19 July is a special day. It's the Viruses' birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TEAM SPEEDVIRUS!!!

TSV has come a long way - for 2 years, amidst difficulties and persecution, we slogged, trained, planned and persevered. We survived! We see more commitment, better timings, more skating events and of course a brand new image of our cool website - kudos to our Webmaster. Most of all, we enjoyed our comradeship, friendship and fellowship :)

The birthday party was at Costa Sands Resort at East Coast Park. Viruses went about setting up the props for the evening. After all the preparation, there was still time for our Vis Skate along the coast. The sun was shining extra bright and the sea breeze rolled in the BBQ fragrance of the picnickers along the beaches. It was a beautiful Saturday to be by the beach... With family, good friends and sumptuous food...

As we were dashing down the coast, there was a group of fitness skaters who spotted us and started to pace behind us. After the seafood restaurant stretch, I sprinted off with our lead cyclist, other viruses and those skaters hot behind my wheels. I sped between the crowds making sure that it was not too fast as the Saturday crowd was dense. After about 1 km, one of the skaters was still sticking right behind me, so I decided to pick up the speed and was putting some distance between us.

Suddenly, I saw a pack of people scattered across the path, immediately I engaged my T-stop and shouted out to alert the rest. Hainz.... Cyclist down :( Good thing we have our armour on. That's ECP on a Saturday - certainly not time for speed skating.

Back at the resort, Viruses, friends and supporters started flocking in. Music in the air, food on the table, desserts in the fridge, skates on the floor, dry ground everywhere - what more can we ask for?

A nice warm feeling tickles as I watch the Viruses gather together downing otak, curry chicken, bak gua, garlic chicken, beehoon, soft sandwiches, fish balls, ice-creams, jellos... Some rushed down from work, from church, from appointments - reminisce of a family all coming home after a hard day's work. Gathering together, munching good food and sharing the adventures of the day.

Award presentation is always a highlight. As I truly believe: If you want the timing, you must put in the effort.

Congratulations to ALL the Viruses! Each and every one is a winner. Being the first in Singapore to start Individual/Team Time Trials in 2001, it is comforting to see Viruses working hard to achieve better results each time. It is encouraging to see the pride and joy of the team's effort, loyalty and commitment. Special congratulations to the Top Scorers for the Men's, Women's and Junior Events. Kudos to the gals and dudes!! Hip Hip Hurray!!!

TIME TO SKATE!!! The kids were totally elated and were jumping up and down. "I wanna skate... I wanna skate..." little Apple was heard chirping. "Daddy go get the skates now..." The darling "twins" went.

Up the jetty they went, enjoying the breeze, the cool air, the aroma of the BBQ. Park users with kids driving bikes without license are of course a taboo. Our madcow with supper quick reflexes jumped out of the way and rolled for about 10m on the grass patch - that's impressive! Baby Virus chiong with the adults all the way to Fort Road without missing a beat.

Okee... Orchard here we come!!! High energy Viruses just couldn't wait. It's almost as if they haven't skated in months!

At about midnight, about a dozen Viruses chiong round town. They didn't even bother about their regular dessert stop, didn't even ask for water stop, didn't even wanna talk - they just wanna skate!!!

Up the hills and round the bends. Through the tunnels and down the slopes. From 5-wheels speed boots to 4-wheels lokok skates. The Viruses just went on and on. It's almost as if they were in a trance. Conquering one hill after another, they kept on going. With each passing hour, the Viruses felt more energized. They just didn't wanna stop. "Must be the food tonight - this is not normal." At 3.00am, Viruses finally reached Newton for a juice stop. Ahhhh... Just what we needed. Our 2 bamboo Viruses still can't stop. They kept the spectators entertained by doing their hip hop rolls and jelly dances. Kool!!

One more place to hit - the F1 circuit!! It's dark, it's dangerous, it's rough and it's exciting!!! The racers in their Ferraris and Lamborghini's were worried for us. They high-beamed, low beamed, honked and waved. Viruses went round in a punishing pace. This IS skating!!! Wowwwwww!!! The skaters were dripping wet from their sweat as a single bottle of H2O was passed round. Yippeeeeee!!! By now, I finally see some fatigue in their faces.

Back at the Esplanade, while some Viruses set up cones to do their stunts, others went round practicing their waltz jump and crosses. All these at 5 am!!! You Viruses are mad!!!

It's been a truly beautiful day. :) A million thanks to all the friends, supporters, families, chefs, photographers, videographers for making this possible. Until next time - GO VIRUSES GO!!!