12 years after first OCBC Cycle, Dana Sim gets to ride with dad in ST 20km race
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Civil servant David Sim and his daughter Dana Sim have been participating in OCBC Cycle since Dana was three.
ST PHOTO: SYAMIL SAPARI
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – The first bicycle Dana Sim rode when she was three was a pink balancing bike, followed by a green one with training wheels. There was also a purple bike with a basket but these days, the 15-year-old rides a mountain bike.
The bicycles may have changed but Dana’s love for the sport has not.
“I went from putting the tricycle in the car, to putting a small bicycle at the back of the car. And now the bicycle is placed on top of the car,” said her father David Sim, 52, reflecting on his daughter’s journey in cycling.
In May, the teenager will graduate to the next stage of that journey when she participates in the OCBC Cycle’s The Straits Times 20km City Ride.
David and Dana first took part in the event when she was just three years old, an experience that he still has fond memories of. He admitted that he used to feel lonely when he was teaching his daughter how to cycle, as he rarely saw other dads doing so. That changed at their first Kids & Family Ride.
“At the flag-off, I was able to see so many fathers, so many families with their children all in little tricycles. It still gives me goosebumps,” said the civil servant.
It became a tradition for the father-daughter pair to take part in the event every year, although Dana stopped for a few years after she turned nine as she did not find it challenging enough.
She had to wait years in order to participate in the 20km ride as only those 13 and above can do so. In 2021, Dana was unable to compete as the OCBC Cycle was turned into a virtual event owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. A year later, she fell sick the night before the race and had to pull out at the last minute.
She said: “I was really excited for it. I was like, I can finally join the adult category, I’m so grown up now. But when I fell sick, everyone was disappointed. I was really bummed out that I wasn’t able to join him (her father) in something that we could bond over.”
She will finally get her chance in May, with her dad adding that “third time’s the charm”.
Aside from family bonding time, cycling has also taught Dana life lessons such as perseverance.
She said: “There’s no car driving next to you while cycling, so when we fall, we still have to get up and cycle home.”
For David, the health aspects are important as he used to be overweight before taking up the sport.
The family go cycling and camping during overseas holidays and Dana, a Secondary 3 student at Methodist Girls’ School, also picked up kayaking in 2020 and now trains five days a week. Two weeks ago, she was selected for the national junior canoeing team.
David said: “Once you have children, you become more aware of your health because now you’re responsible for their lives. So my wife and I made it a point for our children to have a healthier lifestyle. So we got involved in cycling. It was very important to us.”
Their enthusiasm for cycling has certainly rubbed off on Dana, who is raring to go and looking forward to joining her father in his yearly habit of waking up before the crack of dawn to do the ride, and then joining a group of friends to eat prata afterwards.
She said: “I always felt jealous, like I was missing out. It’s really special for me because I’m finally able to do this with my dad.”
Registration for the May 6-7 event is still open at register.ocbccycle.com.
