This piece may not spellbind you, but it is my first entry into a blogsite.
I have become a member of the Singaporean community as of the second week of May 2006. My wife accepted an international post at a global company, and we consequently put our home up for rent in Madison, WI.
(Cyclists clap). Why? Madison is a hotbed of bicycling action. City planners create new roads with cycling lanes in mind.
Do planners do this in Singapore? Only slightly. Roads are meant for traffic and buses. All traffic travels in the left hand mode here. This means that slow and often stopping traffic meanders in the far left hand lane. It is possible to hang in the trafffic flow by traveling in the bus lane. One has to be completely mindful of bus and TAXI stoppages in this very irritating lane.
It is possible to be traveling at over twenty miles an hour and come to a dead halt when a cab pulls over to receive a fare.
One should not be riding distracted when attempting such high speed maneuvers. I-pods and handphones should not be used when darting in and out of stop and go traffic.
A cyclist should also have experience riding in their own home country when trying out pedaling in city traffic. One needs to have confidence in their brakes and ability to see traffic from the rear(mirrors!!!).
Doing all of these techniques during high heat and humidity and often rainstorms can create a situation of immediate peril. The sudden onset of exhaustion can lead one to doing a stupid mistake, dropping one's guard, and possibly crashing.
Upon entering a country like this for a week or less, and being a less experienced cyclist, one should ask directions to the East Coast Park and get oriented to the heat and feel of this particular climate before embarking on street oriented journeys. The Park offers a one way trek of about 13 kilometers (7.5 miles) of flat black top jogging trails which have immediate access to the ocean and also to food vendors. There are about four or five carparks if you have access to a car.
This completes my first blog and hopefully I can update soon.