ToF (Tour of the Fireflies) Experience

What is the Tour of the Fireflies?
Reference: www.fireflybrigade.org/

The 13th ToF route covered the Cities in Metro Manila: Pasig - San Juan - Quezon City - Manila - Pasay – Mandaluyong.

My cyclometer read almost 35 kilometer. We joined the peleton from Tiendesitas to CCP however choose a different route from CCP back to Tiendesitas. It was reported that 15,000 joined this year’s run. It’s a big 87.5% increase from last year’s participants.

Despite being an almost 2 decade old biker, it was my first time to join the 13th Tour of the Fireflies in Metro Manila. I’d like to share some of my observations during the 5 hour affair last April 17, 2011.

1- Biker Family
Father & son, father & daughter, husband & wife, husband & other wife... It's a family affair. Even the star rangers were there. You know the star rangers, right? (Link Star Rangers)

2- Quiapo, Quiapo!
So Quezon Blvd street in front of Quiapo church (officially known as Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene) experiences traffic every day. It’s one of the busiest areas in the metropolis and April 17 was no different. Bike traffic was turning from bad to worse and the culprit was…that everybody wanted to take a picture of the “mass” of bikers.

3- Water share
We were in Ortigas Avenue approaching Edsa when I spotted a sweet biker couple. The biker guy shared his hydration pack with his lovey dovey. It actually sounds unsanitary but my focus is more on the act of sharing.

4- Bike gamut
Mountain bikes, road bikes, recumbent bikes, folding bikes, cruisers, low rider, tall bike, low end bikes, high end, name it and they all had it. Well, almost as I didn’t see any triathlon bikes. There were a number of bike clubs as well like Smart, Globe, Unilever, location based bike clubs or just a group of friends.

5- Manny insight
One of my bike club co-members Manny P. (not Pangilinan) provided a very valuable insight. He said that the reason why he always joins the ToF is because it is the only time he gets to bike around Metro Manila major thoroughfares free from dangers (read: motorized vehicles). During that ride, bike is the king of the road.

The almost 5 hour Sunday ride actually achieved 3 personal objectives: support in lessening the carbon footprint, burned some calories and bonded with my fellow SCC members.

My Last Day of the Year Escapade

Y2010 was one for my personal history book. To sum up the year: I have a new assignment at work (my 7th), I went under the knife at the start of the year, my son graduated from elementary with honors, my daughter graduated from pre-school with honors, our annual family trip with Mama brought us to tourist sites in Central Luzon, my family trip was in Japan and almost 2 week vacation during the Christmas holiday.

To cap off the fruitful year, so how did I spend Dec 31, 2010. It was a fusion of my three loves- mountain biking, photography and basketball. These three activities actually serve as my de-stresser so you can only imagine how relaxed I was that day.

Mountain Biking
The scheduled exercise for that day was mtb over basketball and jogging. What was undecided was the trail to use- Armenia, Balanti or San Luis. The decision was made when I reached the 'intersection,' north if Armenia, South if San Luis and east if Balanti. I chose my comfy zone and went to Balanti. While the total distance travelled was around 30 kilometers, since I was on a leisure pace, I completed the trail in 5 hours. I left point a at 7AM and back to point a by 12NN.

Photography + Video
Leisure pace meant stopping every 30 minutes and fired away. I must have taken more than 50 shots that day and some video that I uploaded in youtube. The highlight for that ride is the video of a river forming right before my eyes which I captured on video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH7K8N5SnvA). Majority of the pics were taken in Brgy. Balanti (renamed Brgy. Col. Pedro Soliman, my maternal grandpa) where I have fond memories.

Loved Ones (Bonus)
While on my way back, I decided to visit my father, paternal and maternal grandparent at the Garden of the Ascension. While there, I got an IDD call from my father’s best buddy, his older brother Pong.

Basketball
The last stop for the day was to watch game 1 of our batch's basketball championship match against '97. The tournament was called Maclang Cup which was a basketball tournament for DB Tarlac alumni. Obviously, I wasn't going to play because I was suited up for cycling that day. It is extremely challenging playing bball with steel sole reinforced cycling shoes. While trading stories with my former classmates was a winner, we lost game one that day.

December 31 is an example of a rare feat called hitting THREE BIRDS with one stone. And throwing in as a bonus a visit to our loved ones who has gone ahead of us.

My BMX days (circa 1988)

I got my first real bicycle when I was 12 years old. It was a red Mongoose BMX (Bicycle Motocross) which my father got for my birthday in 1984. I recall he bought it from Mascom General Merchandise. For the next 4 years, my first BMX underwent numerous metamorphosis until it reached its final state:

FRAME: GT Pro Performer (cr-mo)
FORK: Hutch (white)
BARS: Redline (cr-mo)
STEM: Hutch (black)
GRIP: OGK (black)
BRAKE LEVERS: Dia Compe (alloy)
BRAKES: Dia Compe (alloy)
CABLES: Shimano
CRANKSET: SR
SPROCKET: Shimano
CHAIN: D.I.D
PEDALS: MKS Jaws (graphite)
SADDLE: Kashimax Aero
SEAT POST: Strong
CLAMP: Strong
HUBS: Suzue
SPOKES: Stainless Steel
RIMS: Araya
TIRES: IRC

INVESTMENT
Back then, my final and almost dream set up reached more than P3,000. From the Mongoose frame (which was a bit heavy), I upgraded to an Aero frame (which didn't fit right), then to a Skyway frame (which wasn't cool enough) then finally to a GT frame (ah perfect). The money came from mostly my savings and some help from my parents.

RACE
I joined a couple of track races but was not lucky enough to win an individual award however our team, the SR team won first place in '88. My teammate then and neighbor Rey Tinio won the event. Funny but one of the former BMX race organizers is now my brother in law.

MY TEAMMATES
The SR Team (short for San Rafael because that's the barangay where we live) was coined from a BMX product called SR which was short for Sakae Racing. My teammates then were Rey Tinio, Dexter Antonio, his brother Harley, Errol Aganon, an adopted teammate Dodie Bondoc. Did I miss anybody?

FREESTYLE
I was confident enough to do some air tricks (dirt jumping) then like a tabletop and an array of flatland tricks like pop a wheelie, do a bunny hop, an endo and a 360° spin. In fact, until now, I can still do a wheelie and a bunny hop on a mountain bike.

Those were the days.

My Fourth MTB Ride

Trek 8900 HT
Originally uploaded by dylac

I got my 2008 Trek 8900 Cross Country Hard Tail mountain bike last December. You can call it a Christmas gift for myself. I sold my old 2003 Giant NRS Cross Country Dual Suspension frame for P10K then got the new frame for P15K. I'd say it was a win-win deal as I needed an upgrade but didn't want to shell out much for the difference.

Here's the inventory of my bike set up:

FRAME: Trek 8900 XC HT (2008 ver)
FRONT SHOCKS: Manitou Black Platinum (all options)
BARS: Titec HellBent
STEM: Titec Big Al
GRIP: RaceFace Lock on Grips
BRAKE LEVERS: Shimano Deore XT
BRAKES: Avid CPS
CABLES: Avid Flak Jacket
SHIFTERS: Shimano Deore XT
REAR DER: Shimano Deore XT
FRONT DER: Shimano Deore
CRANKSET: Shimano Deore XT
CASSETTE: SRAM 7.0
CHAIN: Shimano Hyper Glide
PEDALS: Shimano M540
SADDLE: WTB Rocket V Race
SEAT POST: Titec X-Wing Pro
CLAMP: TREK (generic)
HUBS: Shimano Deore XT
SPOKES: Black Stainless Steel (generic)
RIMS: Mavic 223 XC
TIRES: Hutchinson Python

To supplement my ride, here's an inventory of my gear:
JERSEYS: Fox, Primal Wear, Anatomic
GLOVES: SixSixOne, Fox
SHOES: SixSixOne, Shimano (ex)
HYDRATION PACK: CamelBak Lobo
SOCKS: SixSixOne, Primal Wear, CoolMax

After de-stressing myself and typing all of these down, the BIG QUESTION is when can I find time to ride it again?!?!

Goodbye Giant, hello Trek!

December 28, 2008

Sold!!!

I sold my 2003 Giant NRS full suspension (FS) mountain bike frame for a mere P10K today. I’m getting a 2008 Trek 8500 hard tail (HT) frame. I’m back to a rigid hard tail after 5 years on a FS frame. The decision to “downgrade” is because of economics. I would really like to get a 2008 Santa Cruz Superlight (my dream frame) but is cost $1,000 (a little under P50K) but it’s not wise at the moment plus our financial status can’t support the purchase. The new blazing red HT frame cost P15K so I need to shell out just 5 grand for the upgrade or downgrade depending on how you look at it. In the mountain bike world, the natural progression is an upgrade from a HT to FS not the other way around. Oh well, I really don’t mind the downgrade. I’ll still get my dream frame in the future.

MTB: Decisions, Decisions

It's so sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along... A nice song indeed but I'm trying to relate it to a decision that I have to make now that I'm officially back to my second love - mountain biking! It goes without saying that my first love is my family.

GIANT NRS
It's like this: I'm currently using a 2003 Giant NRS mtb. It's almost a 5 yr. old bike which I got via a frame swap deal. It still serves it purpose but I'm exploring the idea of upgrading the frame to a newer model. I maybe able to sell my current frame for a reasonable price of P20,000 ($500). The plan is to look into cross country frames like Giant Anthem or Santa Cruz Superlight.

GIANT ANTHEM
I love my NRS frame. It's an award winning frame which is a dream frame for entry level mtbikers. The ANTHEM is the next generation NRS however, my take is that the ANTHEM doesn't come close to NRS' performance. But the price is right. An ANTHEM retails for P30,000 ($750) therefore my cash out will be in the range of P10,000 ($250). If I upgrade to an ANTHEM, it's analogous to upgrading from a Toyota Revo to a Toyota Innova. It's your trusty Toyota for the mass market.

SANTA CRUZ SUPERLIGHT
This maybe a long shot and might cost an arm and a leg pero astig na option ito! Kung milyonaryo lang ako, wala ng isip isip pa, mag Santa Cruz Superlight na ako! I've always been fixated with the SC Heckler, the Superlight's older and mightier brother. It retails for $1,200 (P48,000) for the frame only at http://www.rbikes.com/, a US based web based bike store. In our lovely Pinas, it sells for a whopping P60,000 ($1,500). Owning a SC Superlight mt bike is like driving a brand new 3rd generation Honda CRV. It has a wow appeal and deserve a second look.

The biggest question is if I can justify the $700 (P28,000) expense to myself then to my family. We'll see in the coming months...

The GIANT comeback

I'm back on the saddle after over a year of dormancy. My first mountain bike ride this year last Sunday was a 30+ kilometer 80% off road over lots of single tracks in Brgy. Sampu, Tarlac. My ride buddy was Joey Mendoza who I've ridden with a couple of times in the past. In fact, I bought my second bike - a Schwinn Moab hard tail from him years ago.

I intend to actively go back to riding my mt. bike. I used to ride 60kms a week when I was still based in Pampanga. We’d ride every weekend even up to 3 times a week. Then every quarter, we'd go on out of town rides like in Montalban Rizal, Mt. Samat Bataan and Dueg San Clemente Tarlac.

I started mt. biking in 1996. It's been my ultimate stress reliever, gives me a break from work. That I get a big work out is just a plus. The most important impact of mt. biking for me is that it let's me be myself. Let the riding begin!

The Birth of Pampanga Trail Riders

Last 15th of February Y2004, fifty five mountain bikers from all over Pampanga converged in the parking lot of Clark parade grounds. Riders started building up around 6:00AM and rolled around 7:30AM. An intermediate trail called Manikayo would provide the venue for the event. It was a 25 kilometer trail which is 40% off road. The road part was a slow 15 kph cruise along the backyards of Clark: Centennial park, True North golf course, Expo, Centennial bridge to Sacobia. The off road part was a dusty uphill climb to Manikayo in Sacobia also inside Clark. The peak of the trail will give you a clear 180 degree view of the south side of Clark.

The mountain bikers came from all walks of life - students, medical and sales representatives, expats, businessmen, managers, doctors and retirees. Age range was from a young 11 year old to a still young at heart late 50s. Would you believe my father is even younger than these late 50s mt bikers. The average age was 32 years old. A good 80% of the riders are married (not only to their bikes but also to their spouses). A great majority of the riders are males and these gentlemen took good care of the 2 roses among the thorns. The bikes range from low end department store bikes to average priced GT Aggressor hard tails to high end Giant dual suspension bikes. All of the riders were in full battle gear and wearing the basic safety required helmets and gloves.

Usually, mt bike group rides range only from 5 to 20+ riders but this was a special day because we had a 55 rider strong trail ride. What makes it extra special is that Infomax cable tv from San Fernando Pampanga will feature the trail ride in one of their shows. They are one with us in promoting the sport in Pampanga and tagging it a mountain biker’s haven.

Although the demographics varies, the common denominator among these 55 individuals is the love for the sport of mountain biking and the genuine thought of unifying the mountain bike riders in Pampanga hence the birth of Pampanga Trail Riders.

During these times when politics is a hot topic in our country, coalition does not only happen in the political scene, it also happens in the mountain biking scene in Pampanga.

Ride on!

Postscript: This article was posted in a number of websites and published in Urge sports magazine in Y2004. Three months after writing this article in March 2004, I was a re-assigned in our Makati head office hence the mountain biking had to take a back seat. The plan is to be active in mountain biking again starting April 2007. Tuloy ang ligaya!

REFERENCE:
Pls. click here to view the video # 1.
Pls. click here to view the video # 2.

Mountain Biking in Pampanga

Mountain Biking and the natural environment in the province of Pampanga are made for each other. We have every conceivable trail in the mountain bike bible such as downhills, single tracks, pure off roads, semi off roads and roads. Then again why will you go into mt biking if you will use it on the road? To compliment the numerous trails that we have in Pampanga, there are at least 20 bike shops selling low end to hi end mt bikes.

Mt Biking is relatively a cheap sport. You can go into the sport for as low as P2,700.00. You can buy a mt bike for P2,000.00, a helmet for P500 , a pair of gloves for P200.00 and you’re off to explore the natural trails in Pampanga. What makes the sport costly is the frequent upgrades on the parts. After a couple of rides, you realize that you will enjoy the ride better if you upgrade to a suspension fork so you spend about P 1,500.00. A couple of rides further and you realize that an 18 speed drivetrain is not enough so you decide to upgrade to a 21 speed drivetrain, thus spending another P 1,000.00. It’s an endless cycle and before you realize it, you’ve completely upgraded your bike and already spent P 15,000.00.

We have a long list of mountain bike trails, thanks in part to Mt Pinatubo for wreaking havoc in 1991 and in the process improving the natural landscape in the province. The Clark area alone has at least 20 discovered trails and a lot more left to be discovered. One of my favorite trails is called Aquino’s Point located in Sacobia. The starting point is usually at Clark main gate. The trail is about 35 kms. long with 40% off road. The off road portion used to be longer but the Clark management introduced improvements in the last 2 years. It is called Aquino’s point in honor of the former President Cory Aquino. The place is a lahar watch tower and it is about 1,800 feet above sea level. Image pedaling your way up to the top of the mountain for 1 hour. The scene is breath taking and the climate is cold especially if you’re there between 5 to 7 in the morning. Going down is the best part, what took you 1 hour to climb will only take than less than 4 minutes to descend.

Munta na kayu Pampanga, mag bike tamu! (Go to Pampanga and let’s ride a bike!)

GIANT NRS is a real GIANT!

I got my GIANT NRS frame via a swap deal in Y2003. I am extremely happy with that move. My immediate project then was to copy the Y2002 NRS 1 set up in Giant Bicycles website and I’d like to believe my set up is at least 50% better part per part comparison. Simultaneous to that was the objective of keeping the bike under 28 lbs. The “world record” for the lightest NRS bike is a feather weight 24 lbs which I think is not trail worthy. I’ve been successful at keeping it at 28 lbs without sacrificing strength. A light bike is useless if you need to carry it home due to parts that surrender to the tough trails that it is exposed to. The bike is staying with me for a long time unless somebody offers to purchase it at a very irresistible price.

Ride on!