With our busy schedule of handling recruits at the BMTC, it seemed like a crazy idea to propose an expedition for the Singapore Armed Forces Adventure Training Award. However, the autonomy given to us as commanders allowed us to concurrently plan, train for, and finally execute a cycling expedition in Australia in July 2012.
The BMTC team - comprising Master Sergeant (MSG) Lawrance Poh Eu Peng, Staff Sergeant (SSG) Huang Jianling, 1st Sergeant (1SG) Mohammad Jufri and myself - left Singapore on 15 Jul 2012. The plan was to cycle from Melbourne to Sydney, covering about 140km a day over a period of eight days.
But we realised on the first day of cycling that we had bitten off more than we could chew, so instead of going for the distance, we had a time-based cut-off, cycling for a maximum of eight hours a day.
Although we knew that Australia would be cold and that the terrain would be hilly, nothing could have prepared us for the journey. With the number of ups and downs we went through, it felt as though we were taking an elevator!
We also had to deal with the unfamiliar cold weather. You would think that after going uphill at 6kmh, we would relish going down at 60kmh. But when the cold wind hits your face, tears would well up, making it difficult to see. And when you saw the next hill, you'd just start crying again!
At the end of each day, getting to a park with hot showers became a safety requirement. One night, it was so cold that I thought I was going to get frostbite. I ended up taking a hot shower at 2am just to stop shivering.
This expedition showed me what fighting spirit is truly about. We could have simply taken the easy way out as we had nothing to prove, yet we pressed on.
Discipline never meant so much - how we dutifully chowed down energy bars, bread and water during our various breaks; woke early to eat a proper breakfast and swallowed vitamins; or got all our equipment ready for the move out each morning.
It was truly an unforgettable trip. One that none of us would ever wish to do again but will always remember!
"Discipline never meant so much - how we dutifully chowed down food and water during breaks; woke early to eat a proper breakfast and swallowed vitamins; or got all our equipment ready for the move out each morning."
- CPT Fong
