CSC Cycling and Adventure Club

CSC members and friends covered 15 km of the trail, tracing part of the route of the massive water pipeline that carries water from Johor to the city centre.

Hiking pass posh residential areas, bits of nature, steep grassy slopes and forest patches, the scenic landscape showcased the geography of Singapore and framed a important topic of Singapore’s history. The water pipeline from Johor to Pearl’s Hill was built in 1920s to supply a rapidly growing population with larger and more reliable water source.

The distance and undulating terrain on this hike is an indication of the massiveness of this water project, even having to cross streams and swampy areas!

It's a great way to immerse in the history and geography of Singapore.

Members of Cycling and Adventure Club completed the 120 km Round Island Bike Adventure (RIBA) on 2 Aug 2026.

RIBA is an annual non-competitive cycling event in Singapore organized as part of the Pesta Sukan (Festival of Sport). It challenges participants to complete an approximate 120 km round-island route.

Congrats to participants for completing the longer-than-usual ride.

It has been a gap of seven years and we are finally back to enjoy the cycling-playground of Bintan. With good roads and no traffic light (!), Bintan has always been a haven for cyclists in this region.

The Bintan experience is nostalgic for many of us who participated in practically annual CSC Bintan trips during pre-Covid years. Meeting Garuda upon arrival, and rhinos and orang utan (sculptures) at Lagoi Safari, getting on the rolling hills, villages and rustic seascapes brought memories of past Bintan rides.
Kudos, especially to first time participants, who took on the challenge to ride the “endless” undulating hills of Bintan with inclines as much as 10% gradient.

Riding the hills of Bintan is not a ride in a park. It was good to know that this Bintan ride has motivated our first-time participants to join future Bintan rides after they enjoyed the “suffering” of endless hills. Indeed, we have a spectrum of abilities on this ride, and everyone was grateful to Pui Leong, the sweeper, for pacing the last rider. Great endurance!

We were glad that Jasmine, our trip leader, had designed the route to include essential pitstops and surprising niceties along the way, such as lunch at Pizza Casa Italia on Trikora Beach, an unusual menu for a beach stop. Adding a durian stop made everyone happy. Bintan offers flavourful kampung durian and many of us would also attest to the premium quality of rambutan.
It was great to be back in Bintan among friends of CSC to enjoy the lush landscape and pristine coastline of Trikora, and enjoy the food and hospitality of Bintan.

Ride into the mode now with Lim Chyesoon’s video compilation.

**Gunung Pulai - Double Adventure and more**

The Hidden Waterfall of Gunung Pulai was a less-accessed trail of the Johor permanent forest reserve. Indeed, our CAC group of 22 were the only people at this waterfall on our day-hike at Gunung Pulai. Subsequently, we understand that this part of the hike was probably the more challenging among the waterfall-options in the area as we had to descend a rock path on a rope alongside the waterfall. What an adventure towards the end of our day-hike! Having completed this surprise section, we were in for a chill time at the plunge pools at the base of the Hidden Waterfall, soaking in the turbulent pools to enjoy water therapy. Our guide jokingly said the water-therapy will help us recover from our hiking fatigue.

Day 2 began early, and we had plenty of time to hike to the summit of Gunung Pulai by noon. On this route, we were surrounded by forest scenery — sounds of forest wildlife, staghorn ferns high in the canopy, and gibbons swinging nearby. The wild gibbon scene was much like Mandai’s Rainforest Wild Adventure (Singapore Zoo) — perhaps we should rightfully say it the other way round.

Our guides took us through the checkpoints on the trail, reaching the summit of 600m (654m on open literature). Making our descent after the summit, we completed the round-trip with a total distance of 14-km, starting and ending at our lodging at Rainforest Treehouse. On the way up, we persevered on the steep sections to reach the ridge and eventually the summit. We were grateful to our guides for keeping us informed and helped us visualise the trail ahead.

This event was a first double-adventure of CAC. Participants have cycled from our homes in Singapore in the morning of Day 1, rode along the causeway and together and continued on the roads of Johor to the foot of Gunung Pulai, some 50km from JB. We rode the return journey on Day 3, riding from Gunung Pulai to JB and Singapore. The morning atmosphere (both ways) was a pleasure to ride in, with the panoramic view of Johor Strait while we were on the high points on the road as well as cruising through the outskirts of JB. Local food and refreshing fruit juice on our transit at Pekan Nanas was reminiscent of earlier days of our club when we cycled in Johor.

On this three-day trip, we enjoyed a two-night stayed in Rainforest Treehouse at the foot of Gunung Pulai. The facility was configured to be eco-friendly but luckily, it provided ample electric sockets – a modern necessity!

The stay in the treehouse perhaps turned our double adventure to a triple adventure. The treehouse facility was on a hillside with the treehouses reaching high to the forest canopy. The facility offered a rustic, nature-immersed experience. The treehouses were on the steep slope, probably spanning 50-metre elevation. Treehouses, common showers, toilets and dining areas were sited along, at different elevations. While we enjoyed great views from the high elevation tree houses, going through the elevation on a rocky path, especially at night was challenging, especially for those who were at the higher units. Regardless, it was an enriching experience stay in the treehouse promoting harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

Two adventures plus treehouse experience all in one trip!

Thirty-three cyclists from CSC embarked on our highly anticipated 5-day Hangzhou bike tour on 15 Mar 2026, riding a distance of 380 km. Starting from the city of Hangzhou, we followed the bike path along the Qiantang River, leading to Fuchun River further upstream.

Qiantang River 钱塘江 and Fuchun River 富春江 are natural water courses linked to the economic development in Hangzhou. On our ride, we saw cargo vessels plying the river. The city has introduced riverbank facilities, including the riverbank bike trails that harmonises the modern amenities with the natural landscapes (rivers and wetlands), history and culture (such as historical districts) of the locations. We rode along the riverbank trails on the first two days, passing river-side parks, agricultural land, villages and undulating forests. During this time of the year, brilliant fields of yellow canola flowers provided stunning landscapes. It must be a lucrative crop! Gardens along the trail have sprung magnificent blooms of magnolia 玉兰花. We saw a sprinkling of prune and cherry blossoms with more in bud, ready to bloom and transform the colours of the gardens.

Xin’an River 新安江 is further upstream from Fuchun River. After a few uphill rides of several hundred metres elevation gain – yes, we could climb on our bikes! - we entered the landscape of the Thousand Island Lake (also known as Qiandao Lake) 千岛湖, a man-made reservoir formed by the damming of the Xin’an River. “Thousand Island Lake” (or Qiandao Lake) explicitly describes the more than 1000 islands in the reservoir. The damming raised the water level of Xin’an River, isolating knolls around the valley to form these thousand islands on the lake.

Over Day 3 and Day 4, we circumnavigated the lake, covering a distance of 170 km. At vantage points, we could see large crops of islands on the lake, visually lending meaning to the term Qiandao Lake (or Thousand Island Lake).

Cycling, watersports and adventure sports events during the 19th Asian Games in 2023 were held at Qiandao Lake. Indeed, we understand that the lake is China national watersports teams' training ground in all seasons, including winter months.

China showcased to the world its transformation of Hangzhou in harmony with nature, history and culture, to the theme of green 19th Asian games. Our five-day Hangzhou ride on the bike trails 绿道 was a window to this success.

Members check out regular spots on this Saturday ride. There is time to learn a bit more about these destinations, such as the history of Thomson Nature Park..

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 31 Jan 2026 set out the programme of cycling and adventures for 2026. Look forward to the highlights of the years, including Northern China ride and hike to Everest Base Camp. The club will continue to conduct short trips to Malaysia and Indonesia, and of course, regular local rides and hike.

Cycling and Adventure Club members may look forward to a set of club apparel this year.

** Kukup 2026 **

There’s no mistake to repeat a proven ride event to Kukup. We gathered, we rode to enjoy the scenery, enjoyed multiple meals of seafood, karaoke, play games, and simply relax in chalet in the Kulup village environment. The sequence of activities seemed to play out like clockwork and we enjoyed it all.

Participants keep pace with our groups on the 50-km scenic ride from Johor Bahru. It was just natural that we aggregated into a forward group and a more leisurely convoy of riders, following the route that Benz, the event leader had set out. Thanks to Poh Leong, the ride sweeper for making sure that no one was left behind.
Jasmine’s evening games in the chalet brought immense energy and laughter to the group. The high spirit was spiced up with fireworks all night long as is typical of Kukup.

Our stay at the Kukup chalet is always free and easy, other than having to tune in to series of mealtimes, we were free to do our favourite things. Some have wondered off for some shopping on the main road.

The evolution of Kulup from a fishing village to a tourism destination mirrors the transformation of mangrove forest on its shore. It is a joy to reconnect with the origin of Kukup as some of us discovered on our village walk.

The event was a great time to catch up with CSC members and friends in a comfortable setting. We all have our favourite aspects of this ride to Kukup and we look forward to our next ride excursion!

Storm was in the forecast but we went ahead with the our regular walk on the Southern Ridge. ☺️