Proper Pedal stroke

Following an early morning run-swim workout with the members of Second Wind runners and some members of Tri-Polar, my good friend and future triathlete decided to take the next big step of cycling by buying pedals and cleats for his road bike.

Of course, everyone who buys a new bike part knows, when you get it, you gotta try it, right awya! Rain or no rain! So we went to UP to test his new pedals and shoes and that is where I found out how hard it is to be chasing after a 20 year old track star on a bike.

Suffice to say, in contest of fitness versus experience, fitness won... yet again.

Which got me thinking, if I can "out-strong", I've got to "out-efficient" him. (Yeah those aren't real words, but give me a break, I just spend the past hour chasing after a 20 year for 30 kms.)

Which got me googling this...

The perfect pedal stroke!

I found this interesting article on bicycling.com.

Since, I'm way to nice to purposely sabotage his training (though I am still leaving that option open ;D) I decided that every stroke from now on must be perfect, no wasted energy!

Biking Weekend Part 2: ToF

After my muddy Saturday adventure, my dear mountain bike Patricia was not really up to another ride. So it fell upon Frank the roadie to be my Sunday steed for the Tour of the Fireflies.

I met Marc, Karen, Alvin and Lance at the start point in Tiendesitas where the start point for the ride would be.

Nothing much to report on the ride.

• We clogged up most of EDSA northbound to SM North Edsa, Southbound to Buendia and back again to Tiende. I figure there were alot of pissed motorists and commuters this morning.
• Karen figured that the reason it was a ride for clean air as that the organizers wanted us to inhale all the lingering pollutants on Metro Manilas main choke point. 
• Though I think it wouldn't do much good because after we had inhaled all the pollutants we left our own dirty air... the sweaty, B.O. kind because of the oppressive heat!
• The nice thing about the Tour is that it serves as a biking reunion of sorts.
• I ran into running buddies Vangie and Vima. Cross Training I would guess.
• Also saw PUR team mate Don as well as alot of PMTB friends. 

Lance doesnt look too happy about the heat.

Biking Weekend Part 1

I had two back to back rides over the weekend.

First up was a Saturday morning ride from Second Wind to Giant Store and back again. Since it was Enzo's 1st time on a mountain bike, Mickey and I thought that were would be no better place to take him than the Shotgun trail, or as my friend Karen calls it "SHEYT-Gun".

Mickey and Zo on the Shotgun Trail

After much huffing and puffing up the mountain, we finally reached the top. And to his credit Enzo did surprisingly well, much better than Mickey and I thought he would. I guess there is really no substitute for the energy of youth! 

We then proceed on the the Giant store and had what Enzo the Engineer proclaimed to be the best SPAM he has ever tasted!

After a short rest amidst a brief rain shower, we were on our way back to UP and Second Wind. This is when I made the monumental mistake of thinking that perhaps the Nursery Trail was also passable.

Big mistake, less than 1 minute down the single track and I knew I was in deep... mud. The thic clay kind which clogs up everything even your tires.

Well, we were there anyway, so we tried to make the best of it. But I think the two weren't very happy with me after that...

Mickey and Zo in the Nursery area

After much more huffing, puffing and pushing, we made our way to the Timberland Gate, where Mickey and I proceeded to test our newbie's courage by flying down the Wall.

Happy to report that he survived in one piece and we all made it back to the Second Wind Shop ready to ride another day... hopefully far in the future!

Marga's Birthday Ride

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Marga sent out an open invitation to ride with her and her bike Sixto from Manila to Tagaytay on her birthday. 

As much as I wanted to do it, I had one big problem. My road bike happened to be in parts lying in my bedroom. 

Well, no time like the present to build a bike I thought. So I packed up all that bike stuff, cleaned out my bank account and headed to All Terra. Couple of hours later... the world met Frank.

Yeah, he name is Frank, anyone got a problem with that? Its the perfect foil to my prissy MTB Lady Patricia.

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Birthday ride time. Marga and I started of from Alabang Westgate. Unfortunately, the idea of a big riotous group ride boiled down two hard headed individuals who would not let the idea of searing heat and traffic ruin our best laid plans.

We made our way down Daang Hari and made our first rest stop at a Shell station somewhere past the Camella Homes property.

While Marga and I got re hydrated, Frank and Sixto too the time to get to know each other.

I think they'll be good friends.

We set off again for Tagaytay. But of course, being Pinoy, we couldn't resist stopping to take the occasional picture. Like this one of Marga and the Giant coffee cup of Amadeo.

A few more on the road pics while we rested...

And we finally made it to Tagaytay, where the initial problem of where to have lunch was quickly solved by the choice of my favorite Greek restaurant.

Where we quickly devoured everything in sight.

But of course, no birthday ride would be complete without cake! So off to Starbucks we went for some cheese cake.

Happy Birthday Again Marga. See you again next year!