EVENT: CYCLE ASIA SINGAPORE 2015

EVENT: CYCLE ASIA SINGAPORE 2015

RELAUNCHED CYCLE ASIA SERIES TO GO BACK TO ITS ROOTS WHERE “ANYONE CAN RIDE”

 

Rebranded “Cycle Asia Singapore” will be be staged from 10-12 April 2015. This time, Cycle Asia events will also take place in Malaysia, Philippines and Australia, with several regional countries in the pipeline to be announced soon. And in addition to the event itself, there is a new community initiative by Cycle Asia to focus on recycling of old bicycles to benefit the community! Read on for the details!

 

 

THE REBRANDED CYCLE ASIA SERIES

The 7th edition of the rebranded Cycle Asia Singapore, to be held from 10-12 April 2015, and this will mark the start of a new dawn for the award-winning event as it will be the first to be held following the rebranding of the Cycle Asia series. Two events each in Philippines and Australia, on top of one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, have also been confirmed so far in Cycle Asia’s ever expanding network of events, with organisers Spectrum Worldwide confident of announcing several new territories in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam soon to bring the number of events up to 10 in 2015. 

Starting this year, OCBC will be orgainising their own cycling event. This decision to organise their own cycling event has presented Spectrum Worldwide the opportunity to take stock and review the direction in which the popular Cycle Asia series should be heading, and the outcome was the decision to go back to its roots and bring back the original tagline ‘Anyone Can Ride’. 

 

 

WHAT THE ORGANIZER SAYS

Said Mr Chris Robb, CEO of Spectrum Worldwide, which also organises the annual Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore: “That was how it all started back then. We were driven by our passion for cycling and desire to bring the sport to the community. Cycle Singapore was the first mass participation cycling event in the Asia Pacific region and went on to establish itself as an award-winning cycling event, growing from then 5,300 participants in 2009 to 9,000 in 2010 and over 11,000 in subsequent editions. The same growth was observed in Malaysia and we are overwhelmed by the popularity of the Cycle Asia events in the Philippines and Australia, we are not going to claim all the credit for the rise in popularity of cycling in the region, but we are proud that the Cycle Asia events have been one of the catalysts for the growth of the sport in Asia Pacific.” 

 

 

GOING BACK TO ITS ROOTS

Going back to its roots and focusing on the community and participation is also why organisers decided not to stage a Professional Criterium as part of Cycle Asia Singapore this year. Robb stressed that under the new directive, Cycle Asia events should not be seen as cycling races, but mass rides which anyone can take part in and enjoy themselves through partaking in a healthy sport.

 

 

SAFER EXPERIENCE FOR CYCLE ASIA SINGAPORE 2015

Along with the rebranding of Cycle Asia, Spectrum Worldwide have also introduced a new operations team this year, led by former Singapore Grand Prix Assistant Director of Technical & Race Operations Lawrence Foo, who will assume the role of Operations Director, as well as new Race Director Thibaut Vellard, who was a Race Director for running events at the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which organises world renown events like the Tour de France, Dakar Rally and the Paris Marathon.

 

 

IMPROVED CYCLING EXPERIENCE

The organisers had previously announced a slew of initiatives for Cycle Asia Singapore 2015 aim at improving participants’ event experience, as well as enhancing safety after taking into account the feedback from participants of past events.

Participants will be able to select from a range of ride categories – The Yakult Ace Light Super Challenge, The Boost Challenge, The Community Ride, The Prologue, The Kids Ride and The Tricycle Ride – all starting and finishing at the F1 Pit Building. The total number of participants will also be capped at 10,500, effectively removing more than a thousand cyclists from the total number in 2014.

The other key enhancements for the 2015 edition designed to deliver a safe experience for cyclists include compulsory qualification for The Yakult Ace Light Super Challenge to ensure that only those with suitable ability can participate in the elite category, bringing forward the flag-off timing of the elite event to 5am to ensure longer intervals between waves, the deployment of experienced cyclists to guide and assist each wave, as well as more medical personnel at recognised ‘hotspots’ along the route. 

Along with other enhancements to the event such as thorough safety briefings at the start line, enhanced signage and lane dividers; the organisers will also roll out new innovations such as optional women-only waves across all categories and access to educational tools online for all cyclists, which aim to increase awareness about safe cycling.

 

 

 

 

NEW COMMUNITY INITIATIVE

Whereas in the past, Cycle Singapore has always gone with safe cycling as part of the event’s corporate social responsibility focus, the rebranded Cycle Asia will go in a different direction and promote recycling instead. 

“Recycling is an area which I have wanted to explore for some time,” explained Robb, who cited regional grassroots and volunteer-run recycling projects like ‘Bicycles for Humanity Australasia’ as an example of a worthy cause which Cycle Asia would be keen to support. "Coincidentally we read about the Singapore Police Force’s project with the Henderson Bikers a couple of weekends ago. The Henderson Bikers initiative was started by the Bukit Merah West Neighbourhood Police Centre and the Tanglin Cairnhill Constituency Grassroots organisations to recycle old donated bicycles to benefit youths in the Henderson estate. We were inspired by the story and immediately got in touch with the respective stakeholders to discuss how Cycle Asia can help with this worthy community initiative and perhaps expand it to other parts of Singapore."

While talks are on-going with the various grassroots organisations and stakeholders on how Cycle Asia can adopt the community initiative as part of the event’s CSR programme, Robb announced that Spectrum Worldwide have extended complimentary invites to members of the Henderson Bikers to take part of the Cycle Asia Singapore 2015.

Representatives of the Henderson Bikers and the Tanglin Cairnhill Constituency grassroots organisations were present at the Cycle Asia relaunch event held at cycling café Wheeler’s Yard this afternoon. If the initiative takes off, organisers plan to run similar community initiatives in all the countries where Cycle Asia events will be taking place eventually.

More details of the collaboration will be announced closer to the Cycle Asia Singapore event. Interested participants in Cycle Asia Singapore can find out more information through the official website – http://www.cycleasia.com 

 

 

NEW WEBSITE AND REGISTRATION

In line with the rebranding of Cycle Asia, Spectrum Worldwide has also revamped the official Cycle Asia website, which will no longer be event specific like in the past. The new look Cycle Asia website aims to be a one-stop resource center for all cycling enthusiasts and will include write-ups, related news on cycling and travel, listings of bike shops, and reviews on cycling gear. 

To register and get more information, these are the details you will need.

 

 

All information by Spectrum Worldwide