Ode to my cruiser, "The Ghost"

I had a cruiser a few years back, I don't remember posting about it here. It was black and white and I sanded it down and painted it to a nice cream color while the fenders and chain guard was white. I bought white wall tires for it and white grips to go with its half moon handle bars. It also had a bell on it and no brake levers since it had coaster brakes. I loved it, I even rode it on a critical mass ride. That bike even served as a prop for my wedding pic! Then the kids came and I had no time to ride and maintain it so I decided to sell it. I found a picture that I used when I sold it online. A lucky guy who decided to check online that day for a cruiser found my ad the same day I posted it and made the offer. After some back and forth texts and some haggling, we met up at a gas station near my house and he left with my cruiser, the one I sanded down and painted lovingly. I miss it some times, but heck, I'm sure the guy who bought it is having more fun with it. So here it is, my cruiser that I nicknamed "The Ghost."

"The Ghost"lookin' good my old pal!

This cruiser looked good from the back too!

If you're looking for cruisers, you might want to check out some of the cruisers available on Amazon.

Ride:// Music:// Deftones' Koi No Yokan

I've been a fan of the Deftones ever since I discovered Around the Fur in 1999 (released 1997) and then I discovered their earlier works and rocked out to that too. Around the Fur was followed by the Album White Pony which made them a critical success. I haven't followed their work after the 2006 release of Saturday Night Wrist (God I love Cherry Waves) but I was able to catch their show when they performed here for the first time in 2011 if I remember right. The guys have been back a second time to promote their Koi No Yokan album (released 2012) which I unfortunately missed.

A video was just released for Romantic Dreams off the Koi No Yokan album featuring skater Jay Park doing his thing in the city night. Romantic Dreams contains the signature emotions I always look for in a Deftones track. There's elements in their work that are always there, I can't describe them but there's always a woman that Chino seems to be singing about who he loves but there's something wrong with her or she's this fantastic creature that has trapped him (Feiticeira comes to mind but that's just my interpretation). If you want some tunes to listen to on your next epic ride, you might want to check out their latest album.

Video: Deftones' Romantic Dreams

MultiSport Philippines' Camp 101 Cycling Leg

I joined the cycling leg of MultiSport Camp 101 at Fort Bonifacio today. I've been a subscriber of the magazine for over a year now and since the magazine is free (my subscription covers the delivery) I take every chance I get to maximize the value of my subscription by joining their free training sessions. I joined their running session and the timing was great because my first 32K run was coming up and I've been training for it.

Coach Patrick Joson at the Multisport Camp 101 2013

Bike coach Patrick Joson led the 5:30 AM session which I attended and he taught the group proper biking techniques to help us ride our bikes more efficiently. I've been riding a bike since before I was ten and this is my first time to hear someone teach proper riding techniques. Heck, who would've thought there's more to riding your bike than just pushing down on your pedal?

Coach Joson has a good teaching style, he focused on teaching one thing (proper riding technique) for the session so that the riders can retain the info and I could say that it worked. In terms of results, I'll say that my knee feels less pressure after I applied his technique. I took one session, imagine what I could learn from more session!

Application Ride

As with previous sessions, there were sponsors booths at the session. Dan's Bike Shop had a booth and they were touting their Specialized line of products. Their entry level road bike was selling for around P39,000 (if I remember right) while I was told their entry level Tri-bike sold for P80,000 to P90,000. Steep, but Specialized is a quality brand.

There's only one more session left and that will be the swimming leg for their Multisport Camp 101. I can't swim well and all I can do is swim from one short end of the pool to the other so I could definitely use some tips in that sport.

I wish they raffled off one of these bad boys

Multisport Magazine is free and you could get it from sports stores but you can subscribe to Multisport Magazine and have it delivered to your home so you don't miss an issue.

Mt. Cabuyao and Mt. Sto. Tomas near Baguio City

So you've been to Baguio more times than you can count. You've been to the Cathedral, had your picture taken with a St. Bernard dog or horse at Mines View Park, picked strawberries at the Strawberry Farm in Benguet and enjoyed the many restaurants in Session Road and the newer ones in SM Baguio.

The biker in you wants to explore the fringes of the city. You want to suck the pine scented air deep into your lungs and you go read the map, plot your course and head out on your bike. Just out the gate, you play with the mist from mouth as it meets the cold chilly air.

And then you pedal, slowly at first, then when you get to a straight road, you pedal hard. Your sides ache and you grab your chest as it spasms as it adjusts to the high altitude when you tried to pump it hard.

This is how I imagine it to be if I brought my bike to Baguio for my family vacation. However, the wife and I had two small kids with us and we rode a bus so bringing a bike was not an option.

MT. BIKE TRAILS IN BAGUIO

I was able to go out on my own though to run (I'm currently training for my first 32-km run). From our base at Hotel 45, I was able to go out and run on South Drive which is perfect because it doesn't have a lot of car traffic and it's fairly woody so the pine scent is strong. I ran all the way to Wright Park to Mines View Park then down to Gibraltar Road then onwards to Leonard Wood road to go back to the hotel. It was a 10 km. route and bikers could also enjoy this woody/hilly route.

Camp John Hay has the Eco-Trail. At almost 2 kms, the route is great for trail running or just to go out for a walk in the woods. This trail is OFF-LIMITS TO MOUNTAIN BIKERS though and rightly so because small kids are also using the trail.

Camp John Hay's Eco Trail is almost 2 kms long, you can't ride your mountain bike here though, that's my son right there :D

But that's OK since there's an option for us which is the Horse Trail just behind the line of shops near the Le Monet hotel where the Titania Wine store and Shakey's restaurant are. A guard confirmed that mountain bikers can use the Horse Trail and a horse guide told me this trail was around 2 kms. long but you can go on further to another area to lengthen your ride. I'd love to go back there and explore this trail on my own someday.

Hiking and Running Up Mt. Cabuyao and Mt. Sto. Tomas

The main reason for this entry is my trip up to Mt. Cabuyao and Mt. Sto. Tomas on our last day in Baguio. I took a hint from PinoyMountaineer's entry as I always do and followed the itinerary. I left the hotel around 0515 and found the jeep terminal to Green Valley which is located behind Hotel Veniz which is near Burnham Park.

The jeeps seem to start their trips at 0600 so I had time to eat breakfast at the carinderia (cantina) just in front of the terminal. The jump off point is the police station at Sto. Tomas road and if you see a policeman just say hi and that you'll be going up Sto. Tomas as a courtesy. The road is actually well maintained but there are some sections that are being rebuilt near the 3rd km from the jump off.

Farmer watering his field near Mt. Cabuyao

You can run up this mountain because it's well paved

Off limits! But there's a view deck and the entrance is near this gate

At the fifth kilometer you'll be at the summit of Mt. Cabuyao where the huge discs of the radar installation are. These Mickey Mouse ear radar can be seen when you go back down to Kennon Road going back to Manila. It's off limits though but go close to the gate and there's a sign there that points you to the View Deck.You'll pass by a trail that hugs the chicken wire fence until you get to the View Deck. It was foggy when I got there so I wasn't able to enjoy the view much so I can't say what you'll be able to see there.

Onwards to my hike/run and the antennas that mark the summit of Mt. Sto. Tomas are visible, past the seven kilometer mark, you'll reach the dirt road. Congratulations, your knobby tires are now home in mountain bike territory.

M.I.C.K.E.Y. M.O.U.S.E. Mickey!

The view is amazing, the plains are to your right and the mountains are to your left, you'll go past terraced fields where farmers work the land. Keep pushing forward and you'll get to road portions that are being paved (awww, but that means progress for the locals). There are some junctions but just follow the wider road. 4x4 vehicles that workers use to go to the towers help keep the trail navigable.

Pack light! All I had in my pocket was a 330ml bottle of water, two cupcakes, a camera and my phone for GPS tracking. I planned to hike/run this road so I didn't bring much.

Take the right road to go up to Sto. Tomas. I was told the one going left  was a wilderness trail that went straight to Kennon Road Camp 6, I should try it next time

I finally got to the summit of Mt. Sto. Tomas after two and a half hours, it's 10.32 kms away from the jump off point (police station) and 5 kms away from Mt. Cabuyao. It's foggy up there and there's a cross marker for the summit but you'll have to look for it inside where the communication towers are. There's some staff there so it's always good to let them know why you're there.

Some mountain bikers going up to Sto. Tomas

Hey! See? You can ride your bike up to Sto. Tomas (pardon my big finger on the lower left)

Mt. Sto. Tomas summit marker, it was put up there to  celebrate 400 years of Christianity in the Philippines

I might not have taken my bike up to Mt. Sto. Tomas but I can confirm that it is indeed navigable by mountain bike. You'll need an extra pair of legs because the hills can be a killer, I bet i'd need to push my bike up there if I bring it up there but I'm sure you guys can do it easily. :)

TIPS AND TRICKS TIME!

Itinerary for hike/run up Mt. Cabuyao (MASL 2025) and Mt. Sto. Tomas (MASL 2256)
0600 - Depart Baguio to Green Valley (station is behind Hotel Veniz near Burnham Park, 15 pesos fare)
0630 - Jumpoff (police station at Sto. Tomas road)
0735 - Mt. Cabuyao summit (Km. 5.35 from jumpoff)
0750 - Gravel section (this is where your mountain bike will be happy)
0850 - Sto. Tomas summit (Km. 10.32 from jumpoff)
1010 - Back at jumpoff (ran most of the way down with stops along the way)
11:00 - Back in Session Road (it takes some time to find a jeep from jump off and I had to run/walk closer to the main road)

Note: Distance data is based on GPS data from Endomondo app, also according to the app, Mt. Cabuyao is at 2047 MASL while Sto. Tomas is at 2298

We stayed at Hotel 45's new building (online reviews recommended the new building and that's what I'll also recommend) It's a just a hop, skip, and a quick car dodge away from SM Baguio, it was reasonably priced too with hot shower, free breakfast and Wi-Fi at 1,100 per night, staff are cool too.

More people on bikes from The Sartorialist

I visited The Sartorialist site again to look for more pics of people on bikes and I wasn't disappointed.

This is not the first time he's been featured on the Sartorialist and I believe I posted his pic in the past

Bowties and bikes

Marine Base in Ternate, Cavite AKA Mt. Palpag (Palpak) trip.

Last month, me and my buddies planned to go for another bike and hike trip to Mt. Palpag in Maragondon, Cavite. We met up at around 7 in the morning near the Mall of Asia and rode the bikes all through Las Pinas, Bacoor, Naic, then Maragondon. We should have gone straight here (I guess) and not turned right to Ternate where we could not find a good local source to get some info on how to get to Mt. Palpag.

It was around 3 PM when we got to Ternate (slow, I know, but we had a lot of stops along the way to just dick around) and with not a lot of time left, we did not want to risk going into an unknown trail and getting lost so we decided to go straight and look for the Marine Base in Ternate, Cavite.

We pushed our bikes slowly up to the DENR station where the jump off to Pico de Loro is, (you mountaineers know this of course). It was already dark when we got there and I got the chance to try my new Energizer headlamp while riding the bike.

IT WORKED GREAT! My buddies and I were impressed by how bright it was. I bought the headlamp after our last failed attempt to climb Mt. Sembrano where we had to run down the trail from the mountain in near darkness. For around 500 pesos, it ain't bad!

Back to my story, we finally got to the Marine Base at around 7 PM I think. The soldier at the gate collected Php600 from the three of us (the entrance is just Php100 if it's not overnight, Php200 is the overnight rate). There's also a fee for pitching your tent at the beach but they do have rooms that you could rent out but we had our tents with us and we planned to camp out on the beach.

The beach is far from the gate, I celebrated prematurely when I reached the gate thinking I could get some chow soon but it turns out the beach is over 4 kms. away from the gate. It was all down hill so at least that made it easier.

Finally! The beach! Like any beach in the Philippines, there's bound to be a videoke. THERE'S ALWAYS A VIDEOKE IN THE BEACH. There's a store there where you could get cold Coke and other food so that helped.

My friend Jeff made quick friends with some of the carpenters who were working at the base. We shared our dinner of sandwiches with corned beef and cheese AND COKE! I finally had to excuse myself so I could sleep inside the tent.

Morning time and while there's no bugle call in this Marine camp, you could observe the Marines doing their drills on the beach and in their barracks nearby. Be aware though, that you're not allowed to take pics of the soldiers for obvious reasons.

What's nice about the Marine Base's beach is the white sand. It's also long and wide and the water isn't that deep. You could see Corregidor and Bataan from the beach. We took a dip in the beach after breakfast until it was time to pack up and leave.

On the way home, it was good to see a troop of monkeys right after we got out of the gate. This area is in fact part of the Mt. Palay Palay reserve and it's nice to know that wildlife is indeed being given a good sanctuary here.

Tips and tricks time!
1) We FAILED to find the trail to Mt. Palpag. In fact, we're calling this trip the Mt. Palpak (failure) trip. If you know how to go to Mt. Palpag, lemme know in the comments.

2) Entrance at the beach is Php 100 per head for day trips, Php 200 for overnight. There are rooms available but this could be hard to get hold of during weekends. I don't know if you could reserve a room. It might help if you have a cadet in the camp.

3) Total distance is over 80 kms all the way to the Marine Base. If you want to camp on the beach, there's a fee for pitching the tent.

4) DO TRY THE LOLO CLARO's RESTAURANT along the way. They serve great chicken that could give Max's Restaurant a run for their money!

5) When we made the trip, the Nasugbu-Ternate tunnel was already open so it's now possible to make a roundtrip using that route.

Early meetup near MOA

We weren't able to reach our original goal of Mt. Palpag

I'll ride my bike anytime with these guys

Fresh air!

Around 80 kms from Manila, the Marine Base camp in Ternate is close enough for a quick beach trip

We pitched our tents right on the beach

Phone charger for your bike

I recently rode the bike over 150 kms in two days to Ternate, Cavite with some buddies and we tracked our ride with our phones that are equipped with the Endomondo app. Well, what do you know, our batteries can't last that long. So I've searched the net for a dynamo hub that can do the job of keeping my phone juiced. And hey! Check it out! I found Dahon's BioLogic *ReeCharge* power system. According to its press release, it connects to all dynamo hubs on the market and then regulates the power it produces to charge the high capacity lithim polymer battery of the system. This power is then used to power up your device via USB. Hot dawg I need this sh.. Shproduct...

Read the press release here.

photo credit: Dahon's press release