Live.

SAFRA AVVENTURA 2009 - Rough Ramble

Start point, 7am, Dairy Farm Quarry.

Max was nice enough to drop us off at about 5am.... and return at 5.30 to pass Ling her bib... and come out from home again at 6.15am to pass Ling her helmet.

Before, that LT had to dig out a Gatorade bike bottle from home for Ling, and made his wife stand outside the house at 6am with a Helmet.. waiting for Ling.

The race hadn't started and the cock-up counter was already at #4.

7.15am Flag off!

We take off on foot and turn right at Dairy Farm road. Enter BT MTB Trail in reverse at the Barrier and run towards the Quarry. We were almost last at that point.

Pick up our bikes and Chiong BT in reverse!

Revenge of the MTBers! We're going full bore, with Ling yelling "ON YOUR RIGHT! ON YOUR RIGHT!" Well, sometimes we were on the left, or along a singletrack, but it doesn't matter... they crash out when they hear the yelling anyway.

We meet Esther before the big step staircase...

poor Esther... her chain snapped and she had to backtrack, searching for her chain on the trail. Passed her a SRAM quicklink, and took off, looking for her partner. Found him near Boulder City! He really should have stuck with her.

Head to veggie farm...

where we see Soon and Yew Weng's teams! They were flagged off 15 mins earlier, but Open Mixed teams who showed up had priority of the Open Mens. Too bad....

Mystery Test

was to solve one side of Rubik' cube while being carried by the other Team member. We chose the heavier member to be carried by the weaker one. So Ling got onto my back.

Priceless ...

Was the look on the Ang Mo mixed team who were ahead of us, when we solved the puzzle way before them! Took off on bike to Asrama, our NS and biking backyard! Yee haaaa!

While searching for Hill 265 checkpoint,

We met Soon, Chong, LT and Walter. While chatting, we missed the gravel turnoff on the left, and went up the next one instead, a tortuous uphill climb. Made it to the top, but it was fenced off for roadworks. Oops! That was the start of Mandai hell. We were lost and circling the area for what seemed like eternity.

To cut a long story (with expletives) short,

We finished the 3 tasks in that area (and failed to keep my shoes dry) and headed out the main gate on foot, running the entire distance from Hill 265 to Yishun!

I dunno how Ling managed it, after doing MOST of the running at Hill 265.