Fat Tyre Romance

Well, this is going to be short. It has been some time since our last outing on the Sirius. I decided that we should do a ride on a Sunday and we did. We googled around for some of the available Park Connectors near our place and we zeroed in to one that seems to be near our place.

Took us some time to get ready and when we finally did...we zip out from the main gate of our place and off we go. To cut the story short, we actually did not make it. Only managed to go to Seletar Reservoir which we always pass by during our road riding days.

After zooming around the little place and of course some photo taking. Just realized that such little Fat Tyre Riding can be fun and romantic. A great sunset ride on Sunday to start the week!

Sirius Riding....???

Well well, I finally took my dearest wife for her first real mountain bike ride...and seriously or siriusly...the bike proves to be very responsive and hardy. But one issue here...the terrain is too daunting for her have the full confident to do it.

 After "Baptism of Mud", the Sirius is ready to roll!

Silly me! I should have know this is way too hard for her. After much trying and deliberation and of course fuel with a fair bit of frustration, we finally found one route that is moderately challenging for her to finish. Thank God! We managed to get things going and she eventually told me that she enjoys it.

What a day out with the new bike!

Post-Ride on top of USS Blackie!

Bike Build (Journey of the Pipedream Frame)

This project has been long overdue but nevertheless I still managed to pull this off. Bought this frame with the intention to build a Pipedream Cycles bike for my wife in December last year when we were on holiday in Wales, UK.

Met Stuart from Pipedream Cycles and he handed us the bike frame from his car boot in the middle of a golf resort. We manage to carry the frame around during our UK road trip for the next 2 weeks. Frame been to the Lake District, York, and then back to London and finally arrive in Singapore. That is together with 4 pieces of luggage before we hop on the plane.  I do not know how we managed to do it getting on and off the train from York to London and zipping in the Tube from King's Cross Station to Heathrow Airport. But we did!

Ok, finally we got it back to Singapore and I was excited about the frame and started showing everyone the frames and later I discovered that the frame I bought could also fit a bigger wheel size of 650B (27.5inch). After staring at the frame long enough, I decided to have a red and white theme. After setting up the initial setup with with seatpost, stem and handlebar, work started setting in and I was too busy to do anything about it...yes, yes...EXCUSES!

Alright, to cut the story short, I was becoming desperate as my wife is asking me where is her bike (Christmas and Birthday Present)...oops...I am so in trouble. I scramble to get my acts together, bought the drivetrain (Shimano SLX and XT), found a suspension fork, build a set of wheels and whip in the saddle. Finally after close to 5months, which is ridiculous in my opinion, I managed to put the bikes together. Phew!

Component:

Stem: Infinity 90mm
Seatpost: Infinity 27.2
Handlebar:Inifinity Riser Bar Aluminium
Wheels: Shimano XT (Front hub 15mm TA, Rear Hub 9mm QR) With Loaded AM/XC Rims (Red) and DT Spokes
Grip: Oury Lock-On Grip
Pedal: Kowa Platform
Fork: X-Fusion Velvet RL
Headset: FSA Orbit
Saddle: Tioga Spyder R

 Drivetrain:

Brakes: Shimano SLX with Shimano XT 160mm Centerlock Rotor (Non-Icetech)
Shifter: Shimano SLX
Crankset: Shimano SLX
Cassette: Shimano SLX
Front Deraileur: Shimano SLX
Rear Deraileur: Shimano SLX
Bottom Bracket: Shimano SLX
Cables: Brakes (Goodridge Braided Stainless Steel Cable - RED), Shifter (Shimano Red Cable Housing)

Getting Married....Happy Ever After?

For the last 2 months, I have been invited to 2 weddings and I must say that it is a wonderful experience to share the joy with your friends who are getting married. For me, as I look at some of my friends who are one by one walking down the aisle and then started building a family, one kid, 2 kids and then the third one comes along. I sometime wonder if I will be able to walk down that path with the beaming smile on my face like them.

Yes, I am in a relationship now and yes, I know I want to walk down the aisle with my partner and yes, I want a family. But I sometime wonder, what does a family entails. I have been a son but I have never been a father and to be honest, being a son I have disappointed my father and mother umpteen times that I really don't know when I will ever stop disappointing them. I think perhaps I might have think too far ahead but I am a person who likes to dream and think and then plan. A mentor used to tell me that I have to speak things into existence and that is a firm belief that I can do it and accomplished it.

And now is the role as a husband, can I be a good husband and what benchmark do I take upon? What should a husband do? Where do I stand? But that I guess is what makes all these marriage thing so sweet and happy, is to work hard toward being a good husband through listening, patience, learning, changing, prioritizing, and respect. I know I love the person that I am with now and I know that I want to spend all my time with my partner if I have a choice, I know that right now my life is encircled around her....but that is just the first step....I need to chip off those rough edges that I have build up along the year.

But, my sharing here is something that is from my heart and my situation and perhaps everyone has a different perspective, but life is such, it is really an amazing thing and in fact I must be honest that I am looking forward to that....Marriage....hmmm.....