Day 272 : 6th March 2011 OCBC Cycle 2011

Received a bib from a friend at the eleventh hour and I am in. =D
This race is never a priority for me. I WILL NEVER SIGN UP for such a badly organised race.

Drove down with my sis to Marina Square.
While she wait for her friend, I proceed to the Start Point.

Reaching the Start Point, I turned right but got turned away by the Security.
Some got in, some did not.
Failed management... No indication where to go...

So I went back to where I came from and followed the rest of the crowd.

Just as I reached the footpath, an official shouted to another official "Close the shortcut!!!"
They went on to open the passage to the underpass and announced "This is the alternate route"
Failed management... Why not open both passages in the first place?

Just as I was removing my cleat covers, SC and FJ past me.
Haha, saved me the trouble of looking for them. =D
These cleat covers are being a big bother. No thanks to the organisers.
I attached and removed them till I lost count.
After cycling 400-600m, we probably walked 400m-800m just to reach our designated Start Point.
An angmoh cyclist in front of me commented "This is a Walk-a-thon!"
We are still walking to our Start Point when we witness the 60km riders coming in.

Our wave finally got underway at 7:37am.
Things are less chaotic than last year.
Last year, we cycled out in darkness... The horror had been removed this year.
As expected, the first bottleneck is at Crawford Street.
I went on to cycle on the pavement.
SC and FJ caught up with me at Kallang.

Cycling up to the expressway, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire expressway has been closed!!!
This is a pleasant surprise.
I had expected 2-3 lanes closure, not full lane closure for the entire 6km stretch.
I have to say this is one of the most shiok experience I had in a while. =D

The stretch ended at the Bedok exit.
The 2nd surprise came when we came up to a water point at NSRCC.
Another unexpected surprise. There were no water points last year... (Or is there?)

While boozing there, Stephen rode up.
Wonderful surprise.
Stephen was a friend whom I managed to persuade to take up cycling. =)
As we yakked, I advised SC and FJ to ride ahead and I will catch up with them.

En-route back to the city, there were two U-turns.
U-turns always have me worried cos they will always be cyclists who like to take a huge berth.

Cycling up the Bayfront Bridge was not tough for me, but I came to know later that some cyclists actually had to push the bike up.

Zooming down Bayfront Bridge proves to be a hairy affair as there is a pedestrian crossing right at the valley.
Marshalls were there, but they din not control the human traffic!
I have to shouted at the pedestrians who were STROLLING across the road!!!
Gosh... who is to blame if there is a crash? *Touch Wood*
The cyclist usually shoulder the blame.

It took me 19.2km to make up the distance. =D
Just as I was sneaking up on SC and FJ, FJ commented "We are the slowest JoyRiders".
SC replied "No! JD is behind!"
Keke... Imagine their surprise when they found me in their draft =D

We started and completed the race together. =)

After collecting our medal and drinks, we proceed to the JoyRiders tent.
Viv signalled me towards the JoyRiders tent.
"Aiyah, I thought got massage here" I joked. =D
Met Billy Loy whom I met on the Tour de Bintan Sweeper Bus last year. =)

Less than 15 minutes later, Joyce started nagging at us to join the iFly Cycle.
Again there is no indication on where to go.
I got herded with the other iFly cyclists on the "shortcut" path as the iFly participants rode past.
When we finally reached the F1 Pit Lane, they closed the road and we were told to make our way to the Start Line.
It is pretty obvious that iFly has already started, so why the need to start from the Start Line?
One thing that surprised and annoyed me.
All the security personnel at F1 pit are armed with walkie talkies but ALL of them seems so lost.
I questioned the official who ordered the road closure and did not get a response.
"You guys could have managed this better..." I said before I left.

Met up with SC, FJ, Viv and MagPie for brunch before proceeding home.