Wednesday, June 29, 2005

a confession!

I've been neglecting my buzznet account of late, thanks to an unfortunate combination of work...and this blog hahaha...am trying to kick start it again, but somehow the more focused (and niche, take your pick) theme of this here blog appeals to me more. Not sure why, I guess single-speeding does that to you. At any rate, feel free to click on to buzznet - it's a great community. I remember joining up on its early days. A real positive vibe there, thanks to users like Marc, Tomdog, Swayframe, Ilisu...heck, just check out "my friends" list over there! It was one of the reason I abandoned my friendster account. Ok, another reason was wanting to lie low. I live in a real small city, where THREE DEGREES, as opposed to SIX, is the norm.

Enjoy the links!

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Sunday, June 26, 2005

I am...Captain Crunch

...or Singletrack Slayer. This, according to the Mountain Bike Name Generator. Of course it is also dependent on the name you input! If i put in my preferred name, it gives me "undefined" hahaha!

Rode the Tingle again today, as atonement for a week of free-flowing booze. Weather was good, and the riding group I hooked up with was fun too. BUT. The ride started off on a really bad wheel...

Team All-Terra member Juboy was warming up with some big-ring sprints in the parking lot where we assembled. It was his first time there and apparently didn't know that the lot exits to a busy street. He zoomed past us once, turning left onto the street without incident, and I thought he wouldn't do it again. A few minutes later he did the same, and just his luck, there was an incoming car. Jubs took a spill and landed on the other side of the street, and we feared for the worst. Luckily he was unscathed, as the car clipped his rear wheel. The car's owner was livid. In all honesty, he had the right to be. Juboy shouldn't have been going that fast!

Jubs must have been a cat in a previous life/lives. Oh, the said name generator says he is: Rock Chomper

Go figure.

Rest of the ride was pretty good. As usual the first climbs were out-of-saddle efforts on the Tingle. Ground was a bit moist, so traction was pretty good. This 30km loop has pretty much everything. Things got even more interesting when it started to rain! Nothing like a good downpour to wash away all the mud and crud from you and your bike. On the final downhill/fire road ride, the group got separated, and I decided to take the singletrack route, called "Duck Trail", and it was a blast. A bit sketchy thanks to the trail now becoming a run off for water. I'd rather ride on two inches of flowing water than mud! Here's where I really got to appreciate the big fat tires and absence of gears and cables to get fouled up. Still, some mud and CRUNCHy sand did manage to get in my mouth - since I was having so much fun and grinning at the same time!

The group reassembled at the outpost prior to the rainy road ride back to the mall. A quick change into dry clothes, and then off to a well-deserved lunch. Salad, chocolate cake and a double espresso for me!

Sorry no photos this time, as it was really raining cats and dogs!

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Sunday, June 19, 2005

ouch!


Riding buddy Eric had the misfortune of this happening to him during yesterday's ride. Seemed the rear derailleur got sucked into his rear wheel's spokes! The derailler is attached to the frame via a hanger, which is supposed to shear off in case something like that happens. Funny thing was, it didn't! Hence the painful tangle of bike parts. The inset is how that particular part of the bike should look. I actually feared for the worst - a new derailleur AND rear swing-arm for his Ellsworth ID. Luckily it happened on a climb, and not during a downhill run. The SRAM X.0 derailler looks in bad shape, but the folks at All Terra were able to resuscitate it. JM also had a spare derailluer hanger too, so that means Eric should be back riding in no time at all!  Posted by Hello

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ouch part 2


here's another look. Notice the derailluer hanger all bent up (encircled bit). That's supposed to point vertically down. Posted by Hello

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word to your mudder


hehe Posted by Hello

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i love love love being a pig


hahaha! what a muddy ride (granted, this was last May 28)! but that's precisely one of the reasons why I built up the Tingle. No derailleurs and gears to get mucked up in the chocolate pudding. No cables to worry about (thanks to my Magura hydraulics). Though the brakes do collect mud, they've got a quick release lever that makes cleaning easy. Time pedals are impervious to mud too!  Posted by Hello

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Thursday, June 16, 2005

Auraltext

Karlo Samson is at it again...after a long hiatus from SiteNiSamson, and another, umm, secret journal, he's back with AuralText. Click thru, drop him a line, and tell him I referred you, dammit! hehe

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

please turn your Dirt Rag to page 110...


it's my shot! it's my shot! Posted by Hello

ah yes!


this is the life...a generous cup of cappuccino, a decadent chocolate cake, and Dirt Rag #114! Posted by Hello

Monday, June 13, 2005

shot of a shot


can't kick the habit! A little pick me up before the climax to Nokia Connection 2005. Machiatto and chocolate truffle cake at the Coffee Connoiseur, Millenium Walk.

More photos taken by Nokia's media delegates can be found here We were issued 3G-enabled nokia 6680's, and we sure took advantage of it, using the LifeBlog feature to post photos. The Inquirer's Leo Magno won the prize for the best post. It's also his fault that the site may load slowly. But hey, at least the content was good! I posted a few shots too, look for those sent in by PH05.

Ok, enough tech-talk! Posted by Hello

1481010


I thought my shopping joneses were cured when I bought my Dirt Rag issue. I was wrong! My Nokia hosts took me to Mustafa, a mall in Little India. Lots of things to look at there, from athletic goods and hello...what's this? A Citizen Independent! Now a collector's item...it was a no-brainer. Got a good price for it too. Now I have 4 of them, though 1 isn't quite in working order, and another needs a new battery. Another non-bike post!!! Grrrr. Posted by Hello

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Tara and Maya


Turns out I have the whole afternoon off! So first thing I did was hook up with some former officemates.That's Tara on the left and Maya on the right. Had a blast catching up and swapping stories. Check out Maya's blog here. Am sure Tara has one, too. Must look for link!

This was taken at Borders Cafe. Borders is one of the biggest bookstores in Singapore, and, just my luck, they had Dirt Rag #114!!! I promptly bought two copies, as well as WhatMTB's Single Speed issue. That, along with this reunion, made the trip worthwhile. Of course there's Nokia's Connection 2005 event too. hehe
 Posted by Hello

splish splash


Fancy...maybe I'll try the tub out tonight, with the blinds up. Hehehe Posted by Hello

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Hello Singapore!


Thanks to Nokia, I'm billeted at the Ritz Carlton. Snazzy. This is work-related, and with little, if any, bike content at all! Nokia is a launching a slew of new mobile handsets, and showcasing some accompanying technologies. Hmmm, maybe I'll have time to look for a bike shop! But first, I must work!  Posted by Hello

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Almost famous!


Was at a cover shoot today and my riding buddy Jay gives me a call saying that I am famous. What a joker! He then read out a post on Dirt Rag Mag's Feedback thread. To spare you the mouseclick, I shall quote forum member Maxofthemountain, "The riders eye is getting better each issue, you must be getting a lot of good shots each month to choose from. Agu Paiso's self portrait is pretty cool ."

I was floored! They posted my submission! And yes, I am bloody almost famous. The photo is actually the same as my profile pic.

As soon as I got back to the office I emailed Jeff, the Art Director of Dirt Rag, requesting a soft copy of the page spread. He graciously obliged me. Supercool. That's the spread above!  Posted by Hello

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

it's only a flesh wound...rather


just a case of swollen gums, and only a general cleaning was in order, according to the good dentist. Not bad, considering the last time I visited was in September 2003! So to celebrate, I promptly headed off to this decadent dessert place called Kooky and Luscious. My reward? A shot of espresso, and their famously deadly and chocolatey Dementia cake. Must pedal harder!  Posted by Hello

Sunday, June 05, 2005

achey breaky tooth

now I've got this tooth-ache that's been bugging the hell out of me. It must be all the riding I've been doing on the rigid Tingle (see below). Perhaps lost a filling or worse, cracked a tooth. While a visit to the dentist is in order, it got me thinking about slapping on a suspension fork on my single-speeder.

Naaaaaaaah.