Bike Nirvana
Yet another cycling blog
The unofficial "Ride Giant endurance ride"
January 28, 2017
I learned from Life Cycle that there will be a Ride Giant Endurance Ride on February 18,2017 covering 100 km and while I got excited and eager to participate, I am not confident of making it considering there's over 300m ascent (Bugarin) past half way of the published course.
I plotted the course using Garmin Connect and what encouraged me was the relatively flat ride of about 60 km before the ascent to Bugarin. I was also fortunate to have a friend ride with me as he wants to test his 2-speed Brompton up the mountain. For this plot, I didn't include the U-turn section which is the reason why our ride is shorter than the 100 km official route.
When we arrived at Shell Morong, the designated starting point, I had goosebumps and the feeling of "this is it!"
We're pedalling at a "sightseeing" pace while dealing with traffic and checkpoints and 11 km or so after, we reached "Pisong Kape." We had initial ingestion of something solid at Tita Carmen's Bahay Kainan just across.
Their version of "Goto" is good which used cubed pig's blood instead of oxtail. I also had Leche Flan that I also liked.
The official race has a cut-off time of 6 hours, but it wasn't our goal to beat it, instead we were saving energy for the climb so we continued with our pace.
Before entry to Jala-Jala I quickly dismounted to take this photo.
From Jala-Jala I decided to stop here and wait for Dan...
... but the real reason was I saw a sign I like and it is spelled G-O-T-O, so I parked the bike and ordered one.
The goto here is different from what I have in mind, it's like Papaitan less the bitter taste. It was good and costs P30 only.
Dan arrived as I was eating and he took a much needed rest and obligatory photos.
We took off and I rode in a much faster pace this time and when I reached the intersection going to J.P. Rizal I saw these pretty girls on their way to work. I had a chat about bikes with a few members of their band as they await further instructions.
It rained along the way twice, the last one was at the stretch of Manila East Road.
As we reached the foot of the mountain, we had hopia at this store and discovered that the Brompton has a puncture. I have a patch kit and Dan was able to patch up the inner tube of the Brompton's rear wheel.
We continued our ascent and as I ran over a leafy part of the road my rear tire bursts. It was a sidewall hit.
I was confident I could patch it then I realized I didn't bring my valve extender which means I can't pump air into the inner tube. Moron!
Thankfully, there was a group of cyclists who stopped by to offer help, and an inner tube! They also told me that we should move away from the "mystical tree" I rested my bike on as they murmur "tabi-tabi po" as we walk away.
As we head down the mountain, I was careful not to blow the tire again so I avoided unnecessary banking and stayed away from road debris. We collected ourselves at Tita Carmen's once more as I await the arrival of Dan. The group I was with was done with their meal and is heading to Teresa so we parted ways as I go back to look for Dan. I asked cyclists heading my way if they've come across a rider ina folding bike and they said yes, so I finally met up with Dan, who went up the Windmills hence the delay.
Over-all it was a good ride despite the setbacks. Here's a link to the Relive video and the Strava data below.
Post-ride thoughts
Pacing is the key. I didn't suffer from cramps this time around and I didn't need the granny gear (32t) of my bike. When I climbed Bugarin I looked at the digital display of my Di2 and it shows either gears 2 or 3, i.e., 28 and 25 respectively. I felt good in those gears for the grade I'm climbing.
My Garmin Edge 25 now lasts forever! Plugged into a powerbank throughout the ride, it never missed a beat. Since it was inside the pouch, I only get to see the data when I make a stop.