RR: Singapore Bike Hash. My experience

useful contacts/links


- http://www.twa.com.sg/sbh/
- http://www.twa.com.sg


Melanie is a great contact at Two Wheel Action, very helpful an
amazing eyes!!!

Just thought I would pass on this information in case anyone else find
themselves with a few days in Singapore.

Recently just spent 9 days in Singapore and before I left thought
might check out if there is any riding going on, and found the abov
link, dont know if anybody else has ever done a hash ride or run fo
that matter, but it was my first experience, very interesting.

they are bike riders with a drinking problem or drinkers with a ridin
problem, is how the group is described.

Saturday: visit Melanie at Two Wheel Action and organised the bike
Giant Yukon, everything working, no rattles, so all was good on th
ride back from the bike shop to the hotel, traffic is a little crazy
but its HOT, however, I quickly found that it is worst sitting there i
traffic at the lights, when you are moving you get some breeze and it i
almost bearable, but its HOT, cycled a few hunderd metres down the hil
to the main road, Holland Road and the sweat is pouring off me, fen
off the buses, trucks with people hanging off the back, cars, moto
bikes, mopeds, pedestrians are the worst though, especially th
shopping variety riding down Orchard Road, no sight of a magpie div
bombing me though, must be to warm for them!

Melanie looked at me with a strange look when I said I was going t
ride back from Punggol to Singapore, "Good luck" were her partin
words.

Sunday: wake up, drink water, everything packed, drink water, n
breakfast, I cant stand food in the stomach on a really hot day o
riding, got some gel packs and lollies for the day. Hail a Taxi, bik
in the boot wont fit, even with the front wheel off

Me: "Bugger!" look at taxi driver
Me: "Any suggestions should I call a larger taxi"
Taxi driver looks at me with a funny look
Taxi Driver: "Put the bike in the back of the car"
Taxi driver mental thought: [Stupid white people]
Me looking at taxi driver funny now
Me: "Are you sure ?? Will your car be alright, Are you sure ?"
Taxi Driver: "Yes of course, its not my car, I just want the fare"
Me: "Ok then"
Me mental image of cab driving laughing at me for wanting to put a bik
in the back of his Taxi in Australia.

quick 30 minute cab ride to Punggol Marina, $(SIN)15.00 including tip!
thats about $(AUS)10

Got to the starting point early so just sat in the shade, peopl
gradually turned up and it ended up being their biggest turn out bar
ride, so it was good, lots of people, the ride is organised by wha
they call the "hares", its almost like a fox hunt, the route is marke
out by toilet paper, but the "hares" kind of lead the ride, but ther
turned out to be lots of back tracking and grouping up, they had
calls,
"on on", used by leading riders to signify they have found the trai
and you can ride on, it gets shouted back down the line
"back check", used to slow down and regroup or back check to fello
riders
"stop!", to indicate an immediate stop, no matter no what, just stop

lots of expat riders, a few locals, very expensive bikes, I had quite
few stacks, nothing serious, couple of offs into nice soft sand on som
blind corners, the ride actually took place out near a marina, wher
the locals go to hit the wake boarding and jet skiing and water skiing
the terrain was pretty flat, not very technical, apart from riding alon
the cobblestone canal, that I had a small off on, with low hangin
branches and people fishing on the side. On to a few local roads
avoided the construction trucks, quite a few bits of off and walk th
bike, had great luck to watch one guy who decided he could easil
tackle a "singapore" gutter, these are about 3 times the height of
gutter in Australia and they also act as a small canal because of th
rain during the intense storms, apparently they need them to get wate
off the roads and avoid flooding, yep, the gutter won, he was alrigh
and we both laughed because he saw me have a small off not long befor
in one of the sand patches.

over some nice bumpy hacked up urban wasteland, where someones back
tube, exploded about 2 metres from me and scared the sh*t out of me.

we finally got to a nice bit of single track up hill, through overgrown
bushes and past some bewildered local people, whose home was made up of,
some branches, leaves, logs, a rock and a small portable grill, makes
you think how lucky you are sometimes, after apologizing for riding
through their back yard and shouting good morning, which was met with a
huge beaming smile and equally friendly hello, we had a run down through
a nice little single track and came out at the local tip and back to the
marina, ride of about 2 hours, no distance, it was a hired bike so I had
no distance, but my gut feeling was about 20 or so kilometres, in
absoluetely sticking hot weather, I had a full Camelbak Mule at start
of ride and I was down to about 1/2 litre, full up about 2.5 litres.

back to the marina it was find shade, 100+ brand sports drink, which I
have not seen in Australia for about 10+ years!! but is huge over
there, its beautiful stuff, lightly fizzy and very refreshing and Tiger
beer, all provided as part of ride fee.

the barbarian, leader gathers a circle, they basically get people out
in the middle of the circle for various reasons and sing the following
song which is followed by the person/persons sculling a cup of Tiger
beer, I must admit the first few times it was done I was standing their
thinking I was part of some cult that organises nightly raids on the
local authorities.

the song was as follows, rougly worded as
"xxxxxx" is a "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"
he/she is a b**tard, so they say
he/she is a p*ss-pot, so they say
tried to go get to heaven but went the other way
going down, down, etc, repeated until beer is finished"

so very interesting experience indeed, friendly, socialable and also a
pretty good ride.

Next was my ride home, after talking to a few people and then saying I
had to get back, so I better head off, each person finished by saying,
"Good luck"

so I started riding back, it was basically 3 roads, I had to take,
started riding back when someone else rode up beside me and turned out
he had seen me riding off and decided he was going to ride home as
well!! even better, someone else, share the heat/pain with and at least
I will get the best route back. The ride home was hard/very hard, HOT,
HOT and HOTTER, cars, exhausts, buses, exhaustes, motor bikes, hot
bitumen, 32C, high humidity, bright sun, no cloud cover and thanks to
murphys' law, yes, a head wind, I should have known, and riding a now
labouring Giant Yukon back along the roads.

a couple of times, the heat was getting really bad, especially standing
still at traffic lights, but kept on chatting away, refuelled at a local
shell, everyone very curious about the Camelbak, turned out to be a ~
30km trip back home, and took a little over a hour, which I was
surprised at, considering the heat and the bike with big fat tyres,
forgotten what it is like riding a mountain bike a long distance on the
road trying to maintan a certain speed, up hills as well. The traffic by
this time of the day, now about 2pm, was mad, the merging roads were
hell, and I did think a couple of times, I was going to become a number
plate for a bus, but I must admit, I just stuck to the old, claim your
territory, feel confident and keep it steady and I really had no
problems, only 1 horn wielding manic, but I just waved hello to them,
got back to Holland Road and waved to my riding buddy and a quick
"thanks, have a good day" and that was it.

got back to the hotel, ice, cold water, shower, ice, cold water,
shower, ice, ice and ice, managed to stave off heat stroke, just a
small head ache and that was it.

one great thing, out all the time in the sun, no sunscreen and not one
little bit of sunburn could i find.!

got back this morning at 5am and walked outside of the airport to get a
cab, and almost ran back inside with fright, it was like walking in a
freezing cold shower.

Singapore Girl, a great way to ride.


--
MikeyOz

MikeyOz wrote:

Melanie is a great contact at Two Wheel Action, very helpful and
amazing eyes!!!

How about the bike prices, did you check anything out?
I'd heard that there's two good bike shops in Singapore with
excellent prices.

Thanks for the report, I'd always wondered about riding in Singapore.
I reckon it would be nice to go out late at night, when it's a little
cooler (down to 28), and the traffic subsides.

Would be cool to start a Malaysian tour there, ride straight from the
hotel.

cheers,
-kt

MikeyOz wrote:

the song was as follows, rougly worded as
"xxxxxx" is a "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"
he/she is a b**tard, so they say
he/she is a p*ss-pot, so they say
tried to go get to heaven but went the other way
going down, down, etc, repeated until beer is finished"

so very interesting experience indeed, friendly, socialable and also a
pretty good ride.


Which state are you from Mikey? I think that's a NSW song, I remember
coming across it doing drinking games while camping wiht a group of NSW
people about 20 years ago. I was a bit bewildered at first but alcohol
can always take care of that (or cause it in the first place)

DaveB

DaveB wrote:

MikeyOz wrote:

the song was as follows, rougly worded as
"xxxxxx" is a "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"
he/she is a b**tard, so they say
he/she is a p*ss-pot, so they say
tried to go get to heaven but went the other way
going down, down, etc, repeated until beer is finished"

so very interesting experience indeed, friendly, socialable and also a
pretty good ride.


Which state are you from Mikey? I think that's a NSW song, I remember
coming across it doing drinking games while camping wiht a group of NSW
people about 20 years ago. I was a bit bewildered at first but alcohol
can always take care of that (or cause it in the first place)

DaveB

We have a variation, it would go like this (hippy's name included for
convenience and because it's appropriate)

Here's to hippy he's true blue
He's a ****pot through and through
He's a b@st@rd so they say
Tried to get to Heaven but he went the other way
Going down, down, down, down, down, ...

(Er, to clarify, it's appropriate because he's a ****pot.)

Tam

Tamyka Bell Wrote:
DaveB wrote

MikeyOz wrote

the song was as follows, rougly worded a
"xxxxxx" is a "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
he/she is a b**tard, so they sa
he/she is a p*ss-pot, so they sa
tried to go get to heaven but went the other wa
going down, down, etc, repeated until beer is finished

so very interesting experience indeed, friendly, socialable an
also
pretty good ride


Which state are you from Mikey? I think that's a NSW song, I remembe
coming across it doing drinking games while camping wiht a group o
NS
people about 20 years ago. I was a bit bewildered at first bu
alcoho
can always take care of that (or cause it in the first place

Dave

We have a variation, it would go like this (hippy's name included fo
convenience and because it's appropriate

Here's to hippy he's true blu
He's a ****pot through and throug
He's a b@st@rd so they sa
Tried to get to Heaven but he went the other wa
Going down, down, down, down, down, ..

(Er, to clarify, it's appropriate because he's a ****pot.

Tam
That's certainly the Qld version. Was de rigeur at 21st birthda
parties when I were a lad in Brisbane

Steve

--
SteveA

SteveA Wrote:
That's certainly the Qld version. Was de rigeur at 21st birthday partie
when I were a lad in Brisbane

SteveA
Yep that is the song... I probably left some words out, because eve
after about 20 times singing it, I still did not quite know the words.

I visited 3 bike shops in Singapore, Two Wheel Action which is where
hired the bike from, just Mountain bikes, did not have much there i
the way of stock.

Treknology bikes I also visited and I ended up buying a new seat fro
them, the price was ok, I would say the prices are pretty similar t
Australia, so I guess it turns out cheaper as our money is worth
little more, but nothing to write home about, so to speak.

the weather was just soooo hot over there, I trained during a summer i
Brisbane and that had nothing on the day I cycled up there in Singapor
and apparently it is basically like that all year around.

I'm in Victoria and I have never heard of these songs ever before, s
it was definately an experience for me, but a good experience.

Im now in Boston at the moment and im visiting a shop here soon to se
how the prices are here, in the LBS or maybe see if I can even swing a
ebay auction or 2 while I am here

--
MikeyO

MikeyOz Wrote:
I visited 3 bike shops in Singapore, Two Wheel Action which is where
hired the bike from, just Mountain bikes, did not have much there i
the way of stock.

Treknology bikes I also visited and I ended up buying a new seat fro
them, the price was ok, I would say the prices are pretty similar t
Australia, so I guess it turns out cheaper as our money is worth
little more, but nothing to write home about, so to speak.

I hate to tell you this but TWO WHEEL ACTION and TREKNOLOGY ar
notorious for ripping people off especially if you're a tourist. Trus
me, I was born and raised in S'pore and have been going to bike shop
regularly since I was 12.

If you're ever back there, HUP LEONG in chinatown is the place to be.
Always cheap prices (mtb stuff), talk to Gilbert Loo. look elsewher
if you're after road stuff. Road parts come with a premium i
Singapore (not many roadies in S'pore) and the shops that carry roa
parts aren't the ones that have the best prices in the first place.

Cheers
Koon Yon

--
Koon Yong