LolCat in Catmon

There are certain things that I don't miss. Sanity, for instance. But there are certain things that you thought you don't miss but you really do. On my way home today I hitched with a group of triathletes as they head south. I had some friends in the group so I rode with them. I got used to riding trails so it was awfully lonely riding a 75-km stretch of highway by myself. But I got to for now.

I've hit my head against the wall several days ago and after that the slightest bump would cause a slight headache. It's kind of weird so don't make me explain how it happened. So I'm staying on the road these days, avoiding bumps as much as possible. I first planned of going all the way to the town center of Catmon but when I got to the public market of Catmon Daan I remembered that there's a nice road going up into the interior of nowhere in that place. So off I went. Photos below. Here's a map if you are interested.

      Carmen Church. This shot was taken three days before this post. They are having their own
      Sinulog tomorrow, the 22nd of January.

      If you think it's pretty scenic biking along the coast, it is. But it's freakin' windy too! You don't
      really want a lot of wind pushing you back when you're riding.

    A hairpin turn somewhere up in the mountain. My cornering was off today so I descended
    really slow.


   A farming method you will often see here in Cebu. Stone barriers are placed to prevent erosion.  This is a mountain made up mostly of limestone underneath so every bit of soil farmers
  could keep matters. Yes, there are limestone quarries in some areas.

   A small kubo which serves as the "station" where a farmer may rest after working hard
   early in the morning.

   This looks real good in actual. Wehehe.

   If you go real fast you'll plunge into the sea. I'm lying.

   Just a marker. Knowing the names of barangays and sitios is really important.

Lumiang-Sumaging Cave Connection

It's really more fun in the Philippines, that's why we stole the slogan. Anyway, here's one late post. I haven't blogged about our Lumiang-Sumaging cave trek because lately I'v been rediscovering my love for mountain biking. Love that is lost and found again is always sweeter. I have a good reason to be lazy on this blog. Nobody pays me for the hours I spend on this blog. I'd like to think I am doing humanity service with my blogging but I really don't. I am too lazy to give directions but I gladly would if you ask me for some.

I have a life that goes nowhere and a good sense of direction should make up for it. Sagada is a place rich in meaning and winding paths so I strongly suggest getting a tour guide when you go there. Sagada Genuine Guides could greatly help you with it. I don't want to spoil your trip to Sagada--your first time there will be a once in a lifetime marvel. The place is not the most scenic I have ever been to but there's a certain feeling of calm and detachment that you can only experience in Sagada. Probably it's the same feeling of being in another planet. I have taken a lot of photos but I feel that it would be a desecration to the beauty of Lumiang and Sumaging caves to post many of them. So here's just a few that I could throw out:

Just a few tips. Water flows all over the interconnected caves so unless your skin is made of rubber, you are bound to get wet. No need to wrap yourself in a ziplock either. Just get something that will keep you dry or warm when you get out of the cave. Anyway, you will keep moving so you will not feel the cold too much but when you get out of the cave, prepare to plunge from hero to zero. Just don't mind getting wet. The water feels real good you would not mind freezing yourself to death. Also, your Merrell trekking shoes will not work there. Our tour guide James suggested flipflops. They grip better. I cannot suggest any particular outfit but leggings should be in the itinerary.

James is a really great tour guide and he showed us how to pump to get to a higher place. Well, neither the Boss nor me were able to follow that stuff. Beware of the things that look easy. Finally, I would suggest going to the place right after lunch so you will have plenty of time to spare. The whole trip takes 3-4 hours but those hours will pass by like minutes. On sort of unrelated note, the food in the Cordillera Region are bland. Forgive my poor culinary vocabulary. I meant that it seemed that they do not use a lot of salt. Probably because they are far out in the mountains? Well, they have all the salt they could need right now because of improved logistics but they have continued their way of cooking their food.

***

It was evening when we got out of the cave. There were houses nearby but the town was still a 30-minute walk away. We were hungry, cold, and had fun to death. It has been raining for days and I could hear the angry rapids of the river from way below us.

Ghost Shift

So I was on my way home when I passed by a Manong who was riding his bicycle. He must have been more than 50. He was riding slow so I overtook him. I was on my granny and the third cog from the bottom so I was not really going fast. But that crazy old bitch must have been riled up by that so he overtook me and cut me off right away, shouting “lumba!” almost simultaneously. He was like really beside me when he took my line. I got angry at first but writing this I am only puzzled by the reaction. I don’t know how to begin this with but we were really going too slow to be in a race. Besides, he was too old and I’m not really the fastest cyclist around but......oh well...People can really be confusing sometimes. Anyway, this post is really about some trail I sort of discovered but I wanna talk about ghost shifting first.

 ***
Ghost shifting happens when your rear derailleur changes cogs without you touching the shifter. It’s not really that technical. Just Google “derailleur,” “cogs,” “shifter,” and you’re good to go. It’s not that serious really but if you happen to be pedaling hard and your bike ghost shifts, your ankle could end up bending in the opposite direction. It has only been two rides since I’ve conditioned my bike but the weather is quite nasty to I have check my drive train more regularly. Ghost shifting scares me from pedalling hard. One time my left knee whacked the handlebar when my bike ghost shifted while I was pedalling off the saddle. I really just have to work on my bike after dinner. I’m not Pacman, I don’t have to live with ghosts.

***
Two (completely unrelated) people have called me a fairy. Maybe I got some wings that only others could see. Anyway, I guess that’s the reason why I like to go into places that would sell well in the fairy real estate market. Here’s another one I found this afternoon. Location, location, location indeed. The trail head was off-camber so I had to walk a few paces until I got where it was rideable. There were other parts I could not ride but the rest was pretty rideable. Yes, it was pretty and it was rideable. Yay me! PS: There were dawgs though near the trail end. These are the kind of dawgs that don't respond to "what up" and they can bite pretty nastily.

Went down here. Nearing the trail end.

Mountain Bike Trails

Even mudfishes would not have survived the mud in Sibugay last Saturday. It took me a while to blog about our trail ride because I needed 6 days to recover emotionally from all that mud. It was so thick that our wheels kept getting stuck. At one point, my front wheel locked while on a steep descent and it was time once again for a Superman. (A Superman is a pseudo-bikestunt that happens when you go over the handlebar. I call it such because you just fly over the front of your bike with one or both arms stretched.) Still, Sibugay is one of the best bike trails (for me the best, actually) in Cebu that I will keep going back there.

The toughest part of the Sibugay trail last Saturday were the last two river crossings before Bonbon. The rapids were very, as the name suggests, “rapid,” that twice my bike nearly got carried downstream. With my 50-kg weight, shoes and backpack included, I could have been one for the news as well. There were about five river crossings and the last one was so strong we decided to help each other cross our bikes one by one. There were only two of us. We had some difficulty connecting the trail because of the new chicken farm that now stands in what was one of our favorite stretches in the trail. Aside from the mud, which ate up all the knobs in our tire and making it one fat and heavy slick, we also struggled with the very deep ruts caused by days of raining. (It's one of the beauty of the Sibugay trails. They keep transforming, riding a constant to-and-fro motion between beautiful and ugly.)

We did not have a lot of choice that time. If we pedaled, our gears would not work properly because of the mud stuck between their teeth and the chains. We could not push well either because our mountain bike shoes do not really grip that well (naturally, because they are not trekking shoes.) We could not carry our bikes either because the mud seemed to make them twice as heavy. In fact, hoisting them over our shoulders was already impossible. Even our rotors did not escape the anger of mud.

Arriving at the trail end in Bonbon was such a great relief. It meant lunch, paved road, water, and shade—everything in the world we could have asked for that time. Sweet, sweet Bonbon. We are even happier that some generous locals gave us some fresh water to wash our filthy selves with.

The second trail is in Taptap. It is short, but very scenic and technical—worth the looong travel from Bonbon. It passes through a sitio called Kamandagan and ends in a tiny river that feeds from very tiny cascade falls. There’s a rock garden at the trail end and it is a place where you would not want to ride without looking at what’s in front of you. I swear, there is not a sweet spot you can land on.

We had our conclusion in Kan-irag. There is a mandatory stop at this place (it’s so beautiful you just NEED to stop). Being the final trail and the easiest, this is where we would stop for half or one hour to recall the torments of the day and the previous rides.

That was one ride of a lifetime (because we will not do it again, ever!). Never try Sibugay if it’s been raining for the past days. It’s a sure kill. The rest were great. Looking forward to riding again with KidPanuhot.

 

My gaybro, as if nothing happened. He just got up after falling.

It's real. It's not scripted. I wish it was.

Avoiding a fall.

My cable tie broke. The mud was enough to prop my bike on its own.

We did this so many.....times.

Bike on top of the rider. We all know what that means.

Admiring the view from below the track.

Saved by the banana.

We kept going because it's the only way to go.

Not even the rotors and spokes were spared.

Beautiful and treacherous.

No more knobs formula.

We sped when we could, fell when we had to.

At the river, we felt like Cinderella--late for the ball but no prince charming to save us.

Frustration turns to speed.

Only looks harmless in the photo.

Taptap, the second trail. The trail was dry and the smiles were big.

This is why we rock.

We were both emotionally damaged by all that dirt. At the third trail here, Kan-irag.

We were just glad that our wheels were rolling.

From Sibugay, photo by Itchy.