Tiwi and Caramoan Bike Ride 2015

On August 20 to 23, a group of Sorsogon recreational cyclists visited Caramoan, Camarines Sur on a long weekend unsupported bike ride. The weekend warriors were Noel (me), Kareen (my wife), Cyrk and Nat, Linzo and his son Dominic, Paulo, Sam – all from Irosin, and Ed of Matnog and Tyrone of Bulan.

The Bicol 630 Road overlooking Lagonoy Gulf.

Climbing Mount Apo 2015

Mt. Apo is on every Pinoy climber’s bucket list of mountains to summit. The highest peak of the Philippines is there waiting to be climbed, but for Luzon folks this endeavor is costly (airfare) and time-consuming (5 days in and out). So when I was on official travel in General Santos City, I jumped on the opportunity, traveled to Kidapawan City on the last day of the convention and climbed Mt. Apo, solo, over the weekend of May 22 to 24.

Biking the Cordilleras 2015

Nothing compares to the Cordilleras if you are a recreational mountain biker in the Philippines. And in affirmation to that statement, seven Sorsogon cyclists embarked (once again) on a ride to the mountain roads/trails of Ifugao, Mt. Province and Kalinga. This is our fifth Cordillera ride, this year’s installment for the annual summer “Lakbay Bisekleta” ride we have been doing since 2009. The riders are Noel (me), Kareen, Cyrk and Natalie of Irosin, Tyrone and Jay of Bulan, and Ed of Matnog.

Traditional tattoo artists of Kalinga: Grace (seated) and Apo Whang-od (standing)

Biking Samar and Leyte Island

Samar Island is a short 1.5 hour ferry ride away from Sorsogon. Roll-on, roll-off (RORO) ferries from Matnog town will take you Allen, N. Samar and from there you can pedal away up to Liloan, S. Leyte. The Samar-Leyte bike circuit is one of our favorite route  since 2008.

Bike Touring Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordilleras and Central Luzon 2012

This is a blog of an epic bicycle ride undertaken by a group of Sorsogon cycling enthusiasts during the Holy Week of 2012. I describe this ride as epic in consideration that it traversed the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Norte, Cagayan, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, N. Viscaya, N. Ecija, Bulacan to Metro Mania in an eight day unsupported ride of 999 kilometers. The major ascents/descents of the ride includes Lubuagan (Kalinga), Sagada, Mt. Polis (near Banaue at 1,910 meters ASL) and the Dalton Pass.

The ride is named “Lakbay Bisekleta 2012” by the Irosin Cyclists Association and the fourth cross-country of the team composed of Noel (me), Ed of Matnog, Tyrone and Jenor of Bulan, and Jeffrey of Sorsogon City (now of US of A). We travelled by bus from Sorsogon to Manila (12 hours) and from Manila to Vigan City (10 hours). At Vigan, we were graciously accommodated by my town mate Marsha of Marsha’s Delicacies and she (again) was our host.

Bikepacking Mt. Pulag and Sagada 2013

This post recounts the mountain biking, hiking and camping trip to Mt. Pulag, Kabayan, Benguet and Sagada, Mt. Province in the Cordillera mountain ranges of the Philippines last March (Holy Week) 2013 by a group of cycling enthusiasts from Sorsogon.

The original plan was for an unsupported MTB traverse of the Cordillera east to west from Aritao, N. Viscaya to Candon City, Ilocos via Mt. Pulag, Sagada and Tirad Pass in one week, which proved to be quite strenuous and we had to cut short the trip in Sagada. This would be our fourth bike trip to the Cordilleras and we are familiar with the terrain. But this trip will combine trekking and biking so aside from the usual cross-country biking gears we carry, we have to load up camping gears as well. We usually carry gears on backpacks lashed to a bike rack (load limit 10 kg) mounted on the seat post and additional loads are mounted to the front of the handlebars – no panniers, yet

Bike to Boracay 2014

This bike ride is the sixth installment to the annual Lakbay Bisekleta that a group of Sorsogon cycling enthusiasts have been doing since 2009. The Lakbay Bisekleta  is usually a Holy Week group ride, unsupported, lasting from eight to ten days, and have so far traversed most provinces in Luzon Island up to Aparri, Cagayan and to as far south as Davao City in Mindanao Island.

For this year, it was decided to go on an easy island hopping ride and travel to the country’s premier beach destination: Boracay Island. The plan was simple: travel from Bulan, Sorsogon to Masbate City by boat, traverse the Masbate Island by bike to Balud at the west coast, by boat again from Balud to Roxas City in Capiz, and ride all the way to Caticlan, Malay, then to Boracay. The way home will simply backtrack the route and the itinerary calls for an eight-day mountain bike ride.