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Philippine Bike Demo Day

Despite its massive wheels, the Trek Stache was still surprisingly nimble

When I heard that Edmund Ang and several other personalities in the biking community we organizing the first Philippine Bicycle Demo Day, the first thought that came to mind was: Hell yeah! It’s about time somebody did this.

As a long-time biker (don’t be rude and ask how long) I’ve seen the Philippine bike scene expand, develop and explode from a negligible subculture of enthusiasts into a mainstream force in society today that just can’t be ignored. Last year we had the Second Philippine Bike Expo day, which was a testament to just how far the cycling community has gone. The expo was as exciting and colorful as the car shows held in recent years in Metro Manila, albeit admittedly on a much lower budget because you know, bike companies don’t have the financial resources of those big bad polluting road-congesting automakers.

Anyhoo, the success of the expo showed that there was a huge community of two-wheeled, human-powered aficionados out there, and it was a market just waiting to be tapped.

However while it was fun gawking at the wares and salivating at the bike porn on display at the expo, a part of me also wondered what it would be like to actually ride some of those bikes. This is where the #PhBikeDemo comes in. Read more [+]

Exploring the Laiban-Daraitan Trail

February 11, 2016 Outside Slacker 8 comments

The light at the end of the tunnel

Laiban Dam has intrigued me ever since I first saw photos of mountain bikers visiting this oddity in the Sierra Madre mountains. This massive concrete monolith built during the Marcos era, sticks out of a forested mountainside like an evil lair for a James Bond villain—a structure that’s meant to be broken into, entered and explored.

Laiban Dam was supposed to supply Metro Manila with more than a million liters of water per day. However, concerns over the dam’s environmental impact, and the displacement of thousands of indigenous Dumagats from their ancestral lands, eventually caused the project to be shelved. And now Laiban Dam just sits there unused like a monument to human folly.

I have been itching to ride there and see the goddamned dam for myself. It’s not everyday that you get face to face with some Cold War level coolness. Last week, I finally got to do it. And it was one hell of an awesome mountain bike ride. Read more [+]

Bathala Bike Park

September 7, 2015 Outside Slacker 9 comments

Bathala Bike Park lets ninjas do wall rides, but simply turning the wheel is enough for pretentious fools like me :p

I first heard about Bathala Bike Park a couple of years ago from Glorious Ride Bikeshop. I saw several pictures on their Facebook page showing a pump track along with ramps, jumps, bridges and a lot of technical stuff that I used to see only on videos about that far away mecca of mountain biking called The North Shore.

However, I never really took note of it because I wasn’t really interested in tricks and techniques. I considered myself more of a traveler than a freeride enthusiast. My priority was to explore brave new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no mountain biker has gone before. Star Trekkie stuff. Riding in style was not even on the horizon.

But a few weeks ago, I watched a short film that made me take another look at a different kind of riding. And thus last weekend, I found myself lugging a 4X bike into Bathala Bike Park with a full face helmet in tow. Read more [+]

Night Ride in Corregidor

July 18, 2015 Outside Slacker 2 comments

Malinta Tunnel at night

What’s it like to bike around Corregidor Island at night? This question has been nagging me like a Game of Thrones season ender since I first pedaled through this historic island two years ago. What happens when the day tourists have left? What’s it like to ride amongst the blasted remains of its ruined fortresses when the sun goes down and the light dies? Do the blood-soaked walls whisper anything when no one is looking?

Apparitions at dusk?

You may have inferred from the preceding sentences that I’m probably a sucker for horror movies. And you’re right: I like nothing better than a good scare. My idea of a good time, besides biking and running, is a marathon– a Walking Dead marathon that is, with some Exorcist thrown in. If I can get a healthy hair-raising dose of goosebumps while roaming around on a bike, that would be just awesome.

Last weekend, I and my travel buddy decided it was time to bring our bikes to Corregidor again. We had some unfinished business there. We needed to find out what it was like to ride through the dark and silent paths of war-bloodied isle… when night has fallen. (Cue Twilight Zone music here) Read more [+]

Biking to Daraitan Again

June 4, 2015 Outside Slacker 14 comments

Imaginary album cover by an imaginary rock band

Sometimes a place is so beautiful, one visit just isn’t enough. El Nido is like that. Sagada is like that too. Batanes is very high on that list. And now, I must add Daraitan to that rundown.

I visited Daraitan three years ago in one of the best 21k trail runs I had ever done. A year later I visited it again on a solo mountain bike ride. This year, I visited it yet again with my significant other and some mountain biker friends.

While climbing down some of the huge limestone boulders that dotted the landscape, even my jaded travel blogging ex-girlfriend agreed: Daraitan is a special place. It’s got that otherworldly charm that recalls fantasy novels and bygone eras from which epic sagas are forged. Read more [+]

Biking to Mt. Pinatubo

May 22, 2015 Outside Slacker 16 comments

Like exploring an alien planet

Mt. Pinatubo probably has the strangest landscape in the Philippines.

While biking across its lahar-covered foothills last week, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the deserts of Utah, Arizona and the Sahara. While I’ve only seen those places in magazines and on TV, their resemblance to Pinatubo’s blasted landscape is uncanny.

I’ve been to Pinatubo before. Back then, while riding in one of the 4X4 jeeps that ferry hordes of wide-eyed giggling tourists to the crater, all I could think of was how much fun it would be to get down and pedal across this desolate landscape that looked like something wrenched from a scifi alien planet poster. Last week, I finally got to pedal across Pinatubo’s beautiful desolation. All I could think of was that I was like an astronaut on Mars. Read more [+]

Globe Cordillera Challenge 6

May 13, 2015 Outside Slacker Comments off

This one is a bucketlister that every Filipino mountain biker should try once in his lifetime. If mountain biking is like a religion to you, then the Cordillera region is where you make your sacred pilgrimage.

The land of the Igorots is home to some of the highest mountains in the Philippines. It is also legendary for having some of the most beautiful mountain vistas in the country. And thanks to the organizers of the Globe Cordillera Challenge, it has also gained renown for some of the most awesome mountain biking events.

Globe Cordillera Challenge (or GCC to to the initiated) takes mountain bikers through some of the most lung-busting and leg-cramping climbs as well as most knee-crushing, ankle-shattering descents in the country. But the reward for all this pain and suffering are worth it. You get to bike through pine forests, colossal cliffs that plunge hundreds of feet deep, and massive mountainscapes that seem like the very essence of epic. Plus the rush you get from sending the downhill sections is just incredible.

I’ve biked in the Cordillera a few times before. But this place just never gets old. Read more [+]

1st All Female Enduro

March 26, 2015 Outside Slacker 3 comments

Photo courtesy of Tomas Tirona of AttackMTB

Who is the greatest MMA fighter right now? Sorry, it ain’t some cokehead with long limbs. It’s none other than Ronda Rousey. Love her or hate her, she is the best right now in a field which used to be reserved for doped-up men. One can only hope that Rousey’s achievements in MMA will soon be repeated in another sport that I love–mountain biking.

The recently held All Female Enduro in Antipolo is a pedal stroke in the right direction. All too often, the first thing that pops into men’s heads when the words “girl” and “bike” come together is some model in revealing clothes holding a “girly” bike in a provocative pose. I guess it was the same thing years before when “girl” and “MMA” landed in the same sentence–the first thing we thought of was Arianny or Britney. But Ronda Rousey has pretty much changed all that already.

I doubt that there will be a Redbull Rampage female edition anytime soon. But who knows? We’re already having all-female Enduros today, maybe in a couple of years there will be female freeriders who can give Cam Zink a run for his money. Here’s a big kudos to all girl mountain bikers who took part in the 1st All Female Enduro, to the sponsors, and The Enduro Network for organizing the event.

I wasn’t there to cover the event myself, so for the full report on the race, click here.

Gear Review: Spyder Dart Helmet

March 22, 2015 Outside Slacker 9 comments

The Dart Helmet: makes even a Sith Lord think about switching head gear

The Spyder Dart is one good looking helmet. When I posted its photo on Facebook, it immediately got dozens of likes. Bikers asked what model it was, asked if it was already available, and asked where they could buy it. If they could order it on the website, many of them would have probably done so. I have always been a fan of Spyder helmets, but they seem to have outdone themselves with this one.

The Dart is the latest in Spyder’s line of all-mountain lids that are becoming very popular these days. As more and more riders eschew familiar trails and easy rides for more challenging rough and tumble adventures, helmets are also evolving to deal with the increased risks entailed by these adventures.

Duathlon: More Fun in Batangas

February 16, 2015 Outside Slacker Comments off

The duathlon is my favorite kind of race. I like biking, and I like running, and there’s nothing quite like combining the two in one event. So when I got an invitation to try out the Batangas Earth and Water Festival duathlon, I immediately said: Oooh… Hell… Yeah!

Besides, how could anyone say no to a race which promised to take participants down to Taal Lake? So, even though, I had absolutely no practice, and could never do any track read, I signed up for the 5k-20k-3k race. I knew I would suck, but I didn’t care. It’s not everyday that you get to race in a special place like Taal Lake. It also helped that the guys who invited me to the race also threw in a free stay at the excellent Lima Park Hotel.

I just had one problem: was it going to be a trail duathlon or a road duathlon?

Apparently it was the latter. And as I looked at the rows of slick road bikes and road-optimized mountain bikes being slung on the rack at the transition area, I could only hope that these intimidating, ripped, hardcore-looking guys would bonk at some point in the race. I hoped that maybe they got dumped by their girlfriends the night before, drank several longnecks of Emperador afterwards, and were eventually going to break down crying and screeching like Piolo Pascual in some cheesy melodrama. It was the only chance I had of not sucking so bad. Read more [+]

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