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At the Camp Aguinaldo Bike Trail

While trying out Camp Aguinaldo’s bike trail, I thought about zombies.

Yes, I love zombie apocalypse films and TV series. I am having serious withdrawal symptoms right now with the next season of the Walking Dead not set to air for several more months. I need my regular zombie flick fix where survivors are constantly on the move evading the undead, hunting for supplies, and fighting off other survivors who seem to be worse than flesh eating ghouls. As sickeningly antisocial as it may sound, survival in this scenario seems like the greatest adventure one can ever have.

I revisited the Camp Aguinaldo bike trail on Saturday last week, just before supertyphoon Labuyo slammed into the Philippines. While biking through the section of the trail where old, rusting, abandoned military vehicles were dumped, I was reminded of scenes from The Walking Dead. It’s part of what makes the place special. Read more [+]

Wall Climbing in Power Up R.O.X.

August 8, 2013 Outside Slacker 3 comments

Power Up ROX in Bonifacio Global City is the youngest sibling in the venerable climbing gym’s chain of indoor walls. Apparently, it also attracts the youngest of the climbing crowd.

I went to ROX last week to sign up for the upcoming Nature’s Trail Discovery Run. I also wanted to check out the indoor wall there which was put up only in May last year. Having visited ROX several times before, I wasn’t sure how they could have fit a 40-foot climbing wall in the building. Read more [+]

Paragliding at Antenna Hill

August 2, 2013 Outside Slacker Comments off

Antenna Hill will soon be famous for things other than mountain biking

Who didn’t dream of flying as a kid? Almost everyone I know once tied a towel to his back, pretended it was the cape of some superhero and jumped off some fence or roof in a split second make believe of flight. As kids, we we wanted to soar through the air, like Superman, Peter Pan or the child warrior Atreyu on his luck dragon Falcor. Those were great times, weren’t they?

But somewhere along the way, age and the reality of adult concerns got in the way of dreams and imagination. We gave up fantasies of taking to the air in favor of a car, regular visits to the mall, flat screen TVs and the latest gadgets.

Fortunately for me, I am getting to relive this childhood dream thanks to some odd luck and an even odder Japanese dude. Read more [+]

Biking in Mayon

July 26, 2013 Outside Slacker 3 comments

Mountain biker riding to Mayon lava wall

Daragang Magayon, please show your face to us!

Mt. Mayon–this may just be the most badass place anyone can bike or run in the Philippines. At over 8000 feet high, Mayon towers over the landscape of Albay province like a fiery Olympus. The fact that it is the most active volcano in the country further adds to the awe that takes over when you behold its almost perfect contours. Yes, this is an awesome lava churning monster that dares bikers to go extreme. If there’s ever going to be a cradle of Kaijus in the Philippines, Mayon would have to be it.

As a kid, I had always dreamed of getting close to Mayon. Last week, I finally did just that. I was part of a group of bloggers invited by Biggs Diner on a tour of Bicolandia. I saw my chance to finally get to bike Mayon and I took it. Read more [+]

Biking in La Mesa

July 12, 2013 Outside Slacker 22 comments

Biker at one of the bridges in the La Mesa Nature Reserve

It’s tricky to descend into and then climb out of these bridges. Photo courtesy of Bong Madriaga

The first time I came to La Mesa several years ago, I couldn’t believe that there was such a place right inside Metro Manila. I had heard a lot about the place, about the beauty of its trails, and the postcard (or is it Instagram?) perfect scenery you get to enjoy while biking there. But nothing compares to seeing it for yourself.

Let’s just get something out of the way first. The biking destination I am talking about is the La Mesa Nature Reserve, not the La Mesa Ecopark. The former has kilometers upon kilometers of well-maintained fire roads and singletrack which can take you a whole day to explore. The latter (the Ecopark) is a smaller park which features boating, paintball, and a few kilometers of biking. It’s more suited for family picnics instead of mountain biking. It’s easy to confuse the two parks because both are maintained by ABS-CBN’s Bantay Kalikasan. Read more [+]

King of the Mountain 2013

July 4, 2013 Outside Slacker 6 comments

Mountain bikers race towards the sun and the hills at the All Terra King of the Mountain 2013

The philosopher Nietzsche had a lot of strange ideas. ‘What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,’ is one of his more popular quotes. For no reason at all, this thought struck me out of the blue while I was ascending The Wall in Timberland last Saturday in All Terra’s King of the Mountain bike race.

I was with more than a hundred other bikers who were struggling up the steepest part of the dreaded Wall, drawing heavy breaths, gritting their teeth, grinding their cranks, giving everything their legs could possibly give, but I was also wondering: will I get stronger after this or will I simply drop dead? While marinating in gallons of my own sweat, the outcome seemed more like the latter. But I kept two fingers crossed while I held on to my handlebars. Read more [+]

Pinoy Sets Record At US Ultramarathon

July 3, 2013 Outside Slacker 2 comments

Simon Sandoval, the Pinoy ultrarunner who set a new record at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run

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Simon Sandoval of Makati City, Metro Manila sets a New Course Record for a Local Pinoy Ultra Runner at the 40th Edition of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Race (WS100), considered as the oldest and most prestigious ultra marathon mountain trail race in the world. He finished the race in 27 hours 9 minutes 53 seconds with a ranking of 156th out of 277 finishers in the second hottest edition in the history of the race where the temperature registered triple digits as high as 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the mountain canyons of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges & Western States Trails. Sandoval was the lone representative of the country out of the 22 countries and 40 states in the US that were represented in the said race in this year’s edition. Read more [+]

Biking and Running in UP Diliman

June 28, 2013 Outside Slacker 23 comments

For running and biking, the U.P. Diliman campus is the best destination in Metro Manila

If New York City has its Central Park, Metro Manila has the UP Diliman campus. No disrespect to Luneta and the QC circle, but in terms of wide and green open spaces, the 493 hectare flagship campus of the State University is unmatched in Metro Manila. The campus is a gigantic garden with tree-lined avenues and wide grassy areas where all sorts of outdoor activities can be held. I am not sure if there’s a place that can compare to it in the Metro.

Bonifacio Global City may have lots of runnable and bikeable pavement, but its small trees hardly provide any shade. Luneta and Roxas Boulevard meanwhile have deteriorated a lot, as evidenced by the seemingly uncollectable trash along the baywalk. If you’re sick of breathing in the brown, oily halitosis of Metro Manila while running or biking, UP Diliman is the best place to go inside the Metro. Read more [+]

Biking Gear and Tips for Rainy Days

June 21, 2013 Outside Slacker 8 comments

Summer’s over, but the biking shouldn’t stop

Summer in the Philippines is now officially over. The rains have become an everyday phenomenon and the evening news is now saturated with reports of floods, traffic jams, landslides, government officials looking stupid and making excuses, and a whole litany of other depressing stuff. This doesn’t mean though that you should stay indoors, sleep all day and start to complain that there’s too much rain

Biking in the rain is actually quite fun. Like I said in an earlier post, the rains take away some of the bite from the tropical heat. The hills come alive with a fresh wardrobe of green. And finally, the trails become a mess of mud and puddles that will put your bike skills to the test. But biking in the rain requires some adjustment, and a few extra gear. Here are some of them. Read more [+]

Trail Running in Daraitan

June 11, 2013 Outside Slacker 1 comment

Barefoot Trail Runner in Daraitan in Nature's Trail Discovery Run 2013 (Leg 1)

Hardcore dude thinks shoes are optional for trail runs like this

Race Report: Nature’s Trail Discovery Run 2013 (Leg 1)

Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal is legendary for Manila mountain bikers who have a serious craving for pain. I’ve heard bikers compare Daraitan with Sta. Ines—that other brutal biking route in Tanay, with some saying that Daraitan was probably the more difficult of the two.

I had never been to Daraitan until I joined this year’s first leg of Nature’s Trail Disovery Run. But after running to and from Daraitan, I can safely say that Daraitan is the more difficult climb.

The dirt road from the river bed to the highway seemed to go on forever. The road grade is also something that could put Shotgun to shame. It was a great race and a feast for people whose idea of fun is generating gallons of lactic acid in their legs. Read more [+]

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