While I've thoroughly enjoyed trying to get to grips with the art of mountain biking over the past nine months or so, I'm a roadie at heart and I have a key block of racing coming up.

So yesterday in Bukit Timah trail during one of those slow-motion moments when you know you're going down and you're just wondering how bad it's going to be, I thought to myself "wtf am I doing this mountain biking nonsense for?"

Luckily, despite the presence of a load of rocks and other gnarly stuff I landed on my butt and it looks like I'll get away with just a big bruise.

I was simply trying to take a corner too fast for my skill level and couldn't unclip in time and so down I went. But I still had a blast during my two hours or so in the trails and I'm not going to stop as I've just signed up for the Mongolia Bike Challenge !

http://www.mongoliabikechallenge.com/en/

Am I ready for what promises to be a truly epic and brutal experience in the wilds of Mongolia? Seven straight days of racing 150km+ with over 1,500m of climbing every day ... on a mountain bike. Probably not, but too late now! There's a lot to do between now and the September 1 start date, including learning how to service my bike myself. It would help if I knew how to turn on my suspension ...

My status as a newcomer to the dirty world was affirmed when I rolled to a halt at home after yesterday's ride and I realised I'd  done the whole thing three hours with my front suspension turned off! I guess my Specialized Epic 29er doesn't need it.

IMAGINE – a wide, flat, 18km, car-free loop in Singapore for the sole purpose of cycling. Such a fantasy would have something for every type of rider, from the recreational foldie enthusiasts and family groups, to the weekend warriors and hard-core racers.

We're not talking about bike paths or park connectors, which while providing a service, are hampered by pedestrians and road crossings, and aren't really suited to those that like a bit of speed. What we're dreaming about is an unbroken loop and Changi Airport would be the place to do it.

The simple imaginary route above created by following the airport's perimeter fence on mapmyride.com reveals the utopian concept.

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport has shown the way by this week opening a 23km circuit around the airport's perimeter to "encourage cyclists who want to enjoy a long ride in complete safety," according to the Bangkok Post.

Bangkok's vision: http://tinyurl.com/k68kqln

Why couldn't the same thing happen at Changi?

"All" that would need to happen would be the creation of a second fence running parallel to the existing security fence with the bike track in the middle. OK, we'll admit we haven't done our homework here, we're just thinking out load and we're guessing it would probably be impossible to follow the fence right now, even on foot. We don't really fancy facing the barrels of a few SAF guns during the reconnaissance mission. So it might well mean the odd bridge or tunnel would be required to make the loop seamless, but surely this shouldn't be too much of an obstacle?

Cyclists already ride an "airport loop", involving the Changi Coastal Road, Xilin Avenue, Upper Changi Road East and Loyang Avenue, which is obviously a stop-start affair due to intersections and traffic lights. It's a notorious circuit mainly due to the gauntlet that is Changi Coastal, so imagine being able to ride it free from the worry of death by speeding truck.

The Singapore authorities should be applauded for recognising that cycling is growing here and the inclusion of cycling infrastructure in future town planning is a step in the right direction, even if it's mostly just paths and connectors for now. But awareness of the need for more is there and earlier this month MP Irene Ng stood up in Parliament and advocated even bigger things, including the much-needed bike lanes for cycling commuters on the busy roads into the city. So we're on the right track.

It's much safer to ride the streets of Singapore than Bangkok, but the Thai capital is showing us what can be done if we think big. We recognise that Changi Airport is in the middle of an expansion, so building the perimeter bike loop might be off the cards for now. But with a bit of foresight that very expansion could create the exact opportunity to include the bike loop in the plans.

We're dreaming, we know, but dreams are for free.

Despite Singapore students routinely sitting at, or near the top of international examination rankings, the Singapore education system continues to draw a fair bit of flak from parents, even expatriate ones.

The majority of parents who are foreigners still prefer to enrol their children in international schools. Rightly or wrongly, a perception exists, especially among those families from Western countries, that the Singapore education system is too tough.

My wife and I never even considered a Singapore public school for our son, mainly because we thought we would only be here for two or three years before settling in Sydney, Australia. That was nine years ago. So after a year in a Singapore preschool, we enrolled our son at the Australian International School, where he receives what we consider to be a very good, if very expensive, education. He is 13 now, but I’ve often wondered how he would have fared at a Singapore school.

However, many expats have done more than wonder at what it would be like – they have enrolled their children in Singapore schools.

Read the full story at http://bit.ly/1mpzLQh

The new fast course for the New Moon Khcycle MetaSprint Series Duathlon at the F1 Pit building hosted some scintillating racing on 16 March, with James Middleditch and Kathryn Haesner emerging as the men's and women's champs respectively.

The elite athletes started the day's business at 6am and the pace was blistering from the onset of the opening 3km run leg, with the field quickly strung out. A trio of Middleditch, Clifford Scott and teenage superstar Bret Izzo were responsible for the damage and such was the pace set, by the 1km mark they already had a significant gap over the rest. They stayed tightly together for most of the run but a closing spurt from Middleditch gave him an edge as they approached T1. Izzo and Scott, had quicker transitions, though, and the three were together again as they rolled onto the F1 track for the 20km cycling leg. A third of each 5km bike lap took place on the Singapore Grand Prix circuit, which gave the competitors the thrill of treading where Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Co race every September.

Go to http://metasprintseries.com/race-report03202014.php to read the full report

You think the rush-hour traffic where you are is difficult to negotiate on a bike? Try Colombo. And how the hell they ever thought they could hold a bike race here is beyond me, but that's the reason I'm in the Sri Lankan capital, using up an air ticket for the cancelled UWCT race from last April.

I'm here for a few days and after walking the streets of Colombo for six hours yesterday, today I hired a bike thanks to a last-minute contact made via my friend Struan at Bangkok's famous and fabulous Spice Roads bike tours outfit. Thanks for that mate.

The dude who rented me the bike, and I have to describe him as a dude, is a South African named Peter who arrived in Colombo 20 years ago and just stayed. He lives in what's known as Western Colombo and so I had to rent a hotel service vehicle and driver to get me the 25km to his place. I found  him among some 100 bikes of different shapes and sizes that he utilizes for a variety of bike tours. It seems like it's out in the sticks to be honest, so I was surprised to find he also has a shop selling brand new Trek bikes and various bits and bobs of equipment.

Peter was preparing for a tour later in the day into the heartland of the country but he took time out to sort me with an alu Trek 29er that had been fitted with "slicks" rather than knobby tyres. With the bike he printed off a couple of Google Maps, drew some markings and words and suggested I head north to and beyond the town of Negombo. So that's what I did. And it turned out to be one of the more memorable days I've spent in the saddle. I got lost a few times just trying to negotiate the outskirts of Colombo and find my way north, but that's all part of the pleasure of exploring on a bike.

Eventually after 90 minutes or so, though, I found myself riding within metres of the Indian Ocean on a narrow spit of land that stretches northwards for some 30km to the town of Negombo. To the left was a lagoon, but like with the sea, I hardly saw it the while way up; I could hear huge waves crashing into the beach, but huge dunes protected the narrow road, while the lagoon was hidden on the right by vegetation.

The very pleasant ride to Negombo was marked by two distinct features that stuck me as odd. The first was the overwhelming Christianity of the area, with churches and murals of Jesus and especially Mary everywhere. Cross-filled graveyards opted up everywhere, including one built on a sand dune. A bit of post-ride research revealed that this area of the overwhelmingly Buddhist east of Sri Lanka was heavily converted by the Portuguese during their time as the colonial power back in the 1600s and it stuck.

The second element I found quite strange was that for about the final 25km to Negombo, there was a continuous string of what I can only call as homesteads. There were no towns or villages, but there were no gaps between houses and attached land either. I kept looking for a "wild" clump of trees or bit of unfenced wasteland for a nature break but one never materialized. Yet I hardly saw a soul in these houses.

Humanity came back with a big bounce as I neared Negombo, a town built around various channels feeding off the huge lagoon to the sea. Ships and boats of various shapes and sizes abounded everywhere and I lost count of the number of bridges I crossed.

I arrived in Negombo at about 1pm starving and very parched from riding for three hours in a blazing sun. The place was mobbed for the lunchtime rush and all the schools seemed to be getting out just as I pulled into Dodge. This made for a very colourful and friendly scene; I can't even guess how many times I said "hello" and answered "I come from Scotland".

I wolfed down a scrumptious rice and curry lunch from one of local "hotels", which don't have any rooms. I haven't done the research yet, but from my marathon walk the previous day I had ascertained that simple restaurants are all called "hotel".

Newly nourished I continued north for an hour or so, just exploring and enjoying the ramble. Eventually I turned back as I wanted to try and avoid the Colombo rush hour, but a few wrong turns here and there meant I hit town slap bang in the middle of the vehicular quagmire.

There was a sort of ordered chaos to it all, though. The Lankans have definitely got things working a bit better than their "cousins" to the north in some of India's big cities, and so I never felt in any real danger, although I had to have my wits about me. The traffic cops were out doing there thing at most of the big junctions and the drivers seemed to accept the long waits for their turn to move forward without a grumble. And they waited in a strange silence. Driving in Sri Lanka seems to involve a constant honking of the horn while in motion, yet the beeps fell silent when it was obvious they were going nowhere.

It was dreadfully slow, though. Even being able to weave in and out only got me so far and I was beginning to worry I wouldn't reach my hotel in daylight. I knew roughly where I was going as my plan was to head east until I hit the sea then south. But heaving markets, a huge mass of humanity and what seemed like an enormous conurbation of bus stations resulted in a few more wrong turns  that had going in the wrong direction just as the light started to fade.

It was all part of the adventure, and eventually I spotted the impressive old colonial buildings of the Fort area and from there I weaved my way to the Galle Face Green, Colombo's front garden, where thousands of people gather nightly to fly kites, watch the huge waves pound into the sea walls and eat from the plethora of tasty and weird snacks on offer. I pulled into my digs, the once and future grand Galle Face Hotel (it's undergoing an extensive and extremely slow renovation), absolutely knackered but very satisfied from my days work.

I need to return the bike to the western outskirts in the morning but my drive out there today revealed some interesting areas and roads to explore, including the fortress-like parliament built isolated in the middle of big lake. I guess that's a legacy of this country's not-so-distant history with war. Even though the peace seems to be holding, there are gun-totting soldiers everywhere in the capital.

I plan to at least ride right round the lake and then there's the possibility of another two-wheeled adventure in the southern city of Galle in the afternoon. Or maybe I'll just spend the day eating more of this country's delicious food.