More than 6,800 cyclists took to the streets this morning for the 2019 edition of OCBC Cycle’s Straits Times Ride and the Sportive Ride, which is now into its 11th edition.

Click here to view the OCBC Cycle 2019 Sportive Ride photos.

Participated in Sportive Ride

I took part in the Sportive Ride, which was a 40.8km non-competitive ride that began at 5:15am this morning.

The Expo @ OCBC Cycle

But prior to the event day, I had collected my event pack at the Expo @ OCBC Cycle, which had happened on Friday and Saturday within the Sports Hub Arena. 

My pack was quite simple, consisting of my number bib, timing chip on the bike and a number sticker for the helmet all encased within a white envelope. A jersey was also included and the pack itself was a white reusable shopping bag.

I noted that single use plastics had not been not used at all in the event pack; eliminating the usage of single use plastics is one of OCBC Cycle’s efforts to go green.

As well, another green initiate by OCBC Cycle is that one tree will be planted for every 50 registered participants in the event.

Pack collection aside though, the expo had several booths ranging from the latest cycling gadgets, accessories and great discounts for event participants. 

As well, there were games at the Expo for participants to try their hand at, too, and where OCBC Pay Anyone™ customers had the chance to win cash back. The queues here were quite long though, so I didn’t join in any of the games, even though they may have looked quite fun.

Jet-Lagged

Event day dawned bright and early.

Having completed the London Marathon a couple of weeks prior to this ride and returned from Europe only on Thursday night, I was still feeling achy, jet-lagged and sleepy when I finally stopped hitting the snooze button and dragged myself out of bed at about 3am to get ready and then cycle down to the Singapore Sports Hub, where the event was to take place. As such, I just decided to enjoy the ride, take it easy and go into it with no expectations.

Getting to the Singapore Sports Hub

After a short warm-up ride from my place, I reached the Singapore Sports Hub at about 4:40am and after collecting my media passes, I headed to the start line at about 5am, which was considered pretty late because the start corrals were already congested with riders; I had to slowly weave my way towards the front in order to get a good spot in my start pen. I think that I must have been in one of the later waves, though.

Flag-Off

The official start was a few minutes delayed; the Champions Wave was flagged off at about 5:22am. This wave consisted of all the participants from the OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships which had taken place the day before.

Crossing the Start Line

I think that I still wasn’t fully awake yet when my wave finally reached the front of the start line and we were flagged off at roughly 5:40am. 

As such, I may have been cycling on autopilot, with my legs moving along, but my mind still in sleep mode and not yet registering what was happening.

I did hear the emcee, Kelly Latimer, call out my name though, the moment when I had crossed the starting line. Apparently she’s got very sharp eyes, to be able to spot me amongst all the participants!

The Route

The route took us from Nicoll Highway through the Central Business District, passing Marina Bay Sands and Raffles Place before heading into Keppel Road and the West Coast Highway. 

It was still dark when I was cycling this stretch and there was not much to see on West Coast Highway too, so I tried to enjoy the cycling and being able to ride on the closed roads. 

This stretch consisted of a several uphill segments with the out-and-back route, but nothing that was too challenging, considering that Singapore roads are mostly quite flat.

And with each uphill, I also told myself that it would be followed by a downhill section that I could look forward to. With the wind whipping through me, these sections were probably the best part of the whole ride. The hard work was already done and now I would be able to reap the rewards of my earlier effort.

I didn’t really enjoy cycling through the underground tunnel along Keppel Road though because Singapore is already very humid, and the tunnel made it feel even more so. There was some wind blowing here, but the wind seemed particularly warm when it blew through me, which had further added to the humidity levels. 

At about 15km into the ride, we u-turned at Pasir Panjang and headed through the way that we had come, towards the east, passing Suntec City and Kallang area. 

This u-turn was also the place where the first hydration point had been located, serving cyclists with bottles of both water and 100PLUS isotonic drinks. I was cycling at an easy pace, so I did not need to hydrate. This would be one of the three hydration stops along the route.

The second segment of the ride had consisted of the Sheares Bridge, which we had to conquer twice, thanks to the out-and-back nature of the route. 

The first time round, the bridge was not too bad and I especially loved the downhill, but seeing the returning cyclists crossing the bridge back on the other side made me feel quite sian because I knew what was coming at this point.

I must say that the long downhill slope to come down the bridge, felt amazing though and it really got my adrenaline pumping!

Somewhere along the way, I also got the chance to see the sunrise and though I didn’t stop to take a photo, I thought that it was beautiful.

Selfie Points

There were two selfie points at Sheares Bridge where hundreds of riders were congregating to take photos, but I decided not to stop, because these selfie points had both been on the uphill segments this year. I knew that it would be hard to get my rhythm going again if I had stopped. I think that instead, it would have been better to have riders stop at the very top of the bridge, as with previous years.

Finishing The Ride

The final part of the ride brought us down Stadium Boulevard en route to the National Stadium, where we cycled into the Stadium dome. It was great seeing the finish line straight up ahead of me, about 100 metres down the National Stadium’s track.

I must say that considering my body condition this morning, I was happy to be able to finish safely and in one piece without having any accidents; but maybe I need to remind myself in the future, that it’s not a good thing to take on a 40.8km bike ride in the wee hours of the morning when I’m already exhausted and jet-lagged and furthermore, having had less than two hours of sleep the night before.

But that said, it had still been a great tour of Singapore on two wheels, and I’d managed to have some fun, taking the ride at an easy pace and soaking up the magnificent and picturesque sights of the city around me.

Finisher Entitlements 

After the ride, I picked up my medal as well as a bottle of water and a can of 100PLUS.

For riders who have been taking part in the last three editions, the 2019 medal completes the final part of the jigsaw puzzle to piece together a bicycle gear.

The Carnival

After that, I headed out of the Singapore Sports Hub and had a quick look at the event carnival outside. There was not much to see there, but I picked up a couple of bananas and took some photos at a couple of the standees. I thought that the giant inflatable bicycles were particularly cute looking.

And later on, I headed over to the VIP tent to pick up some refreshments there. The air conditioning felt great and I just wanted to sit inside there and laze around for the entire day. 

I knew that I could not simply hang around, though, because I still had to cycle back home. And the longer I stayed around for, the hotter and more intense the Singapore weather would get.

Conclusions 

Overall though, I would say that OCBC Cycle is a well organised and functional event that has grown from strength to strength each year. I had fun participating in the 2019 edition and I’d say that I would definitely continue to take part in future editions.

And added the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Grace Fu, who was the guest of honour at the event, “The OCBC Cycle has given Singaporeans from all walks of life the chance to get active together. Besides growing the cycling community in Singapore, the event has also attracted many elite athletes from South East Asia. I hope there will be more of such events to bring Singaporeans together through sports.”