Post by katipzrider on Jan 19, 2008 20:09:21 GMT 8
On January 18, 2007 I woke at around past 10 in the morning, I checked my emails and the PinoyMTBiker forums in a nearby internet cafe along the town when Ian (mackyboboy) pmed me and told me that he is from Bato as well. I am planning to meet him in a nearby place however his mobile is not answering, after like 3 consecutive calls a lady answered his phone who happens to be his wife and she gave me his mobile number.
I again browsed PasawayL's book to look for places in Leyte where I can do padyak. I have discovered a ikot ride along the Southern Leyte area where it starts from Bato and it will end in Bato as well.
here are the following towns:
Bato
Matalom
Maasin City
Macrohon
Padre Burgos
Malitbog
Tomas Oppus
Bontoc
and back to Bato.
I started firing at 11:00 am in Bato and the scenery and the uphills the beaches and downhills are really eye-catching! I stopped over to Maasin because my rear hub was squeaking. I had it repaired at Bohol bike shop in Maasin and had a feast of Ngohiong with puso (hanging rice). After refuelling i called Ian again and at this time he answered the phone and he said that he is in Maasin so after eating I went back to the shop and I saw Ian and had a chit-chat and of course a photo-op as well. I shared about the ride that I will be doing and my expectation was that i will be arriving back in Bato at about 6pm depending on my average speed which is 20.4.
I entered Macrohon and the beautiful sceneries are non-stop! white sand beaches, coconut plantations and some old Spanish cemeteries. the best town that I had ever been is Padre Burgos where all of the sand of the beaches are white sand and there are some dive sites and you can even have a view of the butanding (whale shark)! It is a HELLUVA COASTAL RIDE and I do recommend this route but unfortunately my battery died out! the last pic that i did was the procession of Sto Nino.
I entered Malitbog and the beautiful sceneries continues but it is already past 4pm. I stopped by to a sari-sari store within the outskirts to downed a liter of Jaz Cola, and it started to rain. After 10mins of refilling I continued to fire again, I also had 2 pack of GU that I bought in All Terra and I downed them as well. The firing continues while the rain gets stronger, thanks to my Sandugo Extreme 35 bag since there is a balabal to protect the bag from getting wet.
It was about 7pm and I reached Bontoc and it is very dark and another 23 kms back to the finish line. The Bato-Bontoc road is really very dark and hair started to raise, I prayed to the Our Lady of Antipolo who is the patroness of travelers to keep me safe (naisip ko lang) and the uphills are getting strenous and its zero visibility because it is very dark already and I have fears of might being ganged-up with the NPA's. Luckily a motorcycle rider who claims that he is a roadie approached me while doing padyak in the steep uphills and asked me where am I going, I said that i am going back to Bato, and luckily he is also going to Bato. We had chit-chat with language-barrier attached, I am actually using Bisalog (Bisaya-Tagalog) language while I was in Leyte for easy communication. I was escorted all the way back to my finish line and I was very thankful to him but i forgot to get his name. I arrived back in Bato @ 8pm with no dramas.
After reaching the finish line I received a text message from Ian and asked where I am because he is worried, I called him up and said that I am back. After my ride we had a feast of barbecue, chorizo, puso and Grandes @ Kiosko Park, I asked where we can down bahalinas as per sir ArSSi's recommendation but no time as well, he had with him Mr. Edgar Garong who is a teacher and an MTB rider as well and he happens to know mama Edna because her sister is his co-teacher as well. During that feast in Kiosko park we really had a good time and we really laughed out loud!
After that night we had a some trail rides to Brgy. Alegria which is similar to the Maarat trails before going back to Cebu City for the Sinulog festival.
For the beach junkies out there I recommend this ride but dont be like me because I rode out late hehehe!
@mackboboy thanks for the great company while Im in Bato even though it was so short for me! I will be definitely be back to Leyte! At least naay ako nga grupo diha karon sa Leyte (At least I have a group now in Leyte)
here are the pics.
bike pictorial ;D
the firing continues
cemetery along the beach
the uphills continue!!
this should be Banco De Oro right? ;D ;D
me and Ian (mackyboboy)
a nice view of the coast!
what an obscene name for a barangay! i dont know what will the tagalog pmtbikers will say?
last shot of the procession of sto. nino before my batteries got dead. Abiiii......abiiii......abiiii mariiiiya.........
i have accomplished my mission to target 100kms in Leyte but I will keep on coming back because Leyte has a lot to offer! I recommend the Province of Leyte as an MTBikers haven!
Thanks for viewing
I again browsed PasawayL's book to look for places in Leyte where I can do padyak. I have discovered a ikot ride along the Southern Leyte area where it starts from Bato and it will end in Bato as well.
here are the following towns:
Bato
Matalom
Maasin City
Macrohon
Padre Burgos
Malitbog
Tomas Oppus
Bontoc
and back to Bato.
I started firing at 11:00 am in Bato and the scenery and the uphills the beaches and downhills are really eye-catching! I stopped over to Maasin because my rear hub was squeaking. I had it repaired at Bohol bike shop in Maasin and had a feast of Ngohiong with puso (hanging rice). After refuelling i called Ian again and at this time he answered the phone and he said that he is in Maasin so after eating I went back to the shop and I saw Ian and had a chit-chat and of course a photo-op as well. I shared about the ride that I will be doing and my expectation was that i will be arriving back in Bato at about 6pm depending on my average speed which is 20.4.
I entered Macrohon and the beautiful sceneries are non-stop! white sand beaches, coconut plantations and some old Spanish cemeteries. the best town that I had ever been is Padre Burgos where all of the sand of the beaches are white sand and there are some dive sites and you can even have a view of the butanding (whale shark)! It is a HELLUVA COASTAL RIDE and I do recommend this route but unfortunately my battery died out! the last pic that i did was the procession of Sto Nino.
I entered Malitbog and the beautiful sceneries continues but it is already past 4pm. I stopped by to a sari-sari store within the outskirts to downed a liter of Jaz Cola, and it started to rain. After 10mins of refilling I continued to fire again, I also had 2 pack of GU that I bought in All Terra and I downed them as well. The firing continues while the rain gets stronger, thanks to my Sandugo Extreme 35 bag since there is a balabal to protect the bag from getting wet.
It was about 7pm and I reached Bontoc and it is very dark and another 23 kms back to the finish line. The Bato-Bontoc road is really very dark and hair started to raise, I prayed to the Our Lady of Antipolo who is the patroness of travelers to keep me safe (naisip ko lang) and the uphills are getting strenous and its zero visibility because it is very dark already and I have fears of might being ganged-up with the NPA's. Luckily a motorcycle rider who claims that he is a roadie approached me while doing padyak in the steep uphills and asked me where am I going, I said that i am going back to Bato, and luckily he is also going to Bato. We had chit-chat with language-barrier attached, I am actually using Bisalog (Bisaya-Tagalog) language while I was in Leyte for easy communication. I was escorted all the way back to my finish line and I was very thankful to him but i forgot to get his name. I arrived back in Bato @ 8pm with no dramas.
After reaching the finish line I received a text message from Ian and asked where I am because he is worried, I called him up and said that I am back. After my ride we had a feast of barbecue, chorizo, puso and Grandes @ Kiosko Park, I asked where we can down bahalinas as per sir ArSSi's recommendation but no time as well, he had with him Mr. Edgar Garong who is a teacher and an MTB rider as well and he happens to know mama Edna because her sister is his co-teacher as well. During that feast in Kiosko park we really had a good time and we really laughed out loud!
After that night we had a some trail rides to Brgy. Alegria which is similar to the Maarat trails before going back to Cebu City for the Sinulog festival.
For the beach junkies out there I recommend this ride but dont be like me because I rode out late hehehe!
@mackboboy thanks for the great company while Im in Bato even though it was so short for me! I will be definitely be back to Leyte! At least naay ako nga grupo diha karon sa Leyte (At least I have a group now in Leyte)
here are the pics.
bike pictorial ;D
the firing continues
cemetery along the beach
the uphills continue!!
this should be Banco De Oro right? ;D ;D
me and Ian (mackyboboy)
a nice view of the coast!
what an obscene name for a barangay! i dont know what will the tagalog pmtbikers will say?
last shot of the procession of sto. nino before my batteries got dead. Abiiii......abiiii......abiiii mariiiiya.........
i have accomplished my mission to target 100kms in Leyte but I will keep on coming back because Leyte has a lot to offer! I recommend the Province of Leyte as an MTBikers haven!
Thanks for viewing