Long Ride - March 22

Its the third long ride for the year - head count was not so bad.

Had an attendance of 7 with 1 DNF

- Dens

- Hans

- Jet

- Lem

- Raj

- Sam

and yours truly.

Tito O - He had to be home by 9am (or he will get some spanking) so he just went with us for an approximate of 12km only.

Absent with Reasons:

Ted: Outing
Migo: Not in riding condition

Bullet: MTB ride

John: Transferring house

Jun: Riding with Lem's sibling

Jordan: Need to be home early, rode in Aguinaldo

Weather was gloomy and rainy the night before the ride - which puts a risk that the ride maybe cancelled. Chance of rain was at 20%. Dawn came and it seemed that it was only cloudy - A green light!

Ride kick-off at the usual place - 6am at Tiendesitas. Assembling in the area were Dens, Jet and me, while the Antipolo folks are assembling at Hacienda Abella.

The plan was to assemble right before the Tikling climb, but due to technical difficulties the group was split into two and later on merging at Antipolo area. This is where also we part our ways with Tito O, he would be going down via Sumulong and we were going down via Teresa. Descending was a little bit of technical versus the usual since there were already a number of vehicles compared to the usual that there were only a few. 

We met the lone ranger - Hans near the Teresa market just right after the decent. We passed by the chaotic Teresa public market, which broke up the group and eventually caught up with each other in the stretch of J.Sumulong road.

Upon reaching Phoenix gas station the pace began to increase - which was lead by Dens himself. The group formed a pace line, which made the ride easier. Though in the early part I got scolded by Raj that I was doing a rubberband - and iterated that I have to stick to the one in front. Since I am usually in the back of the group and always getting left behind, had to learn it as well, not yet perfect where the gap should be at most half a bike lengths only, can only still manage to stick for about one bike length only. 

With the strong headwind which Dens took all by himself, and he only looked on his the power output on his computer which I believe was around an average of 180-200 watts. Little did I know that we were already going faster and faster and faster. This is the first time I was able to stay with the group for the whole stretch of the route. We significantly reduced our travel time with this steady pace, amazing!

Upon reaching our usual stopover area, the guys from behind told us that we were hitting an average of 35kph and the lowest we went was 33kph! I was really at awe, since I was able to manage to stick with the group at the speed and without dropping out! 

Most of us did eat their usual volume however for Jet and I we had to cut our food intake, since there was a discussion within the group to cut the intake volume during the rides as a preparation for the annual Saxman's Laguna Loop (to be explained in another post).

Ride back was lax. The sun has finally shown itself, it became hot as usual - a sign that its already summer! Had to crash to our new favorite spot - thanks to Ted (absent) - a buko vendor - for a quick refill.

Just before the deadly Teresa Climb we had a quick refill. And the group decided to split into two - one easy (Dens, Hans, Me) and one attack group(Lem, Raj, Sam, Jet). Half-way through our climb, Hans grunted out - "I need a larger cassette!" - he was running 11-23 with a standard crank. We finished the climb as a group, no cramping from anyone nor casualties. 

Upon reaching Antipolo area we split into two groups, since it was already time to go home. One going sumulong and the other via Ortigas extention. The traffic in Ortigas extension was as usual - a pain! Though this time its kinda lighter versus the usual.

We reached home earlier than the usual and shaved 2 hours from our usual time. This was a really fast ride!