Philippine Loop Adventure Tour
Bicycle Riding Day 1
December 18, 2023
From: SM Masinag, Antipolo, Rizal
Destination: Cabanatuan, Nuevo Ecija.
Distance travelled today: 124.36
Total KM Travelled: 124.36
Route:
SM Masinag, Antipolo to Monumento to Valenzuela to Baliwag to Cabanatuan.
Notes:
Good, moderate day despite not having biked for a few months. I passed out over 20 stickers and 1 Bible portion to a vendor named Jen. I took some selfies with some single speed bikers. Pumped my tire 2x. Hopefully, no hole? I had a great brewed coffee at 7/11. Much better than the French vanilla. I took a 30 minute nap at Gapan border. My "moving time" was 7:40:39 but, my overall time was 16 hours! That means I took over 9 hours of rest, eating, breaks. I got a lot of video today, and had slight rain 2X - very minor. Found cheap motel for 12 hours with hot water! Washed my clothes and bed by 5:00pm.
End of Day 1.
Day 2
Philippine Loop Adventure Tour
Bicycle Riding Day 2
December 20, 2023
From: SM Cabanatuan N.E.
Destination: Baler, Aurora.
Distance travelled today: 122.92
Total KM Travelled: 247.28
Route:
Cabanatuan to Palayan thru Bongabon to Baler, Aurora.
Notes:
Today was a long day of 14+ hours. The mountains were moderate hard mixed with light rain at elevation. Wet day. Gave away many stickers. Met many young bikers in Bongabon. Lots of selfies. Very few people on mountain highway. I had a chocolate and coffee break towards the end when I was most tired. A Muslim vendor gave me a free Baler refrigerator magnet. The last 15+kms was downhill. What a nice treat! I found a really ugly, cheap ($9) room near beach. It's pretty gross, but I am thankful and a little desperate to find a place. Baler is my 1st official, required "checkpoint" for the Loop. Tomorrow, we go over the mountain again, but on a different exit. I hope to get to San Jose City.
End of Day 2.
Day 3
Philippine Loop Adventure Tour
Bicycle Riding Day 3
December 21, 2023
From: Beach House in Baler, Aurora.
Destination: Maria Aurora, Aurora.
Distance travelled today: 53.92
Total KM Travelled: 301.20
Route:
Baler, Aurora to Maria Aurora, Aurora "pointing" towards San Jose City.
Notes:
Today was the hardest day so far with the highway percent % grades much higher and longer than the other highway going to Baler yesterday. It was raining all day. My clothes were 100% wet. I lost a few hours immediately in the morning when I realized I had a flat tire and a broken spoke. I fixed both of them in front of 7-Eleven in Baler. I had a crowd of five young boys watching me repair. I visited the famous Balete tree in Maria Aurora. Supposedly, it's 600 plus years old and is the largest tree in Asia (unverified). I witnessed to one of the workers at the tree, made a vlog recording of our conversation, and gave him a Bible afterwards. His name is Jerome. Today was the first day I had to push my bike up some of these highway hills. Over 10 separate occasions I pushed. This is evidence/sign of the steepness of this particular route for bicyclists. I cut my day short today at 3:22 p.m. I hope to be in bed by 5:30. I need a good, long day tomorrow.
End of Day 3.