Today, the 7th of April 2023, is Good Friday. This means it's a holiday here in the Philippines and majority of people who live and work here in Metro Manila aren't here.
Holidays on Holy Week usually start on Maundy Thursday and end on Easter Sunday. This year they moved Araw ng Kagitingan, which happens on April 9, to a Monday. So you've technically got a five-day weekend. Some people file leaves for the whole week so they have at most ten days of vacation time (from Saturday the week before Easter Sunday until the Monday after Easter Sunday).
I was planning on finally conquering my fears and riding outside the village this Holy Week. I had refilled the sealant on my bike's tires and had starting thinking of routes early this week. I knew I would ride either on Thursday or Friday, and I finally decided the latter would be the most ideal day. Friday because this would probably have the least amount of vehicles on the road since almost all businesses would be closed on this day, except for some convenience stores and gasoline stations from the stuff I saw.
This was my route. Take note I'm using the road names I'm checking out right now in Google Maps as I write this. Coming out from our village I turned right and rode along the East Service Road and followed the road until I got to Sales Interchange, where I turned right into Lawton Ave. and into Fort Bonifacio. I followed Lawton Ave. until I turned right into Bayani Road past Heritage Memorial Park/s and crossed C5 into Cuasay Rd. in Signal Village. Turned right yet again into Veterans Rd. and surprisingly managed to climb the short but very steep road without either standing up on my bike or stopping to walk. I cruised along Veterans Rd. until making it to the perimeter of Arca South, where I turned left and followed Langka Rd. until it became Mayor Tanyang Ave. and turned left to Cucumber Rd. I finally turned left to Daang Hari and finally turned right and back home.
All in all I rode (Adidas Running/Cateye Velo 9) 13.15 km / 13.31 km in about 00:39:45. I did stop twice, both for stop lights. According to Adidas Running I burned 381 cal but my Tozo S2 watch and Tozo Fit app say I burned 609 cal. I'm believing the latter since the S2 is a heart-rate smartwatch.
Honestly everything was a blur, I was too focused on riding safe and not being an ass on the road that I honestly don't remember too much about the ride. I consider this a good thing since this means that nothing major happened to me, whether good or bad. I originally planned on stopping in some places either to rest or to take selfies but I was too focused on riding that I just kept riding.
I'm glad I was able to ride safely and was able to ride all the way. Here are some takeaways I have from the ride:
- I could actually ride faster than I thought. My average speed was around 19 kmh in Adidas Running and 20 kmh in the Cateye Velo 9. I never told myself to slow down or to enjoy the ride so I guess this was my default pace. I did not feel any discomfort except during the really steep climb when my hamstrings, glutes, and pelvic area were burning from the effort.
- I'm still impatient. There were a few times I was following other cyclists but since for some reason I still eventually find openings to overtake them. They weren't riding slow, maybe around 16 kmh or so.
- High cadence pedaling works for me. I got used to doing this riding around the village where I would go with bigger gears in the cassette so I just had to spin my legs and not exert too much effort. This is also what I was doing most of the time during the ride, won't be surprised if I was using 24T, 28T, and 32T gears most of the time.
- Not sure how I climbed the steep area near Veterans Rd. nor what gear I used. I just know I was going pretty slow, spinning my legs pretty fast, and I won't be surprised if my ugly face was on full blast. I got worried I would fall but I guess my adrenaline carried me up. Also once I was near the top I slowed my cadence down to catch my breath.
- I can't ride on the drops. I tried this going down Bayani Rd. near Heritage Memorial Park/s but after a few seconds went back on the hoods. The whole ride I was on the hoods. I also tried doing the right posture while riding a bike.
- There's a twitch on my left side of the base of the neck, probably from looking back all the time. I have no idea why it started hurting or pinging, but I'm just grateful it happened when I was close to home. Maybe I should learn to twist my body more when looking back instead of trying to keep the body steady and make the neck move too much.
- Overall I'm pretty happy I was able to conquer my fears and ride outside the village. Sure it's a national holiday and there weren't too many motorists on the road. So what.
Until the next time I ride outside the village. And no, I don't count going to Arca South to do laps.
Out. |
| My bike route. |
