The Gentle Rhythms of Riding are Forgotten

Our last set of instructions

Riding long distance requires a degree of discipline, albeit little responsibility. Up at 5am, bags down by 6.15, breakfast at 6.30 and off on the road by 7 at the latest to follow the route for the day. No time for lying in, shillyshallying around or preening in front of the mirror. After the ride there's laundry to be done, a shower to wash off the day's sweat and grime, maybe a read and a nap, or a beer and a chat, perhaps some emails or Skypeing before rider meeting at 6.15pm and dinner at 6.30.

But now the ride is over we can throw discipline to the wind, wake at 9am and still have time for breakfast, wander about as the oddly tanned accidental tourists that we are, loll about in bars and laze by shady swimming pools. Oh what a life it is.

Peanuts served at the Long Bar at Raffles

And so Day One of the Return to Normal Living has proved incredibly successful. A long breakfast after an unfortunate early rise, but I guess we have been conditioned, a bit of bike boxing, then off to Raffles to enjoy one - or more - of its famed Singapore Slings. I can tell you the ingredients if you want to mix up one at home and have it sneak up on you on a Saturday afternoon.

Take a cocktail shaker and pour in 30ml of gin. Add 15ml of cherry brandy and 120ml of pineapple juice. Top this with 15ml of lime juice and 7.5ml each of Cointreau and DOM Benedictine. Add 10ml of Grenadine and some ice then shake. Pour into a tall glass and garnish with a sweltered maraschino cherry and a chunk of pineapple side by side. Mind, one will make you feel pleasantly relaxed, two a trifle tipsy and three, positively drunk.

Janice, Jim and Walli

Ah, Singapore. I never thought I would ever relish your orderly cleanliness, predictable customer service and quiet comforts as I now do after this whirlwind tour of motorbikes and trucks, potholes and poor shoulders, palm oil and rubber plantations, fried rice and noodles, and skinny dogs and underfed chooks. But I will miss the warm smiles and greetings. These people know what it is to be part of the larger human community in ways that we in the west may only occasionally glimpse.

 

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