MTB Pursuits

Still here

2009-07-10T02:15:00.001-07:00

I haven't stopped biking, just was not able to take many MTB photos lately. Maybe I'll post some MTB photos taken during the recent summer months one of these days.

11th Tour of the Fireflies

2009-04-20T02:31:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate to join the 11th Tour of the Fireflies last Sunday. It is a yearly fun ride organized by the Firefly Brigade to promote biking not just as a sports/hobby but as a serious means of alternative transportation. This year's theme is Bike to Work, Bike to School, Bike to Play, Bike Today

along Ortigas Ave

The route took us via EDSA. With more than 10,000 bikers in all sorts of bikes, we literally stopped the traffic along our route. The peloton stretched for kilometers.

head of the peloton

boink boink

2009-02-27T02:20:00.001-08:00

Still here, and still riding :)

I haven't been able to take MTB pics lately. I've been riding some serious trails where photo taking is the last thing you'll think about. Don't get me wrong, the scenery is great, but the tracks are cardiac!

We call the trail: Shotgun Trail. I hope to take photos of it soon :)

Can I interest you on some outdoor photos in the meantime?

candaba, pampanga

2009-01-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

Time to stretch those muscles and shed off that holiday fat. Last weekend I headed with an MTB buddy to the wildlife reserve in Candaba, Pampanga. Its time to promote a clean and green environment, so going to a wildlife reserve on a bike seemed like a nice "clean and green" statement (for my first ride for 2009).

It was 68km (one way) of non stop pedalling along highways passing through several towns (Meycauayan, Marilao, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Pulilan, Plaridel, and Baliuag) of the province of Bulacan, no trails this time. We practically toured the eastern side of Bulacan.

with Mt. Arayat in the background

We arrived at the wildlife reserve just a little after 9AM. The sky was clear that day and we were treated to quite a sight.

fine sunny day in Candaba

The areas around the wildlife reserve are being used as rice fields during the dry months (they are practically underwater during the rainy season). The fields are being prep for planting at this time of the year.

the birds are used to human presence

Small fishes and frogs are abundant when the fields are being prepared for planting. The birds hunt for food the whole day. I've seen terns diving for fish and snails.

along the Baliuag-Candaba road

Some of the birds we saw that day:

a flock of terns

Gull-billed Terns

Egrets and herons are the most common birds there. There were Great and Little Egrets, and Chinese Egrets.

looking for food

Chinese, Little, and Great Egrets

mtb-pursuits welcomes 2009

2009-01-06T01:28:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to another year of mud, cuts, and bruises :D. Have safe ride for 2009!

ride to batlag falls

2008-11-20T18:17:00.000-08:00

I was not able to ride last weekend, I was exploring the island of Marinduque south of Luzon. But we were able to have a "century" ride the week before, I just forgot to write about it :D.

We broke our current 100km+/day ride this time. Our Batlag falls round trip covered 123 km. It was a combination of paved roads, relentless uphills, rock gardens, single tracks, and rut-filled downhills.

Some highlights of the day:

Beautiful scenery near Cogeo

Re grouping at Mang Vic's Bulaluhan (this is already near the Sierra Madre)

Some views of the tracks

As always, what's a ride without a picnic? :D

On the return trip we went via Teresa and Tanay and climb up to Antipolo. Twas a sweet climb :). We were able to finally get to home at around 8PM in the evening. Total pedal time was about 7.5 hours.

More photos here

return to puray

2008-11-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

Ekstrim: 2, Puray: 0.

We started using "Esktrim" as our group's name as our trail photos become more and more popular in a local MTB online forum. One of the moderators there referred to us as the new breed of MTBikers: we don't just ride trails, we take good photos of the ride. We bring huge packs for photos gears and food. Every ride is a picnic :).

The week after our first Puray ride we rode there again with several PMTBikers in tow. The weather cooperated: heavy clouds but no rain (sorry Sting hehe). The first timers very much enjoyed the countless river crossing.

Al leading the pack

They never seem to mind getting their equipment wet. So every river crossing was a photo op.

Group pic, sans me

The trouble with being one of the group's lens man is that you are not in the frame most of the time. I brought most of my kit that day so bringing a tripod was out of the question.

After several questions of "how many more rivers to cross?" we finally arrived at Puray, still on schedule even with our stops at river crossings. We left our bikes in Sitio Mabolo but some decided to carry their bikes to the falls, for photo ops of course :).

A short hike upstream to the falls

Arrived at the falls just in time for lunch.

How am I going to get my bike there?

Lunch was literally a BBQ picnic. We brought grills and all :D.

Small talk over BBQ

On the way back the sun decided to show itself. We had quite some fun doing splashes in the river crossings.

(Clockwise: Al, Cesar, George (on my bike), Elias)

Overall, its a fun ride. We were practically wet the whole time but it was worth it. The dip in the icy cold waters was enough to soothe the tired muscles.

More photos here

a score to settle with puray

2008-10-29T23:20:00.001-07:00

I've got a score to settle with Puray.

My MTB buddies and I tried to go there on our second week of mountain biking but failed. We didn't know the way and even if we did I don't think we could have done it, not with our MTB skills at that time. The trip also "gifted" me with a deep cut on my left ear as a result of a "jack tumbling down the hill" incident. Twas pathetic. But we vowed to return.

And so we did, last week, via the mountain trail (one could go via the river trail, much easier). The trail starts from barangay Mascap in Montalban. We soon found out that ambitious was really the right description for the trail. The uphill portions should really be called "upmountain" if there is such a term. Rut strewn and sticky with mud, even the strongest in our group couldn't pedal it all the way up. We had to push our bikes most of the way.

The killer uphills and scary downhills seemed to never end. I lost count after 3. The best way to attack the trail was to use positive distraction :). I distracted myself by admiring the beautiful scenery along the way.

I'd dismount in downhill sections if my tires began to lose traction. The heavy bulky bag (its the first time I brought a DSLR to the trail) on my back is giving me some balancing problems.

Before noon we reached our destination. Finally, we have conquered Puray! It felt like a piece of cake but we found out that the falls is still 1-2km away in Sitio Mabolo. And its another climb! Oh well, time to ride (and push) the bikes again.

By the time we reached the point where the road crosses the river in Mabolo (the trail head to the falls) the sun's quite hot already. Although tired, it didn't stop my buddies to "play" first before looking for the actual trail to the falls.

The locals probably surmised that we were trying to bike all the way to the falls. They helpfully told us that we won't be able to do that and that we have to trek upriver. Two of us decided to leave our bikes behind with one of the locals while our other companions stubbornly decided to carry their bikes (over the large slippery boulders) all the way to the falls.

The scenery at the falls was worth all the troubles, if there were any :)

On the way back we decided to go via the river trail. It was much easier. Since its not rainy the river is shallow enough to cross on bikes if you don't mind getting your hubs wet. It'll be 11 river crossings before we got to the paved roads in barangay Mascap.

destination: puray

2008-10-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

also known as Tungtong Falls

Last weekend's MTB destination was Puray Falls in Sitio Mabolo. Puray is one of the remotest barangays in Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) in Rizal province. Its nestled right in the bosom of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Remote as it maybe, its blessed with the purest of springs and rivers.

Cooling down, downstream from the falls

I'll try to post our ride details and well as photos of the trails later.

bakas, norzagaray

2008-10-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

Another weekend, another day of exploration. While most of our PMTB (Pinoy Mountain Bikers) friends were hitting the popular trails in Licao licao, I (together with a regular MTB companion - see his blog here) decided to veer off the beaten tracks and go somewhere else. The mission: find Bakas (in Norzagaray, Bulacan, some 30 km from home) and then find a way out of Bakas without passing through the main roads.

We started out early, woke up at 3:30AM, had an early breakfast, and was on the road by 5AM. The ride to Norzagaray was uneventful, we rode without rest stops. I notice my front hub to be a bit wobbly, strange since I just had it repacked a couple of days ago.

A few kilometers on the rough road from the town proper to Bakas, my front hub completely gave up on me (darn these amateur bike mechanics!). We were determined to reach our destination that day. So we (slowly) rode back to town, bought a cheap hub from a local bike shop and cannibalized the internals. After about 30 minutes we were back on the trail again.

The sight before us when we reached Bakas was worth all the troubles. The place was absolutely scenic! The place was called Bakas (translated to "tracks", "marks" or "footprints") because of the large limestone rocks and the interesting footprint like impressions and formations. Folklore has it that those were left by the giant named Bernardio Carpio and his pets. The other set of prints can be found in Wawa in Montalban, Rizal.

The river was running deep that time, so we were not able to cross to the big rocks. From there you should be able to see the marks.

Bakas scenery

From Bakas we explored upriver and found a nice picnic/swimming spot. The midday sun was getting hotter so we took shelter in one of the makeshift cottages along the river bank. Soon a group of excursionists arrived and started setting up camp. The overwhelming smell of their BBQ was to much for us, so before our mouths water we readied our gears and was soon heading further upriver.

Further upriver from Bakas

We reached a point where the rideable riverbank vanished. The river started swelling and the water was getting deeper. There is a dam several kilometers upstream and they usually release water at around noon. From that point we can already see the quarry site of Holcim cement factory, one of the largest in the country.

End of the river trail

Its either we head back to the nearest road or find a passable trail. The decision: find the trail. The folks at a nearby sand quarry was giving us perplexed looks when we headed to the nearby hill. We found a small foot trail, if people go by this way surely we can bike it, we reckon.

Soon there was no trail at all! We had to ride on top of large volcanic rocks and climb over bamboo fences (designed to keep livestock in/out). After a few push and pedal, we wound up in a rice field. At least now its bikeable :)

Rocks, rice paddies, Holcim factory

We were getting hungry and had to quickly find a way out of the rice paddies. We estimated where the road could be and pedalled to that direction. We ended up in someone's backyard and was met with curious and amused looks.

"You came from the rice fields? There's a road there, why didn't you use that?", a man said while pointing to the direction of the main road. We just smiled and politely asked permission to pass through. We found a small sari sari store and quietly ate our packed lunch there. We too were amused with the trail we took :).

From there its a ride passing through the Holcim factory grounds and then out to Tungko-Norzagaray highway. We took a quick break after reaching the main road, its going to be long pedal home on a hot stretch of highway.

We were home by 4PM, 81 kilometers later. Not a bad ride, we got to see a very beautiful place.

pinagrealan-ipo-bitbit, bulacan

2008-10-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

We decided to skip the technical trails last weekend and go on a "tour" of Norzagaray in Bulacan. We headed to Ipo and Angat Dam, some 46 km from our house.

From the rotonda in Norzagaray its uphill all the way to Barangay San Mateo where Ipo Dam is located. On the way there we made a side to Pinagrealan Cave.

Pinagrealan Cave

According to www.bulacan.gov.ph:

This cave is a subterranean network of caverns extending more than a kilometer deep. The Katipunero Revolutionaries during the war against Spain used it as a camp in 1896 and again during the Filipino-American War in 1898 as hideout of General Emilio Aguinaldo (the First President of the Philippines). It was also used as a sanctuary by the Japanese Imperial Army when the Philippines was liberated by American Forces.

We we got to Ipo Dam we found out that they don't let visitors in unless you have some permit from the Manila Water Authority. We did not let ourselves be daunted by a minor "glitch" in our plans. We decided to head further up mountain to Angat dam. A storekeeper told us there is a quaint spot called Bitbit on the way to Angat dam

On the way there we passed by a place called "Hilltop". Its considered to be the "Baguio of Bulacan". From there you get to see Ipo Dam with the Sierra Madre mountain range as backdrop.

Ipo dam as seen from Hilltop

Its downhill all the way from Hilltop to the San Lorenzo bridge. From the bridge one can see a beautiful clean and emerald green river below.

Bridge going to Angat dam

with the Sierra Madre as background

The scenery that greets one in Bitbit is enough to rejuvinate the tired muscles.

Mandatory photo op

Bitbit scenery

Cool down

We took a quick dip in the cool and clear waters while some picknickers nearby enjoy their BBQs. Unfornately that day we were not able to bring any food with us (we normally bring packed lunch). So before our mouths begin to water, we decided to head back up to San Mateo to look for some grub.

bulacan ride

2008-10-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

Our ride last weekend took us to the nearby province of Bulacan. We woke up at 3AM, had a hearty breakfast and were on the pedals at 4AM. The trail head is in the quiet town of Norzagaray some 30 km away (and we usually are the early birds).

After doing a quick pandesal (salt bread) and mami (noodles) pit stop at the town's rotonda, we headed to the Norzagaray bridge to wait for other riders, some coming from Pasig some 60km away.

on the Norzagaray bridge waiting for other riders

I was amazed at how clean and green the Norzagaray river. Unlike the Pasig river in Metro Manila, there river of a nice blue green color. I saw fisher folks casting their morning nets and while others were spearfishing near the banks.

Norzagaray River

Our trail that day will take us from (under) the bridge to Brgy Bayabas then to Brgy Matictic on the nearby mountains then loop back to the bridge again. The start was manageable, wide rough road but sharp rocks and mostly uphill.

The at some point we forked to the left and the trail transformed into a single track. First it was just muddy but rideable.

taking a breather

Then there were the huge slippery rocks. At some sections we had to push our bikes. The traces of a "road" completely disappeared. One could swore its not a "road" anymore but a dry creek, with houses dotting both sides sparingly. It looked like a place some politician forgot to be build a proper road to.

photo op during the "push"

I started to enjoy the ride more when the trail became downhill. Still the same slippery rock and rut filled single track but at least now its downhill with a view of the lush green country side. Several riders "hit the ground" in some sections of track. I guess its part of MTB riding and I had my share of those, but not that day :).

pitstop under a huge mango tree

The best part of the ride was the river in Bayabas near Puning Cave. Some of us could not resist and jumped right into the water for a quick cool down.

photo op in Bayabas

We had our lunch near the barangay hall in Bayabas. I saw a sign with directions to Puning Cave but we did not have the chance to go there... maybe on the next ride.

After Bayabas, its a muddy trail with devilish uphills! We were so wasted to even take photos :). I think the only thing that kept me going was the promise that soon it would be a smooth paved downhill back to Norzagaray bridge.

True to the promise, it was indeed a nice several km of downhill paved road. An uneventful ride back to the bridge, except for the occassional splatter of accumulated mud from my tires to my face as I cruised down.

upgrade syndrome

2008-10-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

When some of our regular trail buddies saw my new rig a few weeks ago they jokingly said that I contracted a very serious disease called "upgradetitis", and its quite difficult to cure :D.

I think its natural for us to upgrade our equipment especially when our old ones are already giving up on us (denial stage hehe). So last weekend I decided to let go of my (non even entry level) Altus rear derailleur which is already giving me pedaling and shifting problems (chain slide problems). I replaced it with a Deore XT (M771) RD (XT is the crown jewel of the Deore family).

The new RD is supposed to provide precision shifting: "Smooth and precise chain movement to the aimed gear allows for comfortable shifting." - the Shimano website advertises. I'll see how it performs on the trail next weekend.

I could have just cleaned my old RD and maybe it'll still work, but that sleek design and that embossed XT logo is just so hard to resist!

old friends, new friends, new trails

2008-09-29T00:54:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday's ride started as typical one. We planned to take our usual route via Pangarap -> Licao-licao -> Tungko. Nothing technical, we surmised the Mahogany 1 and 2 trails would be too muddy for our biking pleasure (don't get me wrong, we love muds on our bikes hehe).

There was something atypical about our typical ride, the Pangarap route is a favorite Sunday morning trail for mountain bikers but there were no other groups except us. Or so we thought.

While taking a pit stop in Kapitan's place in Mahogany another group arrived. (Kapitan's place is a favorite rest stop for bikers. You can have meals cooked there.) Three of the 5 bikers in that group were old acquaintances, and of the three, 2 were well known (popular, notorious maybe hehe) trail masters among the PMTB folks. So our bordering to boring "I already know all the turns and bumps" ride headed to some new promising trails.

After taking our lunch in Licao licao terminal, we proceed to the real "Jackhammer trail" - 1 km or so of pure fork pounding fun. The one I referred to before as the "Jackhammer trail" is just an "extension" of the real one.

housemates and bike mates (L-R George, me, Elias)

The we hit the downhill rush of Daang Diablo (Devil's Trail). Its my second time to take that trail and my first time to do an "endo". I overestimate by fork's capacity and my ability to do some tricky balance. Good thing I was not going too fast. Nothing's hurt, except my pride hehe. Not even a scratch ... on my bike :D.

The best part of the day was doing the scenic downhill single track in Tungko. You are greeted with a wide open space - a sea of cogon grass.

a not to be missed photo op

But don't let the nice scenery suck you in, the single track has some nasty sections that can produce "tumble downs" if you are not careful. Good thing the track was not slippery with mud.

with storm clouds as a backdrop

I couldn't resist on doing some ethereal effect post processing on one of the photos :

Colored version here

The last segment of the Tungko downhill single track was a muddy, a real "mud up to your knee" muddy trail.

MTB single file

At the end of the ride we got mud in every imaginable parts of our bike and maybe in some unimaginable parts of our body :D. But mud is good. The more mud, the happier we are :).

Till the next ride...

vicky's maiden ride

2008-09-23T00:49:00.000-07:00

Vicky's first taste of trail mud came courtesy of La Mesa watershed trails. La Mesa, which is 2000+ hectares of protected watershed, supplies most parts of Metro Manila with drinking water. It is open for recreational outdoor activities like camping and mountain biking. For mountain biking, it'll set you back 200 pesos: minimum of 5 persons in a group, each group is assigned a trail master (or trail guide). Not bad, considering you have access to medical help and a pick up truck (to pick you up hehe) if decide to call it quits in the middle of the trail.

So last Sunday we did not hesitated when one of our PMTB contacts invited us for a ride.

PMTB folks taking a breather

There is an abundance of scenic routes and tricky downhill single tracks. Mud is plentiful this time of the year. There are easy routes for the newbies and if you want something more technical just ask your trail master and he will happily oblige.

Going to the lake

The loop we took that day was relatively short (just about 20km) compared to our usual Sunday runs. But I guess it was the quality of the trail that made the big difference. The outdoor photographer in me kept wishing I brought some serious photo equipment.

lots and lots of greens

Overall it was an OK day. I did not regret parting with my 200 bucks. My advise to those who want to try the La Mesa trails is to bring lots of drinking water (at least 1.5 liters). Although its a watershed, there is no source of drinking water along the trails (quite ironic hehe). Lots of streams though if you don't really mind hehe.

Oh, Vicky did well btw.

welcome vicky!

2008-09-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Kaye's gone, but she lives on in Vicky.

I ride a Vision Pursuit now with reused parts from my old (3 months old) K2 Bayside bike. Fitted it with a Shimano Deore LX Hollowtech FC-M572 crank, very smooth pedalling.

Vision Pursuit frames have a local cult following. The frames, with several eye catching colors to choose from, are designed by Da Bomb with inputs from Filipino mountain bikers.

squeaky clean

2008-09-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

It's one of those few hours (yes my bike does not stay clean that long) when Kaye's squeaky clean. It the rainy season and its time to play in the mud! :)

first ride with the PMTB boys

2008-08-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

Been two weeks since my last post. Nope, I did not stop mountain biking, not a chance, just got interrupted by a few lakes and several falls.

We had a 4-day weekend last week. After spending 2 days camping in Mt. Romelo, we received an invite from the some of the boys in PMTB (Pinoy Mountain Bikers) for a Monday ride. With two more days to spare, it sounded like another great adventure. And it turned out to be one.

The day started with a meet up in Petron station in Amparo Village in Fairview. I thought its just going to be a few riders but it turned out to be a great group of 17 bikers.

At Petron in Amparo while waiting for some peeps

The planned trail will start in Pangarap, a small village near the walls of La Mesa watershed (the source of water for the whole of Metro Manila).

Before entering Pangarap

From Pangarap, it would be a single track tracing the walls of La Mesa, then a great downhill section.

Short pit stop after Pangarap

After several moderate rolling hills from Pangarap we reached the barangay of Macabud where we had our lunch. In one of the uphill sections, a biker broke his rather exotic dropout (rear derailluer hanger). We had to wait for it to be repaired before heading out again.

We stayed clear of the main roads and entered the single track leading to Mahogany 1 and 2 trails. Its two of the favorite trails of local mountain bikers for reasons I later found out.

heading into Mahogany 1, photo courtesy of knobbist

There was an abundance of single tracks and fireroads, mostly downhill. The trails also abound of technical portions - tree roots, mild drops, rocks, etc. The slippery mud made it more challenging.

in Mahogany 1, photo courtesy of knobbist

We rode a muddy single track out of Mahogany 2 into the mango plantation. Although the trail was flat, the mud made it difficult to pedal. My tires were covered, no caked, with mud and I have to push my bike most of the way.

The mango plantation trail lead to Brick town (a small brick village), I soon found out. I had already mentioned Brick town in one of my posts and we usually pass by this village from Licao licao via double track with a hellish downhill section.

From Brick village, its a shaking ride down the Jack hammer trail and a fabulous single track downhill that opens to a double track down Daang Diablo (Devil's Track).

bridge at the trail end of Daang Diablo

By the time we reached the trail head of the double track going down to Tungko, it was already beginning to get dark. In order to save time, we decided to go via a short cut. Its a downhill single track lined with cogon grass. The single track soon vanished into a trackless route. We had to push our bikes through knee to waist tall grasses and occasionally crossed small brooks. No more pictures this time. All we had in our minds was going home. I tried to tune out the mosquito bites and grass rashes on my legs.

We finally reached a subdivision being constructed - paved roads, finally. But before we even start to head out to the main highway, there was another equipment breakdown. Another broken hanger.

It was real dark when we reached the main highway. After saying our goodbyes, our group of 4 bikers broke from the main group and we started to pedal our way on a 4 lane highway. It felt weird, after a full day of rocks, mud, and river crossings :). By 8:30PM I was home. Another great day of mountain biking :).

More photos here.

ros (rain or shine) biking

2008-08-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

A little rain (or even a heavy downpour) could not stop us on our Saturday bike runs. Weather forecast last weekend as grim: dark clouds, heavy rains, and thunderstorms. We decided to bike anyway. The trail : our favorite Litex -> Macabud -> Licao-licao -> Tungko -> Fairview loop.

The first leg of our bike starts from Caloocan to Novaliches Bayan to Litex. We started at 6AM (1 hour late of our usual 5AM ride off) and the rains were unceasing. By the time we got to Litex I was already soaking wet. One of us even got his rear derailluer out of commission. His rear wheel locked up for some reason, busting the locks. Along with it some parts for his derailluer. Good thing a bike shop in Litex was already open (he was 500 pesos poorer when we continued on).

We took pictures along the way whenever possible (when the rains eased up).

Macabud uphill, just 1 km or so after Erap City

After the concrete section of the road in Macabud starts a nice rolling hills terrain. If you are heading to Licao-Licao the barrier wall of the La Mesa Eco Park is to your left. When we got there it the fog started to thicken, reducing the visibility to a few meters.

Foggy trails in Macabud

From Licao-licao we proceeded to Tungko via the private road passing through the "Brick City" - an old deprecated bricks factory (Manila Brickwords Inc).

Trail to Brick Town

Stop over at the "Village"

From Brick Town its mostly downhill to Tungko. There is a portion of the trail called the "Jackhammer trail". You have to ride it to know why its called the Jackhammer Trail :).

kaye's got new tires

2008-08-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

I recently changed my Michelin Country Trail tires (26 x 1.95) to a much wider and more stable one. I had been having problems with its grip on mud and wet stones, especially on the downhill sections. Grip on pavement, wet or dry, is pretty OK but our trail mostly consist of rough terrain.

The replacement was Maxxis' Mobster (26 x 2.35). It was a matter of whats readily available in the local bike scene. I had my eyes on other Michelin tires but they were just not available.

It was a huge jump in terms of the width of the tire (from 1.95 to 2.35). My grip and braking stability on various surface was greatly increased. I was able to take slippery downhill sections with much confidence.

However I paid a great price with the rolling resistance. The increase was quite noticeable. But since my bike is not really a road bike, the rolling resistance is just a small inconvenience.

Overall, Maxxis' Mobster lets you enjoy (and pound) your favorite outdoor trail.

finding licao-licao

2008-07-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Our MTB trip last weekend took us through the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan. No GPS, no maps. Just pure MTB fun in discovering back roads and mountain trails.

(before the downhill to San Jose L-R Elias, George, me, Owen)

Here's a run down of our trip:

1. Caloocan to Litex (via Nova Bayan, Commonwealth Ave) - paved road, rolling hills
2. Litex to crossing San Jose - Montalban (paved, treacherous downhill)
3. San Jose to Macabod (paved steep uphill, then rough rolling hills)
4. Macabod to Licao-Licao (rough rolling hills)
5. side trip Licao-Licao to falls in Mt. Balagbag (punishing rough uphill portion then rolling hills)
6. Licao - Licao to Tungko (very rough road and then there is about 5km very treacherous downhill in Pangarap)
7. Tungko to Nova (paved road)

Total distance for the trip is 72.89 km.

We found a small brick village smack in the middle of an acacia forest somewhere midway between Licao-Licao and Tungko. Its a small community (with a brick courtyard and brick houses) detached from civilization. It was like being transported into another time and place. Unfortunately our camera was out of juice.

Here's some photos we took along the way:

Pit stop for some fresh buko (at 10 pesos only!) and some santol

ready for the next leg

Enjoying the downhill. I was going down nice and fast on this downhill section only to encounter a huge truck in the opposite direction (going down the opposite hill) hogging the small road. So much for using the downward momentum to attack the next uphill :).

weeeeee!

We cooled down at Balagbag falls (Mt. Balagbag has great killer uphill sections) with some delicious suman (rice cake) we bought in a small store at our pit stop. It was a short walk downhill to the falls and Mother Nature decided to give us a welcome shower 5 minutes after we arrived in the falls. We were too tired and hungry to care. Rain was a welcome respite and our meager lunch was a feast.

(tired and weary and the punishing rough roads are still ahead)

So how punishing were the trails really?

1. Owen blew his rear interior tube. He also has to replace his brake pads. We all have to use our brakes heavily.

2. Raymond (the youngest in our group) went over the handle bar.

3. My left pedal needs to be replaced.

4. Elias' left and right pedals have to be replaced.

5. George cut his left knee. He also has to align both his front and rear wheels. All his rear spokes are loose.

But unlike our two previous MTB trips we didn't have really bloody cuts (last two indicents involved me hehe).

riding kaye

2008-07-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

I've recently been introduced to mountain biking and I absolutely love it! Been riding "Kaye", my K2 bike (yes I give names to my equipment including my camera gears), every Saturdays and/or Sundays mostly around Montalban in Rizal province.

I'm an outdoor photography enthusiast (I have a photo/travel blog here) and mountain biking fits me to a tee - I get to see places and enjoy nature. However its quite difficult to bring photo equipment during an MTB trip so most of the photos you'll see here are taken with a cheap point and shop camera :).