On December 25th, in the dead of the night, I will be launching out on my "MAKING A CHRISTMAS MEMORY 2022 SOLO BICYCLE TOUR." The destination is TINOC, IFUGAO which is recorded as the Official Highest Place on the Philippine National Highway System at 7,968 feet above sea level (which my starting line is on in Manila) or 2,428 Meters.
I will be riding solo, bringing some gospel stickers and a few New Testaments. The trip will be over 760 KMS (473 Miles) within the window of December 25th and January 3rd. I will have a stop over in Baguio City in which I will be preaching in a friend's church: God's Family Church at Purok 3, Camp 8, on Sunday, January 1st. All are invited!
I will return to Manila in the dead of the night, again, on January 2nd. Baguio is 255 KMS (158 Miles) from home - mostly downhill taking me two days! Praise God!
The map above is not perfect, but it is pretty close to my actual route. The actual riding days is six days but I will be spending some extra days in Baguio, as mentioned above.
When I bicycled across the USA in 2019, I never had to push my bicycle up a hill even one time! I suspect on this trip, I will be pushing many times! My biggest concern is the cold weather, more than the mountains.
The temperature is averaged at 58 degrees in Baguio with drops in the middle of the night to 51 degrees. This is much different from my training in Manila at 87-90 degrees. The elevation is in the 5,000-7,600 feet range so the air is thinner. I suspect I will have some trouble adjusting. The good news is by the time I get back to Manila, my red blood cell count should be higher. Nice!
My bike is loaded with it's typical traveling gear. Most is "winter type clothes" and my drone. I expect some awesome video coverage and photos! I wish I did not have to bring so much "winter, cold weather clothes," but I learned my lesson in Oregon and Idaho in 2019, the absolute torture it is being on the highway and being cold. It's even worse at night.
I learned that if I am "warm and dry," nothing can stop me. Once you get cold and wet, it's like a torment on the mind. It is not pleasant.
I will be traveling with my tent and sleeping bag, just like my USA 2019 Trans-America Bicycle Tour. Much of my housing is non-decided in advance, because I am not sure of my ranges when it is so heavy on mountains.
The good news is that I am not in a super hurry. I have "three extra days" in case I am having trouble and needing to shorten my days, breakdown, repairs or something. I do not have to rush. I can freely witness to people, pass out stickers, and preach sometimes - as opportunities arise.
You can see some samples of my stickers below with a minor adjustment: rather than the mitchtour.com on the bottom, I switched it to my Youtube site at: gomitch2
Meanwhile, if you have not seen my latest upload of one of my training rides to the mountains just outside Manila, called Shotgun Road. You can watch that below.
For those new to my mitchtour site, you might want to watch some of my other bicycling in the USA videos or my bicycling in the Philippines videos. I have separate playlists for both of them.
If you would like to see my past CHRISTMAS BICYCLING TOURS IN THE PHILIPPINES, I will past e the links here:
CHRISTMAS 2020 TO BATAAN:
CHRISTMAS 2021 TO NUEVA ECIJA:
Thank for visiting. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. I update my "Stories" DAILY on both of them. I will only update this page at the end of my trip.
To support my travels or mission work in any way, you can find the donation links at the top of my page.
Thank you.
Mitch Metzger