Biking in the Cordilleras

I find myself celebrating my birthday up in the mountains of Luzon for two consecutive years now. Last year was Sagada, with its crispy pine trails for running, amazing caves and freezing waterfalls, the yummy dinner by Chef Aklay, the bonfire, pinikpikan, tapuy, gulay, and the company of my skyrunning karass. That birthday was definitely one for the bio. 

Last 2010's birthday marked my 30th. For some turning 30 is sort of a milestone, a welcome to mid-life crisis for most. But I have decided, mid-life will come in the 40's for me. For one, at 30 I was still brave enough to do something I have to say was a suicide mission. I rode a mountain bike, for only my third time, and on the steepest, rockiest roads I have ever biked in.

     

The Marlboro Country Area... right before the dangerously steep, rocky, curvaceous descents!

This biking saga began when Jaja, a friend from triathlon casually invited me to join a 24-hour mountain bike ride. As soon as I heard the word 24-hours, I said yes without a moment's thought. You see I am a sucker for anything that will test my endurance, and 24-hour biking sounds like my cup of tea.  Despite the fact that I haven't touched a mountain bike for more than two years, or that the last time I biked, I had to get off and walk in the downhill portions because I'm a scaredy cat, I gave no thought to what lay ahead for me. 

I eventually learned along the way that the ride was dubbed the Padyak Para sa Binhi ng Cordillera (PPB). This is an endeavor which has been organized annually for three years now by the Cordillera Conservation Trust to raise funds to buy seedling to reforest the Cordillera mountains. Know more about them here.

The Padyak Para sa Binhi was scheduled to take place in January 2011, so in order to prepare for it, and to give the ladies who would be doing this year's ride an idea of the terrain, PPB's main organizer JP, invited us to ride in the mountain bike trails in Benguet.

So there I was on the bus on the eve of my 30th birthday with my boyfriend Meyo (who forgot to greet me on my birthday and will never live it down! :P ) We got to Baguio around 2am and settled in to Jaja's house. 

Off we go

We took our time preparing breakfast and our bikes for what lay ahead. And If I had known how long it was going to be until I get my next meal, I would have wolfed down that entire serving of noodles. At 8am promptly, we got to Wright Park to meet up with the rest of the women and our very supportive men who would serve as guides, mechanics and photographers.

 I was panicking by the time we got to the rough roads as they were all going downhill. My companions must have been chuckling to themselves at the back or slapping their foreheads to say " Oh no, she's doing the 24-hour ride??"

 I settled with the motions after a while though and slowly gained some confidence. By the time we got to the mid-point rest stop, I was shrieking less and less.

Here they finally are... probably laughing at my downhill ineptitude :D

This downhill portion is tame compared to the rest

The rest of the ride was a roller coaster. Which is short to say that everytime we go down, we must go up. And in Cordillera, up is synonymous to push. This time I was not only dreading the downhills, I was also not looking forward to the uphills. So left with no choice, I chose to look sideways.

This uphill part is only one of the many parts where we had to push our bikes

And lo and behold! The view river and the mountains. Refreshing.

 As my tires rolled of their own accord down the steepest portions of the ride, going all the way down to the riverbed, I kept praying to God to give me a crash free ride as a birthday gift. I was almost tempted to close my eyes in some parts so I wouldn't see the cliffside and the abyss that was waiting to swallow me should I make a wrong move. I never held on to anything as hard as I did to my handlebars and my faith that day. As I got to the bottom and saw the rest of the team and the sparkling waters, I tried to act non-chalant, hoping to mask the fear that only recently got the best of me. God had chosen to answer my prayers.

And push some more we did.

The training for the Padyak Para sa Binhi would prove to be more of upper body strength training than pedaling as we had to push our bikes for almost the rest of the way. We started to call it the Tulak Para sa Binhi. I did not mind though, I think I would rather push than go on another wild downhill ride.

We got to the top at almost two in the afternoon. We had the greatest view of mountains and green. But I could not ignore any longer my stomach clamoring for food. Despite my best efforts to enjoy and have fun, I admittedly gave in to my mood. And you don't want to deal with my mood when I'm hungry :P

It was about after 20 minutes when the crew decided to move and head back to civilization. I was so looking forward to that warm plate of food and coke!

When we got to Kapangan, it was about past 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I decided it might not be safe for us to continue with the ride. So I tried to convince the group to hire a jeepney to take us back to the city proper. Fortunately, most of them agreed and we got back to the city just in time for me and Meyo to go out for dinner where he treated (to make up for forgetting my birthday).

This was one hell of a ride, and I keep asking myself if I would be doing it again. Maybe with loads of food and more downhill training, why not?

Padyak Para sa Binhi: Gaia edition is up next ;)

I will do it all over again if only for this view

*** Photos courtesy of Allan Olipane. Thanks Allan!