I'm one of those who think planning for a trip can actually be more fun than doing it. Emails between myself, Mike and Kevin are flying around these days as we make preparations for our upcoming ride to the Northern part of Borneo from Oct 1 - 6.
The plan is to fly into Kota Kinabalu, ride through the mountain ranges, enjoy Poring Hot Springs and end up at Sandakan where it marks the start of the infamous death march by many Australian Diggers in WW2. It promises to be a 400km ride and this trip was inspired by fellow adventure cyclist Mike Khor of Wheelsopher who did this some years back. His trip is recorded in his blog here.
All of us will be riding foldies as we may have to take public buses/minivans and the ability to do that is absolutely essential. I can never ask for better company as I shall have the privilege of 3 medical professionals in the team!
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6 more weeks. Can't wait... but then again, today was quite a super special & blessed one too.
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This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
With the economic crunch, desire to stay healthy, being sick of traffic jams and perhaps a noble desire to contribute to the green cause, bicycle sales in Australia have taken off in a huge way. Just in NSW, over 430,000 new bikes were bought compared to 75,000 motor vehicle registrations. This is indeed a cause for celebration as more people realise the benefits of being on pedal power but it does create a growing problem.
With more bicycles on the roads, this has caused many motorists to become increasingly frustrated as they are forced to share their "domain" with these slow moving wheels. In some ways, it could be a time bomb waiting to go off if nothing is done about it.
More over, the vast difference in speed is a great cause for concern. There is a lobby group, the National Motorists Association Australia, who believe cyclists cannot safely integrate with fast-moving vehicles on busy roads. Their spokesman Michael Lane claims, "Motor vehicles and bicycles are fundamentally incompatible. Cars are fast and heavy. Bikes are slow and flimsy. The two do not mix. It's dangerous and it's not fair to either cyclists or the motorists."
No prizes for guessing which foldie this is!
I'm not sure if I share his opinion but with proper infrastructure and traffic planning, I believe cars and bicycles can co-exist happily together, especially with dedicated bike lanes.
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They have done so in the Nordic countries for many years in the past, and will continue for many years in the future. But it won't be easy for Australia and other countries just starting on their journey with the bicycle. It will take very strong political will to give bicycles the rightful place on the roads and the hills in front, though formidable are not insurmountable.
ps: How can motorists and cyclists be friends.... the article from SMH dated 14 Aug 09 which this post is a response to.
It was a big rush to make it for the 609am train to Mandurah this morning, and I only just scrapped in. Rod was sitting patiently as always at the platform, reading a book looking very relaxed. When our train came, we moved to the last carriage with our bikes only to be pleasantly surprised to see Pat grinning widely with his red Dahon Speed 8 in tow.
What a wonderful day this was going to be as we met Ken at his Mandurah home, and cycled together in absolutely glorious weather. As Rod said almost poetically, "Isn't it marvellous to be out here away from the pollution, away from the stress and cycling along the coast with fresh sea breezes?" With the morning sun lighting up the sky, I could not agree more and its times like this that I truly give thanks to Him for being alive and for the beauty panned out before my eyes.
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We noticed that Pat was not his usual energetic self (former tri coach) as he was lagging behind and at 15km mark, he was nowhere to be seen. I decided to back track and in front of me was a red foldie lying pitifully on the bike path, and a black body sprawled motionless near it on the grass verge. I turned cold at that sight and rushed to his aid, expecting the worse. Fortunately, he was still breathing and came around after a while. It seemed that Pat too rushed to make his 543am train and skipped breakfast. Thus, he became Hypoglycaemic - low sugar level.
But what followed really scared me stiff. While I was picking up his fallen Speed 8 and parking it properly, Pat got up and tried to stand. He blacked out again and collapsed to the ground like a lifeless rag doll only to hit his head really hard on the concrete path. The impact of that loud sound made my heart stopped! If he wasn't wearing a helmet, Pat could very well have had very serious head injury.
The ride was cut short, morning tea venue was aruptly decided. I fed Pat with hot tea, chocs, grapes and an Otak Sandwich which really brought life to him. Both Ken and Rod were kind enough to ride back to Mandurah to get Ken's SUV and we all ended up enjoying Cappuccino and Latte at the Jolly Frog Cafe, with our foldies snugly in the boot.
I've learnt 3 precious lessons this morning. Firstly, always wear a helmet. Secondly, always ride with a buddy. They will save your life. Finally, rushing for early morning trains and esp skipping breakfast can be very dangerous!
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ps: Pat later emailed me to say he was confident that he was in good hands and was not worried about the outcome during the whole ordeal :-)
I was supposed to meet Rod and Ken for our weekly Wed ride this morning. Today, the plan was to meet at 0603 at the train station for a 55km ride in Mandurah.
But it got really cold and I chickened out. It was 4c in the wee hours of this morning and that is not ideal for me... but kudos to my 2 friends who are truly the all weather riders. Hope you guys had fun!
I do not like attending 3 hr lectures at 2pm in the afternoon. The Spanish have a good reason for their siesta and I wish I could do likewise... If words like Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, Minuscules, Lectionaries turn you on, then you will be "all eyes" for the lecture. For me, I was thinking how to get a bit of fun and stay awake, and decided that a 10km foldie ride was in order, given the rare sunny 17c day it was.
I have forgotten how beautiful Perth is, having been in Asia recently. Cruising leisurely on the excellent and scenic bike paths invigorated me. With the cool winter's breeze in my face, quiet rolling of my Schwalbes and the unique clicking of a SRAM hub in top gear, I was in paradise.
It was magical to soak in the beauty of the riverside, to smell fresh unpolluted air, see ducks swim happily, be fascinated by the tapestry of tree barks and marvel at the visual floral spectacle all around me. Being so close to nature on the saddle is truly good for one's soul.
Having arrived at my destination, I folded the Speed Pro and locked it at the bike rack when I heard someone yelled, "Heh Al, nice bike!".
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It took me 40 mins to do a leisurely 10km with plenty of photo stops and I felt really alive.
Unlike last week when I inadvertently dozed off, the 3 hrs just whizzed by. The wonders of a bike ride! Now I know the secret to tackling a long afternoon. Try it, it may very well work for you too...
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A WW2 RAF fighter plane (Spitfire or Hurricane?) near my home - thats how I felt when I got on my Speed Pro today.
. ps: I had the option of catching a car ride home from my friend (with foldie in boot) after lecture, but why waste another chance to be on the saddle?
Many moons ago at Uni, Psy 101 taught me about people who are ego-centric. The world revolves around 3 persons - I, me and myself. The centre of the universe is Planet Me.
This unfortunate malaise does express itself in various ways too and surfaces in ethnocentrism where wiki does a very nice definition:
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to believe that one's own race or ethnic group is the most important and that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups.
You may ask what has this got to do with foldies? Well, I was in Bike Forum recently and came across a particular forummer who was obsessed with his Brompton bicycle. He would attack anyone literally through sarcasm, cynicism and inneundos, those who had a different opinion that the Brompton is NOT the best foldie in the world.
I do understand that we all have our favourites as can be seen by the strong and passionate opinions shared in Swift bikes but my objection is why must we insist that if it is the best for me, it must be the best for everyone else? Having such an attitude and world view smacks of incredible immaturity, zero consideration and respect for others, and just a general spoilt child syndrome.
I call this Foldicentric behaviour and I really hope that we all will be more open and appreciative of the wonderful and different engineering capabilities each foldie offers, in its own unique ways. Yes, a Brompton has the smallest and compact fold but if you need upright-ish storing exclusively, say in a packed bus or a train even, its not going to work, mate! One of the stick folders will be more suited and so on.
The late Michael Jackson is right, we need to heal the world and make it a better place, especially the wonderful world of foldies. Don't you think?
Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Romans 12:16
Xootr makes arguably the best kick scooter in the world! I had a chance to scoot on one some years back and came away very impressed with its super stable performance and high quality. They have taken their engineering reputation one step further and introduced what they believe is the ultimate performance folding bike called the Swift, designed by Peter Reich. From Bike Forum, the Swift garners lots of discussions and is one of the longest post in the forum, which shows how passionate and popular it is with its owners.
It was just my day when Mike informed me that he had one Swift sitting idly in his clinic, awaiting a test ride. BC, the local distributor, was happy for me to test it and I took the Swift for a 30km, "no holds barred" ride to Changi.
First order of the day was unfolding the Swift and putting it in the car. After the likes of Brompton, Tikit and Dahons, this is probably the weakest link of the Swift as a foldy.
It folds "stick-like" ala Strida and Carry Me but its parts are not secure and were dangling all over the place. But it managed to fit into the tiny boot of my Yaris hatch. I'm not fussy here - so long as it goes in, it passes the folding test. Period. Yes, it didn't get a distinction in this area, but it passed!
However, it is relatively easy to fold and unfold and the Swift starts scoring major brownie points big time once you start riding it. Because the frame has no break (same as the tikit) unlike other folders, the rigidity of the Swift is simply amazingly sure.
This is one foldy that you can take off-road, jump kerbs and even go down stairs with full confidence.
The other feature I love about the Swift is zero handlebar flex. Absolutely zilch. That really inspires sharp handling and it truly is very BMX like in its feel. Agile, firm, solid and you feel like popping a wheelie every time you on it! The geometry is also perfect and I could ride hands free confidently after some practise.
Because of the aggresive low stem, short handlebar set up of the test bike, it felt really sporty perhaps a little too sporty for me as after 15km, my palms started to hurt. But this can easily be changed to whatever position you like as the Swift is very accomodating and can be mod to whatever specs you wish - drop bars, riser bars and I think even a butterfly touring bar if you wish.
The standard parts given are pretty basic (Tekro brakes, Sram SX4 RD, Kenda tires, unknown crank etc) but at just a whisker under S$1k, the excellent frame is where the bulk of your money goes to.
The proof of the pudding is how it rides against other folders and that morning, my ride group consisted of one Dahon Vitesse and two Roadies.
The performance of the Swift is legendary and it did not disappoint. It was shod with cheapo Kenda 1.5 tires and I pumped it to 55/65 psi as I'm not a fan of bone jarring rides. The Swift exceeded my expectations with its very full size bike feel. It eclipses the Vitesse easily and I did a friendly race with Rich on a Giant TCR as well as Keong on his Vitesse.
The Swift managed a very impressive 40km/h on the flat at spin out and that put a big grin on my face! This is truly a very fast foldy and properly set up with the right gearing and drop bars, the Swift is right up there among the Pocket Pros, Moultons, Animals and I dare say the Speed Pros at less than half the price.
But for the adventure tourer, its carrying capacity is a bit limited as the only rack available from Xootr is a single pannier crossrack fitted behind the seat post. There are also no eyelets for water-bottle cages which is a glaring omission. Also, there are other foldies that are more pliant over rough surfaces but I guess I'm nit picking as the Swift is more fighter jet than Hercules C130.
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If you can live with a slightly bigger folded package, the Swift is a Sure bet for its value for money pricing and outstanding performance. Now I fully understand the reason for the long thread at Bike Forum!
