San Remigio, Reloaded

Cycling to San Remigio, taking the road less traveled… 

I wasn’t exactly prepared for this ride, as I was scheduled to depart for Banaybanay on the day they planned to camp/ride to San Remigio. So my mind was already conditioned not to join, and wished the guys well. It was only around 6 hours before the ride when I decided to go with them, so I called up Mae to prepare her stuff for a round trip ride.

With only 3 hours of sleep, at 0400, I headed to John’s house to borrow his brother’s mountain bike. We then headed downtown to meet up with Mae at her house in Obrero, then meet up with John and Jan at Jollibee Lanang. I wasn’t feeling too well at this point, darned cough and colds, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. We then proceeded to Km. 11, Sasa to take the ferry going to Samal Island.

We started the ride from Babak, taking the main roads going to Penaplata before tackling the roads less traveled into the heart of the island. We passed by scenery I didn’t know existed in the island: rice fields, hidden waterfalls, great stretches of undeveloped white sand beaches.

By 1000 I was already feeling the effects of the combined cough and colds, I have a headache, and have difficulty keeping my breathing consistent. I was trying hard to keep myself hydrated and keep my pace for the long ride up ahead. So we pushed on, we pedaled through and enjoyed the scenery afforded to those who take time to explore the roads less traveled.

Finally at 1400, we arrived at Alorro Beach, San Remigio, Samal. We took a break, had a late lunch, then took a dip in the cool waters. And then, all too suddenly, it was time to head back home. The two Johns were going to spend the night over, while the rest of us were headed back to the city because we still had some things to do early the following day.

At 1730 we started the ride back, as it was getting dark we had our head lamps and blinkers at the ready.  It was a grueling climb right at the start, and we had to conserve energy for the almost 50km ride back. We pushed our bikes at the start, then when it was bike-able, we got on and rode out. It was quite a ride, cycling out in the night with only our headlamps providing light along the way.

We arrived at Kaputian by 1900, we stopped by a roadside eatery for dinner, and relaxed a while after eating. By 1930 we were back in the saddle, pushing on to Babak Port. This time I was really feeling the pain; my butt, shoulders and hands were sore and I was getting really cranky from the cough and colds. Hahaha

We arrived at the port at 2130, we had to take the barge since the small ferry boats were no longer operating at this hour. The barge left at 2200, we got off at the other side and started to cycle the last 10 kilometers. We arrived at Obrero at 2300, dropped some gear off, and got home at around 2330. Total trip distance for me was 121 kilometers. The second longest ride distance traveled, but the most arduous one to date.

This was one of the most grueling bike rides I had in recent memory, and the most painful ride to date. It’s not a good idea to push yourself on rides like this, but the company and adventure more than made up for all the pain and fever I went through.

See you all on our next ride!

Click here to see more of my pics.

Click here to see the the rest of the picture by JToms and JohnB

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