Cycling
in Singapore
Singapore is a small island.
Given a decent road bike, you can cycle around
the island in just a few hours!
And it is precisely the size of our country which
makes it an ideal place to go on a Tour de Singapore,
local style!
Hardcore bikers can join the roadies
on some of Singapore’s popular biking stretches
of concrete alongside
the whizzing cars, or be one with nature mountain
biking the scenic off-road trails of some of Singapore’s
last remaining nature reserves and parks.
If you’re into technical biking,
you can explore the BMX or slalom bike tracks, join
the urban street bike culture
at the Youth Park, or even patiently practise the
art of biketrial in the company of your neighbourhood
biketrial guru!
Leisure bikers who would rather
pedal at leisure and avoid riding the heavy vehicle
traffic, can explore Singapore’s
green network using Singapore’s
park connectors which allows them to travel
from park to park, coast to coast,
park to town centres or just about anywhere on this
island.
If you’re feeling more adventurous, you can
ride to the island of Sentosa or
hop onto a bumboat which
will lead you to Pulau Ubin, an
island in the northern part in Singapore.
So what are you waiting for? Get
out and ride!!!! And don’t
forget to ride safely!
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Bike
Shops / Bike Rental Shops in Singapore
To get started, you will need a bike that works!!!
Regardless of your level of competence, we would
recommend
some safety gear (e.g. helmet, gloves, shoes etc.)
and other mandatory equipment (e.g. night lights
when
cycling at night).
If you wish to purchase or rent
a bike in Singapore, we recommend that you
log onto the following websites!
Togoparts Website
SMBF
Website (Bikeshops) / SMBF
(Bike Rentals)
Please do call the shop before you make your visit
as some may have been relocated or are no longer
in business.
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Cycling Routes on the
Roads
Road cycling in Singapore is great
because the roads are of very high quality. While
cycling is not allowed on the expressways, it is allowed
on all other types of roads. Singapore lacks mountains
but has a good mix of short sharp hills, rolling country
and flat land.
Some of the sharpest
hills are :-
Mount Faber Park
(the road to the Cable Car Station)
Kent Ridge Park
(short but you better have some really small
gears!!)
Bukit Batok Hill
(the hill leading to the Bukit Batok Park
along Upper Bukit Timah Road opposite the Fire Station)
Telok Blangah Hill
Park (the loop which leads up to Telok
Blangah Hill Park and down again)
For longer climbs,
the following road is favored :-
South Buona Vista Road
(aka the Gap and you know why its called
that)
Go to Streetdirectory.com
If panting up short steep hills is not your thing,
you can try the gentle
rolling hills on the two roads below – riding there is like riding a roller coaster!
Mandai Road
Go to Streetdirectory.com
Yio Chu Kang Road
Go to Streetdirectory.com
For the flat days
when you want to imagine you’re Jan Ullrich
doing a flat 40km time-trial, you can ride along :-
Changi Coast Road
(beside the runway of Changi Airport)
Go to Streetdirectory.com
Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim
(starts at the Jurong Bird Park and ends
at the Second Link to Malaysia)
Other cycling routes in Singapore :-
Jan Boonstra and Rick
Ross
http://user.chollian.net/~hwayon/sing/index.htm#abou
Check out some of the routes taken by the cycling
groups below and contact them if you wish to
join them in their rides.
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Off-Road Mountain Biking
Trails
Despite Singapore not having the
benefit of any mountains, mountain biking is fast
becoming a very popular sport!!!
Some of Singapore’s popular mountain
bike trails are nestled in thick, lush greenery
in the heart of our nature reserves and parks.
Bukit Timah Mountain
Bike Trail (BT) – (intermediate
/ advance level)
Chestnut
- Track 15 - Mandai (an extension
of the BT trail which starts at Chestnut Drive,
lamp post 291
and heads towards the Mandai area) (beginner
/ intermediate level)
Other MTB Trails connected
to BT (check out other trails around
and connected to the Bukit Timah area, but please
be warned that many of these trails are out of bounds
to bikers) (beginner
/ intermediate level)
Pulau Ubin
* West and North Route (beginner
/ intermediate level)
* Eastern
Route (intermediate / advance
level)
*
Pedal Ubin (beginner / intermediate
/ advance level bike guided tours)
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/activities/ubinbiking/ubinBiking.html
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/activities/pedalubin/
Sentosa Bike Trail
(approx 4 permanently maintained trails in Sentosa;
trails are graded so beginners are warned of difficulty
of path)
http://www.sentosa.com.sg/useful_info/view_map.html
* Concrete Marked-out
Route (beginner / intermediate
level)
* Unmarked Off-Road
Trails (intermediate / advance
level) - a majority of the
off-road trails have been reclaimed
Tampines Mountain Bike
Trail (a very new gravelly biketrail)
(beginner / intermediate level)
– located at the junction of Tampines Ave and
Tampines Avenue 7, for directions go to following
website
and look for a “star” marked on the relevant
page
Go to Streetdirectory.com
Boys Brigade Mountain
Bike Trail (located next to Singapore
Polytechnic along Commonwealth Ave West,
but currently not maintained)
http://content.mtbr.com/pscTrails/AsiaandPacific-Other/,Boy's,Brigade,Mountain,Bike,Trail/PRD_164917_4517crx.aspx
Please remember to observe trail
etiquette when cycling at BT and the other MTB
trails
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Downhill
and Slalom Trails
Bukit Timah is Singapore's
highest hill standing at only 163.63 metres! However
it is a pity that this steep concrete hill
and the connected branching off-road trails is off-limits
to cyclists! But that does not dampen the spirit of
Singapore’s downhillers who settle for some
of the more challenging technical downhill
and slalom tracks that Singapore has to offer!
Sentosa Bike
Trail (some parts of the more technical
gnarly downward sloping trails make for a good downhill
ride)
http://www.sentosa.com.sg/useful_info/view_map.html
Gangsa Slalom Track
(enter from Bukit Panjang Road-Zhenghua Flyover under
the BKE, or ride along the MTB trail
from Chestnut to Track 15 and you will hit this track)
(see above)
Pulau Ubin
(the Eastern routes will take you through some amazing
downhill slopes)
Again, please remember to observe trail
etiquette, don your safety gear, bring
your buddies and watch out for oncoming human and
vehicle traffic if you feel the urge to attempt
some local downhillin’!
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BMX
Tracks, Flatlanders and Bike Parks
BMX existed in Singapore even
before the first mountain-bikes graced our shores.
BMX is a great sport with sub-disciplines such as
BMX racing, flatland, street, dirt and vert. There
are many BMX places in Singapore for general BMX enjoyment.
Tampines BMX Track
(located at the junction of Tampines Ave 9 and Tampines
Avenue 7, for directions go to following website and
look for a “star” marked on the relevant
page)
Go to Streetdirectory.com
Singapore BMX
(informative website on BMX in Singapore)
http://www.osbmx.com/
Flatland is another discipline that
evolved from BMX. Some informative websites on Flatland,
Vert, Street/Park and Freestyle Riding :-
Twenty-Inch Circle
(a Singapore Flatland site containing lots of news
about the Singapore flatland and freestyle activities
here on our little island)
http://www.20incho.com
Bicycle Freestyle Interest
Group
http://www.theflatlander.com/scene/singapore/
NYC Youth Park
http://www.nyc.gov.sg/user/about_contact.htm
Bedok Adventure Park
(in front of East Coast Town Council, Blk 206 Bedok
North Street 1)
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BikeTrial
Obstacles and Course
The sport of BikeTrial involves
using a bike to clear a whole course of very difficult
obstacles ranging from stacks of pallets, an array
of different sized logs and boulders. Big pools of
water are also in the way for the rider to make life
a wee bit harder. The course has to be completed
without your feet touching the ground if possible.
To attempt simple biketrial stunts, you don’t
need more than a simple roadside curb to practice
jumping on and off or a flight of stairs to balance
your bike on. For more complicated stunts, you will
need natural or man-made obstacles, and patience,
concentration and a wealth of skill and experience!!!
For more information on this sport, check out the
following website :-
Biketrial Singapore
http://www.attitudebikes.com/events.html or
e-mail biketrial@cycling.org.sg biketrial@cycling.org.sg
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Other
Bike Trail Links
Some of the following
websites offer suggestions on existing and new trails
in Singapore.
Togoparts Bike Trails
Forum
http://www.togoparts.com/forum/topic_list.php3?fid=trails
Wheelsareturning
http://cycling.sivasothi.com/
mtb review.com
http://content.mtbr.com/pscTrails/AsiaandPacific-Other/PLS_4517_918_50crx.aspx
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Park
Connectors and Other Bike Trails
The Urban Redevelopment
Authority of Singapore (URA) plans to create a
green network so huge, so seamless, it would
seem as if we could get from park to park, coast to
coast, park to town centres or just about anywhere
on this island.
They plan to join up our parks through a comprehensive
green network, allowing you to travel on foot or bicycle
to other parks nearby. And the green network can be
extended to link parks with town centres, sports complexes
and homes.
Currently, there are about 40 km of park connectors.
The challenge is to build 3 times more green connectors
or another 120 km to complete an island-wide network
by the year 2015.
Parks
Connectors –
Park Connector Network (PCN) Progress Plan
Designated Bike Parks
* Bishan
Park (beginner
level)
* East Coast Park
(beginner level)
* Pasir Ris Park
(beginner level)
* West Coast Park(beginner
level)
Other Designated Bike
Parks
Bedok and Bedok Reservoir
Park
(beginner level)
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