Words and photos by Epic Rider Alan Grant
The Changi Straight – Singapore’s favourite race drag
In June this year, six cyclists are setting off to raise funds for the Cycle for Smile foundation by riding around the vast island-continent that is Australia, an enormous task that is expected to take three months. I live on an island-nation too but Singapore isn't quite as big as the land down under and it can be cycled around before lunch if you start early enough.
One day not so long ago, I boarded my Alize with the intention of completing a full loop of the island. But this wouldn't be the 125km route that many Singapore cyclists complete every weekend and log as an RTI (round the island). No, there are many more roads and off-shoots than these combined Reverse Kranji / Changi loops.
I set off from the CBD at 8:30am having dropped my wife off at work. I parked the car in her office building on Beach Road – which isn’t on the water but once marked the coast of Singapore in the days before reclamation – and so would finish the ride back there. While it was dry with no hint or forecast of rain, the sky was a bit grey and the magnificent Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino complex looked a bit eerie as I rode by at the start of my adventure.
The Marina Bay Sands dominates the skyline
The first few kilometres took me through the CBD and its concrete canyons before turning right onto Keppel Road and the start of Singapore's massive port complex. The sleek-lines of the office towers are replaced by endless rows of orange, yellow and red containers and the huge cranes used to move them. Trucks always come into the mix here and so I tackled the next 10km or so along the West Coast Highway with a bit of extra care and an eye over my right shoulder as convoys of the 10-tonners hurtled by, some at a safe distance but others perilously close. Served me right for starting so late.
The road widened into three lanes as it swept left into Jalan Buroh and so the trucks weren't quite as menacing as the route skirted the Pandan Reservoir, but they were still there.
A different type of view in Tuas
At the Jalan Boon Lay roundabout, the traditional route turns right and heads up past the Jurong Bird Park, through Jurong West and into the Kranji countryside. But for my the real island loop I went straight here into Singapore's main industrial zone of Jurong/Tuas, where massive oil rig yards, refineries and assorted chemical plants are the backdrop.
Much of Tuas is built on reclaimed land and while there are many factories and other industrial facilities out here, larges swathes of the landscape are bleak and barren. The roads, as always in Singapore, are perfect but there isn’t a lot to see except for indications of yet more industrial development to come. I soon reached the western extent of the island and to the left and over the Straits of Johore lies Malaysia, of which Singapore was a part until 1965.
Jin Fu Gong temple
Singapore is truly a multicultural society and this is reflected by the variety of religious buildings that dot the island. As I finally rolled out of the massive industrial zone and into Jurong West, I came across the Jin Fu Gong Chinese temple. A lot of my riding is fast-paced race training and I don’t stop enough to smell the roses, so to speak, but I still wondered how I’d never found this vibrant and colourful structure before.
Back on my Alize I finally found an opportunity to pass under the Pan Island Expressway, which had prevented me from hugging the coastline. Leaving it behind, I headed into the Nanyang Technological University campus, which acted as the Athletes Village for last year's inaugural Youth Olympic Games. But its real claim to fame is a short but vicious hill round the back of the campus, which when attacked has left more than a few legs in tatters. Being a sensible lad on a sensibly paced ride, I decided to coast up it in my small ring.
Exiting NTU, my route turned left onto Jalan Bahar and into Singapore's greenest and most-traffic area. The fields and trees aren't the most remarkable feature of the scenery, rather it's the plethora of graveyards that dominate the landscape. On the left hand side of the road especailly, rows and rows of gravestones, many simple, others elaborate, stretch out as far as a person can see. Another reminder of Singapore's multiculturalism is apparent as the graveyards are neatly demarcated into Chinese and Muslim sections.
Pressing on, I entered Lim Chu Kang runway. Yup, we get to ride through an airport in Singapore, albeit an emergency one. The Singapore Armed Forces have built an extremely wide, 3km-long stretch of road next to an airbase. The thinking is that in time of need the air base’s proper runway won't be able to cope so an annex was constructed running parallel to it. A full-time road, local cyclists use this drag as an unofficial race track, check it out on Strava (http://app.strava.com/segments/623727). Every few years, however, the SAF runs a drill on the runway and it's quite a sight to see the lamp posts which line the road quickly and efficiently removed so that the military jets can land and take off.
Malaysia is never that far from Singapore
The wide, open runway done, Lim Chu Kang Road suddenly becomes darker as a forest hugs closely to the road as it enters the Kranji countryside. After about 3km of this, most cyclists will turn right at a T-junction into Neo Tiew Road, but I went straight ahead to take advantage of the 2.5km of rollers that presented a chance to get out of the saddle. The road deadends at a Coast Guard station and a second view of rural Malaysia.
A quick u-turn followed by a left took me into a maze of country lanes and farms, although not the big homogeneous type. Lots of small-scale operations dot the landscape, including hydroponic agriculturists, fish farms and a goat dairy. There are quite a few wildish dogs lurking around here and occasionally they'll stretch their tonsils and legs, but I've yet to hear of any cyclist actually being taken down.
Exiting this agricultural enclave I entered Neo Tiew Road which finishes with a sweeping downhill stretch past a field of communications antennae that mark the BBC's Far Eastern Relay Station on the right and the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve on the left. The road then flattens out as it passes the site of the World War II Battle of Kranji and onto a causeway built to harness the River Kranji. Enjoy this section as what follows is a night-and-day transformation from pristine nature into a ramshackle and very dusty industrial zone. Trucks, buses and errant, helmetless workers on old clunkers riding against the traffic make it essential to have your full wits about you here. Take care also at the level crossing that marks the end of this crazy stretch.
I was about halfway into the journey as the route turned north for the last time into Woodlands Road and up past the Singapore Turf Club. The huge Customs and Immigration complex marking the border crossing with Malaysia is the next noteworthy landmark but I bypassed that and headed along Admiralty Road, which took me from the west to the east of the island along the north coast. I remember being surprised the first time I cycled along this long stretch to find so many correctional facilities in a land famous for its clean and safe living.
Just before turning south at the end of Admiralty Road, it's worth taking a short detour left on the rollers up to the tranquil Sembawang Park, Singapore's most northeasterly point. Hell, you might even want to get off your bike here to stretch your legs and take in yet another view of Malaysia. I did just that before the journey headed down through the heartland township of Yishun and across another man-made causeway into the Seletar area. Fishermen frequent this spot, with their lines dangling legally into the sea on the left and illegally into Lower Pierce Reservoir on the right.
Not so long ago, the real island loop would have led into quiet country roads lined by picturesque colonial black-and-white bungalows before reaching Jalan Kayu, famous for its simple but thriving prata restaurants selling a local Indian bread accompanied by curry sauces and cups of hot, steaming, very sweat and very milky tea or coffee. A detour and a stop here is still an option, but redevelopment means that the most direct round-the-island route now bypasses the tasty street and instead hurtles down a road to quite literally nowhere. This road is so new that it didn’t even show up on my Garmin post-ride! It's fast and wide which is just as well as the convoys of trucks that accompanied me didn’t look likely to take any prisoners.
Singapore is good at building infrastructure long before it's needed so it’s not unusual to occasionally come upon what appear to be strangely located structures. Such as the architecturally beautiful bridge on the outskirts of Punggol town that popped up … it doesn't appear to be connected to anything yet!
Blue bike, blue mosque
The next 30km or so are pleasant enough but nothing to write home about as the entirely flat section moves far enough inland that sight and sound of the sea are gone instead replaced by the edges of the towns of Punggol, Hougang, Tampines and Pasir Ris. The flatness is broken by Paris Ris Hill, marked by the beautiful Masjid Al-Istighfar on the left hand side. The incline is usually keenly contested but I was on my own so I stopped for the first time ever to admire and take a few photos of the magnificent blue-domed mosque.
What goes up usually comes down and so Pasir Ris Hill turns into a wonderfully fast and straight downhill as the journey takes a left into Loyang Avenue towards Changi Village, another traditional refuelling point for Singapore cyclists. This quiet seaside settlement boasts a plethora of local eating establishments if you fancy a quick bite and is the embarkation point for ferries to the island of Pulau Ubin and the relatively isolated Desaru region of Malaysia. Both are perfect for cyclists; the former offers endless kilometres of mountain biking trails while the latter delivers a 100km section of traffic-light-free rolling coastal road.
Take a slow boat to Malaysia from Changi Village
Leaving the village, the road finds the coast again and on one side you have Changi Beach, on the other is the world-famous Changi Airport. The land reclamation undertaken to build the airport was quite a boon for cyclists as running parallel to one of its runways is the 6km-long Changi Straight. With no access roads or traffic lights along the entire stretch everybody has a go here, with even normally steady group rides tending to disintegrate. It’s also the site of numerous cycling, triathlon and running races throughout the year, so don’t be surprised to find it closed on any given weekend morning.
The real island loop route took me on its last detour at the end of the straight by turning a sharp left up Tanah Merah Coast Road for 4km up to the SAF Yacht Club and another military base which forces a u-turn. Back on the main road, there was less than 20km to go as I entered the East Coast Park, an 11km-long thin stretch of parkland hugging the beach. This is one of Singapore’s main playgrounds, just try to ignore the fleet of tankers and container ships dominating the horizon. Singapore has one of the biggest ports in the world and the price we pay is murky water and spoiled views.
The East Coast Park, quiet on a Monday afternoon
Caution should be taken while riding through the park as there’s just a single lane in both directions and cyclists have to share the road with cars and buses heading to and fro the numerous eating, entertainment and leisure establishments strung out along the entire park. There’s a small one-way section where I was forced onto the adjacent cycle path. Take great care as riding on it at any speed can be quite dangerous as most park-goers treat it as an extra footpath. I was by now quite tired and hungry for some real food and I was tempted to stop as I passed Komala’s Indian veggie restaurant but I pressed on as with 170km in my legs I feared they might not respond too well to an extended stop.
Before long I reached the other end of the park and a roundabout took me right onto Fort Road and back into the conurbation. It was mid-afternoon now and with the road leading straight into town, the traffic levels were building. As I turned left onto the Nicoll Highway, the spaceship structure of the Marina Bay Sands ahead indicated that my journey was almost done. As I rode down into the underground car park of the Gateway Building I was happy to have discovered a few new aspects to my home of the past six years and satisfied with the 182km covered. But I don’t think I’m ready just yet for the 15,700km around Australia!
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