Flat Ride - the Rider

My first reunion with my bike. It had been a long while, since last Powerman in Nov 2008. So, it took me a while to figure out how to mount my bike. I clipped in my left foot. It felt queer. I unclipped, paused to think.... Then clipped in my right foot instead. Geez, I had forgotten which leg went first! Luckily I did not attempt to ride off with my left foot, or else suffer an embarrassing fall at the bus stop. Oops.

Alber and I rode to Mandai and Lower Seletar Reservoir. We planned to do loops there to clock some mileage. Over-ambitious me started off thinking I would do a leisurely ride of about 40-50km, to ease back into the routine. Of course the loop was long, so I miscalculated. But I totally underestimated my lack of power. By 36-40km and slightly into the 2nd loop, I was quite flat literally. Low sugar, low energy, no strength. Definition of flat = 18kmh on a flat road, and 25kmh on a downslope into the headwinds. That WAS flat.... I just did not feel like pedalling. Plus my leg muscles were being worked in places that had gone to sleep for 3 weeks in Nepal. I wondered where my lunchtime Teh-Tarik island creamery ice-cream went. I was feeling quite miserable.

There was no petrol kiosk along the route, so I made a desperate detour towards Yishun Safra, hoping to find some mini-marts or coffeeshop amongst the HDB flats to refuel. I stopped at a shop, bought a Chunky KitKat bar, and ate it a the void deck. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a group of boys on kiddy bikes. They made genuinely innocent comments like 'I've never seen such a bike', and 'Her tires very tiny'. Very friendly boys. The eldest one in the group was showing off his bike knowledge with terms like racer and SPD. One asked how much the bike was. I tried to be friendly, flashed my pearlies, then remembered my shades were still on. Suddenly I felt like an alien who showed up in their neighbourhood and was being gawked at. Haha. I was doing a bad job at being conversational. One of the boys said a cheery 'Bye' when they left. How adorable!

Now to endure another 20km back home. The KitKat took effect and I was able to ride back to Mandai decently, where Alber was waiting for me. It was getting dark, so no more loops. We rode back and had dinner near my place. Total mileage 65km. Total physical damage unclear. I was kind of tired.