OCBC Cycle 2024: The 40km Sportive Ride Review

More than 6,200 took to the roads last Sunday for the OCBC Cycle mass rides from the Singapore Sports Hub, matching last year’s in-person participation record.

The newly introduced mass participation category, the 40km Foldie Ride by Brompton, was sold out in the first month of registration. The 40km Sportive Ride category was sold out more than a week before registration closed.

I took part in the Sportive Ride which flagged off at 5am in the morning.

I reached the Sports Hub at around 4am. It was already crowded when I got there. I made my way towards the start pen, and found myself queuing to be let into the start pens. I was in wave B which had a 4:30am admission time.

The start pens were pretty crowded as there were lots of people taking part in the event.

Just after 5am, the Sportive Ride was officially flagged off. My wave was flagged off at 5:15am.

The route was beautiful. It was a once-annual opportunity to cycle on closed roads in Singapore and we were taken from the Sports Hub through the Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay, West Coast Highway and the Benjamin Sheares Bridge before finishing inside the iconic National Stadium.

I really enjoyed the route. The first part was dark but the street lamps were good and kept the paths illuminated. The constant rolling hills at West Coast were a challenge but nothing too difficult for me to manage.

When the sunrise emerged, I was at the right place right time; at this point I was cycling up the Benjamin Sheares Bridge. Capturing the scenic moments from the top of the bridge with the Singapore Flyer and the ArtScience Museum down below was really stunning and I spent some time there soaking up and enjoying the scenery before heading back down.

The ride was very well organised too – so kudos to OCBC for that. There were cones to cordon off the route and marshals present, to ensure that we went in the correct direction. The marshals were at hand and there were also signages to warn us of sharp turns or downhills along the route so that we could prepare to slow down accordingly. These measures are good for our safety.

There were three water stations along the way serving bottles of water and 100PLUS, including one rest stop complete with toilets located at the West Coast Highway u-turn point.

Through the 40km ride, it was such a humid morning that I ended up downing two full 500ml bottles of 100PLUS along the way, slowly sipping it and carrying the bottle as I went along. I’m thankful that the drink was ice-cold, making it super refreshing.

Unfortunately the toilet queues at the pit stop looked so long though that I chose to tahan and wait till the end of the ride to relieve myself. Luckily it wasn’t too urgent.

Cycling into the National Stadium was also special and I also enjoyed this part of the ride.

We picked up our finisher medals and a bottle of drink at a booth located inside the Stadium before we were quickly ushered out to prevent overcrowding.

There was a long queue to take a finisher photo with a giant inflatable bicycle inside the stadium but I decided that the wait for this photo wasn’t really worth it.

The walk out to the OCBC Square, where the event carnival was located, was interesting. We were led through the carpark, before cutting through Kallang Wave Mall. They had literally opened up the mall for us to cross and there was even a walkway lined with a red carpet for us to walk through. This experience was definitely a first, I must say!

The event carnival consisted of plenty of laughter and good atmosphere, free bananas and ice blocks, as well as a game booth and merchandise booths to buy cycling gear and sunglasses. I won myself a plush toy at the game booth! It was also great catching up with my friend and her mates, they had also taken part in the ride.