Thursday, April 3, 2008

Riding Surly Silly...

What's the top speed of a Mac truck? Who cares!

The uncool tray on rack - function over form.

Max Speed of the 27 speed Long Haul Trucker!
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Come Apr 14, I will be catching a really early morning flight to Medan, Sumatra with Chris to begin a 10 day cycle tour around Lake Toba and the surrounding volcanoes. Plenty of downhills, hopefully more than the uphills and a total of over 500km. Therefore, I've been disciplining myself to train and today, I enjoyed an early morning 61km long ride around the quieter parts of Singapore on the Surly. Passed reservoirs, rode on the famous Upp Thomson race track, whizzed by Sungei Buloh Wildlife Reserve, Tengah Airbase, cemetries, saw an army tank, fish farms etc - heavenly!
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Riding on my usual Mandai "top speed" stretch, I could not resist flooring the Long Haul Trucker to see what it could do. This porky 14kg touring bike is certainly not set up for all out speed especially mine with the most uncool, senior citizen plastic market tray on the rear rack (however so useful in carrying precious packets of food and soy bean drink from the hawker stalls). But it managed a respectable 56.5km/h!
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My fastest foldie the Dahon Speed Pro's record is 61.9km/h while my old Giant OCR racer has hit 68km/h. Yes, I can hear you ask what's the purpose of this pointless attempt? Why compare a Mac Truck with a 350Z or M3?
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Just being silly on a Surly, I guess... and you know what? It was FUN!
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Update: The plans for the exciting Sumatra adventure from Apr 14-24 posted here by Chris. Amazing photos. Definitely worth a lookie:

3 comments:

Gene said...

Although I may not be that good in bicycles, I still find it amazing with the amount of passion you put in there.

And I love your pictures! Very nice! I always thought of getting on a bicycle and tour the whole country like you do.

Oldyonfoldy said...

Welcome to Lovethefold, Gene. Many thanks for your kind words. Indeed you should try bicycle touring sometime soon. Esp in Australia, plenty of places to explore. I know you will love it!

BTW, I notice you are from Ujong Pasir, Malacca. Is this where the famous Auntie Lee's Nonya Restaurant is?

All the best in your studies.

Gene said...

omigwash!!! my house is very near to that restaurant. like 5 minutes walk. Wow, I never knew that the place is THAT famous!

Hmm, yeah, I would really love to cycle around here in Australia, but that calls for a pretty good bicycle. the one i have i a budget one, sufficient only for grocery shopping.

Thanks! Looking forward from more updates from you! Especially pictures!