On my first ride with TA, almost everyone went by a nickname, so I thought "gosh...better think of one for me-self! Then someone enlightened me on the fact that if I hung around long enuf, I would be bestowed an alias sooner or later. So here I am, hoping to chalk enough miles with TA to "earn" a nickname. In the meantime, I still go by the name Adrian.

I work in an Internet security firm. If I had to describe what I do for a living, it would probably be BSBH (Bao1 Sua1 Bao1 Hai4...everything also do), cos my duties cover a range of functions, from sales to business development to marketing to security to...you name it. If I had a choice of jobs, I'd rather while away my time either as a tennis coach (my other love) or perhaps a Mavic mechanic at the major races around the world.

Cycling is kinda like a tradition in my family, my uncle had a Tomahawk (looks like a mini Chopper) which was passed to my elder bro, then handed down to me and eventually to my younger bro. It had real sentimental value cos I took it everywhere, to school, to tuition, to the park and survived many crashes with it. Later on as I got bigger a Chopper replaced my Tomahawk but I never grew attached to it as what I really wanted then was a BMX, which was the rage back then. Some other bikes that have passed through my hands include:

1. Camel racer (which I crashed into the back of a stationary motorbike on rainy day)
2. Kona Hahana (which was stolen)  

Current bikes:

1. 1999 Giant CFR
2. Peugeot hardtail

The one person who really influenced me to ride was my dad. He was the one who held my bike as I transitioned from 4 wheels to 2 wheels, made me ride a full sized racer when I was only 12, and bought me my last bike before I became financially independent. Recently I've come to regard Lance Armstrong as somewhat of an inspiration, pushing me to try longer distances and harder slopes.

My dream road bike is a carbon racer that weighs less than the UCI

race-legal weight of 6.8 kg. It'll probably cost a BOMB, so that's why it'll probably remain a dream, although I heard Giant's new carbon TCR frame can potentially be built, with careful parts selection, into a UCI-defying 13lb (5.9kg) bike. Currently don't have a dream mountain bike cos I don't ride much on the rough stuff.  

The best advice I ever received was to get a pair of SPDs...after that, cycling was never the same again. The only advice I ever gave out was to learn to use the gear shifts...some of my friends fail to see that riding is a little like driving, use a lower gear to move off and for slopes, and a higher gear to hit top speed. I always wonder why they'd want to suffer using the same gear for the entire journey.

My best cycling moment is probably not unique...it's each time I lock onto the back wheel of the guy I'm trying to catch. The worst moments come when the wind is blowing like hell in my direction and I'm wondering why the hell I'm doing this.

My best bike related purchase was new Giant TCR that I bought for my wife while in Taiwan for reservist. Saved a couple of hundred bucks and got my wife to realize the joys of cycling at the same time. Prior to that her experience of cycling was with a few crappy bikes so I could never get her to understand why cycling was so fun. Ironically my worst bike-related purchase was also the same bike...I got it in a hurry on my last day in Taiwan and it ended up a little too big for my wife. However, with a really short stem and straight seatpost, I managed to get it to fit. I hope to right this wrong someday and get her a better fitting ride.

My best non-bike related purchase was and is the apartment in Boon Lay that I call "home". Don't really have a worst purchase...just bad ones but too many to mention.