Pinoy Bike Commuter

It has been like forever

2008-11-02T17:41:00.000-08:00

Its has been two months since I last rode my bike. I have been in a bike commuting hiatus and I don't like what has happened to me. I gained a couple of pounds from all the hard work of exercise.

On Saturday, I will ride again... Its a promise!!!

It has been 2 weeks....

2008-09-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that bikes can also be vandalized!!! I thought cars with an outstanding showroom shine are more likely the victims of these ruthless vandals, but I was wrong. It has been two weeks since I rode my bike to work, and this is all because a stupid vandal who slice my tire while it was peacefully chained. I was not the only victim, two of my officemates got his tire slashed and brakes cut. I hope we can catch those low lifes!!!!!

New Bilibid Prison Trail Ride

2008-09-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

Been biking for a number of years now, but it was my first time to ride the NBP Trails in Muntinlupa. And these trails are just 15kms away from where I live. Last Saturday, with 3 other riders we set out to ride to Muntinlupa. We were surprised that the weather cooperated and gave us a wonderful overcast skies without the dreaded rain.

Enjoy the some of the pictures:

World Car Free Day Bike Ride

2008-09-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

World Car Free Day Celebration, Manila Leg.
Sept. 20, 2008

Start- Greenhills Shopping Center
Parking lot fronting LifeCycle Bike shop
Meet-up time- 7:00am
Ride Out- 7:30am
End- 11.59am
Estimated distance- 30-39km
Pace- 15-18kph

Proposed route:

Remembering the Marlboro Tour of Luzon

2008-09-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

Every summer of the 1980s and early 1990s, I usually buy an issue of Inquirer every day just to follow the Marlboro Tour of Luzon. Do you remember Renato Dolosa, Gerardo Igos, Ronaldo Pagnanawon, Bernardo Llentada, Carlo Guieb, Victor Espiritu, Warren Davadilla, et.al? From the plains of Central Luzon to the Bitukang Manok of the Bicol Region, but my favorite leg is the Baguio-Baguio leg. Where road racers start from Burnham Park, go down Marcos Highway and climb up Kennon Road. Renato Dolosa and Carlo Guieb are the usual competitors that battle for the King of the Mountain trophy. Too bad Marlboro stop their support for the Tour and 2 years there was no tour. Good thing Air 21/Fedex picked up the pieces and sponsored Padyak Pinoy. But nothing compares to 16-21 stages of road racing across Luzon and Visayas under the summer heat.

A Month Later

2008-08-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Been biking to work for more than a month, and I lost 8 lbs!!! Never really changed my diet and my appetite, I still eat a lot of rice (carbo!) and meat. The hell with it, I enjoy biking. My brother enrolled in a gym and went on a diet for a month and all he lost was 31 days! Nasty!

No Gold Rush

2008-08-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

We have been joining the Olympics since 1924 and still we haven't found that Olympic gold yet. In 2008, we have just reached 90M strong but we can only afford to send 15 measly athletes in the Olympics! Our fellow SEA country Singapore, whose size is a tad smaller than Metro Manila, just got their gold in table tennis. Indonesia and Thailand also have their golds already. Why can't we get ours? I've heard a ton of excuses from officials that some athletes are too young, immature and sometimes we hurl accusations that the official seem partial to the opponent. Back in 1996, this sportswriter and commentator kept on saying that "We have been robbed by the Gold!" Maybe we robbed ourselves... Relying on hybrid mongrel swimmers who were actually rejects of the countries that they were based in. Why can't we train our own atheletes? We have another 4 years to train for the 2012 London Games, and I bet my ass that we will start training again on 2011. If there was graft and corruption in the Olympics, I'm sure we can get a ton of medals. Kudos to the Filipino Athletes! Who braved all the odds trying to raise some dignity left in our country!

Reverse Upak Trail

2008-08-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

I has been a long time since I went back to the Sta. Rosa Trails and did some mountain biking. So with my brother P.A. and pals K.J., J.B. and Jay, we conquered the Reverse "Upak" Trail in 4 hours. I was confident that my legs and lungs will not fail me and since it was my first time to try the reverse loop and the gradual uphill climbs. My lungs and legs failed me, I felt my heart pumping so hard that it feels like its coming out of my chest. I remembered the saying that "in mountain biking... there is no shame in stopping." So I stopped a couple of times to gather myself and rest. I certainly lost a lot of self-esteem and "circumference" (read as self-confidence accdg. to K.J.) during those uphill climbs.

Several hundred more bikers joined the fun, leisure ride but they took several different routes around Tagaytay, Silang and Sta. Rosa. This was because of the PinoyMTBikers internet group and the long weekend, thats why there were a lot of bikers hitting the trails. Also, there were 405 PNP cadets inside the "Upak" trail jogging their hearts out dragging along a 30 kilo sandbag,an M-16 rifle and 4 water canteen bottles. My hats off to them and a shout of their battle cry of "HAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

See you in the streets, dumbasses!!!

Bike Upgrades

2008-08-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Biking to work saves me a lot of money, I actually save around 5K a month if I do it every day. Also, I help lessen the carbon emissions in the air. But most of the money I save goes to my bike and bike upgrades can be too damn expensive. So, I avoid all the local bike shops in my route.. All 4 of them!!!! It's very tempting to stop and look around those shop, but all I see are mouth-watering parts that will burn a hole in my shallow pocket.

So far here are some parts that I upgraded:

Hubs
Rims
Tires
Seatpost
Stem

I expect more to come. Do I actually save money? I clearly disagree...

How not to Get Hit by Cars

2008-08-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

Wearing a helmet does not prevent you from being hit by a car, jeep, bus or even a motorcycle. A lot of cyclist have died due to vehicle collisions. Here are some tips in trying to avoid being a road kill.

1. Get a headlight - Having a headlight make drivers aware of your presence
2. Buy a really loud horn - Making your presence felt can really save your life.
3. Slow down - Biking defensively can really help you anticipate other motorists' moves and you can have a lot of time to decide what to do next.
4. Focus on the road - Some drivers and pedestrians tend to ignore bikes since they look futher down the road looking for cars. Also, give the pedestrian the right of way.
5. Look at the car's front wheels - This can give you information on where the car will go. Especially the cars in a traffic jam, where drivers will try to switch lanes totally unaware of your presence.
6. Don't stay close to the curb - When a motorist is looking down the road, they tend to look in the middle of the lane for other cars. The farther left you are the most likely the driver can see you.
7. Avoid busy streets - One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they start biking is to take the exact same routes they used when they were driving. It's usually better to take the streets with fewer and slower cars.
8. Pray - Some divine intervention can be a lot of help.

Hope my tips will help you enjoy your bike ride more and try to avoid awful accidents in the future.

Debt... Default... Mistaken Identity

2008-08-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

I just want to share a conversation between a credit card collection agent and myself. One good case of mistaken identity, the stupid agent mistakenly called my cellphone number looking for a certain Lester. This is funny! (All conversations were translated into English, for the benefit of all readers)

Me: Hello...
Stupid Agent (SA): Hello, may I speak with Lester?
Me: I'm sorry but I think you dialed the wrong number...
SA: Sir, Are you Lester?
Me: Sorry I am not Lester...
SA: Do you know any Lester?
Me: I don't any Lester, sorry.
SA: Lester, whats your problem? Are you going to pay your credit card debt or not?
Me: I told you that I am not LESTER! Dont be an idiot.
SA: I am not being an Idiot! Don't pretend that you are not Lester.
Me: But I am not Lester, I had this number for 8 years now...
SA: Will trace it with your service provider.
Me: Sure! Be my Guest...
SA: Your number was given to us by your friend Rod.
Me: You SOB! I dont even know any Rod! What is this Lester's real name?
SA: Allester is his real name.
Me: Is his parents from the Visayas? What kind of parents name their child Allester?
SA: Lester, pay your debt!!!!
Me: The only Allister I know is a 5 year old kid, how could he own a credit card?
SA: Dont pretend that....
Me: Listen to me stupid, who do you work for?
SA: Atty. dela Cruz Legal Office...
Me: I'll file a complaint about you... (I hung up the phone)

Several hours later... I called up the bitch...
Me: Hello!
SA: Hello...
Me: What have you heard from Lester yet?

Stupid dumbass....

Back on the Saddle...

2008-08-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

After 2 days of continuous rain, I am back on the saddle and biking to work again. I love biking early in the morning, fresh cool breeze in your face and the fresh smell of the potpourri of freshly shampooed hair of the women jeepney passengers passing me by. Had no hassles going to work this morning, except for this stupid taxi who almost T-boned me by jostling for position and trying to merge with the traffic. The stupid driver got what he deserved and the hood of his car is the recipient of one helluva good sidekick. I felt my bike shoes rubbing against the paint, and I'm pretty sure I left a mark.

Can't wait for the 24hour endurance race on Aug 23-24 in Muntinlupa, I got recruited to join one team. Gotta go rest now and prepare for another biking adventure tomorrow...

See you in the streets, dumbasses!!!

Stroke of Bad Luck

2008-08-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, I received an invite from Rocky to play poker at their nice place and I played my first live poker SnG tournament after a long, long time. I had some nice runs and had a good chip stack in the early rounds. Then it came, I was UTG with QQ and raised 4x the BB... Yen in the SB called me. The flop was 10, 3, 3... Yen leads with a 2,000 bet and I re-raised all-in... She called me with Q-3!!! I said to myself, "Damn! What luck!" rebought and again tried to regained some glory. After Rocky sucked out on my 6-6, guess what happens next? Dejavu!!! QQ again under the gun!!!! Same shit but this time Yen and Marcus called my raise. Flop come 10, 8, 2 rainbow... Yen and Marcus checks, I bet 2,000... Yen folds, marcus calls... The turn was J... Marcus again checks, I spent sometime in the tank and smelled something fishy... But, I did not trust my gut and I went all-in... Marcus quickly calls and showed 2-2... 30 minutes later I was home... Damn! Damn! Damn!

Haven't biked for two straight days 'coz of the freakin' rain... Hope the weather clears up tomorrow, so I can get back on the saddle! This time I'll try to flip off some constructicons... hehehehehe.... See you in the streets, dumbasses!!!

Messenger of Death...

2008-07-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

By now, I am getting used to those weird stares I get from the constructicons by biking with complete gear. But I just deviced the perfect way to get back at those nasty constructicons, by looking them straight in the eye and say "Good Morning!" Immediately, they would turn the other way! I guess for the ordinary Filipino they are not used to strangers talking to them. Unless a foreigner greets them and then all hell breaks loose, one will just push the others aside and greet the bastard. We have heard from a million tourists that our country is very hospitable and people are very friendly, but can't even greet a fellow citizen good morning. What da hell is that!

Gas Prices.... Inflation.. Time to Bike

2008-07-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

With the current gas prices (P60/liter), I started thinking of bike commuting to work and being a weekend biker for 4-5 years maybe I can hack it. Monday morning of July 28, I started preping my things and left the house around 7:55 AM. It was a bit late and I expected the traffic to be heavy. As I was starting to leave the comfort and security of Merville, I said to myself "The adventures can now begin!"

Bikers/Bikes in Metro Manila are considered "pond scum" in the streets, we don't get too much respect from the car owners, motorcycle junkies and the public transport drivers. We are mostly neglected and overlooked by pedestrians, who are unconsciously minding their own business by texting while crossing the street. In short, we bikers are very much invisible.......

I noticed that most of the people who bike around the streets are usually the blue collar workers, which I will start to call "constructicons." These are people, with their heavy steel framed bike, who works on a construction site. The constructicons don't wear helmets, gloves and bike shoes to work and I get weird stares from them because I wear protective gear. I felt stupid and weak with all my protective gear on!!!! One constructicon even tried very hard using his old, thin limbs just to overtake me and say "Ganda ng porma, ah. " Which if you translate in English, it means "Nice form!!" but not, I guess he was trying to be sarcastic about it. I just said to myself, "I hope that jeepney in front of you would stop so that you will hit your noggin' so hard that you will shit in your pants and buy a helmet!"