Ran-dom

People who experience it most talk about it least. I have friends who always ride like they’ve just bought their bicycle and they barely post about it.

I’ve dropped a 1k bill today. I hope the guy who found it isn’t into drugs or I’d be part of the crime. Don’t ask where I’ve lost it. If I did I wouldn’t have lost it, right?

One of this week’s hot issues is the cutting of trees by SM Baguio for its expansion. The management recently denied it, saying they’d just “ball it out.” Thanks to Wikipedia and its non-blackout today, I found out it means they are just digging up the trees and move them somewhere else. Mallers and trees don’t mix, it seems. They did this same thing at Plaza Independencia here in Cebu. I don’t really care, I just need an excuse to post this photo.

Regardless of “cutting off” or “balling out” trees, it still means the same to environmental "advocates": them pips are messing around with nature and it is a bad, bad stuff to do. But in legal stuff, how you put things on paper matter a lot. Okay, “cutting off” and “balling out” are totally different. But let’s go into this related issue of semantics since I haven’t really applied what I’ve learned in college and I’d like to take this opportunity…Actually, laziness just struck me so I’ll just say our case in point would be the insurance dispute on the world trade center attack(s). Do the Google work for me.

The Boss and I had a 6-day trip to Luzon last year and despite being short, we’ve been to a lot of places and I can’t seem to finish posting the photos. If being trigger happy on a camera could kill, we’ve officially committed Holocaust.

If you want to see what beauty contests look like in the ‘60s, go to the Victory Liner Terminal in Baguio. It’s just along Session Road extension. They also have lots of photos of old school buses. They’re really cool. Reminds me a lot of my childhood in Bukidnon. I used to see a lot of Chevrolet trucks with their stout masculine noses haul sugar cane.

My first attempt at being a lolcat.

Strangling the Immortal.

Volkswagen at Tam-awan Village. Time hitched a ride on this one.

It's a little too late to submit your entry now.

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.