(Re-post of Island
Adventures, September 3-9, 2006,Sun Star Weekend)
One
fine morning as the sun rose, its rays covering the sheets of my bed while the
rooster outside began his daily vocalizing, singing the ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’
little Aimee jumped into my bed and pointed out to the window saying ‘Mom, it’s
already 15!’ (At the age of three, she still can’t tell the exact time but
relates the number 15 with morning as she has begun to learn how to count up to
20.) Stretching here and there, the orange bicycle outside the window caught my
attention as if sending a message to remind me how long it has been there near
the chair all week.
I
can still remember my first bike, actually, it was a trike and I shared this it
with my sister when I was about Aimee’s age. Then, as I grew, the trike became
a bike with balancer on both sides. At the age 10, during summer vacation in Dumaguete,
my friends Joseph Raymond and Aries Alvarez would drive their BMX bikes with me
along Silliman beach towards the farm and back to our house every morning.
Driving around was easy then, not so much cars, there were small alleys where
only our group would know where to drive passing through coconut trees, with
fresh air and its cool breeze, we wouldn’t even mind driving faster every time
dogs run after us.
This
orange mountain bike has brought my son to places where the best trails are…he
would drive with his dad on his side to the mountain on weekends and he would
brag about how fast he could go uphill and how far he has reached even
downhill. One day, I took the challenge and drove his mountain bike, it was fun
driving along the highway in Granada where bikers do the same as early as five
in the morning, passing through sugarcane fields, a cemetery, the Boy’s Home, a
school and even a stop for ‘butong’ to quench our thirst---the destination
---Barangay Alangilan.
There
has always been bikers in groups of five, ten and sometimes fifteen whom we
would meet along the road some waving and others trailing. I even wondered if
they had a club. Then, I realized that there is a federation of cyclist or bike
enthusiast here in the province with about 22 member clubs. The Negros Cycling
Federation headed then by Mr. Hernane Castro of MedTrek (composed of doctors,
medical representatives, and their workforce) of which my specialist Dr. Moreno
is part of the group. NOCFED was formed in 2001 with member towns and cities
like San Carlos ( San Carlos Asso. of Mountain Bikers), Cadiz Cycling Team,
SICAD (Silay Cycling Adventure), Taklad Bikers of Silay, Bago City Cycling
Club, Menlo Mountain Trekkers of Talisay, Negros Outdoors, Cauayan Cycling
Group, the Metro Bacolod Mountain Bikers, Saravia Mountain Bikers, Negros
Bikers Association, Team Bokal and many more.
The
various groups are composed of professionals like doctors, medical
representatives, businessmen, and our children with about 99% dominated by
males aged 15 to 65 years old who are mostly health buffs. Hernane Castor
then said that ‘ cycling is best for
resistance from stress and develops stronger lungs, knees and heart and the
best thing is cyclist are kept away from vices such as smoking, drinking liquor
wherein one becomes more conscious with regards to maintaining proper diet.’
To
complete the adventure, you should have the basic requirements such as jersey,
cycling shorts, gloves, backpack, eye wear, hand pump, vulcanizing kit, alen
wrench, water bottle and of course cycling shoes.
The
trails in Negros is great and in Martin Langevoord and Jens Funk’s Cycling in
the Philippines, trails are classified as Easy Trail (paved roads or wide rough
roads and is easy even on rainy days, then there is Fun Trail where there is a
rough road or easy single trail, and on rainy days the road might become
slippery and difficult to manage.
Mountain bikers’ dream – it’s all single trails, river crossing, muddy
sections, and trails are very technical.
Negros
is classified as the trail with the highest FUN factor and top three in nicest
trails and the most challenging with Kanlaon Circle and the nicest coastal
rides in the Philippines.
