DAY1: POLILLO-BORDEOS ISLAND BIKE RIDE

This ride/trip was set last May 8-10, 2009. Due to unpredictable weather changes, forced us to reschedule. Typhoon Emong visited the Philippines a day before our scheduled departure. Knowing the Pacific Ocean and its treacherous waves, we conceded to nature's wrath.

Then we had it resched to May 22-23. It was perfect. The weather forecast for the week for Real, Quezon was a clear sunny weather. 

Itinerary:

Meet up - 

Place: Tiendesitas, Pasig, Philippines

Time: 3:30 AM

ETA in Real, Quezon port: 8-9AM

Those who attended: Allan, April, Erwin, Drey, Malvin, Jon, Marlon, Gary and me (Drew).

We arrived in Real port before a quarter 08:00. We have 3 friends who biked all the way from Burger King Marcos Hi-way is still on the way and so we have to wait for the 9AM trip. Unfortunately the 9AM trip is already full so we have no choice but to wait for the 10AM trip. We then ate our breakfast then placed the bikes on top of the boat. We can leave the cars on the part to be looked after by the port caretakers.

First group shot/class picture for the day.

Erwin, goofing it out, power rangers style. Gary's foot, kick his boner! lolz

Yeap that's an anchor.

Real, Watch/Light tower

Real, Quezon port.

When the 3 bikers arrived (spearheaded by Jon, along with Malvin and Marlon), food and cold drinks was the first thing they looked for after loading their bikes onto the boat. I salute these 3 crazy bikers coz they had more than 5 hours worth of bike miles, traversing many mountains before reaching the port. I'm not surprised since when I first started mountain biking these guys were already known to be monster speeders in and out of the trails, and up & down the mountains. 

It was a 3-hour long boat ride. I slept while the others were bumming out on top of the boat. Drey was fixing a flat. I decided to sleep since I only had 2 hours worth of rest, maybe due to excitement. What's new? Most of my whole day bike rides I had no sleep at all haha.

And after 3 hours, there we were, Polillo Island, Quezon Province. There were lots of old wooden houses and nipa huts (bahay kubo) which was an eye candy for us urban fireflies. Before we bike, our stomachs were again grumbling and had to get lunch at the nearby eatery after the big Welcome Arch. The place was beautiful!

Polillo Island, welcome arch.

Polillo school.

Erwin, taking a shot of the welcome arch.

Worth the trip, the terrain was mostly dirt road, it was hot, fun and exciting!

The road on the way to the summit was very hard (makunat!) and to add to our burden was the hot humid weather. Thank God we were able to bump into the Barangay Captain (Chieftain) of the area and pointed us to have Buko (coconut) near the summit. For only 20 Pesos I had 3 Buko, which was all filled with coconut juice! The natural spring also was refreshing and I poured some onto my head and nape and face as well. That was very energizing!

Beautiful scenery along the seaside:

We love huts!

 

Yeah its sad, illegal logging is still rampant there.

Before we reached the summit going to Bordeos, there were muddy portions along the trail. The muddy portions of the road was really-really muddy. Soft mud where you your foot will sink if you step on it. I lost my momentum and had to step my spankin' brand new Shimano shoes on the mud :(. I was so pissed off, there were still very muddy conditions downhill and if you ain't careful your ass will french kiss the mud. A friend lost balance and was bruised on the right knee on the muddy part of the downhill.

Mudfest!

My brand spankin' new Shimano shoes, all muddied up :( *sigh

At the end of the downhill we stopped at this dam to clean our bikes, it was a few minutes away from where we will be staying. It even rained before we reached the house. When we reached the house, We were introduced to Allan's older brother and also a family friend who will serve as our Island guide during our whole stay in Polillo Island.

A very refreshing Coconut break, drink/eat all you can, promise ;)

Natural water source near the coconuts.

Cleaned/freshened ourselves up, unpacked some stuff, ate a bit then we went to this house where we had dinner. Afterwards the booze! We were introduced to Polillo's vice mayor and Doctor as well. I can't count how many Red Horse Beer we've had, as far as I can remember I was the first casualty of the night. I was drunk and couldn't take no more haha. Twas an awesome, fun day and a nice ride!

Our rented house, very cheap not as comfy as a 3 star hotel but enough to keep our bikes secure and have a good night's sleep. Mosquito repellant lotion/sprays are a must.Ü

The next day we will be Island Hopping! Wuhoooo!