NEWS: WET MUDDY CRAZY RIDE AT CHESTNUT NORTH MTB TRAIL

The Singapore Bike Show x Bikezilla Mass Ride on 4th March 2017

The first of two Singapore Bike Show X Bikezilla Mass Rides pedaled off on the morning of 4th March 2017. The wet start to the Saturday barely daunted the riders from congregating at Chestnut Point for the event with the stage set for a wet muddy ride at Chestnut North MTB Trail. All's well that ended well, with the riders finishing off with some pre-lunch crazy fun. Here's a throwback to that wet muddy morning.

CHESTNUT NORTH MTB TRAIL

With the official opening of Chestnut Nature Park, it was a natural choice to have our first mass ride of the year there.

Chestnut Nature Park is situated in and around the Central Catchment Area, and consists of a network of mountain biking and hiking trails. For the mountain bikers, the trails are divided into Chestnuts North and South, Gangsa MTB Challenge Park and a pump track area just behind the carpark at Chestnut Point. The whole Chestnut Nature Park network starts from Chestnut Point – a newly built amphitheatre and event hall with its own bike rental kiosk, water coolers, toilets and car park. Talk about ace facilities.

Since it's opening last year, the 1 plus kilometer Chestnut South MTB Trail has been covered by our team pretty regularly, so we will leave that bit out for now.

Chestnut North MTB Trail, on the other hand, is an approximately 7 km trail that criss-crosses its way around the entire Chestnut/Gangsa area. This interesting layout allows mountain bikers to choose their own ride routes at various junctions. The choice is with the rider – take on the easier and more flow-oriented Blue Square sections when they want a more leisurely ride, or the Black Diamond sections should they prefer to tackle more technical terrain. This mix-and-match trail labyrinth made this trail a really fun one to ride in.

With this flexibility in planning your ride routes, our mass ride was perfectly suitable for riders of all levels – from beginners who wished to have a go at trail riding to the advanced riders who are regular faces at the trail heads.

MINI GAMES

The ride was a great start to breaking the ice amongst the participants, but it was actually the mini-games which made them lose their minds with laughter and great vibes.

There isn't a fixed format for Mass Rides. We could be doing beginner rides in one and advanced rides in another. We could also be trying out new programs whenever we have the opportunity to do so. Whatever it is, we always try to spice things up a little more with every mass ride we organize, and we sure were glad that we found a nice place to have some fun with our mini games. These games are not the usual B.I.K.E. park games but instead pitch the riders' basic bike handling skills against each other for some fun and laughter. But it turns out that riders with trial bike foundations still triumph – all in good fun though.

All the game winners landed some awesome prizes with their impressive bike skills. In addition to the prizes, cool Birzman Tyre Levers were handed out to all participants courtesy of Bike31. Guess everyone's a winner then!

(Trackstand)

(Slide)

OUR SPONSORS

This Mass Ride is one of the lead-up events for The Singapore Bike Show 2017, which is happening from 18 – 20 August 2017 at Singapore Expo Hall 5. In addition, Tiong Hin Cycle and Bike 31 joined in the fun with some awesome prizes and support for the ride. The results could be seen from all these happy faces.

POST RIDE REFLECTION

Mass Ride memories goes a long way, with new friendship formed and old camaraderie strengthened.

And these rides have always been Bikezilla's favorite avenue for reaching out to fellow riders face-to-face in our cycling community. It is a platform that allows us to have lots of fun while our sponsors get to showcase their products in the most informal way. There is something more personal when the products are viewed in the flesh and used by opinion leaders or influencers than when it is just simply read from an editorial article.

Next, there's the Bikezilla Mass Ride T-shirt! This T-shirt series has gotten a life of its own. What made these tees unique is that they are given out Free-of-charge to those who rode at the Mass Ride, and each design will not be re-printed again. As these tees are designed to be suitable for any trail and street ride, they could be quite easily spotted at the trails or bike gatherings.

As always, we would like to share our views after every mass ride, so that we can improve with each ride. So here goes.

Absentism. We try to make every mass ride a free-of-charge events. This is our way of helping to promote cycling to the masses, as well as a way for the brand owners (our valued sponsors) to show off their wares while taking the chance to give back to the community. With that in mind, we wish that all participants understand the sincerity and effort in organizing every ride – where safety, public responsibilities lies on our shoulders. We also hope that all participants take our invitations responsibly – that is, they do not waste the riding slots that are limited due to the limited number of free t-shirts that we get sponsored with. Every absent rider takes away an opportunity from the next interested participant. Keep the communication and updates going, no need to be shy.

Rider's speed. Bikezilla Mass Rides are casual and non-competitive gatherings. At the same time, we understand that every rider has their own pace and riding expectations. As such, we would be coming up with a set of riding standard guide lines to give participants a clearer picture of what to expect for each ride. And even for an easy ride like the Chestnut North MTB Trail, we would also want to help participants join the appropriate group as much as possible. Contrary to segregating the riders, this is to allow each group to ride at their own pace and enjoy the mass ride better.

Improve Communication. The opening/safety briefing at every mass ride is very important. We cannot stress this enough. Besides the usual safety and responsibility reminders, we will also be briefing on the program for the day, the route and the grouping of participants. A good start for the day would ensure a good ride for the rest of the day. The event page for every ride event would also be a place for us to share vital information prior to the ride. Do keep in touch.

(Bike Hockey)

SEE YOU AGAIN SOON

There will be a sequel to The Singapore Bike Show X Bikezilla Mass Ride. The next ride would be a longer and tougher ride to satisfy the long distance riders. Hint: it will be a multi-trail ride, so it's time to start your training. More details soon. Meantime, enjoy the photos and RIDE!

(Best looking tyre levers we've ever seen!)

(While waiting for some who were late …)

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The Singapore Bike Show

Date: 18 – 20 August 2017

Venue: Singapore EXPO, 1 Expo Drive, Singapore

Admission is FREE!

Website: www.singaporebikeshow.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/singaporebikeshow

To join as an exhibitor, call 9730 9877

SDG saddles, WTB Saddles, ODI Grips, Transition bikes, Pivot Cycle, and many more brands are available at Tiong Hin Cycle. Their branches as listed below.

Bike 31 is the distributor of HT Pedals, Birzman Tools and Moon Lights. Scroll down for a listing of the dealers.

Tiong Hin Co. Tyre

Block 108, Hougang Ave 1, #01-1293, Singapore 530108

Tel: (+65) 6280 0416 Fax: (+65) 6382 6982

Operating Hours: 2.30 pm – 10.00 pm (Monday to Saturday) Closed on every Sunday

Tiong Hin Trading (Pte) Ltd

Block 28, Sin Ming Lane, #04-133, Midview City Singapore (573972)

Tel: (+65) 6659 0903 Fax: (+65) 6659 0913

Operating Hours: 3.00 pm – 9.30 pm (Monday to Saturday) Closed on every Sunday

Tiong Hin Cycle

Block 163, Bukit Merah Central, #02-3607, Singapore (150163)

Tel: (+65) 62734583