Camp Aguinaldo Trail 24 November 2012

I've been dreaming of dirt since getting hammered (yes, I'm a wuss) last week on the 30+km Tour of the Fireflies (see previous blog entry). So even though I still had a few aches and pains, I made it a point to get to some real riding off-road.

I sent out an e-mail invitation to my office mates, and only Butch and Alfred responded.

It was to be a quick ride for me since Cindy needed the car back before 10 AM. So I scheduled to be at the trail between 7 and 9 AM. I got there around 7:20 AM and none of my ride mates were around. I eventually texted Al at 7:35 saying I was hitting the trail.

The weather was good. Thankfully the track was slightly damp (morning dew maybe). I missed this trail and quickly got up to speed. Coming out of my first lap, Elvin calls out to me at the parking lot. He had his two younger sons with him, Gavin (10) and Ethan (7). After a brief chat, off goes Gavin with me trailing after. This lap confirmed Elvin's boast that Gavin was the athletic one among his 3 boys. He was a pretty strong rider for his age. I eventually had to pass him since I really wanted to get my heart rate up, but he was actually faster than a lot of the grownups there who were gradually filling up the trail.

That second lap was the start of my disappointment as I caught up with the "grownups" and had to slow down often. I've nothing against slow riders, especially those new to the sport. But I would expect some courtesy, at the very least, for them to pull aside and let faster riders through. One guy, who seemed like he was introducing a friend to riding, was kind enough to do this. But another completely ignored me, riding at his own slow pace, not letting me pass

A brief stop at the parking lot again, and I see another familiar face: Agu, another college "classmate" in CMT (Citizen's Military Training; Elvin and I were platoon leaders). Agu's also the official importer/distributor of a few bike brands like Voodoo, Lenz Sport, ESI, among others. He commented that it was like we were having a reunion of sorts.

During the break, I was introduced to Carlo Clemente, owner of Glorious Ride bike shop. I'd been wanting to meet him, but the single time I visited the shop when they were still in Sikatuna Village, he wasn't around (or I didn't know if he was). He seemed like a nice guy. I promptly asked him about a KHS frame that I'd been eyeing, and he readily told me he'd let me know as soon as it's in stock again, and will gladly give me a discount

Al texted around 9 AM saying he wasn't able to get up early since he came home late the night before (flew in from Bangkok).

I never saw Butch either, finding out afterwards that he did show up but we didn't see each other.

Back to the ride. The next two laps were still frustratingly slow. Nevertheless, I was still happy I got to ride dirt again.

Surprisingly, without even trying, and going at that ridiculously slow pace, I actually made it to this trail's leader board (was 11th last Saturday; way to go Agu!)

'hoping to hit this trail again next Saturday. Hopefully I'd get there early enough to get in some fast laps

Tour of the Fireflies 2012

We were greeted by sunny skies that (thankfully) eventually became overcast later that morning, making the ~35 km ride (33.1 km according to Strava; see below) more enjoyable.

This was the first time since 2005 that I joined the Tour, and the first time to have done so since going SS.

I drove to LT's house in Project 4 and we rode the rest of the way to the starting point in Tiendesitas for a supposedly 7 AM ride start (was actually 7:40 AM)

The route took us along C5 to Marikina, up along Katipunan, skirting UP on CP Garcia, out to Philcoa (where we caused a massive traffic jam along the QC Circle; mission accomplished!), along East Avenue to Timog then through New Manila, out to Ortigas, to return to Tiendesitas. Here's the ride I uploaded to Strava

This was another ride that made me realize how old and out of shape I already am. It was shorter than than the two previous Tours I attended by at least 15 km, and yet I was more tired than in both of those. Then again, this was the first time I did it on SS (excuses, excuses...). The worst part was the ride back to LT's house. I almost got glutes cramps on the shallow, but looong, uphill along Temple Drive.

On to the photos:

Up and over the Macapagal Bridge

Stopover at Patio del Zapatero in Marikina

LT and me

East Avenue

(couldn't get my hand high enough to get a good view of the sea of bikers; unsafe!)

At the finish line

For more information about the Firefly Brigade, click HERE.

Never again

I am thankful that my kids have inherited the love for books that my family has. So one of the little luxuries that I allow them is the purchase of books.

Lo and behold, National Bookstore had a warehouse sale last week so we decided to check it out on Saturday. We originally intended to just briefly pass through to check out what they had, as we also planned to go to the mall afterwards. Little did we know the horror that would confront us (click the pic for a larger image)

Lines were snaking around all over the place. Books were piled on tables without categorization (except maybe by price range). The 4th floor of Crossings department store on Quezon Avenue looked like Divisoria.

Matt & Zach promptly picked up books that they fancied, while Cindy got some she thought the boys would like. After about 20 minutes of going around, I finally decided I should start standing in line for the cashier, while Cindy went around looking for anything else interesting. We finally put together a few books and after seeing how slowly the line was moving, decided that Cindy and the boys head on home while I endured the long line to pay for our catch.

I was in line for 3.5 hours, just to pay for P540 worth of books (most were P20-P30 each). The only thing that kept me going was the fact that most of what I bought was for my kids.

That said, I'll never go to another warehouse sale (books or otherwise) like that ever again.

My dream hardtail is now a reality!!!

Introducing the 2013 Saracen Zen 650B

The spec is just awesome, although the price is a bit steep for a hardtail. But with bike prices generally going up, I guess this is fairly reasonable. I myself would probably opt to change the shifters and go 1x10, and the brakes are only so-so, but otherwise the spec is pretty good. And it comes in white!

An potential issue though would be availability. I'm not sure if Saracen is available outside the UK.

My dream hardtail is now a reality

Stinky

Scenario 1
Funny behavior noted while riding in a jeepney this morning: A foul stench permeates the air and all of a sudden, almost everyone in the jeepney starts looking around, craning their necks to try to locate the source of the stink. It smelled like one of those trucks carrying a load of pigs. I don't think anyone confirmed the source.

Scenario 2
Facade of the Barangay Silangan Multipurpose Hall along Kalayaan Avenue, just before Ermin Garcia. This is a regular jeepney route to/from Araneta Center in Cubao. Traffic here can get pretty bad during weekdays. Apparently they've turned part of the road into a parking lot. So sad.


Scenario 1 is a case where you smell the stink and you try to see if you can find the source. Scenario 2 is when you see the offensive thing and notice how stinky the situation has become.

New record

I normally just tweet this, but today was a new level of bad.

Public commute to work:

6:24 am to 6:56 am - walk to bus stop and wait for ride

6:56 to 9:05 - travel by bus

9:05 to 9:10 - walk to shuttle terminal

9:10 to 9:30 - wait in line for shuttle

9:30 to 9:44 - shuttle/walk to office building

9:47 - at my office desk

Total Distance: 19.5 km (based on Google Maps)

Total travel time: 3 hours, 23 minutes

Average Speed: 5.76 kph

Whiskey-Tango...

My BP just went up.

Firsts

First first

A day shy of four months, and I'm back on the bike. Yep, the last real ride I had was on Earth Day 22 April (and my last ride blog entry). Torrential downpour (and consequential inundation in parts of the Metro), on and off cough and colds for me and my kids, household chores (no more house help) and all sorts of errands kept me from one of my most favorite things in the world.

A sunny four-day weekend finally gave me the chance to hop on Ruth for a quick spin around UP, the first time in a disappointingly long time. Trails would've been better, but I was just happy to finally break a sweat due to exercise. I'd already gained back 3 of the 5 kilos I'd lost since September last year

Second first

Because of the ride, I finally got to try my new Pacenti Neo-Moto 2.1 tire on the rear. I'd mounted it on a week after I bought it in May but only got to ride it briefly back and forth to church (900 m away) once. It was a good fit, until I noticed a couple of weeks after mounting that it had expanded to the point that I was getting some minor rubbing on both sides of the outermost knobs. Bummer. It noticeably had more rolling resistance than the Quasi-Moto it replaced, and I'm actually contemplating putting that back on. But I hate how the Quasi is on dirt, and it's an absolute pain in the derriere to swap tires.

I need a new frame

Third first

After riding mittless for almost two decades, I finally decided to get new gloves. A friend's crash got me thinking more seriously about protecting my hands during rides.

I got the Giro DNDs (for Down N Dirty) the same time I got the Neo-Moto, but never got to ride them until now. I opted for these minimalist gloves because I like to feel my grips. I'd always felt my Oury grips to be a wee bit on the thick side, but using the gloves made them feel a wee bit thicker. I probably just need to get used to them. Or I could finally pick up the ESI Chunkies I ordered from a friend (sorry Elvin!).

The Ourys are fairly tacky to begin with (even with bare hands), but the way the gloves stick to the grips is crazy. I reckon the benefits would be more apparent over longer rides since I can loosen and relax my grip on the bar, lessening fatigue.

Fourth first

I got an Android smartphone in July and downloaded Strava. I'm no techno-idiot by any means, but I never got to play around with the app before this. Murphy's Law being what it is... I turned it on as I rolled out the front door, noticing that it wasn't logging the ride only after my fourth lap around the University Oval

I finally managed to get it to work and logged my last 2 laps before I pedaled home

It was a good ride. I didn't feel as tired as I thought I would afterwards, considering my current (un)fitness level. And the ride back to the house along the short up gradient portion of Commonwealth Avenue wasn't as tiresome as it normally is.

My first ride in a long time. Definitely not my last.

My Multiply is going bye-bye? No!!!

Yesterday Multiply announced that they're dropping their social networking services and will focus on the e-commerce side of the business beginning the 1st of December. Through the years, the online shopping side of Multiply has apparently grown to the point that its owners have decided to make this "business decision." And with FB being such a force, the SN part of Multiply has slowly been relegated to the wayside.

This saddens me immensely, as Multiply has been my main site for posting photos, videos, music, and most importantly, blog entries. I have a Blogger account that's linked to this account, but I appreciate how I can post all these different things on just one site, not to mention that I hate the interface on Blogger. Multiply is simpler and much more intuitive. If I rely on my Blogger for blogging, I'd have to go to Youtube or Vimeo for my vids, then Flickr or Picasa for my photos. Not cool.

I'm still not getting an FB account.

Major bummer.

Hello Monday!

I just spent 2 hours and 16 minutes on my drive to work, a distance of 17 km. That's an average speed of 7.5 kph.

A Grade A-hole in a Pajero cut me off, and a stupid motorcyclist scraped my bumper with his plate number sticking out on the right side of his bike.

No matter what Pnoy says today, this right here tells me the "state of the nation."

Pictionary:

Spotted: Safe?

How do you expect to see anything through that rear window?

Spotted: EDSA shocker (maybe)

Why in the world is this wide open at 7:16 in the morning with no one tending to it?

Tell me why...

...I have to line up just to go down a flight of stairs.

This is one of the reasons why I don't take the train anymore

More fun in the Philippines? Only if you're a masochist.

It fits!

I finally got my Neo-Moto 2.1, to replace the Quasi-Moto 2.0 on the back of my bike. The Quasi was nice and fast, but it was just too sketchy and slippery on the ascents. I'm hoping the Neo would have much better grip and not have too much rolling resistance. After going OC again, measuring my stays over and over, I placed the order, had it delivered to the hotel my friend was staying at while on training in Las Vegas (to save on shipping ) and hoped the tire would fit.

Old tire (Quasi 2.0)

New tire (Neo 2.1)

Clearance is pretty much the same for both. I'm happy.

Can't wait to try this out soon.

MRT service sucks!

People were starting to pile up with lines multiplying at the exit gates. And what were the MRT staff doing? Nothing! As I reach the exit they open another turnstyle, and it's only then that I notice that we were 3 queues using the same single turnstyle! Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot???!!! Two other turnstiles were available, but looked like they were for entry. Even then, they could've set them up for exit during rush hour. Idiots!

I honestly wouldn't mind a fare hike if it would have a corresponding improvement in service.

Seriously, this country's public transport system is an absolute perfect metaphor for the state of the whole nation. It's going nowhere.

MRT Ayala exit at around 7:30am.

Did I say the MRT sucks?

Timberland Earth Day Solo Ride, 22 April 2012

I couldn't sleep the night before. Partly due to excitement at being able to ride again after a long hiatus; partly due to anxiety at getting up early (on a weekend at that!); mostly due to the ridiculous heat!

My mates were in Bataan for the weekend, hopefully getting some good riding (albeit on roads). I decided to do a solo ride in Timberland. I'd been itching to try out my new, lower 34x20 gearing, which I specifically installed for this trail. This would be a good time to test it.

I should've left the house earlier. The sun was already fairly high up by the time I drove in to the parking lot just before 7am. My original plan was to try out the Blue Zone, my confidence boosted by my lower gearing. But I eventually decided against it for two reasons: 1) I wasn't physically up to it, and 2) it would be safer doing that trail with friends. True enough, my old arch enemy -- the rocky uphill to the main trail entrance -- proved victorious once again and I ended up dismounting to walk the last 10 meters or so. This was a portent of things to come.

So I just decided to do our usual Roxas Loop-Basic Reverse-Green Zone route and be done with it. However, the uphill on Roxas humbled me even further, as I had to walk the ~200m to the overlook. I've so far never been able to ride this section completely. The rest of Roxas was as cool as ever. I did ride more cautiously than before (even though I was able hit 51.4 kph on the downhill paved section), since I was alone and thoughts of Alfred's recent accident (and the fatal one of another biker) a couple of weeks before, haunted me. It was nice to see a family (I assumed; a couple and a boy of about 10) riding together though. And I appreciated riders who said "Good morning!" even though I initiated the greeting on most occasions.

After a brief stop at the entrance to Giant to grab a bite, I proceeded to do Basic in reverse. By this time I actually missed my riding buddies. And I was starting to suffer, physically. Apparently the lack of sleep (and lack of fitness for not riding for more than a month now) was taking its toll. By the time I reached the Blue Zone exit, I was contemplating on skipping the Green Zone and calling it a day. But I figured I was already here and I still had time, so what the heck. Green Zone here I come.

The advantage of riding solo is that you can go at your own pace -- push hard if you feel like it, or go as leisurely as possible. I was tired by the time I was at the Green Zone, but I was glad I decided to do it. Nothing beats sweet singletrack. It was a great chance to hide from the sun as well since the entire trail was under a canopy of trees.

I always seem to forget an item or two whenever I go biking. This time it was the arm warmers. I suffered a few whacks from talahib (tall grass) on my arms on a few occasions, but fortunately did not get cut. Despite my enjoyment, I started to feel tired again, and was just wishing the trail would end. I stopped at least a couple more times to grab some pics and take a breather.

I almost jack-knifed here the last time

It's steeper than it looks

I was glad to be back on the bike, but this particular ride wasn't so good. The fairly rocky section up Basic-reverse actually got me wishing for gears and suspension all over again. Yes, it was that bad. Reality check needed.

My new riding buddy

I made it my personal goal for 2011 to teach Matt how to ride. Alas, I failed. To try and make up for it I said I'd do it the early part of 2012. So in January I took off his training wheels and pedals to try and imitate a push bike. A lot of testimonials online say this is the most effective way to teach a child to balance on a bike. So apart from letting him pootle around in the garage (which is, thankfully, big enough), we all went out one afternoon to UP and picked a nice, quiet spot in Area 1 (after being prohibited from biking around the Math building--our usual haunt) where Matt could coast down a gentle incline. He actually started getting the hang of it during the brief time we had at the Math building parking area. It took him only a few tries and he had his feet up and balancing
Over the Easter holiday we went to Batangas and decided to bring our bikes. This would be the first time Matt would try to ride with pedals. The moment we stepped out of the hotel driveway, Matt was already shouting, "Tatay, I can do it!" and sure enough he was pedaling away. Multiply doesn't allow posting of videos in the blog, so click THIS LINK instead.

Camp Aguinaldo, 26 February 2012 - Six Realizations

We decided to hit Camp Aguinaldo yesterday, after finding out Timberland was closed to bikers due to a "fun run."

Instead of my usual narration of how the ride went, I'll try something different. I'll give you a list of some realizations that I had when we were there. Hey, who doesn't like lists?

Just a quick preface though. Alfred just built up a full sus 29er, a Niner Jet9, and this was to be her maiden voyage.

Now on with the list...

1. Riding with friends is fun - MTBing is generally a solo sport (compare pro MTB racing to pro road racing), and there's no doubt being alone in the woods, enjoying nature in its raw-ness and tranquility is just way cool. But riding with friends has its benefits. Apart from being not tagged as anti-social, it allows one to ride at a more leisurely pace, with more frequent rest breaks. If I rode alone, I'd ride my ass off until I puked. The end result would be me being out for the rest of the day. When I ride with friends, I find myself still quite fresh to take on the rest of the day with no ill effects.
2. 29ers are cool - I tried out Al's Jet9 for one lap, and had a blast (caveats aside; see below). It wasn't as unwieldy or sluggish as I expected, and was actually quite pleasant carving around the tight and not-so-tight turns of the Aguinaldo track, probably because the transition from 650B to 29er isn't as pronounced as that of 26er to 29er. I definitely felt the extra height of the larger wheels but that could've been something else (see #3). I've actually just recently taken a fancy for 29ers. I'm particularly smitten by the Salsa Spearfish 2 and the Rocky Mountain Element 950.
3. Bike fit is key - while I enjoyed riding the Jet9, it was waaay to big for me -- about 2 sizes too big. Plus, Al had an uncut wide-ass Easton Haven bar on it. Not only am I not used to "normal" bars anymore, wider bars tend to increase one's reach even more. For reference, my 685-mm Carnegie's have a 25-degree sweep versus the 711-mm Haven at 9-degrees. I also could've used at least a 1-cm lower seat, but the frame's linkage prevented the seatpost from dropping any further. Al had Ergon GR2 grips and those require a lot of fiddling to get the angle right. The set up was totally wrong for my hands.
4. I don't need full suspension - I didn't adjust the Jet9's suspension settings for myself, so I'm not 100% sure if my experience could've been better. The ride was comfy, but I missed the efficiency of rigid riding. Despite what reviews have said, I could make the suspension bob with out-of-the saddle efforts (again, might be due to incorrect suspension set-up; I also didn't try any of the ProPedal settings). The wonderful SID fork did have a cool X-Loc remote lock out, but it still budged a bit when locked out and has absolutely no comparison to a rigid fork. I can imagine how the suspension would be amazing for trails like Timberland, and how it would definitely be beneficial on longer, rough rides. But for the riding I do and the trails I go to, I'd rather sacrifice plushness for efficiency. Modesty aside, I think I've reached a point in my riding skills where I can ride a rigid on most trails no problem. One instance though, where the suspension was just awesome, was on low gear climbs over rough ground. Phenomenal traction and smooth as buttah!
5. Bike weight is relative - many of us obsess over the weight of our bikes, even if we aren't really weight weenies. Heck, bike weight reduction is important for SSers like me, since we aim for efficiency. The Jet9 is at least 3lbs/1.4kg heavier than my bike, but I never felt it while riding. The ability to shift to gears lower than my Ruth's 32x18 negated the weight penalty. That, plus the fact that I'm probably generally stronger now due to SS riding (see #6).
6. I don't need gears - this is the fact that really stood out for me while riding Al's bike. I'd been contemplating going back to gears for a while now (albeit 1x10 to keep things as simple as possible), since I've been suffering a bit on the climbs on my recent rides. But after that single lap, my appreciation for the simplicity of SS riding has been renewed. Now it could be because I need to re-learn how to shift. But the mere fact that I had to THINK about shifting at all detracted from my riding experience. I saw how one can get so caught up in considering when and where to shift during the ride that you lose appreciating the ride itself. I love the fact that SS has me thinking of only 2 things: do I sit or do I stand?

Quite a number of bikers showed up that morning. We later found out that a lot of them came from Timberland. I even saw a friend from college, Agu. He might be considered one of the pioneers of singlespeeding and 29ers in the Philippines. He is the proprietor/co-owner of MyNextBike.com. He and his business partner, Pauly (not sure of the spelling), were there on Lenz Sport bikes, and he let me try out his Leviathan, set up as a 1x9. It pedaled surprisingly efficiently (it did only have 3 inches of rear wheel travel), but felt too small for me (see #3 above).

Let me end with a quick note about the trail. It's been a while since I was last there, so I was glad to be back. The soil conditions that day was perfect: a little moist, but not muddy. Talahib had grown abundant in sections, and the mini-DH run near the last third had the grass combed over the trail, instead of cut. This was bad two-fold. First it made the track a little slippery. Second, it ironed out the bumps which were what made that section fun A cool thing? A short, uphill section near the end, with a big rock slab at the top, made me stall and get off the last two times I was there. Yesterday though, I rode up that muther without a single dab on all the five laps that I did

Anyway, it was a good day for a ride. The realizations were just icing on the trail ride cake.

Al's "second darling" on the right

Timberland Eco-Trails, 12 February 2012

So Alfred and I decided to hit the trails again, very early in the morning (met at 5:30AM), so we could be back home in time for church at 11AM. Alfred has actually been going there almost every weekend. We met at the Shell station again, but I just rode my bike and hitched (literally) a ride to the trail. Good thing Al's rack is good for 3 bikes.

We arrived at Timberland just after 6AM. It was amazing that so many people were already out on the road up to Timberland even before the sun came up, but most of them were joggers/walkers. By the time we got to the parking lot, the sun was out. Or at least what little of it there was, since it was overcast and a slight drizzle had started. By the time we rode out of the clubhouse gate the rain had waned.

Once more I dreaded the 700 metres or so rough climb up to the actual trail entrance, but still managed to get there without dismounting/walking. We decided to try the Roxas Loop first. A group of 6 or 7 were ahead of us and we soon overtook them on the trail, albeit with me on my first dismount. The rest break at the trail head apparently wasn't enough for me to crank out the extended initial ascent on Roxas. The nice thing about the Loop is once you get past the initial climbs, the rest of the way is mostly downhill, with the exception of the last pavement climb near the exit, which, unfortunately, I had to hike up again

A brief rest at the transition to Sapinit Road (including a PB&J sandwich) and we were off to do Basic in reverse, aiming for the Green trail. I gave myself a pat on the back for riding all the way back up without walking

No wonder we missed the entrance the first time out. It was an obscure trail head, covered by a tree, when coming from the east. Alfred had tried the trail before but this was my first time.

The entrance was slightly uphill for the most part, but my lard legs still managed. Things eventually started to get interesting when the trail became rolling and swoopy. This was why I liked singletrack. It was tight, but I simply loved the variety that rolling singletrack offered. It had smooth sections as well as rooty parts. It had quick ups and extended downs. The variety in the terrain gave a good workout without overly tiring me out. The strange thing is, they tout this as the beginner's trail. But the the track wasn't level almost all throughout, but rather sloped towards the cliff to the right. I could imagine newbies finding this not very "confidence-inspiring" and quite disconcerting. And since the soil in the area is red clay, even a little moisture renders the surface quite slick. I actually almost jack-knifed while going into a turn too fast when my front tire slipped. If it weren't for the excellent Neo-Motos, I certainly would've stacked.

There were a couple more issues with this trail. First was the presence of 1-inch-or-so diameter "stumps" sticking out in the middle of the trail; remnants of the trail building work I guess. Tree stumps of about 3-inches in diameter or more are OK, but the ones we encountered could very well puncture a tire, or worse, puncture the rider It's likely these became exposed when the soil got compacted from repeated use of the trail.

Another concern is the possibility of getting cuts from the tall grass (talahib) that droop in towards the trail, especially near the last third section. Good thing I had arm covers, but my legs felt the sting. I later found out that the only injury I incurred was a small cut on my right knuckle (all right, I need gloves). It is for this reason that protective eyewear would also prove useful. Also irritating were the cobwebs that strung across the trail. I was able to catch quite a few, including one with the owner still in it! I wondered why Al let me go first this time around

We had a good ride, finishing on time, as expected, and on our way home around 8:30AM. I really liked the Green Trail, and will definitely make it a regular fix whenever we're at Timberland.

No photos this time, since we just wanted to focus on the ride. However, here's our ride log, courtesy of Al's tr�s cool Garmin Edge 200 GPS

The estimated 471 calories burned is a lot more encouraging than the what my low tech Velo 5 measured (under 50 calories IIRC). I suppose the Garmin takes elevation gain into account as well, but it might also overestimate the overall effort because it assumes the rider is pedaling all throughout the trip; and we had quite a few downhills

Nonetheless, we still had a fairly good workout