Iceland Day 3 ~ Of famous volcano, full-rainbowed-Skogafoss, slippery Seljalandsfoss, and our first full-fledge Aurora...

Travellogue: The tour of the -foss, a gentle start that ended with a whole lot of bang for our bucks!

My second run in Iceland
I promised the boys at home that I will continue to run even while I was in Iceland.
Gerard said: "Don't be crazy lah.  Just enjoy your holiday lah!"
But Wai Kit joked: "Come on lah, go mark your run on the map of Iceland in Strava."
With the event one week right after my return from Iceland, I couldn't waste any time.  Thus at 6am on this third tour day, I enjoyed the lovely cool air and suphur fumes around Lake Laugarvatn.
My 5km run at Lake Laugarvatn (a clickable link to my Strava)

Iceland Day 2 ~ The tour of the Golden Circle.

Travellogue: Iceland Day 2 ~ of tectonic plates, waterfall & geyser...

A breakfast of smoked Icelandic fish
Adrian did prime us prior to the trip that we really needn't wake up early for this trip, like

The man & his coffee.

the typical SgTrekker photography trips.  And this man kept his words. "8am breakfast, 9am checkout." became pretty much the standard arrangement.
But... I woke at 6am for a run around Rekjavik.. crazy lah, me.
My 5km run in Reykjavic

Iceland Day 1 ~ 27 hours of plane+airport and a first glimpse aurora...

Travellogue: Day 1 Iceland


Changi Airport

It was the 26th February, the year of 2014. 
Like trickles of glacial water, the team members slowly made their way to Terminal 1 at Changi Airport, some looking fresh while others appearing tired from a full day of work.  It was characteristic of a Singapore Trekker Photography trip, this red-eye flight arrangement.  Seasoned members would be almost unfailingly found gathered at the kopi tiam up on the second floor, patiently waiting for the arrival of the tour leader while sipping a kopi-O.

"Haiyah.. the taxi driver got lost," quietly complained Norman.  The drone of the conversation around me faded into the background as I stared at my cup of kopi.  My drifting mind was lost in a day some months ago…

Prologue. Chasing the Icelandic Aurora.

Fighting the wind & impending snow...

All my eyes could see was raging waves crumbling with splashes against the dark cliffs of Dyrhólaey Cape down below on our right.  In the distant left, a dark mist was fast-approaching our location from inland.  Like wolves out on a rampage, the tearing wind howled just outside our ears.
My index finger, totally frozen and void of sensation, struggled to change the aperture on the camera, while my left hand fiddled with the wired cable release.  Beside me, my fellow teammates Derek and Kai Sing were frantically trying to snap a last shot before the snow storm approached.   From the corner of my eye I could see several figures a certain distance away, equally urgent in their movements. 

Metasprint Aquathlon - The Way of the Samurai.

Aquathlon ~ the first of the Metasprint series of three races. 16 Feb 2014.

Crazy as can be

Some time back, roughly around 2-3 months ago, Gerard, in one of his many crazy spells, suddenly triggered an interest in Triathlons.  It was not long after our Tour de Bintan, when spirits were high, and every one was on the roll.
And naively a few of us signed up for the Metasprint series of three races: the Aquathlon, the Duathlon and the last, the Triathlon.

Tour de Bintan 2013... what an epic ride.

Tour de Bintan 2013, a memory of pain and elation.

 

Preparation

It was many months before November 2013.  Didn't know who was the smart guy who initiated the whole gang to sign up for Tour de Bintan 2013.
The majority of us had only been cycling seriously on road bikes for slightly less than a year.

"Tour de Bintan?" asked someone. "That one is quite tough isn't it?"
"Yeah. But this tour is the closest thing you can come to an UCI organised and sanctioned event," replied the smart Alec. "Come, let's go!"

Months after months passed. And our usual Eastern Loop and Western Loop and the occasional Round island rides became a little more intensive, as many of us woke up to the notion that TdBintan was just rounding the corner.
And we started doing the Kulai Loop in Malaysia, and the 6 Bridges of Barelang in Batam, and some hills workouts back in Singapore hoping that if we were to suffer then, we would suffer lesser in Bintan.

The Revenge on Barelang ~ completing the Unfinished Business

We had some Unfinished Business here on the Six Bridges of Barelang...

It was 18th April 2013.  A Friday.  There was some unfinished business down south of Singapore.
Hahaha.. yes yes, indeed.  For a few of us, we'd some uncompleted mission that urgently needed to be finished off.  For some others, it was a last true non-Mandai-miniature-hill training before Tour De Bintan, whereas for some others, it was purely a personal accomplishment to attain on this day.

So on that morning, we gathered at around 7am at the Cruise Centre at Harbourfront, all decked proudly in our stylo Pink Panther jerseys...