How to get there:
If you search for "tampines bike park" on google maps, you will not find it. The location pins are nowhere near the place. It is along tampines ave 9, at the junction of tampines ave 7. On google maps in satellite view, you would be able to see the brown meandering trails set upon the untouched patches of green, surrounded by construction sites and HDB flats. Thats it!
When I was at the entrance, I thought it was some closed up area and I was tempted to believing that the actual trail is the small rocky part on the right on the entrance. But I was entirely wrong. I think most people would have the same thinking since the mountain biking scene in Singapore isn't really developed and no one would expect a nice gated entrance to a bike trail. Especially so when Mandai's Track 15 requires one to crawl under a gate with a keep-off sign.
Upon entering, there is a sign in/out booth which reminds me of guard duty during my army days.
What facilities are there:
Normally, bike trails have 0 amenities. You get there, you ride, you get out. But this bike park left me very surprised. There are quite a few porta toilets, a big parking area that is free and the best part is, they have a place to wash our bikes! The only place that has these 3 facilties that I know of are golf courses. These are places where people pay shit loads of money to enter, but this bike park is completely free. I have no idea who is paying for all these, but I hope it lasts!
The ride:
If you have ridden in Pulau Ubin's Ketam Bike Park, you will be in familar grounds. There are many routes to take and they are clearly demarcated according to their difficulty levels. My friend fell at a blue square grade trail for beginners. Clearly, it is not a walk in a park.
There is also a separate area for bike trials. The route looked really awesome with all the humps and curves. Would love to ride through the course if only my front brake cable didn't went loose when I was there.
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