Samar Island Loop 2019

The more the merrier! Nineteen cyclists from Sorsogon rode the third largest island in the Philippines during the Holy Week of April 2019.  The coastal loop of Samar is 731 km from Allen to Catbalogan, to Balangiga (with stop-over San Juanico Bridge), to Borongan (skip Guiuan), to Gamay, then back to Allen. It was a light and fast 5-day ride averaging 146 km per day. Hot, plenty of climbs, dawn to dusk rides, kind Samar people, good food, scenic coastal seascapes, and good wide roads almost all the way. My first bike tour with a loaded road bike. 

A happy and noisy crowd, at Matnog port

DAY 1, IROSIN TO MATNOG, ALLEN TO CATBALOGAN (163 km)

This is our nth time of cycling Samar Island which is just a short ferry ride from Matnog, Sorsogon. The Maharlika Highway (AH-26) starts at Allen, goes south with nice coastal views up to San Isidro, then hilly terrain amidst coconut plantations all the way up to Calbayog City. From Calbayog is flat roads to Sta. Margarita, Gandara and up to San Jorge. From San Jorge, the road undulates again with many hills going to Catbalogan. First time bike tourers husband and wife Ma. Aurora and Gerry got plenty of tire punctures that we arrived in Catbalogan late in the evening. Our favorite pit stop in Catbalogan is Fame Hotel - relatively cheap and biker-friendly. Gerry has to change his ill-fitting tires with new ones at the hotel. Thirteen hours on the road with 2,900 meters elevation gain at 16.7 kph average speed! Strava data here.

Women power!

West coast of Samar 

Plenty of tire punctures on this trip

DAY 2, CATBALOGAN TO BALANGIGA (174 km)

Another century ride (100 miles = 160 km) to Balangiga. Balangiga recently hugged the headlines when its church bells were returned by the US after it was taken as war trophies after retaliations following the Balangiga massacre in 1901 during the Philippine–American War 117 years ago.

Breakfast is instant coffee, a climb out of Catbalogan and another one to Paranas. Another long climb at Pinabacdao then it was mostly flat road to Sta. Rita. This portion is mainly inland and expect hot weather specially during summer. Instead of going straight to Basey, we detoured to San Juanico Bridge for that souvenir pictures. Then on to Basey - slow and lethargic in the hot and windless summer afternoon. Sea breeze in the late afternoon was a relief as we continued on the scenic coastal road to Marabut. It was pitch dark when we reached the small town of Marabut – and with no restaurant in sight. For dinner, we simply asked a small roadside “sari-sari” store owner to cook us rice (for 19 persons!) and we almost emptied her stock of canned goods.

Some prefer solo rides, we prefer a crowd! (From left: Kikik, Ivan, Tikboy, Gilbert, Ed, Togudog, Jojo, Jay, Gerry, Isong, Ma. Au, Mark, Kareen, Linzo, Tyrone, Dominic, Cyrk Andoy, and me (Noel)

Ma. Au and Gerry, first time touring

Rock formations near Marabut

About an hour later, we arrived in Balangiga where we were hosted by a Junel (a friend of Gilbert Dizon) in a beachfront campsite. A second dinner followed then a dip in the sea. Fourteen hours on the road with 2,500 elevation gain at 16 kph average speed (Strava data).  Good thing everybody is in good shape! Later that night, Cyrk suffered a severe allergic reaction that he has to be taken to the local hospital and he bailed out of the ride.

Night ride, normal

At Balangiga, with the statues depicting the ambush of Americans by Filipino villagers

DAY 3, BALANGIGA TO BORONGAN (106 km)

Lots of tourists are visiting the Balangiga church where the three bells are displayed. After mingling around, we took off late to Borongan. Another hot morning cycling the gentler terrains in the southern parts of Samar up to the junction to Guiuan. From the junction is a cooler ride along the east coast with the easterlies providing some relief. We stopped at Hernani to visit Jay’s relatives where we were treated with bihon, rice and buko. Then north to a stop in Minasangay Island in Balangkayan – a place advertising as a “marine eco-park and resort” but with hectares of mangrove forest decimated intentionally for unknown purposes. But the resort was scenic and worth a visit. The pit stop is Gerry’s place in Borongan. Lots of sea foods and vegetables (it was Holy Friday) plus some beer courtesy of Mang Ed.

Beach camp

The recently returned Balangiga church bells

Km 1000 post

Mangrove massacre, near Minasangay Island, Balangkayan

Pit stop at Gerry's place in Borongan

DAY 4, BORONGAN TO GAMAY (160 km)

Riding this eastern portion of the route is definitely cooler compared to the western side. The road is hugging the coast, trees lined the road and there is very light traffic. After Taft, the volume of bus and truck traffic significantly decreased as there was no road access on this route to Allen. The road will abruptly end in a bridge-less river in Palapag so all vehicles going to Catarman/Allen and Luzon will have to take the Taft-Paranas road. We reached the small town of Gamay at dusk and dispersed in the few lodging houses available. The elevation gain is 2,100 meters and the average speed is 17.6 kph with a total time of 13:46 hours, according to Strava.

Concrete wave breakers at San Juan

Samar kids

"Come home safe and alive, wear helmet". I agree.

Boundary of Eastern and Northern Samar

DAY 5, GAMAY TO ALLEN (148 km)

Started out at the break of dawn from Gamay after pandesal and instance coffee. The terrain goes hilly again up to Palapag. On the final descent to Mapanas, I was moving too fast that I did not notice a deep pothole in road. Bang! Both my rear and front tire was pinched flat. No amount of patching would remedy the gash in both tubes and I had only one spare tube.

Pinch flat, rear and front

To spare my team of waiting while I fix my tubes, I decided to flag down a truck going to Palapag to look for a spare tube or a vulcanizing shop.  And so I missed out cycling the most scenic part of the trip which is the Mapanas-Palapag coastal road. At Palapag, no luck on getting 700c tubes so I had my tubes hot-patched in a local shop. The repair held out and I rejoined the team hours later. In cycling the Palapag-Catarman route, one needs to ride two brief boat rides in really small boats to cross two wide rivers. Why there is no initiative in constructing bridges here is a mystery to me.

Long distance cycling is a celebration of life

Peloton of bicycle tourers,a rare occurence 

Are we bikepacking or touring? Most would say on-road cycling is bike touring, another school of thought would say the set-up defines this as bikepacking. I say, just ride.

Boatload of cyclists

We ascended the final climbs of the ride before Allen in the dark, rode a ferry to Matnog and was home by midnight. Travelled 150 kms in 12:30 total hours with an average speed of 18 kph and gaining 1,815 meters (Strava data).

Light and fast, because we have to get back to work the next day!

Great team and nice ride!

By Noel Mercado II