Meet Georgienne Lee (@gleeonwheels) – the energetic force behind Singapore’s JOURN cycling brand. In this Culture Series installment, the self-proclaimed “overachiever” takes us through her accidental COVID-cyclist origin story, why launching a brand felt like “a bit of a mad gamble”, and how Singapore’s 5AM riding culture breeds both tranquility and connection. In this piece, Georgienne proves cycling is where community, fashion and creative freedom collides.

The lack of travel from my previous job, boredom and my partner-in-crime. I got so bored of being cooped up at home during Covid’s social exclusions and wanted to get into something new to stimulate my mind. I figured since I didn’t know how to cycle and there were all these rental bikes lying around, I should finally try cycling.

Always do your best, go all-in, and think out-of-the-box; I make sure what I’m doing is allowing me to have that element of fun. This translates into JOURN’s community events as well. At the end of a long day out, people need to feel good and leave with a sense of: “That was a fun thing to do!”.

I’m born and raised in Singapore, a very tiny island where you can do a round-island ride in about 4-5 hours. It’s a flat country, with only very small hills and slopes, so we tend to suffer bigtime when we go overseas to ride in the mountains! But there are pockets around Singapore that I really enjoy riding through, like the farmlands in the Northwest or some green areas in the South. We’re also probably some of the earliest risers in the world; we start our rides around 5am on weekdays and 6am on weekends just to avoid the traffic and hot sun, and because most people have to go to work or have family commitments in the day. But I do enjoy the quiet peaceful mornings when there’s no one out there except you and your friends, there’s a certain tranquility and sense of achievement in that.

Being in Singapore, you’ll also see a lot of “super bikes” around. Everyone is riding their super bikes and I can see why it can get a little intimidating for new cyclists. The blackhole of the newest, shiniest gears and parts runs deep.

To date, the launch of JOURN in April 2024 is my best achievement. It was three years in the making (although I’d originally hoped to get there in half the time). It was the product of a lot of sleepless nights two to three months prior as well as after, but it was worth it.

I launched with 54 SKUs over a three day event which in hindsight was a bit mad, but we got a whole lot of coverage and hype around the launch that reached all the way to the West. It was insane and really fulfilling when you finally see over 100 people attend the launch and group rides each day. I never felt so proud of an RSVP list before! Cycle Project Store (where we held our launch) was fully packed to the brim with both media, high profile riders as well as the local community and overseas friends. It was very heartwarming to see the support everyone rendered.

Hands down, the mountains. Funny because I’m typically a beach-goer but when it comes to riding, something about the mountains and pedalling at your own pace around through incredible scenery that switches on a different mindset and gets the creative juice flowing.

With the brand, it literally consumes me haha both on and off the bike. I deal with cycling everyday! I do try to keep my personal cycling time separate from work though, because cycling is and will always be the best mental escape for me. Off the bike, it gave me a lot of new and great friendships that I’ve kept to this day. We tend to travel together with our bikes too!

My first pair of QUOC’s were gravel shoes because I was then getting into gravel and QUOC makes really nice gravel shoes. I was also a sucker for pink shoes as pink is considered like a really sought-after colour in biking for some reason. Then I got to listen to Quoc Pham’s podcast on Cycling Fashion Week and found his story really interesting. About a year later, I saw that there was a huge improvement in their road shoes and they really listened to customer feedback when developing shoes. I liked that kind of ethos from a brand.

It brings people from different walks of life together and it brings me to places I would never imagine going. One thing I wished people knew about cycling culture is that riding on the road is actually not intimidating if done with the right group of people, and that there’s nothing shameful or embarrassing about riding in lycra (non-cycling friends I’m looking at you!)


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