first time... it hurt but it was fun!!! :D

if there is any proof of how kaladkarin i was then this is it..

for a time, my biking have been limited to fort bonifacio from my house and then back again.. by myself or with friends...

IGNORANCE IS SOMETIMES A BLISS

but then janice invited me to bataan... GO! seriously though, i thought we were doing "road biking" with beach at the end of our trip.. hahaha how wrong i was!! night before we left bien and i chatted while i was packing... she started photo sharing showing photos of the bataan trail... and i said "WHAAATTT"???? what do u mean may paakyat????? WHAT DO YOU MEAN SINGLE TRACK TRAILS WITH POTHOLES UNSEEN??? bien was laughing her head off... while here i was all packed ready to go and meet janice in kalayaan.. there was a moment when my heart skipped double, uh-uh... it took me years to finally decide to build my own bike.. i was always scared of the consequences of falling off a bike.. if there is anything i was vain about, it was my skin!! hahahaha... but then again, i built a bike meant for the mountains.. damn if i will not try its full capabilities!

HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT TAKE?

janice and i met promptly at 8pm... (oh goody, i love people who are on time!)

we started dismantling our bikes to put on the bike rack... i thought jake was riding with us, but then along came jaime... three bikes in one bike rack.. it took a while to figure it out without scratching each others bike and the car.. it was quite a production number really... our bikes are of different sizes.. plus we had no ropes..

finally finally after an hour an a half later... with dirty hands, and sweat running down our backs, we were ready to go.

so how many people did it take to arrange the bikes? hehehe only one..

MC LODGE - SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF BATAAN

we arrived at MC lodge around 2:30am. jake, leo and arlene were already there drinking away rhum-pepsi. all that was left for us were a couple of glasses each.

everyone agreed on a 6:30am wake up call.. it seemed as if i just laid down on the bed for a few minutes when lights came on already... awwww... it's 6:30??? darn, i wanted to sleep some more... it felt as if sleep has been a precious commodity for me for the past few days..

but anyhow we all got up and prepared.

A LESSON WELL LEARNED

while all of us decided to meet up at jake's house and assemble our bikes there, jaime opted to go ahead riding his bike and meet us at jollibee..

jake and leo assembled my bike.. or at least i think they did when we reached jake's house. arlene rode my bike and i thought everything was A-okay.. eversince i bought my bike, i never took it out apart.. much less put it back together again.. suffice it to say that i didn't even learn how to...

jake's house was uphill.. so going out to the highway was downhill... i went on ahead and i felt my bike go so fast... wheeeeeee... i felt good... but halfway i stopped to wait on the others and i let janice go ahead (which in retrospect was a blessed decision!)..

halfway down i went full speed pedalling and only lightly touching my brakes... suddenly the guardhouse was in sight and the hump... i squeezed my brakes lightly and jumped the hump... when i landed, all hell broke loose..my brakes didn't work and i couldn't swerve any which way... all i could do was shout janice's name over and over because i knew i was already crashing towards her...

it took only a few seconds but it felt like the longest.. my front wheel got stuck in her derrailleur and we crashed to the ground, instantly snapping her derrailleur, cracking my helmet, and scraping skin!! wahhhh....

thing was my rear wheel came off... and to sum it all up.. i saw birds and stars.. and indy had a scratch on his fork and left bar handle... awwww :( as arlene succintly put it, i was lucky janice was in front of me.. otherwise the damage could have been inconceivable.. boy, i think arlene's lucky charm rubbed off somehow.. what with just coming out from a poisonous snake bite and all...

lesson learned? double check!!!

NOTHING TO DO BUT GET BACK ON THE SADDLE!

truth to tell i really really wanted to cry! darn it, it was painful!! and in 31years, i never had this much scraped skin.. but i was embarrassed.. hehehe not because of pride or anything it was just that i felt like a child at that moment who desperately needed a hug and a kiss of reassurance so badly!! so instead of bawling, i surreptiously went inside jollibee's bathroom to cleanse my wounds and to indulge in a few self pitying tears.

when i came out the fear of falling down again was still there.. i have always been confident in biking.. i grew up in the province for crying out loud... when i was 7yrs old our bike offered me freedom to roam our neighboring streets already.. but then again i never fell that hard..

if anything i go by my guts... so i told leo, i will still go with them.. because if i backed out now i will most likely chicken out in any other off road endeavour. all i had to do was swallow my fear and just go with the flow..

if jaime wasn't able to fix janice's bike (to go single speed) then i would've gladly lent indy to janice just so she could ride.. but then again her bike got fixed so janice rode jaime's bike while he rode single speed..

SHE'LL BE COMING ROUND THE MOUNTAIN HERE SHE COMES

so off we went after a two-hour delay..

first leg was uphill.. jake and arlene played sweepers.. and it does not take an educated guess as to who was the sweepee!! hahaha... i think i kept a decent pace (in city slickers standard!) but darn the people i was with were all strong! but i definitely prefer biking than that of running though..

after our stop over in the river.. we went uphill some more.. and then suddenly the drop... they all taught me techniques in going down.. from how to position my body, how to control the brakes and how to control the bike..

i was like..uh-huh, uh-huh?? WHAT?????? then i was there already... looking down on a steep downhill... jaime was below asking if i was ready.. in my head i was screaming ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? i saw uneven steep ground with huge rocks and sudden twists..

i said a silent prayer and went on ahead... well somebody should've taken a video of me because i distincly remember shouting at the top of my lungs.. "JAIME I CANNNNTTTTT STOOOOPPPPPPP!!!!" and.. "OH MY GOOOOODDDDDD!!!!" I cannot remember how i managed but the next thing i knew i was on level ground... whew! i grinned like a kid in a theme park or something.. i made it! intact, whole and with no teeth missing! hahaha

IT WENT ALL DOWNHILL FROM THERE..

after that first steep downhill.. i began to trust my indy.. and i took delight in how he responded well.. (yes, i am using personification!! hahaha)

finally i was able to appreciate the full capabilities of my bike... the gears, the fork.. even my saddle.. it all fit well.. and i was happy.. happy that i still took the challenge even after my accident happy that i never gave up... happy that i was outdoors once again.. and happy that i was with good people!!

finally after more than three hours of biking on the mountain, i saw a glimpse of the cove we were to descend to!!! woowwww... beach!!!


i thought the view on top was the best... clearings, with excellent views of the surrounding mountains and the ocean.. but then along this bend we saw this cove.. it felt like paradise then..

never mind the single tracks with potholes...never mind my open wounds... never mind the dirt and the sweat.. the beach beckons!!

the irony of the matter was that i never fell in the mountain.. i didn't kiss the earth... i kissed asphalt instead! hahahaha

CROSS THE OCEAN AND GET HERE IF YOU CAN

the thrill didn't end with our mountain biking..

after lunch and a dip in the ocean, we loaded our bikes on a boat.. 6 bikes, and eight people later we were off to sail the seas..


looking back on the beach we can see mariveles mountain ranges.. and it was a sight to see!

and then we started to experience big waves... i think we were all divers on that boat.. and we all can swim but still i had to tell leo the rescue diver that he'll have to save me just in case we capsize!! hehehe nothing like getting insurance first.

after a harrowing yet scenic 45-minute boat ride, where arlene kept shouting "ayan na, ayan naaaa..." everytime a big wave came along, my nerves were all but frayed! hahaha i think i bonded with the boat guy because i kept asking him if the boat could take on the waves. :)

this was a beautiful first time for me... it did hurt.. it was scary... it was thrilling.. and it was sooo fun! i would not want it any other way... :)

post script: as i told an old friend about my accident, he laughed at me and said.. i saw you drive motorbikes, even a big bike without falling off.. how could you fall on a mountain bike? yeah... hehehe go figure...