Event Report: 34th OAC Bike Hike 2009

Project Speedway. 30th May 2009, 2100hrs. East Coast Park Big Splash. Here 314 cyclists gathered, all geared up with their bikes, safety vests, blinkers and helmets, ready to conquer Singapore over the next 10 hours. The crowd was undeniably overwhelming, with people from diverse backgrounds. But, all with the common goal of breaking the Singapore Record for the Largest Overnight Cycling Expedition and of course, to have fun throughout the night with their buddies.

Proof of crowd at holding area

Participants getting ready their gears for bike hike!

Participants from River Valley High School.

The stage program lasted for 1 hour, where emcees Renice and Raphael got the participants hyped up for the start of Project Speedway. Meanwhile, officials from Singapore Book of Records did their headcount of all the participants and photographs of all the participants were taken. Finally, after much waiting at the holding area, the first two teams, team Alpha and Beta, were flagged off at 10pm with a grand countdown by the program emcees.

Presentation of token of appreciation to Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.

Mass photo shot of all the participants before flag-off!

Presentation of token of appreciation to Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.

Cyclists waiting anxiously at the flag-off area.

17 more teams were consequently flagged off from the starting point, at intervals of 10 minutes for every 2 teams, until 11.40pm where team Uniform left the holding area. Big Splash was immediately transformed from a warm, crowded state to little more than a cold, quiet and lonely piece of concrete.

Team Uniform!

As so the island-wide journey began, with our cyclists traveling from East Coast Park to the Singapore Flyer, where they caught sight of the magnificent landmark. It was not long before the participants reached their first rest point of the night, Lau Pat Sat. However, most of the participants were still fresh and raring to go, hence wanted to continue almost immediately, opting to skip this first checkpoint.

Cyclists stopping to snap a few shots with the night city view behind.

Our cyclists taking a rest at Lau Pat Sat.

The participants then pedaled pass Vivo City and turned into Alexandra Road where they met with the first killer slope of the night. Despite the daunting upslope, the participants persevered, and managed to conquer it. Before everyone knew it, it was already about 2am and all of us reached Ridout Tea Garden MacDonalds, the second rest point. By then, the cyclists were mostly exhausted and thus took a long break there.

Participants at Ridout Tea Garden MacDonalds.

After 30 minutes of resting, the participants felt rejuvenated and were even more determined than before about completing the route. As they cycled into North Buona Vista Road, they met with the most physically and mentally strenuous part of Bike Hike – a continuous 500m upslope. However, the cyclists displayed the exemplary Hwa Chong quality of 自強不息 and pushed on till the end until they reached the peak of Buona Vista. Of course, the cyclists were rewarded with the best part of Bike Hike – a continuous 5 minutes down slope, fondly referred to as ‘Initial D’ or ‘99 turns’.

Seizing a chance at a red light to take a shot.

After the exhilarating ride past NUS, the route took a turn west, heading down Pasir Panjang Road and West Coast Road towards the Jurong region. Proceeding along Jurong Hall Road, we passed by the Singapore Science Centre and Snow City, before arriving at the long awaited third rest point. Here, the participants had the luxury of feasting at the prata shop. The shop had earlier, upon hearing the expected turnout of the event, agreed to extend its opening hours. Indeed, in the end the ever accommodating shop owners stayed open for 24 hours to cater to every single participant.

Participants at the prata shop!

After resting at the prata shop, the participants cycled passed Little Gui Lin, and headed to Dunearn Road, where they traveled the whole stretch of road from King Albert Park to Serene Centre, passing by our own school, Hwa Chong Institution on the way! Everyone continued to pedal down to Orchard Road, catching a seemingly deserted Orchard, in stark contrast to the usual crowded and lively shopping hot spot. Soon, we reached the break-off point at the Cathay.

The fast teams kept going straight to head back to East Coast Park directly via Bras Basah Road and Nicoll Highway. The faster teams made a left turn instead to cycle all the way from Dhoby Ghaut to Kovan following the North East Line and rested there before pedaling back to East Coast Park, even as the sun rose.

Cyclists returning their bikes after reaching the end point.

It was almost 7am when the first teams started streaming into the bike collection area at Marina Cove and the holding area at Big Splash became alive again like the night before.

Participants exhausted from all the cycling.

There were people who were knocked out totally and simply lay flat on the ground to catch some sleep, while others were too excited over completing their quest of conquering Singapore on two wheels. Of course, there were also participants who were sad that soon, Bike Hike 2009 would be but memories deep in their hearts.

Some snooze-ing, some high-ing, some emo-ing.

It was at about 9am when the last team arrived at Big Splash, and Project Speedway was brought to a grand closure with the officials from the Singapore Book of Records announcing that we had set a new Singapore record with 314 cyclists pedaling through the night around Singapore.

Record broken! For the Largest Overnight Cycling Expedition!

Project Speedway Instructors.

Quotes from participants about Project Speedway:

“Bike Hike was superb. Superb planning on OAC’s part…”

“I miss Bike Hike! Feel sore almost everywhere. I miss the slopes and the cycling-along-Orchard-Road and the tiredness, fun…”

“Well organised as far as organisations could go…”

“I must be really appreciative that I was going for Bike Hike…”

“It was madness but after completing the journey I feel a sense of accomplishment…”

From the Organising Committee of Bike Hike 2009:

Thank you to all participants for being part of Bike Hike 2009, for being so determined to complete the route, for being so understanding towards our flaws in our organisation of the event and of course, for enjoying the whole experience of Bike Hike!

Thank you to Tiong Bahru Community Youth Executive Committee for co-hosting this event with us. Thank you to our sponsors, Playground @ Big Splash, Singapore Youth Olympic Games Create Action Now, Fraser and Neave, Red Bull, Zouk, Central Singapore Community Development Council for their support.

Thank you to Mr Alex Quek for being our mentor and training instructor for the past few months. Thank you to Mr Daniel Ling, our teacher-in-charge, for his help in our logistical and publicity efforts. Thank you to the 35th Hwa Chong Outdoor Activities Club for their help as Assistant Instructors in Bike Hike.

East Coast Park Big Splash. 30th May 2009 2100hrs. 31st May 2000 1000hrs.

314 cyclists, 1 Singapore Record.

6 months of preparation, 1 night of event, a memory to last a lifetime.

Bike Hike 2009, Project Speedway – Velocity Redesigned!

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