The Batangas Mountain Bikers takes on La Mesa Anew

See the new Bisikleta.ph jersey I'm wearing?

Last November, three boys from Batangas finally accepted our invitation to ride the La Mesa Nature Reserve. They are Eric, Domeng and Topher. They woke up and left Batangas Early so they could meet with us in a gas station along EDSA and do a convoy to La Mesa. They weren't disappointed at all. And they told their riding stories to the other riders from the area. (Read the story here and watch the video here.)

Yesterday, eleven mountain bikers from Batangas City made the journey to get a taste of what this mystical trail network has in store. They brought lunch, trail food and lots of water this time. Leaving Tower 11 a little past 7:30 in the morning, we hit the singletracks right from the start and visited the usual areas: the treehouse, the kubo, the lakeside, tower 8 and tower 5. We were supposed to ride till tower one, but I can that everyone's running on empty from all the riding. So we headed back to the parking area. In end, the whole trip was 28.99 kilometers long.

I thought I won't be able to join these guys. I was just recovering from a two-day flu bout. At first I was thinking that it could go back after the ride, but I figured I'd just play it by ear and ride depending on how I felt. Besides, how often do these boys actually visit Manila to ride?

Yesterday was also the debut of my Bisikleta.ph jersey. Made by the guys from Epic, I have to say that I absolutely love it! I find the full zip especially helpful when the weather was getting hot. The boys like the design, too, and a lot of them want to order. I think I'll come up with a sign-up sheet for the next batch.

Eric has the video of the ride. I hope Mr. Salamat Sa Panonood (a.k.a. Domeng) would still edit it despite him not being able to make it this time.

Here's the map of our route: