From Aling Tina's Eatery, I attacked Timberland and was able to climb it, all right, but in six stops. First stop was a mandatory stop before the infamous "siko". The second at the "siko"; the third to fifth before the next curve; and, the last after Amiya Raya. I also pedaled standing up; but, my powers were not enough to conquer Timberland on SS non-stop.
The last stop
Suman (rice cake) and Yakult at Marc's View Deck
I'll just attempt again next time with less stops.
When I go out town, especially on a land trip, one of my bikes goes too. This time it's my Single Speed KHSs Alite 150 (AlitePot)
In the hotel room for a good night rest
And, this morning, I had the opportunity to pedal. Hallelujah! On as single speed, I'd test my powers on the rolling route of Morong up to Subic Free Port Zone Morong gate and back.
I was supposed to ride solo; but, I met another biker, who's also a guest in one of the resorts, on my way out of the complex. He's Mok Tecson of Cabanatuan City. Then, both of us pedaled towards Subic.
After an hour and a half, we arrived at our destination.
Still early, Mok egged mo on pedaling farther to Ocean Adventure. I acceded.
I arrived back at the resort after 3 hours, which was well within my visa.
That's a great and challenging ride! Hurray! And, I was exhilarated cause I did no dismount / rest on long uphills. The total distance is about 38 kms.
There's one more free overnight parking slot for the month in our building parking. And, I decided to use it last night.
I left my car at the parking and went home biking using my KHS Alite 150.
However, along C5 at the corner of Mercury Avenue in Libis, I was having a hard time pedaling. So, I stopped and saw that my rear tire was flat.
After removing the tube, I checked the tire (Kenda Nevegal) several times but found nothing that caused the flat. So, I replaced the tube with one of my two spares. In less than 5 minutes, I was done.
At home, I checked the tube and found a hole at the seam on the inner side. I'm now thinking of retiring this tube considering that it has four patches already. Or, perhaps, I patch the new hole and make it a spare.
Together with another golden biker, Arci, I made my second century ride. The route was Novaliches to Tagaytay via Amadeo, Cavite and back to Novaliches. This is my longest ride so far with a total of around 180 kilometers in 16 hours.
Meet-up at Petron Station - Philcoa
Arci and I
Arci's young friends, Nelson and Siegfred, joined us in Rosario, Cavite
Last Sunday, I climbed Timberland Heights via the Wall with my TweetyPot (Marin Alpine Trail - a 29er) and recorded my time at 24 minutes.
Yesterday morning, riding my AlitePot (KHS Alite 150 - a 26er), I went to San Mateo, Rizal to record the time of my no dismount climb to Shotgun.
From Novaliches, I pedaled all the way to the bike parking along C6 in front of the entrance to Shotgun Avenue.
After resting for a few minutes, I started my slow ascent to Shotgun. From the bike parking, it's about 4.2 up to the trailhead to Mt. Maarat. I reached the trailhead in 47 minutes and 30 seconds with no dismount.
After a few minutes of rest, I went back to my starting point.
Thereat, I contemplated whether to climb Timberland. I decided to. From the same starting point, the gate of Timberland Heights is about 2.2 kilometers. I slowly pedaled and reached the gate in 24 minutes and 30 seconds. It's 30 seconds longer than my climb last Sunday.
A few months back, I learned the art of climbing uphills from an older biker with no or minimal dismounts. When I first applied the trick at Shotgun, it's really effective. It's the first time I climbed Shotgun with no dismount. Thence, I've been climbing Shotgun and Timberland with no dismounts.
The trick is - pedal slowly or very slowly even to the point that your wheels would stop rolling upward. Thence, start building your power, strength, stamina to increase your climb speed.
Before, my best record for climbing Shotgun was with 2 dismounts / rests.
Now, I started recording my climb times to monitor my progress.
For the second time, I came home from work using my bike (AlitePot).
It's my coding day (Wednesday); hence, I couldn't leave by car until 7:00 PM. Hence, I decided to bring my bike and use it in coming home. At 5:00 pm, I prepared and left 20 minutes after.
At the basement 3 parking of our building
The distance from my work to home is about 32 kilometers. After two hours of pedaling, I arrived home.
After climbing mountains for two consecutive weekends, I decided to pedal on flat grounds. This morning, I went to the nearest biking place in Neopolitan Business Park. Tomorrow It would be UP Diliman. When I arrived at about 7:00 AM, the place was full of bikers, joggers, walkers, and other fitness buffs. I just made two sets of eight rounds. After my first, I saw some bikers eating. Since I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, I ordered and ate an arroz caldo. And, after the second set, I drank a refreshing buko juice and ate its soft meat. Before going home, I shopped for biking shorts and shirt.
