Cycling/Playing in Traffic!

On Saturday, May 27th, I had my first bike ride in Singapore.  Jereme had brought my Cervelo over on his last trip and I finally got to take the bike for a spin. 

Details, Details:

My ride started around 7:15am and I rode up to the Bukit Timah Nature Preserve.   I did not actually go into the Reserve because it is for hiking and mountain biking.   After over 11 weeks off the bike, I took a relaxed approach to my ride.  The intent was to get reacquainted with the bike and to also get a handle on the roads, road conditions, and how drivers would treat me.  

My overall assessment is that, yes, this is indeed city riding.  Most drivers gave way - there were only a couple who were tools.  The buses scared the daylights out of me a few times.  Especially the ultra long buses with the accordion for turning.  

The roads here are very confusing....the signs are sometimes misleading, and determining where to go can be a split second decision.  The roads are mostly one way, and that makes things interesting.  Also, the car's are right hand drive, so everything is backwards for me!  

The roads in several places were pretty bad...I was wondering if my wheel was going to taco on one occasion! 

The ride was nice, until I got within a couple km of my apartment and then I took a wrong turn.  Confusion abruptly set in when I decided to try to take a shortcut and a road that I thought would pop me out to where I needed to be took some unexpected curves.  I was riding through a nice neighborhood and even got a brief reprieve with a rare minor downhill!!

After a brief stop to consult my iPhone map application, I came up with a new route and was on my way!

All in all - the ride was a success.  I will be riding more.  This morning I was thwarted by rain and slick roads.  Looks like the gym will be my friend today and the bike will have to stay inside.