We celebrated a three-day weekend the best way we know how - with a long ride. We biked around Laguna de Bay, starting from Mandaluyong, climbing up Antipolo, going down Teresa, suffering the 9-kilometer Pililia face of Bugarin, pedaling through the towns of Pangil, Pakil, Paete, Kalayaan and Lumban, slept at Pagsanjan, and finished the ride at Calamba.
No, it's not really a full loop, but we don't see the need to finish it. First, we did it before when we rode from Mandaluyong to Batangas City. Second, it would make no sense for the boys from Batangas to ride all the way to Manila again and then go back. Lastly, this stretch is just so boring.
Here are some of my learnings from this ride:
1. I should really learn to pack light. I should let go of the jacket, extra batteries for the Flip UltraHD, and the bath towel (if I'm staying in a hotel anyway) at least. I didn't get to use them anyway for this ride.
2. I should consider bringing CO2 cartridges during my rides. Pumping up a high volume tire can get me winded quite easily. This would be handy when you suffer a flat tire and you're running out of daylight.
3. Once I have it, I should try to maintain my fitness. When I did this ride, my fitness level was almost near zero. I threw away all my leg mileage from doing all those long rides when I stopped riding for weeks.
4. Cut work done into bite-sized pieces. This principle of project management is applicable also to riding. The climb up to Bugarin is about nine kilometers from Pililia. I know that my fitness level isn't what it was before, so instead of attacking all of it, I planned it out and stopped to rest after every kilometer. Soon I was there at the top.
That's about it. Thanks for watching and reading. And please do leave a comment at the comment box below. I enjoy reading them.
I'll plan another adventure soon.
Below are the maps of days one and two:
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