Friday, August 29, 2008












Posted by Anonymous at 2:26 AM

Thursday, August 21, 2008



Posted by Anonymous at 4:23 PM

Thursday, August 14, 2008



Posted by Anonymous at 8:48 PM

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

At the start of this journey, we made choices.

We chose:
to do what others called crazy, impossible, and many other things.
to cycle in places we'd never been before
to go where many would never tread
to persevere amidst the onslaught of the sun, wind and rain
to endure

at the end of our 16 days of living out of our backpacks, of doing laundry in hotel sinks, of the endless pedaling on not-so nice roads, and less than friendly motorists, and unwelcome road reflectors. readjusting to 'normal' life takes some getting used to.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the tother, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy ans wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)


ride from the heart 2008 may have ended, but its not
THE END.

the journey has but only just begun.

Posted by Anonymous at 10:20 PM



It's inevitable that a certain emptiness is felt upon the return from the expedition. As I woke up over the past few days and lay in bed, I realized that there would be:

no loading up to do,
no distances of unending hills and winds to conquer,
no laundry to wash and hope it dries on time,
no dodgy hotels to contend with,
no 11 other team members to ride with.

after two weeks, the cycling expedition that took us away from our comfort zones is well and truly over.

When friends and family ask me how the trip was, how everything worked out; even as I give them answers that the trip was fantastic, it was a great experience, I had a lot of fun, deep down, I know: there is no way to explain it.

How do you explain the days when the winds never ceased, when pushing down the pedal just one more time seemed more than you could take? How do explain the joy in sharing the pain of the trip together as a team? How do you explain the hospitality enjoyed and friendships made in Thailand?

How do you explain the organization, the planning and the riding of 1500km with a team that has given so much?

--------------------------------------------------------

This has been a long journey, and I think only the team well and truly understand what has happened over the course of the journey. Harsh words have been said, feelings have been hurt, uncertainties have been faced. Likewise, there has been happiness, surprise and above all, satisfaction.

Satisfaction that at the end of it all, we well and truly Rode from the Heart.

I know a place that we can go to
A place where no one knows you
They won't know who we are

I know a place that we can run to
And do those things we want to
They won't know who we are

Let me take you there
I wanna take you there

I know a place that we forgot
A place where we won't get caught in
They won't know who we are (they won't know, won't know)
I know a place where we can hide out
And turn our hearts inside out
They won't know who we are

Let me take you there
I wanna take you there
Let me take you there
Take you there
Take you there

I know a place we'll be together
And stay this young forever
They won't know who we are

Posted by Xihao at 5:22 PM

Monday, August 11, 2008

and so it came to pass that we rode into Velocity mall to a nice fanfare and banners and a buffet and a bit of embarrassment at the fanfare we were given. honestly, its not that big a deal, but it was nice that people thought it was.

i have often thought about this ending, both before and during the trip itself. invariably, endings come with their own challenges. when you are so caught up with what you are doing and it suddenly ends, a sense of emptiness can envelope your being. this is only natural i guess and it too, shall come to pass. so where do we go from here then? back to our lives in sunny singapore? our little, painful, dead existences?

until the next big adventure, until the next great happening, the next fantastic event. i wonder if this is what drives us to endure the monotony; likewise, if life was all explosive, wouldn't we be overwhelmed by it all? better the monotony, if at least to make us appreciate the moments that do matter, that make us feel alive.

like the fire in our lungs when we ascend the steepest hills
like the fire in our legs and on our heads when battling the head winds
like pushing each other on the bike for fun
like hunting desperately for massage parlours at the end of the day
like gorging ourselves on whatever we could eat
like laughing at and with the Olympian, and Benny and the Mekong Man and Mr Ler
like the limestone hills and valleys of Krabi
like Patong hill
like Lester's corny wisecracks
like Ben's deadpan enthusiasm
like Chi Hao's complaints
like Jinx being there
like Xihao setting reville timing
like James' smile
like Dennis' jokes
like Tim's accelerations
Jianbin's stability
and Cassandra's crashes

Chi Hao mentioned that the eyes are the best camera in the world but the brain is the worst film. (at Lover's Pier in Morib) and even now the memories begin to fade and become hard to piece back together. did this really happen after all? sometimes, after i rode back home, i still wonder if it was all just a dream. i don't feel any much different at all. i've seen some new places on a bike and i've learnt some lessons... but in the end, the question is "Now what?" what could be bigger than this? what could be crazier? and the answer is : a lot of things.

we're just getting started, aren't we?



Posted by Anonymous at 10:26 PM

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

sometimes in the peloton, the routine gets to you. riding in one bunch, your view of the world is basically confined to the butt in front of you. its constrictive and when the roads become bumpy and pot hole ridden, also a little dangerous.

the peloton moves like a catepillar, it stretches and folds. With every obstacle it contracts before the front accelerates off again and the back has to play catch up. you surge, then brake, surge then brake again like a broken accordion. much of it has to do with our lack of skill as a group; not everyone is comfortable going over narrow, pot holed roads at speeds higher than 30 kph when we are riding mere centimeters from each other's back wheels. and so we sigh and moan and gripe, some silently, others a little more outspoken.

it is then that the wheels started whispering to me. with every slow torturous spin they mocked the speed i was going at. Break away , they said. break away, and we will give you the strength.

i had thought myself a reasonable person. it is unwise to break away in foreign lands, away from the safety of the group anything could happen and it would be a long way off for the safety vehicle to catch up (seeing as it would be following behind the main pack). we had talks about this before the trip, no breaking away. it was, is, a rule. how Singaporean of us, our love of safety, our fear of the unknown.

i rode to the front of the group. we need to go faster, the back is bunching up over the potholes, which is dangerous. but hey, the front can't go faster cos its a dangerous area as well, with heavy vehicles moving about. i return to the back, frustrated and the wheels are whispering more insistently now : go at a crazy pace. go where nobody will dare to follow.

and then, as if in a final act of will, the road opened up into a climb. we were moving into the hilly regions surrounding Port Dickson to Meleka. and so i went, wheels giggling with delight with every surge of the pedal. usually i burn on climbs, like breathing liquid fire, but the wheels fulfilled their promise. this time, i felt nothing but their joyous exultation. yes! yes!

a gap opened. first 20 metres, then 50, then 200, and then i was away, over the hills and plunging down into a corner at 50 kph in the descent. the scenery was glorious, rows of pineapples spread out and basking in the morning sun, the cool morning air caressing my chin, the insistent hum of the rear wheel hub, the gentle sigh of the bike as it surged through the corners.

i looked back only once. i saw someone trying vainly to catch up, the rest spread over the dwindling horizon like so many grains of sand. and then the wind gently, softly blew them away as well as another climb presented itself. it was into this gentle rhythm that i settled, free from the constriction. free from the cares and the worries of the world. The wheels, they spoke to my soul.

how can i possibly convey to you the moment? imagine you were a bird in a cage set free. but that would be too literal. imagine you were drinking sun light. but that's too abstract. maybe the best way would be to imagine yourself giving a part of yourself away. like letting loose totally. like a bit of a deep breath that you held in for the longest time and then now you can finally let go.

like floating in a swimming pool on a hot summer's day. like watching a bird sing, or a cat stretch. its a subtle, multifaceted thing. its just you being yourself.

its just you being free.


PS. I was screwed later. but i have this memory forever.

Posted by Anonymous at 10:32 PM



the winds the past few days have been unforgiving.
every pedal stroke we push is the accumulation of the past 2 weeks of riding, and none of us are as fresh or as strong as we were at the start and the the fatigue starts to bite.

and yet the thought of home, the thought of clean, warm beds after 2 weeks of sometimes extremely dodgy hotels pushes the worst of us ahead.

just as the hill up ahead seems abit too steep, a hand comes along to push us up the hill.
just as the winds appear too strong, someone comes in to block it off.

that's what it's all about.

allez team, allez.

Posted by Xihao at 6:23 PM

Saturday, August 2, 2008

maybe because we are more than halfway there, that my thoughts begin to shift towards the homecoming rather than the day to day struggle of our existence.

i suppose it will be nice, in the way that birthdays and other such events are nice but the next day things will be the same again and we will have returned to our same existence. we broke away, and we flew, but... will we be pulled back yet again?

here is a story: 13 people met and decided to go on a bicycle ride for charity. along the way they met many obstacles and they overcame some of them (with some yet to come). they were, are, weary but yet they push on. they inspire youths, the money they raise go to charity. everyone is happy.

that's a story but i wonder if that is real, in the same way that our breakaway so far is real.

heres another story: 13 people met and decided to go on a bicycle ride for charity. along the way, they were tired, they got pissed and irritated at each other. they wanted to just throw their bicycles away and go home, their minds numbed by the hopeless roads and the unyielding winds.

and another: 13 people met. or actually, they got together because someone called someone who called someone. some people have a pure love for charity, some have a pure love for cycling. some have a pure love for suffering. they decide to fuse everything and chaos happens.

is our break away real or will things go back to what they were before we jumped away?

i suppose that is the real question isn't it? not whether we can achieve this ( its not that big a deal anyway) but what happens next. we flew towards the sun, and like icarus our wings are melting and everyone is wondering if we can save ourselves from ourselves. from our existence.

the greatest fear is that we would have been unchanged by this. now that would be the greatest pity, because it was supposed to have been life changing, right?? or is it just good enough to have lived through it and tell many stories, like the few i've been telling so far. do you think its enough?

or not really think about what we have done and what this means for us in the future. that would also be a pity. and its not cos we don't think or are unable to think, but i kinda believe that its the fear of living your life always breaking away, never looking back. people like to be comfortable. hell, i like to be comfortable. im afraid i will be ok with being comfortable. i am afraid i will not have the strength to break away.

but then again, that is another story and ours has yet to end.

till then.

Posted by Anonymous at 5:59 PM



Yesterday was the most mentally fatiguing day of the ride by far. We rode from Taiping to Teluk Intan, and the day started out fine and promising, but as it wore on, I started to really suffer. I don't know if it was because of the lack of food (I ate three mouthfuls of some greasy plate of shit for lunch because the kitchen of the place was home to the world's biggest collection of flies, effectively killing my appetite) or the searing heat which permeated every pore in our bodies. The road was never-ending, my limbs were on fire, my lungs were burning, my ass was smarting, I was riding with my senses blurred by exhaustion and depression.

The support vehicle was tempting me to stop and climb on. But pain only climbs off if you do, and then you're beaten. I told myself, just 10 more km, and I'll stop. 10km came and went, and then another 10km, and then another. I wanted to stop so badly, but I also wanted to complete the damned thing. I told myself, I am strong, I can conquer this, even while I looked at the butt in front of me and felt like vomitting. (Must be the damned flies!) I've never felt as weak and demoralised as yesterday in a long time. The only thing I was certain of as I willed my legs to keep pedalling was that the only way to overcome was to hang on. I've never been happier to finish a stage, and to stumble from my bike, half-dead and collapse onto the (quite smelly) sofa.

I'm reminded of a certain quote by Dean Karnazes:

“If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not constantly demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”

It would've been so easy to stop, but I'm glad I didn't. I know everyone was suffering just as badly yesterday (except perhaps Tim Lim the monster), and I look back and really, I'm very proud of how far some of us have come, especially Chi Hao (his crazed one-minute of fame at the front! wahahah) and Ellery, who is stronger than I could've ever imagined. And Ben, who was unwell, but who kept going too. The worst is over, 6 more days left.

Thank you Dev for your words of inspiration. :) and Scott, for your daily encouraging messages that keep me going. Miss you all.

Cassandra

Posted by Anonymous at 5:30 PM