Opened my eyes, saw my ceiling fan greeting me good morning.It was Aug 6, 2011, 5:30 am. Hurriedly i
get up from my bed.Fixed myself.Went to my mountain bike, tires, checked. Tools and missing links,
checked. Hand pump and water bottle checked.Went back to my room and fixed my bag. It was raining
that morning, i water-proofed my bag, gadgets and a spare shirt. I warmed up a little bit, can't
help myself, i am so excited for this ride.I said to myself, this will be a long ride. So off we go!
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| First stop,Brgy Pinamucan |
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| Headshot!! |
First kilometers were all great. I reached mabacong in no time. I stopped over some brgy. entrance
to take some pictures. But suddenly my digital camera flashed low battery.Damn!! why haven't i
thought of charging it. I need to save battery for me to capture my destination.
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| strong waves are out there |
My ride continue, then i reached the long, winding and uphill road to Pagkilatan.Wew, this is it. Crack! crack! crack!! changed gear!! Granny gear for now, need to save my enery, i have no idea of what roads are
waiting for me out there. There are people at the roadside doing their, maybe everyday chores, i
greeted them good morning, and they returned a smile.So i reached the former Monte Maria,unluckily,
it was now closed and i cant even go the place beside the cliff overlooking the beach because the
road is already closed. There was a detour, so i just continue my trip. It was a long downhill rush.
I can feel the wind blowing in my face. I don't know why, my brain is saying brake!!brake!! But my
hands seems disobedient this time.I can feel the rush!! Whoa!! How i wish this downhill road was
endless.
Then i've reached the road beside the sea. The scenery was great all the way. Biking beside the
beach is awesome! I decided to take a rest and watch the beach for a moment.How i wish i had a spare
brief or if only i were wearing cycling shorts, then i can hop and swim on the beach. I dont want to
be pedalling on a wet brief(guys know this hehehe).Time is passing by, need to continue my journey.
This time its mud time!! I maybe a fool, but i really like the feeling of splattering muds hitting
my face, my shirt.I am mountainbiking yeehah!!. Then a couple of childrens playing, a group of
them.And as they saw me coming, they reached their hands toward me,shouting "apir!! apir!!". Whoa,
the feeling is great!!Dont know why, but i reached everyone of them and give them a high five as if
i were really a biker hehehe. Want i nice scene to see, if only i could have captured that moment.
Some of them came running with me for a little bit, then bid farewell as i continue pedalling. After
the muddy and sandy road, was a gravel and rocky road. I was running fast, there were two ladies
walking along the way,i was thinking to myself, "dont fall, dont let me down jrorange, it will be
very shameful for us hehehe" Yet, we survived that road before we even know it.
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| Nice beach!! |
Finally!! i've reached the town of Lobo!! I've immediately went to the church to take a photo as my
souvenir that i had been there. I ate my lunch at a karinderia in front of the church. Chat with the
vendor for a while and off we go again.
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| Lobo Church |
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| finished my lunch :) |
The weather was now freaking hot, as if it was still summer. This is'nt what i am expecting!! I need rain!! Please! All ive prepared is for rain, not this scorching heat! not to mention that this will be a long uphill climb.But i need to move on.The first climb were just fine, but suddenly, criiiick! criiick!!. What was that.I dismounted from my bike and checked on it. Oh crap! My chain was now all dry and all the sands and mud it got along the way are penetrating in it. So i needed to be careful on pedalling, it will be a lot harder for me if my chain would break. Now the sun is taking its toll on me, all i see is uphill road, my chains are not
performing well and im so tired already.I stopped for a bit, changed my ipod playlist..linkin park.
Now this is what im talking about, so i hopped in again and moved through the road.On my way up,a
fellow biker overtaken me, as if the climb was just so easy for him.He just greeted me and pass by.
Suddenly my legs started to ache,i stopped again and drop my bike at the side of the road.Me,
running to a shade of a tree. Not cramps! not this time! My leg muscles are all so hard.I rested for
a bit. Some jeepneys and trucks pass by, and i think all of the passengers are enjoying on what they
see, a biker sitting helplessly at the side of the road,smirking at me.
What came to my mind?Who gave me the idea to do this?Can i really do it?How?What fool am i to think
this is an easy ride.My butt now dont even what to sit in the saddle, i think it swelling.I am all
tired, i found myself washing my hands in a canal with free flowing water, it felt nice.I wanted to
take a nap, i want to lay down on the ground.I wanted to stay there until the sun comes down.I just
wanted to rest.Then i remembered i have a baked pasta and cake on my bag.I found a waiting
shed,decided to take my carbo load there.People passing by seems to be amused seing a biker eating
his lunch in a waiting shed, who cares hehe.I rest there for quite sometime,i even thought to lay
there for even 10 minutes, but, what if i wake up and its already dusk,knowing myself, i am good at
sleeping.So its not a good thing to do. After about 15 minutes, i now decided to continue my
journey.Wow, the baked pasta worked! I have strength to carry on again! Every uphill now is a
struggle, everytime a feel my legs would be contracting, i would jump immediately and walk my
way.And everytime i would see a sloping road,it would never miss making me say "Yes!!".
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| Pasta,no more!! |
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| haven't thought of taking picture of the pasta while it was there :) |
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| finally!!! |
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| it looks like i still haven't losing weight hehe |
At last!! Ive seen the Fortune Cement factory.It means i am getting near on finishing my journey.
What a relief i felt. I came rushing down the road. Then i dropped by my workmates house to ask for
some water refill(thanks mam maricel!!).The roads from now on are all easy, but still my butt
screaming in pain!Then i decided to drop by my girlfriend's house.Wew! Now that was really a treat!I
stayed there for a couple of hours to rest. My journey until then was about 8 hours!! 8 hours of
gruelling ride over the paved, muddy and rocky road, uphill and downhill. My gf congratulated me and
says she's proud of me as i bid goodbye.Another few kilometers to ride, but its nothing compared to
what ive been through.
At long last!! ive reached our house.I immediately boiled a kettle of water for me to clean myself.
My clothes, my bag, my helmets and all the things i brought are all over the place, it really was a
mess to see, who cares, i will clean it later.So after i cleaned myself, i immediately lie down my
bed and decided to sleep. As i looked at my ceiling fan, all i can say is that... "I really did it,
i survived it, thanks God"
Based on a fellow biker here the whole trip was 77 kilometers with 899 meters of climbing.Not bad hehehe.
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