100 Kilometers and runnin' (ride report now in the Philippines)

[DanTheMan]

Day seven. Started like any other day. Early start, packed the bike and hit the road. 20 minutes later, flat tire. Yup just another day in paradise. I'm on a major road, well the only one in the area, so I decided it was only a matter of time before someone with a truck would come by and give me a hand. I have a tube with me, but no tools. As useful as my scissors are, I can't change a flat tire with them. But if I was stuck in a paper bag.... I flag down a passing trike and ask him which direction and how far was the closest mechanic. Turns out there was one a few kilometers back. Great now just need a truck. The trike driver asks if I'd like his help. Did I say I needed a truck, what I meant was a trike, all I needed was a trike to pass by and I'd be saved. OK lets see if this can work. Tried with the flat rear tire on the trike first and drag the front. No go. After some “square peg in round hole” action we make use of the floor boards to make it happen. The phrase “like a glove” comes to mind. The four of us, driver, me, another passenger and the bike headed back to the mechanic. Successfully to the shop, I ask the guys how much do I owe you? After some hesitation and debate (if this was another country starting with the letter “V” and ending in “ietnam”, there would have been no hesitation to ask for a million dollars) they just ask for gas with a guilty look about them. So 2 liters of gas it was and everyone was happy.

Now for the tire Ninja. I got the bike on a milk crate and pulled off the rear tire to hand over to the Ninja. I call him a Ninja because he was fast with the “tire irons”, which weren't more than a few different tools welded together. One was a screw driver handle welded to the center part of a wrench ground down to a point. Back to the Ninja, he had the tire off, tube out, found the nail, new tube in and tire on in about five minutes. Aired up and Psssssssssssst! Yup Mr Ninja pinched the tube putting it in. Good thing he can patch it. Once again, tire off, tube out, patched, tube in, tire on. Aired up and (you see where this is going) Psssssssssst! The man is consistent, pinched it again. As commanding officer, I relieve him of his duties and take over at the controls of the irons. I pull the tube to have him patch and check for leaks. Carefully put the tire back on because in a rush you can pinch the tube. Air up, a couple of bounces and ready to be mounted. All the work was completed by me at this point. Since its going to be my ass on that seat if something should go wrong, Mr Ninja was to have no part of it. Give him a few pesos for the use of his tools, he should have paid me for popping my new tube, but whatever the man's got a family to feed. Two hours after I started I was back on the road.

I came upon a sign that said Adam's Waterfall 13K–> and thought, what the hell, I'll go check it out.  Nice bumpy dirt road, already had my flat today so what could go wrong, and 30 minutes later I reach the town of Adams. I ask a local about the falls, he points me in the right direction then says “you by yourself? You shouldn't go, very dangerous.” Point made. Back the way I came to hit the main road and the long haul to Tuguegarao City. Good waste of an hour or so. Played with the video camera a bit on some nice roads along the coast. Click play, take a ride with me.

Whats wrong with this picture? Hard to tell but the tire is flat.


Flat Srsly? its 7am.


1st attempt


Success


Step 1 remove rear tire


Back on the road, kilometers and kilometers of this ahead


Lets ride!
Pagudpud to Claveria

Day eight. Started like any other day with me my bike and a plan to make it to Baler by the afternoon before the rain starts. I planned to use the highway the entire way because it would have been fast and I didn't see any other option. Enter the guys at Red Speed shop in Santiago. Have I mentioned how great the Filipino people are. My chain was looking a little worn, like milk sitting in the sun for a week, and it could use some loving, or lubing. Asking around for a shop leads me to Red Speed, high performance scooter shop. These guys lube up the chain and refuse to take any money. I thank them and their curiosity gets the better of them and we go over the usual questions behind why a foreigner was riding around on such a big bike (they consider the xr200 a big bike over here). I mention I'm headed to Baler and a new route was suggested. It's not even on my photocopied map, which by now looks like a piece of used tissue. The owner begins to tell me the route and I quickly have him write it down. No way I was going to remember the directions. We get the new route sorted then get to talking about racing scooters. These guys do some serious scooter racing. I get some stickers for my helmet and a new souvenir t-shirt with the team logo. I thank them and take some quick fotos before one of the guys at the shop hops on his scooter and leads me out-of-town to get me pointed in the right direction. Very cool, thanks!

Its only 11am and they said I should be at my destination by 2 or 3pm. Cool, not too long and before the rains hit. Fast forward a little bit, one wrong turn and axle deep in mud. I wasn't going to make it by 2 or 3, and of course I would be soaking wet again. The wrong turn leads me down a bumpy dirt road that was supposed to last for 58K's. I thought it was the right direction because it was just as he described, a bumpy dirt road. Luckily I got stuck in the mud. Axle deep front and back, I wasn't going anywhere. It looked solid when I went into it, but the bottom just dropped out on me. Luckily the people living in the house nearby saw me struggling and did not hesitate to jump in and pull the bike out. Told him where I was trying to go and he points me back the way I just spent an hour riding through. He was headed that direction so I follow him out and get back on track. 3pm and I got 4 hours ahead of me.  Up and over the Santa Ana mountains I go. My boots quickly fill with water from the pouring rain and my pants soak through to get that nice squishy feeling as I ride. At this point I'm loving it. I start to fantasize about buying a bike to keep here on the island so I can fly over and ride anytime. Seriously I'm having that much fun. Well the usual ensues, water, rocks, mud, aborigines!?! I have to do some research and see who the native people are in this area. Unlike any Filipinos I've seen.  7pm I get to Baler, pull my goggles and find a clean place to rest. Take a bucket shower, dinner, beer, bed. My only complaint about the Philippines, budget accommodations are more expensive than the rest of SE Asia, and you get a lot less. $10 doesn't buy you much in the way of lodging. But food and drinks are cheap.

There is probably 8-10 people on this trike.


Bad chain, must be the original, now 20K Kilometers on the bike


New friends


The crew


Couldn't ask for a better road to get lost on


It never get's old


Some serious mud, didn't get a shot while stuck


Only made it about 15 feet


The Santa Ana Mountains




On the other side without rain


Heading into Baler

[Grampa]

 

[greenohawk69]

Nice.   

[duccarlos]

 

[richard]

Monsoon season. Look at that muddy road. Good thing your in an XR. Take care!   

[DanTheMan]

Day nine. Planed to spend a day here in Baler to rest, dry out (never-ending battle), try to surf and pictures. I did none of that but get some pictures. Wanted some pictures of the beach (see trivia question with picture as to why) and got soaked in the rain in the process. The son of the hotel owner offered to take me to a nice view of the city and we got soaked in the process. I turned around as soon as it started raining.  Took the rest of the day to write-up the last nine days, beside its raining. I'm not going outside again until it's time to eat and its raining. Later that evening the owners son and I take to the town to party it up. We find a local venue with a live band and have a good evening.

Any one recognizance this place? Here's a hint, it's where "Charlie" doesn't surf. Also my dad's favorite movie. Still no, Look at the picture and listen to Flight of the Valkyries.


Actual name Charlies point. Wonder if they got it from the movie? But a popular surf break.


Day ten was a later start than I intended but still on the road by 10am. Just slowly make my way through traffic, farm animals and suicidal dogs. Sadly I clipped the back-end of a little goat. Wasn't much I could do. Tried to stop and get the little guy some help but he just ran off in to the fields. I guess he was OK. Arrived at Alaminos to visit the One hundred Islands state park. Look interesting so why not. Took some effort but found a place to stay for $10 and had another nice bucket shower.

Lake Pantabangan


Different angle
San Jose to Aliminos

San Jose to Aliminos 2



Day eleven I chartered a boat to tour the One Hundred islands. I wasn't sure if I was going to do a tour but the boat captain mentioned fishing so that caught my interest. The tour was actually a good value. He was willing to take me anywhere I wanted and would come back and get me at anytime if I wanted to plant myself on a beach. Considering I'm going to get a lot of beach time later in my trip I opted to see the highlights of the islands. The coolest part was snorkeling with the giant clams. These things are 1-2 feet in length. Wonder what would happen if you were to stick your hand inside and it closed, or worse your snorkel. Now that that was over with let's go fishing! We motored out to a spot a little bit past the islands to drop anchor and fish. Normally I always use a rod and reel, but the equipment he had was a spool of fishing line, a 3 inch piece of re-bar at the end for weight and five hooks on the line baited with mini shrimp. We finally found a spot where the fish were hanging out and started pulling them in. Granted these were small fish, about the size I would normally use for bait. If I had a bigger hook, I would have sliced one up to get a bigger fish. But no luck on the hook so little fish it was. They were colorful fish, I think we caught the entire cast of Nemo.

Boats on blocks. Some get pulled out of the water in the evening.




Low season, I have the place to myself


Enter the Islands


Fishing reel and weight. Fun to do it the old school way.


Such a pretty fish, get in the bucket! Personally i would have thrown it back, but I may have been tossed in with it.


Islands


The Princess Cruise liner.


All 100 islands. They're all there, I counted them.


May be over the USCG limits for that vessel


Back to port


Day twelve getting close to the end with not much else planned except for making my way back to Angeles by the Bataan Peninsula and Subic bay. My front brakes were looking very thin, less than 1mm of material left and I felt they should have been replaced. If it was my bike, they would have been replaced a long time ago. The rental Co policy was to "call us before you make any repairs". So I called. I got into this confusing argument with the owner about replacing them. I felt I was trying to do him a favor by not destroying the rotors and saving him money and he gets after me about asking for help. Basically saying he's not sure what I want him to do. I told him nothing, I can get them replaced or do it myself, just want to make sure I get reimbursed, and you asked to call before any repairs. The confusion continues and I lose interest on helping him out. If the pads wear through, so be it. On with the ride.


I went out of my way to Bolinao to stop by the light house for no real reason other than I had a short ride that day. Stop for the day was at beach resort just south of Santa Cruz. Had a relaxing day just hanging out around the resort and doing some reading.

Good morning


Bolinao


Pulling rice in the shade


Storms a brewing


Haven't done a shadow picture in a while so it was time.


And Sunset




Day thirteen brings me down to Subic Bay. Last stop before heading back to Angeles. Took a nice melo cruise to get down here. I was hoping the road was more of a coastal road, but it seems we were a few Kilometers inland. At this point I am thinking I've should have gone back north to Baguio, it looks like a nicer vacation spot and I'd be back riding through the mountains. My butt is starting to hurt from all the riding so the shorter day was probably better choice.

You Alone? Seriously I get asked this question 10 times a day. Where's your companion? Everyone thinks it's so strange to not have a companion with me. I guess they never see a foreigner without a cute younger Filipino woman. Everyone that asks if im alone I reply with "Do you want to go with me?" No one has taken me up on the offer.

Family trike coming out of drive through


Subic Bay, it's the best I got, but its much prettier.


Side view
Side view

Day fourteen. Wrapping up the trip, it was a quick two weeks like all trips over and done before you know it. Hell I've been traveling for the last six months now and even this seems to be over and done with just a bunch of fading memories. Would I come back, YES. I think once I get back on my feet back home I may look to buy a bike over here to fly over and ride anytime I want. There is a lot left to be explored and with the ferry system you can make it to the southern islands. A bigger enduro would be good and some actual dirt tires would be better and a group of friends to ride with would be best. Food is good, beer is cheap but it would be nice to find a good place to stay for under $10. Everyone speaks English so it's very easy to get around. Not as high pressure to “sell” as other Asian countries. They'll make an offer, if you reject, they'll just chat with you to be friendly. Lots of fun, hope to be back here and riding again soon. Trip total 2380 Km's


Ride on out. I really need to get a GoPro before I plant myself into oncoming traffic.
Olongapo

Trike ride back to bus stop
Trike ride

[duccarlos]

Noooooooooo!!!! Don't let it end!!!!!!

[richard]

I'm going back hopefully December for 3 weeks. But probably won't be doing much riding. Although my brother in law has a 75cc honda cub that I'll be using around town. That's good enough for me. Did you go to Boracay at all? Thinking about spending a few days there.

[DanTheMan]

Here in Boracay now, nice place seems it could be a little crowded during peak season.

[Rob Hilding]

Thanks, Dan

Looking forward to more.

Have you thought about a Travel Channel show [moto]

[DanTheMan]

Another Sunday RideDidn't expect to be back on a bike so soon, but my buddy Herc came through again. I guess its universal around the world, Sunday is the day to ride. Herc and some of the guys from the Philippines Ducati club were heading out for a ride, swim, BBQ and invited me along. Great I thought, “Who's bike am I riding on the back of?” Apparently I'm not pretty enough to ride cupcake with any of them so Herc lent me one of his extra bikes, a KTM 640 Adv.

Herc and I departed his place at o' dark thirty to gas up and meet the rest of the gang. One of the biggest challenges to this ride was just getting out of the city alive.  Traffic and the amount of pedestrians on the road was insane at this hour. Does no one sleep in? Dodging in and out of traffic finally up into the hills, where we have to dodge bicyclists and scooter groups doing their Sunday ride. Fortunately we are all on big bikes so we can eat them up quickly and get to the clean roads. Still, we pass through a lot of small villages where there was always the threat of suicidal dogs, kids, trikes, people jumping in the roadway. But it looks as if everyone is aware of their presence to the roadway and vehicles passing by so we didn't encounter any unexpected movement into our path.  We make a few rest stops along the way which reminded me of the Bay Area's equivalent of “Alices” and “The Wall”. Short ride later and we stop for a late breakfast in Lucban. Another short ride and we find ourselves in the beautiful river valley with a small resort and cabanas along the river. We unload and jump into the river for a nice refreshing swim. Great way to get out of the Manila heat and freshen up from the morning's activities. BBQ time! It took us a few minutes but we finally got the BBQ started. Grilled some pork, Sinagang soup and no meal would be complete without rice. It quickly became apparent that we didn't have any dishes or utensils. The tool kits came out and we had a few Leatherman type multi-tools for knives. Then Herc disappears and came back with a stack of fresh banana leaves to use for plates. Lunch is served! Traditional style eating with our hands like nature intended.

Our lunch break was perfectly timed as it rained most of the time we were stopped. By the time we got back on the bikes, no more rain. We mounted up for the ride home and carefully made it up the moss-covered road back to the main track. On the way back I noticed the big bikes really get a lot of attention going through the smaller towns. Our mini parade snakes through the hills back to Manila. Again we get to battle our way through traffic where we split from the group and make our way back to Herc's house. Herc and I settle down with a glass or two of Chivas to decompress from the day and kick around stories of how fast we were.

Beautiful roads and even better scenery. The only unnerving thing was all of the potential “bogeys” on the side of the roads. Never know whats going to jump out in-front of you. Speed limits and traffic laws are suggestions around here. Your free to ride as big as your cajones are, but eyes open at all times. Nice to ride relax and enjoy the day. Most rides back home are ride, eat, home. This felt like a mini vacation to enjoy the day and no one was rushing to get home.  The relaxed, laid-back lifestyle is something one can get used to.

Morning line up


Meeting the crew in the morning


First stop after dodging every motor vehicle know to man to get out on Manila


Laguna lake?


Wow no smiles, but trust me we were having fun!


Reststop


Sunday ride Philippines 2

Sunday ride Philippines

Pre lunch, lunch


Beautiful river stop


Cooling off before lunch


Lunch



More Salt, it needs more salt!


Served! We were a little unprepared so Herc to the rescue with Banana leaves for plates. Hands for spoons and we had multi tools for knives or it would have been caveman style on the meat.

[Spidey]

Dammit, Dan.  Now I'm hungry, you ass. 

[IZ]

 

Thanks for another write up D!!

[richard]

Yumm... grilled pork chops on banana leaves. There's something about it. The flavor is enhanced or something. Good stuff Dan! Thanks! 

[cokey]

This thread kicks ass..