Now we were flying, in terms of both confidence and momentum. It has been really smooth so far. We have our bearings throughout and we knew what we were doing. Though half the journey still lurked ahead.
Our biggest challenge by far would now arise. Seletar Farmway, to call it an unfamiliar territory would be an understatement. Never in our lives have we set foot in Seletar farmway and now, we have to find our next 2 checkpoints in Seletar.
We stayed on the main roads (YCK, Jalan Kayu) before detouring into Seletar Farmway Lane 4. It was all gut and chance.
We bumped into Team Mandai again at the Farmway. Both teams had first bumped into each other at the last kampung. I spotted a small advert by the road, with arrows giving directions to the Animal Resort. Naturally, we took direction and about 200m down the bend, we stumbled upon checkpoint 6, Myco Mushroom Farm.
Team Mandai took the group pic for us, we took a group pic for team Mandai and we worked together to find our next checkpoint, The Animal Resort.
7/10: The Animal Resort, Seletar Farmway
It turns out that the resort wasn't too far away, about 400m down the lane from the mushroom farm and likewise we helped each other out with the group shots.
Looking back now, Gwyn mentioned something about spotting horses at the Animal Resort. I don't remember any horses. All I was thinking about then, was how to get to our next checkpoint...
We made a hasty departure and parted ways with team Mandai. On our way out, we bumped into a couple of other teams riding towards the Mushroom farm.
8/10: Sunset Grill and Bar / Fokker Services, Seletar Airbase
Spicy Chicken Wings and a blue knob. That was our photo clue and we figured it was referring to Sunset Grill and Bar. Thankfully, we've been there before. The one with the different levels of spice for their chicken wings. I remember the first time we got lost in our car looking for this place. I swore to remember the way since then and it certainly paid off that day.
Gliding through turns and channels, in no time, we found ourselves approaching Sunset Grill and Bar. From adrift, this enormous blue hanger stood out and almost instantly, we spotted the blue door knobs.
Credit to Derek, he pointed out that there were 2 different knobs. The one in our clue had a small bump on the left side, indicating that it should be the one at the further end. That was attention to detail at its very best and it saved us 10 pts. (For every correct checkpoint, we were credited with 10 pts). True enough, it turns out later that some of the teams got the incorrect knob for this checkpoint.
9/10: Jeli Jetty, Yishun Dam
Now our next checkpoint would be one full of question marks. When I first saw the picture clue at Punggol Point, I had no idea what/where the heck it was. Google didn't help much at all. Jeli Jetty is somewhere that even the almighty Google doesn't know much about. Thankfully, it was crossed on our map and we figured it to be near Punggol Dam (or so we thought)
It turns out that by the biggest unimaginable stroke of luck, muscle cramps and a hungry stomach somehow made us stop momentarily at Yishun Dam. We looked at the map again and went "Hey, isn't this here. It's not Punggol Dam, but Yishun Dam and this is Yishun Dam!" My jaw dropped.
Straight away, we forgot about the cramps and hunger, parked our bikes and started combing the area Infantry style. Tadah! Never been happier to see a "No Entry" sign. Somehow, we just found checkpoint 9.
10/10: Dome bridge and Return to Start Point.
Our final checkpoint was the dome bridge and it was enroute back to the end point, which was also the start point. We quickly snapped our pic at the dome and made our way back to Sengkang Riverside Park.
It had been a long arduous journey and we were now inches away from the finishing line. Towards the end, KSL escaped a near collision with another oncoming rider. It was a close shave.
We re-grouped just outside the mushroom cafe and rode in together. As we were approaching, we heard a huge roar of laughter. We knew there and then that we were not the first to return...
Though shortly after, we began to realize that there was actually only one other team that had returned earlier. Diane thought everyone had left!
Nick from the other group came over and asked if we had managed to complete all checkpoints.
Gwyn was like :" you mean you didn't?"
Our eyes lit up and our hearts were now in our mouth and all that stood between us winning the hunt was getting our photos verified.
Diane, KSL and Gwyn zoomed towards the empires with our photos like the flash. One by one they went through the photos and ALOHA! We got the full 100 points, which meant that we won!
Feel the estacy...
It was surreal. I don't think anyone would have placed their bets on Team Hawaii 5-0 prior the hunt.There were definitely more experienced and speedier riders out there. We were elated that our sheer hard work and great team work paid off.
Team Mandai, who were neck in neck with us for most of the second half came in 2nd, a mere 2 minutes behind. (now that was close!) For our efforts, we each took home a $50 Lifecycle voucher, plus a horn trophy!
Indeed, the prizes were really cool but at the end of the day, it was not all about which place we finished in but rather how we went about the race. The team work and camaraderie formed was elusive and priceless. Diane was our camera girl; sets the tripod up regardless of muscle cramps and demands that everyone gets in the shot. Derek was our Mister attention to detail. Eman kept us on time with all the frequent time checks. KSL got hungry at the right place and the right time. Gwyn was our eagle eyed sharp-shooter, while I just tried my best not to get the team lost.
We really enjoyed ourselves and credit to the volunteering organizers for making this hunt possible. Superb organisation, sponsored prizes, great hunt, and no fees involved. We really couldn't ask for more.
Cyclehunt 2011, will always be for us, a ride to remember.
clap clap! very impressive showing Hawaii 5 0!
ReplyDeleteThank you Thank you! =P
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