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Tuesday 5 February 2013
Sun 3rd Feb. 2013 Home Time
Sitting in Dubai Airport, for 5 hours, awaiting my flight home. This morning after a good b'fast disassembled Spike and packed him up ready for the flight home. Have to say he is looking pretty grubby but in good shape. Spike costs 1/8 of Josh's beautiful bike but guess whose bike was making loud clickity-click noises by the time we finished. Josh said his bike was 'fine tuned', mmmmm. I decided to help Nick move to his other hotel, then we planned to visit Raffles for afternoon tea. The boys wanted to go sightseeing in Singapore, but what rain. Our last day but first day of rain, it just pelted down. So glad it was not yesterday as our finish would have been so different. I doubt we could have cycled through Singapore, spray, fast traffic, would have made it impossible. Also we would not have had the exciting finish. Anyway, the concierge loaded Nick's bike and bags into the taxi and off we sped. After a while we realised we were heading for the airport and not the hotel, Nick also realised he had been given the wrong bike. Poor Nick had a hefty taxi bill, also his phone ran out of credits. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I decided just to abandon Raffles and headed back to my hotel for lunch. During lunch I was the only one in the restaurant, I counted 12 staff, who just seemed to adjust napkins and fiddle with cutlery. At reception 7 staff tried to look busy and 2 cleaners circled the lobby sweeping and mopping. The place was pristine but Singaporean's seem obsessively clean. Turned out Josh, Gerry and Mark fared no better, no sightseeing because of rain. Headed for airport where said goodbye to Mark who was heading home to Scotland on seperate flight. What a great support he has been to us all on this trip. This cycle gave us a tiny taste of what he endured on his world cycle. Said goodbye to Crispin, Josh and Gerry at Dubai. Great guys. Another trip over and one of the best. Once home will post my overall thoughts and some photos.
Day 14. Sat 2nd Feb13. Singapore104.4 miles.
Wow what a last day. Tied the Scottish St Andrew's flag to Spike and proudly left after b'fast with the group. Rode first of all with Nick, head wind and rolling hills so Mark drafted me for 20 miles. Not much talking, unless at traffic lights, just head down, getting it done. Heat of the day really comes in about 11.30 am, intense and doesn't start lifting till 3.30pm. Crispin wanted us all to ride into Singapore together as the roads, would become a nightmare to navigate. After mile 55 we set off and picked up Route 1, a charging 3 lane road heading for Singapore customs. The peloton looked impressive, safety in numbers, but even so we had to be alert to vehicles, filtering in and out, cutting us up. Customs were very slick, different channels for bikes and cars. Then we were through but still another 20 miles to the
Merlion, our finishing point. Now we just wanted it done, hot, sweaty, grubby, tired. The traffic was frantic, gps following all the way. I was called up to the front to lead the group, with Mark to the finish. A real honour among such special people. Crispin, Sally plus some cyclists friends cheered us over the ramp and finish. We were all elated and emotional, hugging and congratulating each other. Photos and video followed then we retired to a nearby bar for snacks, beer and singapore slings. We caused quite a stir, people taking our photos, getting in on our photos, and posing beside our bikes. We still had to reach our hotel though, so back on the bike for another 5 miles. By this time it was getting dark, and gridlocked rush hour traffic. What an experience, jinking through the vehicles, lane to lane, pavement, determined to get ahead. We lost sight of each other in the chaos but miraculously managed to regroup, when we turned onto a quieter road, all unscathed. I love the challenge of intense traffic. A new, lovely hotel with friendly, polite staff was a very welcome sight. What they must have thought of 13 sweaty, dirty, noisy bikers coming into their ordered hotel, I don't know. It has amazed me how all hotels have allowed us to take our bikes up to our rooms. All cleaned up and still elated we headed out into Singapore nightlife. Met up with Hutch, Kukri representive, in Singapore, and enjoyed a lovely meal with good company. Phil made a speech of congratulations, followed by Mark, then Crispin read out a very funny poem naming each member of the team. Sue was presented with a signed 'world' shirt by Mark as being the hero of the gang. Very worthy, her confidence increased day by day, after her accident, amazing girl. By this time some people were thinking of flights home and the group starting dispersing. Emotional goodbyes were said to Sue and Sarah who had early flights home.
Another very hard, taxing day on the bike but what a fantastic ending. My mind knows I could go on but my body is saying enough, too many aches and pains to cope with now. It has been one of the hardest, intense, pushed me to my limits, cycle trips I have been on. 1256 miles over 14 days, average 90 miles per day. If I had known what would be expected of me, I would have said 'no way' but amazingly I coped. I grew to love it and my fellow cyclists, the best group of people I have cycled with. I am already missing them, we laughed and suffered together.
Merlion, our finishing point. Now we just wanted it done, hot, sweaty, grubby, tired. The traffic was frantic, gps following all the way. I was called up to the front to lead the group, with Mark to the finish. A real honour among such special people. Crispin, Sally plus some cyclists friends cheered us over the ramp and finish. We were all elated and emotional, hugging and congratulating each other. Photos and video followed then we retired to a nearby bar for snacks, beer and singapore slings. We caused quite a stir, people taking our photos, getting in on our photos, and posing beside our bikes. We still had to reach our hotel though, so back on the bike for another 5 miles. By this time it was getting dark, and gridlocked rush hour traffic. What an experience, jinking through the vehicles, lane to lane, pavement, determined to get ahead. We lost sight of each other in the chaos but miraculously managed to regroup, when we turned onto a quieter road, all unscathed. I love the challenge of intense traffic. A new, lovely hotel with friendly, polite staff was a very welcome sight. What they must have thought of 13 sweaty, dirty, noisy bikers coming into their ordered hotel, I don't know. It has amazed me how all hotels have allowed us to take our bikes up to our rooms. All cleaned up and still elated we headed out into Singapore nightlife. Met up with Hutch, Kukri representive, in Singapore, and enjoyed a lovely meal with good company. Phil made a speech of congratulations, followed by Mark, then Crispin read out a very funny poem naming each member of the team. Sue was presented with a signed 'world' shirt by Mark as being the hero of the gang. Very worthy, her confidence increased day by day, after her accident, amazing girl. By this time some people were thinking of flights home and the group starting dispersing. Emotional goodbyes were said to Sue and Sarah who had early flights home.
Another very hard, taxing day on the bike but what a fantastic ending. My mind knows I could go on but my body is saying enough, too many aches and pains to cope with now. It has been one of the hardest, intense, pushed me to my limits, cycle trips I have been on. 1256 miles over 14 days, average 90 miles per day. If I had known what would be expected of me, I would have said 'no way' but amazingly I coped. I grew to love it and my fellow cyclists, the best group of people I have cycled with. I am already missing them, we laughed and suffered together.
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Day 14. Sat. 2nd Feb 13. Singapore.Dist. 104.3
Great last day. Mark and I led the team into Singapore. Just been out partying so very tired but happy. 1256 miles completed in blistering heat. Will complete blog tomorrow as need to get some sleep.
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