Trail Ride

"It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not drop," says Confucius, or my misquoted version of him.

I have neglected biking for nearly a year. My silicone rubber grips are all peeled out, rust circles the headset, my bottom bracket is 5mm longer than it is supposed to be (so the chain keeps falling off), and my bike does not have a front derailleur. This may sound all alien to you if you do not know much about bicycles but let us just say that my bike is only a partial bike. But I have rediscovered my love for mountain biking in my bike's incompleteness. Soon, it will be whole again and hopefully, I will be riding on disk brakes.

But I could not care much. It still holds itself together. That is what I cherish for now.

...

I often digress in my writing and so do I in riding. I often get led into stray turns. I just follow them, there is time to spend and energy to waste. I was supposed to do a rigorous cardio routine yesterday when my trail lust got the better of them.

This trail used to be a wide path used by the quarry trucks of a company called Ultima. They ceased operation more than ten years ago when their permit got rebuked by the DENR.

What I did yester is not exactly trail mountain biking. I call it dua-trek. Or dual-trekking. I don't know, I have not decided yet. I am looking for something that sounds blendy but the whole idea is this: to do this new sport, you have to find a track that is not wholely rideable. You should be carrying your bike at least 30% of the way. That is how you shift from mountain biking to trekking.

If I would be generous, I would say only 60% of yesterday's trail was navigable by bike. The rest sucks. Dua-trek is not really fun. I just make it an excuse to carry my bike. Somehow, it is fulfilling at the end. Must be because all the back pain was ended at the bottom.

The trail head has an elevation of 665 feet. You lose 500+ feet when you reach the bottom. Expect rocks, steep descents, and nice people to greet you. (Or are they fairies?) Trail map is here if you are curious.


View from the top. Trail ends near the empty farm land.

On the Tire Tracks of a Legend

Last Monday, I browsed through Google Earth. A noticed a number of pictures of some of the least biked parts in Cebu. They were taken by Ronnie Muring. Ronnie is a well-respected cyclist and adventurer. I first knew of him when he posted a comprehensive map of all the biking trails in Central Cebu and some of its southern and northern parts. Today, I went to the roller coaster route he travelled two years ago.

It was saddening to see that the place is not as beautiful as it was. It was quarried like hell. There is no fun way to say it. The uphills, although they are not that steep, have become unrideable. The stones are rocks were very loose and the ruts are so deep you could be buried in them. I did discover a new single track route. It was a good diversion.

If there is one good I found out about this trip, it's that Kenda TJ Dred Tread 1.8 is a reliable tire after all. There were a good number of sections where I could not see the ground because of the huge grass and shrubs and whatever those ground plants are called. Dred Tread gripped better than expected and has great braking power. Definitely not as awesome as my 2.35 Prowler and 2.60 Kinetics. Because it is good all-around, it is not awesome at anything.

Diversion starts here.

Danao Golf Course - Run with the Boss

Unless they are being chased by a rapist or a dog, people should not be running. I have never been really fond of the sport. Not that I demean it. I think runners are great. And of all the sports, running has the highest population density of hot chicks. In cycling, you cannot find one hot chick in every 500. If you do, she is married to a guy who has the torso of a body builder and the killer instinct of a navy seal. You don't really wanna get near that kind of chick. But if you join any “fun run” here in Cebu, chicks are flooding like a sudden downpour of hot girls has just hit the city. I could not generalize but that is what I saw when I joined the Run for Melinda. (Excuse me Melinda, I really meant to run for you. I admire you a lot.)

So where was I leading? Yeah, runners are great athletes and human beings. But I do not want to be one. That is the whole point. This is the toughest part of blogging: being coherent. A guy who is used to everything fast-paced thinks the same way as a liquid substance: we never follow a route. Give as anything to flow through and we are there. I could never stick to one topic. Do I have ADHD? Sadly, I am too old to get special attention for whatever it is that I have. So far, I am managing well. When I bike, I just keep my eyes on the road and my mind can wander anywhere else. I leave safety and accident avoidance to reflex.

As I was saying, running can get monotonous. Imagine doing the same thing for 2 hours at a time. Drives you crazy. Running is only fun when there are lots of people around. I had a great time though during my runs. At the Run for Melinda, my friends Mary Ann and James stole water from the water station of the other running event which fell on the same schedule. There are lots of fun times but let’s go back to the point.

Anyway, I have run at least four times. I notice there are veteran runners who still run 3K. Seriously, they are like Michael Schumacher riding a bump car. Grow old people. Do not milk running events. If you guys wanna make money, at least get some dignity out of it. Do not race with children, first-timers, and people trying to get into shape while having a fun time.

This blog post is about the Danao run we had 11.11.11. Let us go back. So it was fun. That is all I could say. Twice the boss beat me. One during a downhill run and the next on an uphill sprint. That made me more determined to practice harder. Well, I don’t run a lot. I just bike and hope that my air tank gets full so I would have enough for running. Does not work well, actually. Riding in order to run. Biking leaves little work for the lower leg hurts and the thighs get too swollen so running becomes more difficult. But I have no choice. I love mountain biking more than any other sport. And my parents know I have tried a lot.

Venue: Danao Golf Course, Danao City, Cebu
First part was shot at the new Danao City Park, just near the port for Camotes
Here are maps from my Picasa, if you are into those sort of things.

Mabini-Agsungot Time Warp

I feel like my eyes are burning wholes through my skull but that won’t stop me from doing this post. I have been out late and up early trying to squeeze everything into a tight schedule. Here is how life has been going on lately (assuming that my 3 readers per day care to know): Wake up at 5am, run or bike, take sister to school, breakfast, work (40% pointless browsing and skimming through miserable Facebook stats), How I Met Your Mother Marathons, and the daily routine I manage to squeeze in between. Acting sane, cleaning up room, and meeting The Boss are three things that are significant part of my week sked lately.

I brought up The Boss because I am really mad at her for what happened on 11.11.11. We went to Danao that day to do some running. At the start, she pretended that she was here usual self—slow. But on the downhill, she sprinted so I chased after her. Then I realized she is faster now than she was a month ago. She must be doing either two things: lots of training or drugs. Or both, which is a third and possible option. Then on the next uphill, I told her that she only beat me ‘cause she caught me off-guard. So I challenged her to a fair, start-line sprint. She beat me again. I won eventually after a number of tries but not before I’ve lost my pride. It hit: I really need to get back into shape. I know I sucked but the Danao golf course photos are awesome. Check them out.

I started training hard since yesterday. Today, I woke up at 4am so I can do more uphills on my bike. But then something out of plan happened. I will stop naming places because I bet that the .000000012% of blogging audience that visit my blog don’t have any idea where those places I mentioned are. So I will just use place-pronouns from now on. I was at doing a route that involved a loop of Places A (Liloan), B (Talamban), and C (Mabini). My starting point was Place A and I was supposed to go to Place C via Place B. After Place C I would complete a loop through a mountain route that would lead me back to Place A. This whole place-pronoun thing sucks so I’m going back to being normal.

On my way to Mabini I noticed the sound of water coming from a ravine below. I stopped and waited for a Manong who was heading my way. I asked if that river has always been there. Rivers, being rivers, will always be there. They suddenly vanish but they don’t suddenly appear. Unless you are living in one of the streets of Cebu City. Point is, that was a stupid question. Yes, the river has always been there but I go to Mabini on summer months when it is as dry as the inside of your laptop. Anyway, Manong went on to a long talk about places and Susan and her husband (I am not familiar but the last two). He finally brought up this thing about a short trail down the river which leads to a lower barangay. Agsungot, it’s called. I was not ready for a trail ride. My rear tire is bald but who cares. It was Sunday7am and I have all the time to meet an accident. The unexpected happen. I came out fine. Turns out the first part of the trail was quite intermediate. Only gets a bit tough at the last section where I did a tight curve on a steep slope three times.

Rear View Mirror

Just got home from a short bike ride, opened Facebook, and saw a friend posted this video. I haven't really won a lot of races when I was still competing. I haven't even won big ones. But the races I've joined mean more to me now that I am no longer racing. Probably because I know that I could never go back to the form that I used to have. I had the body of a guy who just came out of a concentration camp and legs that were built for someone bigger than me. I also had a hot tan back then (*winks at you).

I may join an enduro race this December that a friend proposed. But it will not be the same again. I've lost it. I'd like to get it back again but I just can't seem to find the time. I've got work, I've got a girl I want to spend more time with, and I'm addicted to "How I Met Your Mother." Feels like I have to cram my existence into a single day, everyday. But I don't mind. By the way, this guy I used to drink with at poetry readings, he's into cycling now and I enjoy sort-of-teaching him. I'd like to take some time congratulating myself for doing things that I have under-appreciated before. They are cooler to me now that I can no longer do them. Sorry past me for underestimating your achievement.


This photo is from the Kalunasan bike race. It rained before the rain, which is way dirt is flying all over.
There was no competition for first place in the Liloan race: the guy upfront was a half-lap ahead.

I was on second spot when this guy tried to drop me. He got the lead but only very shortly.

My first and only downhill race. I finished 3rd. This is a bike I borrowed before the competition, from my friend Kuroro. I raced on a hard tail.

I tried my luck at porn after racing.