Surrey Bike!

I went out with Ling to the beach today. This is the second time that we've gone cycling together - the first time was 2 weeks ago. This is really fun and I really should have asked her to join me a long time ago, since I live so near to East Coast. However, Ling lives really far away and that's why I was surprised that she would be willing to go cycle by East Coast. Maybe I should ask Tracy to cycle with me? (she has odd working hours though...)

East Coast has really changed a lot. Now there are concrete paths right by the sea front. Although it covers up a bit of the grass (the beach is left untouched) but that actually means that people can sit near the edge without worrying about getting their pants/shorts/whatever dirty. And it's also easier to cycle your bikes to the edge.

Ling and I did that in a Surrey Bicycle. If you don't know what a Surrey bicycle is like, think about two bicycles side by side. Now imagine that they're held together by a frame, complete with a canopy. Then replace the bike handles with steering wheels. Ta dum! You have a Surrey bike. If you think that is a little unwieldy, it IS. And yet we were able to cycle the bike all the way to the edge of the beach. It was kind of amazing.

It was equally amazing to just sit in the bike and watch the sea. Especially since halfway through it started raining, and so we just sat under the shelter of the bike and watched the rain falling on the water (and on everyone else). It wasn't a complete shelter - my right side got soaked, but it was pretty good.

I've never realised how calming the sea is until recently. Sitting on a tide breaker and watching the waves come in is one of the most wonderful things one can do. The waves break on the shore in a wonderful manner, and watching it flow in and out is calming. You can also observe which waves are bigger by how high it comes up on the tide breaker. And if you get tired of the waves, you could always look out to the ships sailing nearby. Or even just close your eyes and listen to the waves.

I was a little shocked at what happened when I opened my eyes at the last bit. Everything around me suddenly looked washed out. Turns out that the sun was a lot brighter than I thought, which also explained why it was a bit hard to look at the sea.

A Surrey bicycle is good for cycling and talking, because you are sitting side by side with the person you are biking with. And it's easier to make eye contact, rather than if you were sitting behind. We even were able to blast music from Ling's phone. Some cyclists even excitedly remarked that the Surrey bike was able to ride uphill. (Though it really took a LOT of pedal power!)

However, the same cyclists as well as roller bladers freaked us out because they kept coming near us, and our brakes were a bit wonky. We were so worried that we'd bowl them over! Not to mention that there was a friendly disclaimer on the bike stating that if we wrecked the thing we'd have to pay $1,500... And there was the need for pedal power uphill, and crossing our fingers and praying on the downhill bits. XD

Still, if the weather is good, I'd probably get a proper tandem next time. It's a lot easier to just stop and sit by the sea with a lighter bike, and it gets us to a lot more places. Not to mention that a tandem isn't likely to cost $1,500!!!