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.