now, THIS is a race

The annual Great Divide Race kicked off last June 23. It's a self-supported race that runs through almost 2,500 miles of dirt roads and double track across America's back country. Crazy stuff!

Live updates available here.

I think some racers are competing on singlespeeds, 29ers, and fixed-gear bikes.

The Men's Health All Terrain Race

Today was the day. The first-ever Men's Health All Terrain Race was held in Timberland, Maarat, Rizal. A month of intense preparation by Men's Health and Team All Terra has paid off. More than 300 trail runners and close to 100 mountain bikers converged at the venue...

I arrived at 6:30am, and almost immediately I was interviewed about the race! Overall the place had a good, positive vibe - everyone was having fun, no doubt spurred on by the giveaways and the host Paolo Abrera. I had to face the crowd as well, making an intro speech - but I kept it short knowing that these guys were chomping at the bit to tackle the 8km trail run. Next thing I know, off they went! After half an hour - the first finishers came trickling in - these guys are fit!

The start of the bike race was slightly delayed due to a shortage of registration forms - which is always a good thing! Polly, Vic, Jay and Goyo joined me for the ride - but we weren't racing (though they all registered!). We were in it for fun, and I was also doing double duty as an on-course marshal - making sure people are alright, etc. Had to assist a racer who had suffered leg cramps (he did the trail run too!). We did one lap of the course (racers did 2), and it was a good thing because as I rolled into the venue, the awarding ceremonies were in full swing! So sweaty me went up on stage to offer congratulations, shake hands and award medals. And yes, another speech haha!

Edmund did a wonderful job as race organizer, and more importantly, kept his grace under pressure. Lots of prizes were given away, and I think all the participants had fun, and identified themselves with the magazine.

Gotta go - have a radio guesting on DZMM at 6pm!

P.S. pics of the race to follow.

...King

King had a riding accident last night. As he was overtaking a fellow rider along Libis, the other cyclist swerved to avoid a manhole. Their handlebars got tangled up and both riders went down. The other cyclist landed on top of King, and the result being King broke his left leg just below the shin.

Edmund and I rushed to the scene and took him to Medical City. Doctor said the swelling must go down before they try to set it. Surgery may be required but it's too early to say.

It was a big blow to our preparations for the Men's Health All Terrain Race this Sunday. It's terrible when something like this happens, but at the same time we are lucky that nothing more serious occurred.

Get well soon, King!

Chasing an Epiphany

So...No inaugural single speed ride, the group ride I was supposed to trailmaster for didn't materialize, and Mickey couldn't make it today. Guess it was time for me to do some soul-o riding.

Off to Sta Rosa I go, I haven't ridden there in a month (been riding Maarat), and I set off on my own at 730am to beat the heat. Apparently I hadn't left early enough, as it was hot and humid on the early climbs. I was sweating buckets. I normally do not wear gloves on these climbs, but due to excessive sweating my grips became quite slick, so on the gloves went. Took a minute o two to recover after each hillclimb and at around 830am I was at the bukohan/Gatorade stop. Anthony, one of the local riders who knows the trails like the backs of his hands, was telling me about this new section of trail he discovered a few weeks ago, and invited me to check it out.

Anthony rides an Ellsworth Epiphany, and we set off at a pretty good pace. We tear thru the trails we normally ride - Spanky and I are doing our darned best trying to keep up with Anthony. I decide to keep a few bike lengths back - for safety purposes. Once we hit the doubletrack downhills though, Anthony just lets it rip and gets away easily. Hey, he's got gears! And 5 inches of suspension travel, front AND rear.

We enter this new trail (he calls it Anthony's trail) and it's a tight and twisty affair. My eyes are working overtime - watching Anthony's lines, his tires, and keeping an eye on the trail too. It's a great trail - we even ride along a ridge...till it starts to point down.

The first dip was alright, actually, except for a fallen banana tree that blockes the run out. So I had to dab and navigatge my way around it. The second dip, well, I think it was a ten-foot crest we rode down. It had loose soil and as I was following Anthony down (he cleaned it), my rear wheel slid out from underneath me and I took a tumble to the left. After a brief equipment check and a few chuckles we were on our way. I think I tweaked my groin. Ouch.

Anthony says there's another trail that invloves more ridge-riding, that leads down to the national highway and back to Paseo. Since he was pressed for time (he had a 10am meeting), we decided to hit that the next ride. We blasted through Duck trail and I try my best to keep up. Braking less and trusting my tires more (the very same ones that slipped under me - go figure). We part ways at the bottom of the trail and I take a break at an outpost and contemplate on whether to reverse the whole ride or just climb back up the gravel road and have a second helping of Duck.

Pedaling up the gravel road I start debating with myself what to do...the sun is beating down on me now and I decide to Duck it. Don't want to push myself too hard, seeing that the MH All-Terrain Race is next week. Hehe.

29er or 26er : which is better?

Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. As long as you are out having fun with your bike!

At any rate, here's an interesting/ongoing study conducted by cyclingnews.com. They've set up two almost-identical Seven IMX hardtails. Only diff being the wheel size...

Curious? Check it out here.

On a totally unrelated note, the planned INAUGURAL SINGLE SPEED RIDE has been CANCELLED due to a lack of participants. I'm a bit bummed since I sent the shout out A MONTH AGO. Anyway, life goes on..

Every ride for me is a single speed ride anyway!!! :)

pre-ride 2

Ok, this time we DID the route. hehe.

We only did 1 lap, however, since this was an exploratory ride. Have to tell you though, the course is a bit...intense.

Inside the section called Roxas I stalled in the middle of a rocky climb and couldn't power out. Bummer! DanDan took his singlespeed along - with a 32x14 gearing. He cleaned the same section where I stalled in. The guy is a monster hehe. Spanky shone on the downhills though, and the big wheels soaked up the step-like bumps, and felt sure-footed in off-camber sections.

After Roxas we took a nice gravel road down to what they call The Nursery. Since this was an exploratory ride, King and DanDan were looking for a way through The Nursery and back up to the main road. Aside from the road we just took, it was either of two heinous climbs. By heinous I mean granny-gear and biggest-cog heinous. Your lowest possible gear. Guess what? I don't have gears! So walk it I did. I think I'll volunteer to be a race marshal hehe.

It is, however, a race course, and am sure participants will be able to go up these climbs (walking is an option of course). Hey, as long as the racers have fun!

Here are some pics:

Me after the climb in Roxas:


Trying out the Turner Flux:


The technical descent after Roxas:




Part of the heinous climb:


Panoramic shot from the top:

pre-ride 1

We rode Maarat again today, presumable to pre-ride the Men's Health All Terrain Race course - organized by All Terra. It was also the inaugural ride of Jay's bright orange Santa Cruz Heckler, his new do-it-all, ride-anything machine. Manitou also has one on order, but due to some complications, it wasn't ready for the ride. So he was on his trusty, vintage Cannondale. Polly took along his Turner 5-spot. Neil and Alvin also joined us, and Neil rode Mickey's tricked-out Voodoo Sobo.

The group got split up, with King (the race director) going off to check out the RUN part of the course. We hung around waiting for the rest of the group to catch up, and decided to bike down to Ka Vergel's instead, since we weren't familiar with the course - the route was all in King's head! We had a great time, regardless. Lots of descents and short climbs, as well as ruts and tech sections. A nice, muddy ride it was, and Neil, who was on his second time on a mountain bike, went the distance.

Sorry, no photos this time!