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