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Post by yukon on Feb 10, 2007 21:37:35 GMT 8
posting pics to be continued tomorrow. photos snatched fro sloflight's and nhan's memory card. thanks guys...am so tired after this lahar ride. I never knew that biking on dry lahar is so hard and biking on wet lahar is harder.
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Post by yukon on Feb 11, 2007 6:48:10 GMT 8
Part II of my stolen pics from nhan and soloflight's memory card after our cold breakfast we saddled up to Frienship Gate arriving at Target (it's where the American's do target practice, not guns but missiles) jaymz, making us eat dust. ;D ;D ;D but it was a dusty trail indeed at target arci and solo still smiling after the gruelling "simulated climb" sergei (w/vodka laced H2O), soloflight, nhan and arci (who started it all) ;D ;D ;D arci's new wallpaper solo pic of soloflight arci, me and at the background nhan, beetlebum, humberjet and greywall (they were taking pics too) WOW Philippines!!! more lahar nice shot of nhan (to the leftmost part would be the crater i guess) on of the few shaded portions of the trail photo essay pic candidate we had to walk here but the Angeles group pedalled their way here beetlebum, your my idol. he pedalled from novaliches to Dau Angeles (3AM) just to join this ride. Next time dont ride alone in the dark its creepy out there. ;D ;D ;D sandwiched by the red riding hoods pics with dr. toti espiritu (head & neck surgeon) nearly became his instant patient. nice pose humberjet and greywall pang TV show nhan/solo i hijacked your pics if you want some pics deleted lemme know To the 50 plus riders (PinoyMTBiker, Bulakan and our hosts Angeles Team VGB thanks for making this ride a memorable one. The Lomi was great but of course nothing beats the camaraderie. Michael, thanks for hosting us we may not be able to duplicate what you guys did for us but we will surely love to have you in our rides one of these days. Thanks very much!!! Sorry guys, but this were the pics I stole from you. ;D ;D ;D
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berns
XC Rider
He who does only what is ask is a slave but he who does more is a free man
Posts: 113
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Post by berns on Feb 11, 2007 8:24:25 GMT 8
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Post by yukon on Feb 11, 2007 8:33:34 GMT 8
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Post by kulot_salot on Feb 11, 2007 19:37:14 GMT 8
from riggz's image-freezer... sir arci..... the lone rider...... the lomi ride... another lone rider... lansky... sea... err.... river of lahar... after the river of lahar...
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Post by arcireyes on Feb 11, 2007 20:11:34 GMT 8
Romancing the Lahar Trails The Start I never imagined riding the lahar trail would be that challenging but exciting...thanks to michael and the team vgb riders (team prexy aris and the doctor group of dr. toti espiritu) of clark for hosting us in their indescribable lahar trails. a ride really worth doing in one's mtb career. after meeting at petron-philcoa @0515, the group of me, nhan and soloflight (in nhan's van) and the group of yukon, greywall and humberjet (in yukon's van) took-off for dau via the nlex. arrival time at shell-dau was around 0700 and there to meet us was our host, michael. after the customary hi and hello we started our way to clark ecozone gate. there already assembled at shell-balibago were the clark mtb group and PinoyMTBiker-bulacan group of berns, et al. we entered clark and found our place to park. a few minutes while unloading and assembling our rigs, the group of lansky, riggz and seph came on aboard jaymz car....hey the gangs all here. the group pedaled a few meters to have a "cold" and hurried breakfast of rice, lechon paksiw and what not. after buying up on stocks of gatorade, water and some snackfoods, it was time to hit the trails. time check 0820. the group was to meet later (after exiting clark's gate) with the bulacan group of berns, et al and the 56 year old local mtb guy who was assigned to sweep the group. to be continued.....
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Post by xctofi on Feb 11, 2007 20:19:56 GMT 8
great ride guys! thanks for sharing the pics!
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Post by arcireyes on Feb 11, 2007 20:46:44 GMT 8
The First Trail (Target-Gate 14 via the Lahar Trails) after less than a km. from the meet-up point (at the outside perimeter of clark) the group was finally welcomed by a short stretch of lahar fireroad entering that barrio going to target. so...that's what a lahar road would look like........dusty, slippery and a lot of added pedalling effort involved (lakas makasunog, specially during that cloudless morning with the temperature easily hitting 28-29 deg. centi). slowly snaking through that barrio, we can feel the gradual ascent that we were doing, until finally we descended to the trailhead which was target ( i believe it got it's name because it used to be the target practice area of US pilots during clark's days as a US AFB ) it is sitted in a valley a little bit remotely situated from civilization, which i think was severely stricken by pinatubo's lahar. there we would finally meet the main group of the team vgb and other clark riders. i would also meet tony, a baptist pastor from kentucky who leads a congregation in one of dau's villages and sergei, a guy from leningrad who seems to have loved our mtb trails. and surprise.....surprise.......bettlebum....who started 0300 from nova to pedal all the way to clark (real addiction.....hehehe) after the customary reststop refreshment, rest, sosyalan and whatnot.... the boys are finally up and about to hit the LAHAR TRAILS to be continued....
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bikedaddy
Free Rider
[purple]Purple Balbon Zaido[/purple]
Posts: 369
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Post by bikedaddy on Feb 11, 2007 21:13:46 GMT 8
Wow! with a Welcome streamer pa, thank you Angeles/Clark guys for the hospitality. I'm sure the PinoyMTBiker people will have a repeat of this amazing ride.
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berns
XC Rider
He who does only what is ask is a slave but he who does more is a free man
Posts: 113
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Post by berns on Feb 11, 2007 21:46:54 GMT 8
To be continued when? It's hard being left hanging like this, come on sir arci tell us more, more, more!
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Post by yukon on Feb 11, 2007 22:25:41 GMT 8
Wow! with a Welcome streamer pa, thank you Angeles/Clark guys for the hospitality. I'm sure the PinoyMTBiker people will have a repeat of this amazing ride. bikedaddyheard that they're planning to take us to pintaubo. Bike to where the 4x4 trail starts then we hike/bike to the crater after riding the 4x. This will be in the future since I am still wasted from yesterday's ride )sana before the rainy season sets in). Hope you guys can join in the Pintaubo packed lunch ride. we still have to see the pics from the "LOST RIDERS" Batch 2 of Bulakan riders c/o of Whoopi, Atty. Arnie and Joey...I just dont know if they took pics when they got lost in the trails. Thanks to their Aeta guides they found their way to gate 14. Coming Soon!!!
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kaloi
All-Mountain Rider
Posts: 151
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Post by kaloi on Feb 11, 2007 22:41:30 GMT 8
Great ride guys!!! Count me in for the Mount Pinatubo ride! Can we set it sooner??? I'd really love to go there!!! Thanks ;D
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Post by yukon on Feb 11, 2007 22:48:45 GMT 8
jaymz (este riggz pala..ur camera took the shots) borrowed your pic the guy in blue raising his hand (oooppps, the one on the left...2 of em pala raising hands) is the one who started this invite, Michael Gatmaitan. Sir Mabuhay ka!!!! Thanks for this awesome ride...Pintaubo is next in our sights.
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Post by arcireyes on Feb 12, 2007 8:57:51 GMT 8
To be continued when? It's hard being left hanging like this, come on sir arci tell us more, more, more! sir, sorry for making bitin, i already felt sleepy last night eh The Lahar Trail From the Target area we made a short downhill and this was when the thrill of lahar trail riding started....... We were welcomed to a field of dry lahar that was too loose the tires loose their grips as well and starts to go on a direction of their own until the tires finally gets stucked around 4-5" deep into loose lahar. after trying to pedal our way out of this situation, we finally gave up, what with a cloudless sky, scorching sun and the feel of the hot vapor that seems to be emitted by the lahar (temp has now gone up to approx 30-34 deg cent) starting to take its toll on us. the SCUD riders, finally went on a hike-a-bike sosyalan pace and was lucky enough to have doc. toti espiritu with the group to explain to us things we need to know about the lahar, like the best time to ride the lahar trails was during the wet season when the lahars would be packed and the trails would become fast and cool. he even enjoined us to come back during the rainy months to really appreciate and enjoy the trails. as we reached almost a km. of hike-a-bike, the trails started to become compacted and rideable, we continued into some mild uphills until we reached a very steep downhill zigzag road that finally brought us down to that majestic sea (or river, if you wish) of lahar. the view after that zigzag road was really majestic imagine a lahar-filled valley almost half a kilometer wide that seems snake and end nowhere. we would later learn from our trail master, mr. aris-prexy of team vgb that it used to be a part of the mt. range around mt. pinatubo, that became a pathway from the rampaging lahars, he says that the sorrounding area are buried in 20 meters or so of lahar and we were amidst what was left of it, with a few hundred meter of its top protruding after lahar had covered it. water cascading from pinatubo was traversing the sea of lahar fields making the trails wet, packed and in some portions soft. i am at lost for a proper word or words to describe this kind of mt. biking trail, but an unexplained feeling of ecstasy seems to have clouded all the peepz that when we started hitting it, everybody seems to be pedalling like crazy, no sense of direction, no sense of rhytm, joy was the only thing recognizable as it was etched in everybodys face........suddenly the bliss of pure mountain biking XC ( i can imagine, fafarock's shouts of joy if ha had been with us ). it was only when i started to feel the pedalling stiffness that i found out that i was in the wrong gearing ( it would be too late to find out that the best gearing for this type of terrain is on granny, after loosing traction and having my shoes wet) it seems that you are on an effort doing a perpetual climb that you have to spin continously lest you loose traction and fall down. the SCUD riders would seem to enjoy the whole scenery of that majestic lahar trails that nobody seems to mind that the gap between us and the main group has now widened. finally less than a kilometer at the trailend of that lahar valley we started to pick up on our pedalling until we reached that short uphill that will signal an end to the bliss. a few photo-ops with some locals and were up and about to the re-grouping area near gate 14. some more photo-ops of the whole group and it was time to head for our lunch....... to be continued (again?) ;D ;D
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Post by Dragunov on Feb 12, 2007 9:01:58 GMT 8
Wow , nice lahars, no espasol??? ;D hope to join you guys next time!!!
nhan, tumataba ka na!!! you finger that is ;D
solo!! your getting thinner!!!! stop rubbing lamps dude ;D ;D ;D
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Post by pazigrider on Feb 12, 2007 9:16:41 GMT 8
thanks for sharing these action shots at the lahar country guys i think it's really a new challenge and exciting experience - biking on the lahar hope i could join you next time thanks to michael and PinoyMTBiker clark peeps for hosting this ride more power and not more lahar to you - clark PinoyMTBiker ;D
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Post by sabretooth on Feb 12, 2007 9:24:11 GMT 8
Lemme do a melani marquez here: I have TWO words for you pipol: You're my idols! hehe.
seriously, mabangis. i like sir arci's lone rider pic. mowdel na mowdel sir arci...ever thought of a career shift? hehe.
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Post by rocky on Feb 12, 2007 9:54:38 GMT 8
I am lost for words. All I can mutter is "I knew it! I knew it!"
Thanks Arci for the write up. It more than describes what "I knew it" conveyed.
And the pictures. Thanks for sharing. I miss you All Idols.
And of course to my dear Cabalens who again showed what true Pampagueno hospitality is all about - happy Happy, contented, very very satisfied PMTBerks tasting your secretmost mtbiking Joy - no less than majestic lahar trails. Salamat pu.
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Post by kulot_salot on Feb 12, 2007 9:57:27 GMT 8
still waiting for nhan's shots....... & riggz's & seph's......... me want to see the original sisig ride...... ;D
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Post by yukon on Feb 12, 2007 9:59:29 GMT 8
rocky, I knew you'd be saying that...hehehe. At least its colder at your end...but we had a "BLAST". More pics coming...later. @arci, stop working na and finish your detailed kwento on the lahar adventures.
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Post by arcireyes on Feb 12, 2007 10:38:24 GMT 8
rocky, I knew you'd be saying that...hehehe. At least its colder at your end...but we had a "BLAST". More pics coming...later. @arci, stop working na and finish your detailed kwento on the lahar adventures. brad. it's a monday and anyways, i'm waiting for the pics to get posted. the pics tell more stories than the written kwento at saka what is left to report is the lomi lunch, calumpang ride and that sisig sosyalan adventure na lang. ;D ;D sabre: career shift?.......duh...you mean......trailmastering not modelling right ;D
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trailblaster
Free Rider
another one bites the dust!
Posts: 273
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Post by trailblaster on Feb 12, 2007 11:18:27 GMT 8
very nice trail.. hehe.. with welcoming banner pa ha! congrats on the riders who joined the ride! very worthy trail!
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Post by michael on Feb 12, 2007 12:32:37 GMT 8
to Everyone
thanks guys for the compliment... any plans soon let us know.. Cheers!! Really nice pic
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Post by nhan on Feb 12, 2007 13:00:39 GMT 8
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Post by arcireyes on Feb 12, 2007 14:46:34 GMT 8
Lunch After the photo-ops at Gate 14, we re-entered the CAB perimeter via a stretch of road that looks as surreal as bricktown, abandoned houses with only its shells and rusting roofs left, giant acacia trees lining-up the street ( i would learn later on that the area is a USAF housing area that was plundered after the americans left clark ). finally we hit a big street inside the clark economic zone area, riding that wide street gives you a glimpse of the transformations that clark had undergone in perhaps the last 3 decades, abandoned buildings (that may had been part of the CAB infrastructure during the USAFB time), somewhere farther we passed by fontana, which presumably is the latest addition to clarks numerable golf and resort clubs, further down, we passed by abandoned buildings with signboards that says they used to be one of the so many duty-free shops that sprouted when clark was introduced as a duty-free shopping haven, sadly i can count with one hand's finger the lucky few that survided. i also noticed left and right a few medium-sized establishments that are still profitably operating under the Clark Economic Zone banner. but what i admire riding inside clark is the plush greeneries that still abound in the surroundings, well manicured lawns, giant century-old trees, clean streets and the orderliness of things. a part of the american way was still noticeably present. finally after pedalling our way along that scenic boulevard (i call it one IMHO), we reached our destination.....LOMI HOUSE. time check: 1215h, mileage check: 28 kms. (from our parking lot origin to the lomi house). the 50 or so bikers occupied the open-air portion of the resto and ordered the speciality of the house.......LOMI we had a chance to finally make sosyalan with our hosts and some other clark riders (ryan, etc.), that group from san jose del monte (berns, et al) and of course the manila group seated together in one table cooling their heels and practically drying their toes. our host michael was asking (prior to the serving of the bowl of steaming pampanga lomi) if we are still up for another more round of ride. the group was noticeably silent and finally someone blurted " DO NOT MAKE DECISIONS ON AN EMPTY STOMACH " so we feasted first on our lomi and after partaking and filling ourselves with that sumptuous lunch, refreshing ourselves with drinks of iced soft drinks, the decision to take another trailride was a unanimous YES. you don't rest mtbikers with just less than 30 kms of trailriding hehehe to be continued ulit (hirap sumingit ng kwento while working)
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Post by JP on Feb 12, 2007 15:22:52 GMT 8
Congrats to all PinoyMTBiker who joined the Clark ride. Great pictures guys, especially with lahar background. I can imagine how hot your ride was.
Nice picture again Nhan.
When is the Pinatubo ride? I will try to join.
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Post by whoopi on Feb 12, 2007 16:40:59 GMT 8
yes, YUKON, we did manage to take pics while getting lost, will try to post tomorrow wow, looking at your pics guys, made me realize how different our route had been. didn't see that awesome wet lahar valley, sayang! no hanging bridge, no takeshi castle. we must have been following the wrong river. we kept telling joey it's impossible that we couldn't see any of your bike tire tracks, but he said as long as we follow the river we would end up in the same place as you guys. aaarrrgghhh! ;D anyway, next time i'm not going to pedal all the way from baliuag. it was 58kms to the friendship gate! i was so laspag. during dinner, i was ready to fall off my seat. but hooray to BEETLEBUM! you're something else, brad! pedalling alone all the way from novaliches! hope you didn't pedal again all the way back ;D
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Post by greywall on Feb 12, 2007 17:12:39 GMT 8
nice pictures!!! i was still reminiscing the experience when i got home... a very unforgettable one... BEETLEBUM, brad, idol talaga kita!!! to our host, sir michael and the clark-angeles group, thank you for the hospitality!!!
@ kuya arci, your story telling is so good, it seems like im still there while reading your posts...
@ yukon, thank you sir for the ride!!!
NEXT TIME..... PINATUBO!!!!!!!
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Post by nhan on Feb 12, 2007 17:15:51 GMT 8
lets hit PINATUBO while its still summer and no seismic activity... for sure more tourist koreana's also hehe ;D
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Post by pazigrider on Feb 12, 2007 17:17:57 GMT 8
brad harci at the laar country
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