Just to wrap up the final notes for the rides this weekend. The rides are 300km, 400km and 600km and are designed to help people qualify for PBP if they like or to just ride. The ride will start at the usual spot and all the rides will follow the Patrick Williams 300km route with the balances being finished in Singapore. Despite the lure of spending some more quality time at the Hotel Super Cowboy it is not feasible given the logistics that are required and lack of bandwidth. There are a number of people signed up for the 600km so we can discuss on that morning what we will do regarding food/sleep/fun etc. Many people are one ride away from becoming a Super Randonneur….remember that longer distances can qualify for missing shorter ones (ie. you can replace a 200km with a 300km and get a bonus 100km of riding).
Living it up @ the Hotel Super Cowboy
The START
Ride brief is at 5am as per usual….we roll at 530am sharp. Longhouse has been closed- so we are meeting at Starbucks near Novena:
Starbucks at Novena/United Square is open 24 hours, has plenty of seating, and there is a 7-11 there which is also open 24 hours….so this is the closest place that holds lots of bodies and has decent food/drink for early birds. United Square – 101 Thomson Road #01-01 United Square Singapore 307591
What to bring?
Well standard biking stuff….we are only doing around 250km in Malaysia so we will be back in Singapore for most of the ride. You do need your passport, EP, PR cards etc to cross the border. Also bring some Malaysian Ringgit to buy water and snacks on the roadside. There are plenty of places to stop along the way. Also check your bikes…it is a good idea to have decent tires on your bike and make sure you have tubes, Co2, etc. For the 600km crew you should work it out on where to stop for dinner/drinks/rest etc. Just as a reminder there are time cutoffs as follows (hours per distance):
20:00 for 300 km
27:00 for 400 km
40:00 for 600 km
The ride for your GPS – if you go here you can download the GPX files and know the route. The pace will be set by the group leaders. OK Heng is leading a group that will go at enjoyable paces and over the Kulai hills. Other groups will skip the Kulai hills and stay on the Williams Route which is below. For the balance you may want to do extended RTIs or something not too mind numbing. For the 300km the finish is at the border near the first bus stop. For those doing the 400km and the 600km the finish is at Boomarang…where the food and drinks are good.
AUDAX Calendar
There has been a lot of focus on PBP 2015 as riders aim to qualify for the ride in August 2015. Singapore AUDAX will continue on afterwards and we are currently developing the calendar for July 2015-June 2016. AUDAX is all about long distance riding and enjoying time doing long distances on the bike. There are many Ironman / Challenge/ RAAM/ RAW people that do these rides to build endurance and others who ride to keep their fitness up. Whatever your reason, keep your eyes open for the updated calendar which will be out soon.