Musuan Peak

I didn't know until now (until I went online) that Musuan Peak is an active volcano. If I did, I wouldn't have gone there. I know the possibility of it erupting is very remote, but any possibility no matter how remote is still a possibility.

I went to Musuan Peak to visit my uncle Dante who works in one of the communication towers there. Actually, it was to get his mountain bike. I didn't bring my bicycle here in Bukidnon and my earthly survival is hugely dependent on having a bicycle.

My uncle picked me up at this place along the highway called Philippine Carabao Center at CMU. It's somewhere around this place, just paste this at GoogleMaps so life will be easier 7.876943,125.069518. There isn't a single carabao inside the Carabao Center which defeats the purpose, but they sell lots of really fresh milk so I guess that makes up for it.

The trail to Musuan Peak is really mossy and I don't know how my cunle manages to go up and down that place on a motorbike with road tires. He's real good at it, I guess.

There are two trails that lead up to the summit. One is the fire road, or the main road if you may. There are huge ruts that crisscross the road, which makes the road a great place for recreation and accidents. This is the road that most students from Central Mindanao University take whenever they go up for recreation or research. Or recreational research. Tree branches canopy most of the road so mosses grow all over it (no, not the biblical mosses). Mossses and mountain bike tires are like magnets with the same charge, so if you are going down that trail might as well bring your insurance card with you. Or just be careful, I think being careful is a better idea.

The other trail is the footpath. You have to cross the fire road every now and then but as long as you follow the line, you'll reach the top. There are no houses in the area for the only trail that leads to somewhere is the one that leads to the top. There's a ten-peso fee at the gate, proceeds go to Central Mindanao University. At an elevation of only 2000 feet ASL, Musuan Peak is perfect for recreational hiking. You don't have to brutalize yourself to enjoy great view. I didn't take a photo of Musuan Peak because you can find a lot of them on the Internet.

San Carlos Heights

San Carlos Heights is a subdivision in Quiot, Pardo, Cebu City. If you have no idea where that is, let Google Earth make it easy for you. About a couple of kilometers where the houses is a hill that hosts a trail of pure, solid, I’ll-rip-your-flesh-off rocks. It recently was the venue of a downhill competition organized by OZ racing, Gene’s Mountain Bike Adventure, and our group of friendly riders, which I was not able to attend because I was at work.

I am glad that I had work as an excuse because it rained that day and the trail may not be that steep but it has rocks that are willing to devour every square-inch of flesh you offer it. To get to the trail, you can ride a motorbike for 25pesos. Or you can bring your own ride. Pedaling is not an option if you have a full-on downhill bike because the climb is quite steep, unless of course you dope regularly.

Ronda Pilipinas - Cebu Leg

Ronda Pilipinas -- Cebu Leg. There was so much to see, I can't find anything to say.

Taptap - Kan-irag with Egay and Chy

Mind your left

So this guy on a white triathlon bike passed the three of us by and I thought he has been saying good morning to my friends. I later realized that he's been saying "Mind your left." Mind your mouth, it's the only thing I can tell you old guy. Maybe you'd have some traumatic experience with a cyclist swerving your way or probably you're afraid of the least possibility that someone will scratch your TT bike. Oldie, we're making our slow, merry way uphill on all-mountain bikes that are full-suspension, have 2.35" tires (that's the mountain bike tires' equivalent of human obesity), and forks that are at least 120mm (definitely not for climbing). We were naturally slower but we would in no way get in anybody's way, because we share the road.

And dear old dude, why did we find you resting and you haven't even reached Willy's yet? And you said Chateau de Busay is the steepest portion of the trip? You clearly did not have any idea where we were headed. Cheers, genius.

Riding with Egay and Chy

My superclose friend (like atomic-distance kind of close friend) Egay came home (partly) to get married (mostly, so he can ride his bike). I'll have to place a disclaimer that I'm just joking because his wife, which has also become a good friend of mine, may ban him for life on the mountain bike. But anyway, he'll be living a happy life in Bangkok soon with Kate and so he got a whole-day visa to ride his bike. (PS: I was the wedding's bestman and I delivered a bro-some speech. Best wishes, hoe.)

I invited Chyrel Gomez, who is a common friend, mainly because I have not accompanied a trail newbie for so long already. Rain plus trail plus newbie is always fun. She fell off a few times on her bike, to say the least. I have to admit that there were quite a few times when our ride almost ended up as a hospital drama. But I did enough prep talk to make her wanna do it again. She said she'll be back with a vengeance, to whom, I do not know.