Cycling the Roof of Luzon - Part 1, 2019

This ride is a field test of our cold-weather trekking gears and newly-installed bike parts and accessories. Gearing up and testing for that planned high-altitude Indian Himalaya ride, and Benguet in February is the coldest and the highest you can get in the Philippines. Four mountain bikers from Irosin, Sorsogon (me, Kareen my wife, Tyrone and Paulo) once again took leave from day jobs and rode two long bus rides to revisit the roof of Luzon. This ride is a 5-day loop of Baguio City – Bokod – Kabayan – Atok – Baguio City (with a side trip to Mt. Pulag).

Vietnam-Cambodia Bike Tour 2018

Our first cycling experience in a foreign country! A light and fast bikepacking ride from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) down south to the Mekong Delta, then up north to Phnom Penh, plus a side trip to Angkor Wat temples – squeezed in a 8-day itinerary last April 2018. Plane tickets to major Indochina cities are now relatively cheap, plus local airlines charges only P1,000 for MTBs (Legazpi-Manila-Saigon, bare bikes unboxed and un-bagged).

Riding Audax Philippines 2016

First heard of Audax Philippines on February 2016 from a good friend of mine Jules in Manila while prepping for my Mt. Kinabalu climb. Jules' story of unsupported, self-paced, non-competitive, time-stamped, any-bike-you-like, plenty of 7-11 along the way, series of 200-300-400-600 km rides piqued my interest. Incidentally, he also lent me his Scott road bike (minus crank and fork) as incentive to going lighter, faster and further, since my preferred bike for many years is an MTB. Visited audaxph.com later and was hooked! Seven months later, I had my name in the roster of 2016 SUPER RANDONNEURS.

Audax is long distance cycling event. It is not a race, and not a leisurely recreational bike touring event either. You must complete the rides within pre-defined time limits. Time is not on your side, but the allowance is relatively lenient. A very low-key, low profile and very personal event.

Vigan to Baler Bikepacking 2017

The Luzon Island landmass is oriented north-south and most Luzon multi-day biking tours follows this general direction. A Luzon east coast to west coast bike trip can take an hour or so (Unisan-Atimonan, Quezon), or couple of days if you throw in Sierra Madre and Cordilleras along the route. Preferring the path with the most resistance, the ninth edition of “Lakbay Bisekleta” (bike tour) by Sorsogon cyclists is a coast-to-coast traverse of Northern Luzon from Ilocos Sur, over the Kalinga Cordilleras, across the Cagayan Valley, over Sierra Madre, to the beaches of Aurora.

Abra summer landscape

Catanduanes + Tiwi Bike Ride 2016

The month of August offered a 3-day holiday window and we promptly filled it in with a Catanduanes Island bikepacking ride. Irosin cyclists usually does an overnighter ride every August to Tiwi for a “pilgrimage” in Joroan Church. To take advantage of the additional holiday, we planned a side trip to Catanduanes and even dreamed of a 360 ride around the island. A very ambitious plan…

The majestic Pacific Ocean

Bikepacking Bohol 2016

Bohol… the island beckons with its famed chocolate hills, the tarsiers, river cruise, beaches, old churches and more. Just two island hops away from Luzon Island and our destination for the eight edition of the annual “Lakbay Bisekleta” (bike tour). The route was an island hopping bike loop from and to Sorsogon that traversed Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Panglao, Cebu and Masbate Islands, Philippines on the summer of 2016, and turned out to be 796 kilometers and took 8 days.

Teacher Kareen and Nurse Nat, on the road.

Mt. Pinatubo Climb 2016

The cataclysmic eruption of Pinatubo Volcano in 1991 reduced the once 1,745 meters ASL mountain to a crater with an average height of 1,300 meters, with the rim about 2.4 km across, and a crater lake of unknown depth. The unbelievable amount of materials ejected by this volcano inundated Central Luzon and Zambales and altered the area’s topography for millennia to come.

Last February 26-28, climbing buddies from college organized a Mt. Pinatubo climb to explore the possibility of descending the crater from Pampanga side and scout for a route that will traverse into Zambales side. We have already accomplished this feat 21 years ago and have set the record for the first crater traverse (blog of climb here), but we are itching for a repeat performance.