July, 2005
Mountan Biking on Pulau Ubin
Pulau Ubin unfortunately offers only mediocre single track cycling, with only a few short worth while pieces of trail. I have heard rumors of good trails in the outward bound's section of the island but as of my last three trips there I have failed to locate any of them. The first time I went to Pulau Ubin (I did not have my camera at the time) Kelly and I got a bit turned around and in a quest for more mtn. bike trails we ended up climbing up to a beautiful overlook of what I think was the main quarry on the island. The trail ended there, but I had a few brief fun moments on the ride back down to the road. I even think I crashed trying to launch over a fallen tree!

Click on the picture to the right for more pictures and less talk!

Wild Life
Pulau Ubin does however, offer some great opportunities for seeing some wildlife. I have been attacked by leaf dwelling ants, seen a wild boar, been amused by large mud skippers in the mud flats and watched two Hornbills pass a rhombutan back and forth with their large colorful beaks. It is also worth mentioning that you should try to check out the prawn farms located around the island. It is pretty interesting to see how a prawn farm is run, and it is not to be missed if you have never seen live prawn jump clear up out of the water before. It is truly amazing! You can of coarse buy prawn fresh on the spot and the caretakers will bag them alive using ice and pure oxygen to knock them out and keep them fresh for your journey back home.

Bike Rentals
Many people go to the island to rent bikes and ride around the paved roads with no traffic and some nature to be seen. To this end, if you are new to cycling and want an easy Singaporean style park ride, Ubin is a perfect day get away. I will warn those who rent the lowest priced bikes, you get what you pay for. Adam and I spent 15 minutes trying to fix a poor guys rental bike. He was a good distance away from the rental area and his rear hub had completely seized up not even allowing the poor lug to pedal or even coast the bike along. I have also seen people having all sorts of cheap bike related issues on the roads there. If however, you can manage to contact the rental people, they will usually come and pick you and your worthless broken 30KG bike up for a ride back. The other great thing about Ubin, is that after you are done your activities there is a great seafood restaurant there with reasonable prices and delicious courses.

Morning Start and Ride Out
The morning started with an early start from our friend's place on Tanjong Rhu road (downtown Singapore ). We had spent the night there with Adam and his two kids Jack, and Jade. We had an enjoyable ride up along east coast park, around the back of the airport and over to the new terminal pier to catch our bum boat over to Pulau Ubin. I think it took about an hour to ride that distance. I remember it threatening to rain and we all took a break before heading over to the small hawker area near the boat terminal. As usual we got our dose of sugar for the day mixed in with our coffee in the typical Singaporean coffee stall style, but it felt good to get some coffee in the system after an early morning.

Bum Boats
The bum boats are 2 dollars per person and an addition 2 dollars per bike each direction making for a pretty cheap 8 dollar adventure for the day. I have been to Pulau Ubin three times and on two occasions I have been boated over on one of the most un-sea worthy pieces of ramshackle wood I have ever experienced. This boat "captain" had his steering wheel rigged up with two frayed, hemp ropes that had obviously broken in the past and he had just knotted back together again! You simply turn the wheel one direction and the ropes loosely wrap around the steering column until the enormous amount of slack in the system would tighten up and move the rudder a bit! I can only imagine the do it yourself, jimmy rigged contraptions he probably has holding other critical pieces of the boat together not withstanding the obviously non marine car engine you could hear running under your feet! Well, it's a good thing that it is only a short 10 minute boat ride to the island! But, to his credit, I have ended up on this man's boat twice and sailed on to my destination without a hitch.

Riding with Adam, Jack, and Jade
We had a great day on Ubin with good weather, and mild temperatures to boot. The rain never came, and instead provided us with good shade for the remainder of the day! Excellent! I think we hit every section of trail on the north eastern side of the island twice that day and even managed to find some trails that obviously weren't. We were provided the opportunity to explore an otherwise locked and fenced in Victorian house. What lucky timing with a friendly guard! We could just see the English having tea on their small vacation house just north of Singapore 100 years ago!

The day was finished off with some beers and seafood before the long ride back home. Kelly and I were so whooped by the time we got back to Adam's that we opted for a taxi ride from there to our home on the west coast.

© December 7, 2008