Love for bikes helps OCBC Cycle participant through toughest moments in his life

SINGAPORE – Tucked in a corner of Jason Loo’s apartment in the West Coast of Singapore is a workshop stocked with an array of tools and four bicycles.

Another four bikes he built himself sit on the balcony, with four more parked in the condominium’s basement.

There is no doubt that the 24-year-old loves bicycles, but cycling is more than just a hobby for him. It has been a source of comfort and stability through some of the toughest moments of his life.

His passion for cycling began in 2016, when he bought a mountain bike from a shop opposite his secondary school as an outlet to cope with the bullying he experienced.

It started with short rides of 2km between home and school, and developed into longer journeys of 10 to 15km.

He said: “My first outlet was actually gaming, but it was so unhealthy to the point that I started gaming from 8am to 8pm, and then I would sleep for two to three hours before gaming some more until the next morning.

“So my parents got very worried and confiscated my laptop and I really didn’t know what to do. One day when I was coming back from school, I saw the bike shop uncle and I had some spare cash so I thought I would buy a bike.”

The following year, he bought a seven-speed road bike with $500 he had saved by cutting back on his meal expenses.

As his interest grew, he did longer distances before venturing into racing.

Then, a serious accident in 2020 ended his competitive cycling ambitions.

While training alone at 4am on a dimly lit road in Lim Chu Kang, he crashed into a truck.

The accident damaged his bicycle and left Loo with fractures to his ribs, spine, neck and shoulder blade.

“That was quite a serious injury, but I decided not to give up on cycling because it was my outlet for my social life and I got a lot of support from the friends I made in the cycling club during the accident,” said Loo, who also credited his family and friends from his church for their support.

“I decided to take it easy, not do anything serious and let my body recover.”

Two years later, his love for bicycles helped him when his then girlfriend – who is now his wife – became pregnant.

To support his family, Loo, a second-year polytechnic student at that time, worked as a bike mechanic and did Grab deliveries while completing an internship.

“I did not have much time for leisurely rides, but I was very deep into servicing bikes because as a bicycle mechanic I would go door to door to fix bicycles,” said Loo, who now works as a technician at semiconductor firm Micron Technology.

“I got to service all kinds of bicycles, so the love for bicycles never ended even though cycling as a sport had to be put on hold for a while.”

He occasionally joins his club, the West Coast Riders, for rides and recently began cycling from his home to his office in Kallang whenever possible.

While the 20km commute each way is not always easy, he now has more flexibility after winning a Brompton C Line bike worth $3,100 in a giveaway contest jointly organised by OCBC Cycle and The Straits Times.

With his new foldable bike, Loo, who participated in his fourth OCBC Cycle on May 10, can cover part of the journey by bike and the remainder by public transport.

On what keeps him returning for the event, he said: “Being able to cycle on the expressway is one of the main reasons and it also provides a safe environment for not just myself, but my wife and sister to cycle, especially when we are not very comfortable on the road with the usual traffic.

“There’s also the community – when you feel the spirit of everybody there and seeing everybody so happy, that’s one of the main reasons to keep coming back.”