If there is the Ventoux and the Alpe d' Huez in the Tour de France, we have our own version in Batangas City called Mount Banoy. The elevation is nothing compared to the first two climbs that I mentioned, but its status is as legendary.
Mount Banoy is where most of the towers are situated in Batangas City. There are relay stations at the top serving the country's television networks as well as telecommunications companies.
It's a monster climb. It was like climbing to hell when the road going up wasn't cemented yet. Imagine gradients similar to Maarat's Shotgun but you have to negotiate with rocks as big as human heads. That was Banoy then. Today's Banoy is relatively tamer because the road is cemented already except for the last section. It is in these last two kilometers where you can see how truly rough it was.
After more than 10 years, we climbed Mount Banoy yesterday. At the foot of the climb, we broke away from the Pidal Para sa Kapwa fun ride and took a right turn to the mountain.
The short of it is we didn't get to the top. After the cemented portion, pushing your bike on rocks was just too damn hard. We walked for about 200 meters and stopped at a waiting shed before we decided to go back. It was only 1.8 kilometers to go, but we were tired and hungry, and it wasn't fun anymore.
I figured that I couldn't get any miles in my legs if I'm pushing my bike to the top anyway. Still, I was happy with the whole ride. The view was spectacular, and more importantly, I think I'm ready for our epic ride on the 27th.
Below is the map of our ride. Will try to post pictures soon.
Mount Banoy is where most of the towers are situated in Batangas City. There are relay stations at the top serving the country's television networks as well as telecommunications companies.
It's a monster climb. It was like climbing to hell when the road going up wasn't cemented yet. Imagine gradients similar to Maarat's Shotgun but you have to negotiate with rocks as big as human heads. That was Banoy then. Today's Banoy is relatively tamer because the road is cemented already except for the last section. It is in these last two kilometers where you can see how truly rough it was.
After more than 10 years, we climbed Mount Banoy yesterday. At the foot of the climb, we broke away from the Pidal Para sa Kapwa fun ride and took a right turn to the mountain.
The short of it is we didn't get to the top. After the cemented portion, pushing your bike on rocks was just too damn hard. We walked for about 200 meters and stopped at a waiting shed before we decided to go back. It was only 1.8 kilometers to go, but we were tired and hungry, and it wasn't fun anymore.
I figured that I couldn't get any miles in my legs if I'm pushing my bike to the top anyway. Still, I was happy with the whole ride. The view was spectacular, and more importantly, I think I'm ready for our epic ride on the 27th.
Below is the map of our ride. Will try to post pictures soon.
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