My tour of Quezon City

Yesterday, I had a limited time to bike. I must be home before lunch for some appointment in the afternoon.

I'd planned of joining the La Mesa Nature Reserve ride; but, this ride would finish by 2:00 PM at the earliest.

Instead, I rode somewhere else. It turned out to be a partial tour of Quezon City.

From my home in Kaligayahan, Novaliches , I started pedaling at about 8:00 AM. My routes:

• Zabarte Road
• Quirino Highway
• Holy Cross Memorial Park (biked inside the park for about 30 minutes)
• Quirino Highway
• Mindanao Avenue
• Road 3
• Visayas Avenue
• Elliptical Road
• UP Diliman (biked inside the campus for about 45 minutes)
• C. P. Garcia Avenue
• Teacher's and Sikatuna Villages
• Anonas Street
• Aurora Boulevard
• 20th Avenue
• J. Rizal Street, Project 4
• Katipunan Avenue
• Balara (up to swimming pool / Escoda Hall) and turned back
• Tandang Sora Street
• Capitol Hills Drive
• Zuzuaregui Street
• Commonwealth Avenue
• Regalado Avenue
• Quirino Highway
• Zabarte Road

At the Holy Cross Memorial Park. Visiting my parents-in-law graves.

UP Diliman Executive House

UP Diliman Oval

Balara Filtration

Balara Swimming Pool

St. Peter's Parish along Commonwealth Avenue

Hungry and thirsty! The solution - Crispy dinuguan and a bottle of beer.

I got home at about 11:30 AM.

Noises while pedaling

While pedaling on some gears, I was hearing rythmic noises. On my ride last Saturday, the noises got louder and occurred on all gears.

Hence, on my way home along Commonwealth Avenue in Fairview, I passed by the local bike store and had my bike diagnosed and fixed.

The culprit - the bottom bracket had loosened. When it was tightened, the noises were gone.

Another attempt at the Shotgun

This afternoon, I again attempted to finish the Shotgun trail. I didn't finish it; but, I made a great progress.

That mountain I'd climb up.

Rest first before the climb

Tired and panting, I dismounted to catch my breath.

Another stop for a rest and watched the overlooking views.

My third stop on the way up.

Undecided which way to go, I decided to turn back.

Another Macabud, Rodriguez trail experience

My first Macabud trail experience was two weeks ago.

This morning, I took this trail again. And, as usual, I was alone but not lonely.

I took the same route but explored some branches of the trail. And, in one of the branches, I was barked at and almost attacked by two big dogs. Luckily, they changed their mind when their owner approached them. Whew, that's close.

I happened to see a big group of bikers resting in a store. I believed they're the PMTB CPB Bikers.

Last time, I took the Payatas Road on my way home. This time, I took the other way to San Isidro, Rodriquez then to San Mateo.

This ride wasn't as hard as my first time but it's still the best and enjoyable.

At the long ascent where I pushed my bike.

At the crossroad of Sitios Udiongan and Calumpit.

My new wrist watch

My new wrist watch

Wifey gifted me a wrist watch this Valentine's Day for my biking.

It's a Casio G-Shock Module 2327. Hence, I already used it on my Valentine's Day ride.

Note: Image from the Casio website

Here are the technical descriptions of the watch.

• Shock Resistant
• 200M Water Resistant
• Magnetic Resistant
• EL Backlight with Afterglow
• Dual Time
• Daily Alarm
• 1/100 Second Stopwatch
• Measuring capacity: 23:59'59.99"
• Measuring unit: 1/100 second (for the first 60 minutes)
• 1 second (after 60 minutes)
• Measuring mode: Elapsed time
• Auto Calendar (pre-programmed until the year 2039)
• 12/24 Hour Formats
• Accuracy +/- 15 seconds per month
• Battery CR2016
• Approx. battery life: 3 years

Before, when biking, I utilized my cellphone clock or my Swiss Army wrist watch to monitor the time.

Thank you very much, dear.

Beyond Giant

Two Saturdays ago (February 6) I finally reached Giant, all right. And, I made it pedaling from our place in Novaliches. That's about 25 kilometers one way or 50 kilometers back and forth.

While drinking a refreshing bottle of light beer at Giant Store, I wondered what lies beyond Giant. To satisfy my curiosity, I'd planned of another ride to Giant then beyond.

For two weeks, I was on the drawing board planning my ride, checking the routes, and the distances.

My route: Novaliches - Commonwealth Avenue - Batasan Road - Timberland - Giant - Cabading - Marcos Highway - Sumulong Highway - Soliven/Lilac Street -Gen. Ordonez Avenue - J. Rizal Avenue - Batasan Road - Commonwealth Avenue - Novaliches. The routes covered the four towns of Quezon City; San Mateo, Rizal; Antipolo City; and Marikina City.

The total distance is about 66 kilometers.

Yesterday, I left home at 1:00 PM after eating my lunch. I pedaled for 6 hours (an average of 11 kph).

After Giant, the roads are all paved but rolling. I enjoyed the downhill rush and the uphill climbs as well, albeit grueling. The mountain scenery are so beautiful.

My pitstop at the Wall (after the Siko) to catch my breath.

Another rest at the Giant Store and excited to go beyond Giant

Marcos Highway from Cabading

Marcos Highway towards Cogeo and Masinag

At the corner of Sumulong Highway and Hon. Soliven Avenue checking my map for directions

Checking my directions again along Gen. Ordonez Avenue

Happy Valentine's Day & Kung Hei Fat Choi

Two events in one day!

Happy Valentine's Day


Kung Hei Fat Choi!

My Bulacan Tour - Part 1

I covered the towns of San Jose Del Monte City, Marilao, and Meycauayan City.

My route was Zabarte Road - Camarin Road - Malaria Road - Quirino Highway - Gov. Fortunato Halili Avenue - Marilao San Jose Del Monte Road - Manila North Road - Malhacan Road - Meycauyan Camalig Road - Bahay Pare Road - Congressional Ext. Road - Urduja Village - North Olympus Subdivision - Zabarte Road. They're all paved roads.

The distance is about 52 kilometers. And, my ride took about five hours. I left home at about 7:00 AM and got home at 12:00 noon. An average of 10 kilometers per hour.

Gov. Fortunato Halili Ave. approaching Muzon Junction

Parish of the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Marialo

Manila North Road - SM Marilao

In Meycauayan, I passed by the City Hall area and rode the trails in one of the vacant lots:

Another short morning ride

This morning, I woke up at about 6:00 AM; as I was attending a tariff hearing at the Tariff Commission at about 9:00 AM.

I normally wake up early at 4:30 AM and leave home at about 5:00 AM to avoid the worsening traffic at Fairview and EDSA.

It's still early and I still had time to bike for at least 30 minutes.

I just gargled, washed my face, and donned my biking gears.

After warming up, I took off at about 6:20 AM. From our village, I turned left to Zabarte Road. At the Camarin junction, I turned left towards Novaliches proper. Thence, I turned left to Quirino Highway then turned left to Zabarte Road and entered our village. That's about 40 minutes of biking.

My hardest but the best ride I've ever had.

I had planned of traversing the trails of Rodriguez, Rizal - Licao licao, Macabud and Nabutas.

I've been reading the related PMTB threads and studying and plotting the maps. Likewise, I initially surveyed Pangarap Village and checked where the trail head is.

And, there was the Licao licao Fun Ride organized by PapiRocky on January 30, 2010 Saturday. Unfortunately, I was out of town at that time.

So, this morning, I executed my plan.

This is my first time on this journey - a totally stranger to the places and trails I was going to venture to and totally all alone.

Armed with a map and a determination, I left our home in Novaliches at about 7:00 AM. I passed by Neopolitan Business Park and ate my breakfast of Lugaw with egg.

Hungry no more, I started pedaling to Pangarap, Caloocan, where the trail head is. At the trail head, I saw some mountain bikers ahead. I tried to catch them buy my efforts were futile. After pedaling for more that 30 minutes from the trail head, I was thinking of turning back. But, NO! I had to go on. I just followed the trail.

Upon reaching an intersection, I hesitated where to turn to. So, I asked for directions. To the right, to Montalban and Payatas; to the left, to Ipil. I picked the former. After a few meters, there's another intersection and I turned right. At the next junction, I again asked for direction - to the left, to Montalban and to the right, to Payatas. It's the latter I took.

So, I think I didn't reach Licao licao nor Nabutas but Macabud only.

Whoa! This trek is the hardest but the best the I've ridden, so far. It's a combination of long trails and long paved roads. I loved riding the hardship of the trails and enjoyed the rolling road going to Payatas. I'd come back for more to try and explore the other branches of the trails.

On my home, I passed by a bike store along Commonwealth, Fairview and had my bike tuned-up to ready my bike for the next ride.

By the way, I arrived home at around 11:00 AM. I had to go home early for the joint birthday celebration of my daughter, Jaja, and sister, Elvie.

Finally, I conquer Giant

After several plannings and actually attempting once to reach Giant, I finally made it this morning.

Giant is one of the favorite destinations or pit stops by mountain bikers from San Mateo or Antipolo, Rizal.

From our place in Novaliches, Quezon City, I pedaled all the way to San Mateo, Rizal. My first pit stop was at Aling Tina's Eatery along Kambal Road Extension, where I had my breakfast of dinuguan and rice. The dinuguan was one of the best that I've tasted.

Thence, I started the grueling ascent to Timberland Heights then to Maarat basic trail and all the way to Giant Store.

On my way back to Timberland Heights, I passed by the Pestano Farm (Philip Sanctuary) and peeked. It's another mountain bikers favorite trail.

On the way out from Maarat Trail to Timberland Heights.

Overlooking view on the way to Timberland Gate

I have a new tail light.

I already have one but couldn't find it. I was planning to have a night ride in going home from the office; so, I bought a new one. it's only P125 ($2.70). It has three functions with parabolic lens.

When I arrived home I saw my old rear light. Wifey found it. Now, I have two rear lights, which I could use simultaneously for better visibility.