Sunday, September 25, 2011

Palakol, Floridablanca, Pampanga

It was an all boys biking weekend. 
Destination: Palakol, Floridablanca, Pampanga

The travel was flat and long, passing through the towns of Bacolor, Guagua, then Floridablanca, at approximately 31km long.









The landmark of the place is the Gumain Bridge, the tallest bridge in Pampanga. Instead of crossing the bridge, they went under it, tracing its off-road trail.















They rested on a spot under the bridge facing a river called the Summer Place. They weren't able to resist the cool water so they took a dip and plunged into the river, refreshed themselves after a long ride and enjoyed swimming (...is this some kind of a duathlon???).




Details:

Route: San Fernando - Bacolor - Guagua - Floridablanca, v.v.
Category: Flat, partly Off-road
Distance: 62km
Difficulty: Easy


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Subic Bay, Olongapo

Subic is one of the favorite routes of bikers because of its rolling land areas. It is also an ecological site, so one can expect luscious greens and forests around the place.

One long weekend, we went and stayed there overnight. We rose up early the next morning and kicked off our pedals. We were a little worried though, because the weather was cloudy and might rain anytime.


At first, it was a downhill ride since our hotel, our starting point, was located in one of Subic's peak areas. The roads were smooth, so we were speeding up.













We were informed that there is a biking trail called "El Kabayo" in Subic, so we included it in our itinerary. The trail was narrow and headed inside a forest. The ground was also dense and rocky.









Because of previous rain showers, there were shallow floods and the soil was muddy. The wheels of our bikes were submerged into the ground, so we just decided not to go farther.

















We got back on smooth surface and begun tracing the rising and falling slopes of the roads. 



Then, the rain poured, so we hurried and looked for shaded spots. Fortunately, it went away after just a few minutes.



We continued exploring the rest of Subic, and afterwards, we had our breakfast at the gas station.



















We expected a challenging uphill ride back to the hotel, and even dared to race with one another. After all, our goal was to be able to complete the tour ( or did we have a choice).































We also saw other bikers on the way home.




After packing up, we had our lunch at Meat Plus Cafe, a famous steakhouse in Subic.









Details:  

Route: Subic Bay Freeport Zone
Category: Hilly
Distance: 25km
Difficulty: Medium