Night cycling @ East Coast park 23- 24 Dec 08

My second night cycling at ECP

Attendees: Edward, Corinna and Me.

Time: 9pm till 6am

Weather: Rainy

Distance: 30 km

Reached ECP at 9am... Realised that the sky was pretty red... However we decided to proceed on...

Seeking shelter at ECP as the rain started getting heavier...

Snapping shots.. making full use of our time...

Another shot...

After cycling for 3 hours, we took a break at Downtown east... Recharging for the rest of our journey...


From 1am onwards, the rain got heavier and we could not moved on... We were stranded at Changi village for about 30mins.. When the rain got lighter, we moved on and that's when the REAL adventure began.

While cycling along Changi Beach park, we entered a pitch black area of about 400m (the street lamps were faulty). Ed led the way though inside our hearts, we panicked as we could not really figure how wide the pathway was. Just when we thought that we were safe (lights were just in front of us), we heard dogs barking. Ed shouted, " Pedal faster, the dogs were chasing us".

Everything happened in a flash.

I just rode faster and lost control of my pedals. My legs were just hanging in mid air. Corinna overtook me and then I heard the barks getting louder and closer to me. Suddenly, Corinna fell and I was worried... Ed quickly alighted from his bike and helped her.. That was when we realised the barking stopped... Coconut suffered quite a few bruises.

I wanted all to end then... We were still in a shock and Corinna was injured. But Ed heard the barking again and we decided to push on...

Cycling along Changi coastal road ( a straight road of about 7km) was eerie as the street lamps were not on (It is lighted only from 7pm to 12 midnight on weekdays) Fearful of dogs again, we decided to cycle along the main road... That's when the rain got heavier and we decided to stop.

Cold and worried!!! I cant really describe how I felt. When the lorries passed us, the cold win gave us the shudder and our umbrella were shaking. After half an hour, the rain got even heavier. I called the taxi operator for a cab and requested if 3 bikes could be loaded. Guess what the operator said? She said, " What taxi is that?" Ok, so we stood along the main road again. A police car passed us and ignored us. After 1hr, we stopped a taxi, who again refused to fetch our bikes.

We were so desperate and lost for ideas. We were worried that 1) We got knocked down by cars if we ride along the main road, 2) Motorcyclist will approach us and create trouble for us, 3) Dogs will chase us.

Our options then were 1) Continue riding in the big rain, 2) Continue standing and pray that the rain stops. When it dawn on us that the rain is not getting any lighter, we decided to lock our bikes along the lamp post and get it the next morning, say about 7am. We just wanted to leave the place.

It does not help that the taxi operator wanted us to pinpoint our exact location. How could we when we were just right in the middle of a road to nowhere. The taxi uncle called and Ed was not in the most friendly tone. Guess all our spirits were pretty down.

Luckily the taxi uncle was very nice guy ( His cab number is 3202). He managed to find us and even allowed us to take our 3 bicycles with us. Guess what, this time round the police car stopped. They passed us about 4 times and did not stop all along.

We thought the policeman will refuse us to load our bikes but he only say " Ride carefully." We told him we have no other options as we have been stranded for a very long time. Policeman says, "Ya, I know. I have seen you all there." How helpful could he be.

We were so appreciative of the taxi uncle and gave him tips for our ride home. I am just happy that the whole night cycling ended... What an experience...