Daily Archives: November 24, 2017

Last stop: Singapore

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From Tokyo I flew to Hong Kong.  If you have ever been in Central Hong Kong, or seen pictures of the streets there, you’ll know why I did not take a ride.  It is one of the least bike friendly cities there is.  It’s actually not very pedestrian friendly either!  So a day off of riding, which due to my continuing tiredness after another late arrival, turned into a two day break.  So, Thursday night in Singapore I left the office a bit early and got the Origami out of its case.

View from the hotel

Again I used Brouter to create a route and load it on my GPS, but as it turned out, the ride I took really did not require a GPS at all.  It was all car free, and for most of the ride, on bicycle only designated trails.  Leaving my hotel on the North side of Marina Bay, I head past the Sands hotel and casino, then past the Sky Gardens and over the Barrage Bridge.  The rest of the ride was on the ECP, right along the shore front, and very civilized. 

Dusk in Singapore

I was lucky it was cool in Singapore this week, with the temperature only 26c.  But with the relative humidity at near 100%, you sweat even if you’re standing still… 

East Coast Path

So, six cities in two weeks, riding in five of them.  Other than the chain issues I faced the Origami and the Pinion gearbox performed really well.  Azub are sending my a Rohloff chain tensioner, which should solve the issues, and I also will be swapping out the brakes for some NOS Shimano XTR brakes, and making some other modifications when I get back to the UK.  if anyone has questions about the bike, please get in touch through the comments box.

A gps trace of the ride in Singapore:

First stop in Asia – Tokyo

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A flight across the international date line had me loose the whole weekend flying from San Francisco to Tokyo.  I had thought of riding on Sunday afternoon in the city, but by the time I arrived at my hotel, I was too fatigued to even think of taking the bike out of its shipping case.  The next morning, Monday, I was unable to ride as I had to be in the office early.  Then Monday night, again too tired.  I thought if I got on the bike , I might just fall asleep.

View from the office

So, Tuesday morning I was up before the sun, and hit the Tokyo streets at 06:00.  I used Brouter to program a route that would take in Shibuya Crossing (made famous by the movie ‘Lost in Translation’), and the Imperial Palace.  It would have been more interesting to do this when the crossing would be crowded, but riding in a new city for the first time is easier when there are less people about.

The fun thing about the picture below is that this location is to Tokyo what Times Square is to New York, so the book-ending seemed like a good plan.

Shibuya crossing – 06:30

From Shibuya I crossed the city riding all on the road.  In Tokyo many people ride their bikes on the pavement (sidewalk), but most streets are actually pretty wide and safe.  Drivers were deferential, and I had no issues.  The ring around the palace is the only place where the traffic picked up, but other than following my gps onto a second time around when I really wanted to head back to the hotel, all went well.

Imperial palace gate house

It was a great ride, and a great way to start the day.  Below is a gps trace of the ride.