Wednesday, 21 June 2017

New loop: Kampar - Tualang - Palm Oil Mill - Sg Durian - Tualang - Kampar

After almost a year of absence, I joined Kampar Cycling Community on a group ride to Sungei Durian via a new loop, the existence of which I was unaware for the last three and a half years of group rides with KCC.

Waiting for the other rides at Westlake Villas, a stone's throw from the bridge


The imposing Westlake Villas towers over the neighbourhood

Beautiful trees and shrubs line the pedestrian crossing in front of the Villas

Our small group of four riders, Ganesan, Theevagaraju, Adrian and me, set off from the Westlake Villas bridgehead, rode the 11km to Tg Tualang town, went on towards the direction of Kg Timah and taking a right turn into an oil palm estate road just before reaching the Kg Timah entrance. From there, we rode past the Tanjung Tualang Palm Oil (1997) Mill, took another right turn to ride through a couple of km of oil palm estate. A cobra crossed our path along the way, before we arrived at the back part of Sg Durian town.

Reached the breakfast stop at Sg Durian just before 10 o'clock, about one and a half hours after setting off from Kampar town

With Adrian Wong at breakfast table

After a brief stop for breakfast at a "house" stall, we proceeded to climb to the upper reaches of Sg Durian town before descending a few km to Tg Tualang town again. From there, we rode back the 14 km to Bandar Baru Kampar.

A brief road side stop just our of Tg Tualang heading towards Kampar town

I was the rear guard here, haha


At last reached home at about 11:45, just before noon, about three and a half hours after start time

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

PCN Central Urban Loop Singapore

Started from AMK Ave 1 Blk331 through Bishan-AMK Park, I covered the following park connectors on this 28 km ride:

Central Urban Loop
(1) Kallang Park Connector (South)
(2) Pelton Park Connector (North-east)
(3) Balam Park Connector (North, then North-east)
(4) Hougang Avenue 3 Park Connector (North-west, then North)

North-east Riverine Loop
(5) Serangoon Park Connector (North, then West)
(6) Buangkok Park Connector (South-west, West)

Central Urban Loop again
(7) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 Park Connector (West)

Final leg: Non PCN
(8) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 (End)

(1) Kallang Park Connector (Central Urban Loop)

A section of the park connector is closed for repairs to the Kallang River bank, had to detour to Bishan Street 13 and Street 11 Temporary PCN. Then turned left on Bradell Road, crossed foot-bridge 01.

Continued southwards along the Kallang River bank, went under very low head clearance under five lanes of the CTE!

Continued south until St Andrew's School across the river on the left and St Andrew's Junior College on the right before turning left (south-east) into Toa Payoh Road.
Crossed a long foot-bridge 02 spanning another five lanes of the PIE.

Journey time: 30 minutes

Then turned right (south) into Moonstone Lane. Crossed to the right side of the road upon reaching Opal Crescent on the left, entering a PCN path heading south-west.
Took a bridge across the Kallang River and continued a short distance south-east.

At Serangoon Road I looked for a pedestrian crossing or underpass but couldn't find any. (Next time, I may need to cross back to the eastern bank of the Kallang River to my left to find it), so I had to carry my folding bike across foot-bridge 03 over Serangoon Road.

Contined a short distance along the eastern bank of the Kallang River, then crossed foot-bridge 04 over Bendemeer Road into Geylang Bahru where I continued on the eastern bank of the Kallang River until Block 65 Geylang Bahru.

Then, I crossed Kallang Bahru Road and continued south until I arrived at the Pelton Canal in front of me. Crossed the bridge over Pelton Canal to continue my journey on Pelton Park Connector.

Journey time: 1 hr 12 min

(2) Pelton Park Connector

Headed north-east on the southern bank of Pelton Canal.
Crossed under Geylang Bahru Bridge of Upper Boon Keng Road.

Just before the Kallang Bahru flyover of PIE / Sims Way, I crossed the bridge over to the northern bank of Pelton Canal.
Then I went up on a long foot-bridge 05 across the PIE to the north, facing JTC Corporation Blocks 155 - 161.

Then turned right to continue on the Southern Bank of Pelton Canal again.
After that, I headed east, crossed Aljunied Road, to a bend northwards until the T-junction of Circuit Road, then crossed the traffic-lights to continue my journey on the Balam Park Connector.

(3) Balam Park Connector

The journey continued by heading north, north-east then east until I arrived at Paya Lebar Road where I turned left (north) and crossed over to the northern bank of Pelton Canal.

There, I crossed the traffic-lights to the north across Airport Road at the intersection of Paya Lebar - Macpherson - Airport Road into the Hougang Ave 3 Park Connector

I missed the short stretch of Paya Lebar Park Connector northward ahead of me on the east side of Paya Lebar Road at the CC11 Tai Seng MRT station.

Journey time: 1 hr 42 min

(4) Hougang Ave 3 Park Connector

This leg of the journey started in front of BreadTalk THQ, continuing easwards, crossing the traffic-lights junction at Tai Seng Ave, followed by a short distance of riding north-east before turning left (north-west) into Hougang Ave 3.

I continued to head north-west, crossed another traffic-lights under the Bartley Viaduct, then at the junction of Lorong Ah Soo, I crossed the road to the east side of Hougang Ave 3.

After going over a small bridge, I continued northwards on the west bank of the Serangoon River tributary, crossed Defu Lane 10 and headed north, and north-east
Then I crossed over to the north side of Tampines Road at a traffic intersection into Hougang Ave 7.

This brought me into the Serangoon Park Connector, which began my journey on the North-East Riverine Loop.

Journey time: 2 hr 43 min

(5) Serangoon Park Connector (North-East Riverine Loop)

Went along the western bank of the Serangoon River, heading north-east until I arrived at the confluence of Sungei Pinang and Sungei Serangoon.

Turned left at Block 477 to ride along the southern bank of Sungei Pinang, heading west. Due to some roadworks, I had to detour into Punggol Park and exit at Hougang Ave 10.

Crossed Hougang Ave 10, westwards into Buangkok Drive, and continued riding west along the southern bank of Sungei Pinang, passing by the Sengkang Fire Station.
Crossed the intersection at Hougang Ave 6 / Sengkang Central, followed by the intersection with Buangkok Green where I crossed over to the north side of Buangkok Green.

The Serangoon Park Connector ended there.

Journey time: 3 hr. Distance covered: 21 km

(6) Buangkok Park Connector

Went south-west along Buangkok Green, crossed the intersection at Hougang Ave 4 / Buangkok View, then westwards until Buangkok Lane / Hougang Street 93 intersection.

After crossing the intersection, I passed Block 980B all the way to Block 987C before crossing Yio Chu Kang Road to begin the next leg of the journey on the AMK Ave 5 Park Connector, which forms the northern arc of the Central Urban Loop.

(7) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 Park Connector (Central Urban Loop again)

Rode westwards along AMK Ave 5, crossed traffic lights under the AMK North Flyover of the Central Expressway. Then passed by ITE College Central followed by Nanyang Polytechnic.

At the intersection with AMK Ave 8, I left the Park Connector Network by crossing the intersection, turning into Ave 8 on my left.


(8) Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 (non PCN)

After leaving the Park Connector Network, I headed south towards the Ang Mo Kio NS16 MRT Station, passing by Blocks 501 to 512 of Cheng San Crest neighbourhood along AMK Ave 8.

CAUTION:  Cycle cautiously on the road. Do not use the narrow pedestrian path.

At AMK NS16 MRT station, I dismounted and pushed my bike into a corridor leading to a bicycle park area.





Journey time : 3 hr 48 min.

After leaving the MRT station, I cross the traffic light intersection with AMK Ave 3, then took the new bicycle lane under the MRT tracks all the way home to Block 331 AMK Ave 1.










Total journey time : 4 hr
Total distance covered : 28.15 km













--- End of Central Urban Loop Ride ---

Saturday, 10 December 2016

Singapore PCN Solo Ride AMK to Punggol Waterway Point


Went out on a short ride to Punggol Waterway Point. Distance: 12km Cycling time 54 minutes via AMK Ave 1 - Ave 6 - Ave 5 - Punggol Park Connector along the southern bank of the Sungei Punggol, passing through Sengkang Riverside Park.


Bicycle stairway leading down from Yio Chu Kang Rd to the banks of the Punggol River, start of Punggol Park Connector

The scenic Waterway at Punggol Waterway Point

The huge Waterway Point Shopping Complex

Saturday, 27 February 2016

Short offroad ride near Malim Nawar

Sat 27Feb16 7:30 a.m.

A group of ten cyclists gathered at the bridge over the railway tracks just after 7 o'clock on this cool Saturday morning. We set off for a short 4 km offroad trail near Malim Nawar before settling down for an unhurried breakfast at Yen Lee Thong coffee shop (Sai's Shop) at about 8:30 am. After spending an hour chatting over our food, we set off on our return journey to Kampar with some going to Kampar old town to wait for the Le Tour de Langkawi Stage 4 cyclists to arrive, while others went home.

Cyclists: Me, Ganesan, ChinYao, Kautham, Theeva, Eugene, Arun, Kai, Bryan, Sunil,

A little breakfast before I left home



Arriving at the bridge over the railway tracks I met Arun and Kautham
GaNeSan arrived shortly after 7.15 am
One of our new friends, Kai 
Beautiful sun peeking over the eastern hilltops
A brief stop atop the bridge over railway tracks
Myself on the bridge


About halfway into the offroad trail, we regrouped at a branch in the path
KCC Boss taking many photos
Looking back from where I came
Arun and Kautham looking none the worse off
Kai and ChinYao
The sun welcomes us to our final km offroad


At last we arrive at Yen Lee Thong Coffee Shop Malim Nawar, pretty helmets all in a cluster
Waiting for our orders to arrive, clockwise from left: Eugene, ChinYao,Ganesan, Kautham and Arun
Clockwise from bottom: Ganesan, Kautham, Arun, Sunil, Theeva, Kai, Bryan, Eugene, Chinyao
My favourite pair of blue framed Oakley shades
After breakfast, some of us crossed the road to inflate tyres at a bicycle shop





Me, Kai and ChinYao
KCC Taiko coming back for his bicycle
Bryan, Kai and ChinYao all set to return to Kampar

After a short 6 km ride, we back on top of the bridge over railway tracks again

Posing for one more selfie in my KMR2015 jersey




Saturday, 13 February 2016

Group ride to Adeline's Villa Gopeng

Saturday 13Feb2016

A group of seven riders from Kampar Cycling Community went on this 48 km ride to Adeline's Villa, about 3 km uphill from Gopeng town. Six of us, Ganesan, Theeva, Kautham, Eugene, Haoyang and my started off from McDonald's Bandar Baru Kampar and were joined by Arun at the Petron Station near Batu Karang. We left Kampar at about 7:30 in the morning, spent an hour at the hill resort, returned downhill to have a half-hour cendol break in Gopeng town, before cycling back to reach Kampar by about 2 pm under a very hot afternoon sun.


We arrived in Gopeng just before 9 am for breakfast at Restaurant Gopeng

This was the where we had breakfast

After a long hard climb up a narrow hill road, we arrived in Adeline's villa

Looking out from the entrance

There were ferns everywhere

A perspective of giant claypots at the entrance

An improvised fountain

Chinese New Year Decorations hanging at the main entrance

Looking uphill to where the chalets are located

Beautiful green surroundings
We left our bicycles by the entrance and walked up this steep slope

Looking back from the slope we saw two tall durian trees

Trying out a hammock at the hill top cafe

After a brief downhill ride, we were in Gopeng town again. It was just past noon, the weather was enervating and some of us bought cendol from this food truck

My one year old Raleigh taking a rest while waiting for everyone to finish their cendol break

Found these coins by the road side during our slow uphill climb earlier. Will donate it to charity


Walking the C2C Trail: from CP6 to CP7

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