and her friend Huixin. At about 10pm, the first few runners from the Sundown Marathon were coming into East Coast Park and shouts of support could be heard from around! This was also when our two ladies, Taran and Sarah took to the stage and started cycling. Girl Power i say! Supporters of the Sundown marathon were still arriving at East Coast Park and they were curious to see what was going on at our Road Show. At the stroke of midnight, we were given a special treat with Jamil performing right next to our cyclists! Time went by quite quickly in the night with the wonderful music from Jamil and the shouts from the supporters of the marathoners! Soon it was time to change shift again and Dennis and Ben took the graveyard shift as we were trying hard to keep awake! The Sun was rising by the time Dennis and Ben ended their shift and Tim Lim and James took over. We were also back in business with the early Sunday morning crowd of East Coast Park!The ice cream started selling again even on a cool Sunday morning! It was 10am and all of us from the Ride from the Heart crew knew that this was the final stretch! We had four hours to sell everything and collect as much donations as we can! Push on! Push on! It was finally the turn of Chi-hao, the crew's very own teddy bear to take the stage and cycle his heart out! The last four hours was the fastest we had in the period of our roadshow as everyone was working in sixth gear! FINALLY! 2pm came and the horn was blown! It was over. Ride from the Heart's second roadshow was over! We were all tired but extremely happy of what we have achieved in the short span of 24 hours! As we packed up and ponder about our next step, we inch closer to our expedition date itself. The Ride from the Heart Crew would like to thank all those who made the Road Show possible. Chit from the Beach Hut who kindly allowed us to use his space for our Road Show, our Guest of Honour Ms Jessica Tan, and everyone else who came down to support us! A big Thank You to you..from us.
Posted by Anonymous at THE STRAITS TIMES - SATURDAY, MAY 31 2008
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