2nd Group Ride with WWF

We missed the last ride bcos it was a freaking 60ish km ride and Daddy Lim's 臭头 didnt allow him to wear a helmet. We jumped on the bandwagon when they had a shorter ride last Saturday - 35km.

Some lucky stars must be shining bcos it was a huge turnout. There were like over 20 of us and the organiser - J, shared that it was one of the biggest group since WWF was set up almost 2 years back. It was my 1st time riding in a big group. There were some hybrid bikes, mostly roadies and we were the only MTBs. Sweat.

We rode off at about 6.30am. The moment we kicked off, I went up to my 2nd ring bcos I so needed to catch up and didnt want to die halfway. The route was JW Central - Neo Tiew - Kranji - CCK - Jurong Town Hall - Home. The 1st part of the route is something that Daddy Lim and I are familiar with. We had taken that route quite a few times and know that there are some slopes along the way.

The 1st pit stop was soon after we started, to wait for the another smaller group to join us.

When we set off, the group started to break up into smaller groups. Most of them were roadies  afterall and the leisure pace, while tiring for us, was really "leisure" for them. The faster ones went ahead. At one point, Daddy Lim and I totally lost the group that we were following. They werent the fastest group but still too fast for us. Fortunately, we werent the last too; there was another group behind us that was delayed for some reasons. Otherwise, we would feel so lousy for the whole gang to be waiting for us. By the way, the WWF advocates the use of the "sweeper" or the "last man", to make sure that nobody gets drop during the leisure rides.

We finally arrived at the break point, where the earlier groups were waiting. By then, I had jelly legs. Lol. It was not even half of the 35km journey. Zzzzz.

The gang set off again soon after the last group caught up. The 2nd part of the ride was much slower given the heavy traffic. Still there was plenty of hard peddling when we come to big roads.

My favourite must be the red lights, so that I could steal a breather. Pant, pant, pant.

The last part of the Jurong Town Hall journey was filled with traffic lights too. By then, we were riding with the last few riders.

We did make it back safely and alive back to the end point. Yeah! Though it wasnt easy, we survived! We also earned some praises from the fellow riders, it is afterall hard work riding MTBs alongside roadies. Somebody even asked us if we have roadies at home. We must be crazy if we do - to come with our MTBs and keep the roadies at home. Haha.

One more ride done. It was a great experience. I cant tell you how great the temptation is to buy a roadie now. Not only will we be able to catch up with the roadies gang easily, we can also go greater distance. Now, 30ish km seems to be our limit.

However, it only make sense to invest in a good roadie which will cost $2k up and we dont have the space to keep another bike at home currently. It was way too risky to try to lock an expensive bike in the car park. Daddy Lim is so encouraging. He said that non riders wouldnt know how expensive the bike is and riders would abide with the unspoken/ invisible code of conduct and leave the bike alone. I wish. Lol.

Moreover, if were to switch to roadie, it only make sense to buy 2, so that we can ride together. Daddy Lim still wanted to keep his trail bike. There is simply no space. Boo. Maybe I should wait until Lil Shauna is tall enough to inherit my MTB. That will take another 2 years? Haha. Meanwhile, we will be happy riding the MTBs on our own; we had been happy so far when we are not following the WWF gang. See, there are plenty of logical reasons to hold on to our MTBs. Let's see how long the mind can win against the heart.

Mummy Lim