When I first did a trackread, I was not only lost (in the literal sense)... I was also discouraged because there is no way I will be able to finish with my then-setup. I didn't have much training either other than my hard-to-faze, religious Jollibee diet.
(Because maintaining a competitive appetite is my winning attribute ✨).
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| November 12, 2016: Finished 14th place in my category! | Shot by Chester Vergara |
I registered for the race out of coercion, chatting with one of my first biker friends one measly day. It was really something that I was skeptical to push through with after seeing what I'm up against: mud, mud, and more mud! I thought to myself,
This was a mistake! as I tend to chicken out on slippery, downhill tracks.
(See my first trackread
here).
But I'm glad that I showed up! Ditching the race altogether would've been something I'd otherwise regret, especially because prior to even knowing about it, I had already filed two days of leave from work on the 11th and the 12th of November, so schedule wasn't going to be a problem. The only things that worried me were mostly my bike, the route, and my overall confidence in actually finishing.
Learning a thing or two
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November 10, 2016: After Bey showed me how
it's done, I tried it for the nth time and landed
...in one piece 😂 | Shot by Bey Puno |
On Thursday, two days before the race, I went straight to Bey's house coming from work to originally do a second trackread since I'm not at all confident with the route. We had late lunch, chatted a lot (we haven't seen each other in a while), and then realized the trails will be closed by the time we get there so we ended up just practicing at our local trail in Filinvest, Alabang–my mother trail. ☺
She shared with me her best practices and gave me tips on how to be a better rider. Bey is probably the best girl friend you'll ever have in the cycling community. She will not back down from–nor is scared of–anything. She is stronger than most women, and sometimes even men, yet remains amazingly humble and kind. And you will never see or hear her engage in pointless discussions on and offline especially if it doesn't concern her. Our practice got cut short when my saddle acted up and kept on swindling every time the track got rough so we just hung around. (See activity
here).
Oyasumi's Makeover
I had Oyasumi repainted in early September to help a friend earn a living. I'm all for supporting friends but to be quite honest, I didn't like how his work turned out. He knew it was lackluster and he still had the audacity to ask for extra [cash]. Some parts were even just covered with electrical tape, what a letdown. I respected this person and I hate the feeling of now dreading him because he has tainted that respect. I miss the authentic look that Oyasumi had too, and how merely seeing its color combination (black and lime green is my thing) already hints you that it's mine as many recognize me sporting a Saturn frame. It's not totally bad, though. I just didn't get my money's worth nor did it achieve the look that I wanted.
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| November 6, 2016: in the middle of my first and only trackread |
Since this late summer, Oyasumi has had 9speed racer cogs with 7speed shifters and probably fake Ice Tech rotors with mechanical disc brakes. Scientifically, I'm seriously fucked. I didn't get paid until the day before the race itself so I wasn't able to upgrade my rig earlier than preferred. Talk about last minute.
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| November 11, 2016: the Before and After of my cogs |
I upgraded almost everything! From fork (I got an Epixon several weeks back, though--my first major upgrade!), to groupset (Deore 2016), including wheelset with the exception of hubs, because Paulina's were the only ones carrying Origin8 in Cartimar, Pasay which were what I was looking for and they have doubled it at a shameless price of 5,000 pesos! Um, how about no? I didn't have time to check other bike shops from different areas as it was also raining that Friday (after a week of ritually sun-dancing just to somehow dry the trails!) so I settled with my old hubs since they were still working perfectly fine anyway. But the change of wheels were a must to endure my inevitable sliding in the mud come Saturday.
And I now swear by it! Buying a pair of Maxxis Crossmark was an incredibly excellent decision! It definitely did not disappoint. It will still slide on the extremely muddy part a bit, but I felt like I had more control on my bike with it as opposed to my over a year old pair of Maxxis Pace, which have likewise served me well.
(See my upgrade ride
here).
Ready. Set. Race.
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Shots from here on out are by Chester Vergara unless stated otherwise
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The day before the race, I was already with Chester who has always accompanied me to go [window] bike shopping, so I asked him if he wanted to come to Nuvali as well, where the race will take place. I am terrible at navigation/directions. Luckily, Chester knew how to get there by car so even if he didn't necessarily say yes, I forced him to come with me and become my personal Waze. 😂😂😂
I met up with my trackread buddies to make me feel secure because I didn't know where I was going next LOL. We had Jollibee for breakfast/pre-race fuel, and the horror! They apparently only serve garlic pepper beef from Mondays thru Fridays. 😞 I have my orders like this every time: garlic pepper beef, palabok with chicken, and Jolly hotdog (the Jolly hotdog serves as a dessert).
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| My trackread buddies, Kim and Niko |
After eating, we did some laps until it was time to fall in line our respective starting queue.
We (women) were the last in queue. I didn’t know how to feel upon starting.
There was one part in the race where I overlooked the trail entry and the marshals had to get to me to tell me that I'm in the wrong way. Other than that, Bey was absolutely right when she told me
"walang ligaw doon." (You won't get lost there). Even if there were some parts that I had yet to encounter, I still biked it with all my heart. I was openly frightened at the looks of the trail from my first trackread especially the slimy, steep descents. It turns out that I didn't have to bike it anyway. I only didn't pedal on portions that had traffic. Everywhere else that was clear where I used to dismount on my bike from, I didn't; and I think that's an achievement in itself. A personal progress that merits a celebration!
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Photo by Marlon Rivera
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After getting past traffic, the rest of the route was a game of persistence. It was unfortunate that my left shifter got detached 25-kilometers from the finish line, just when I was having fun actually applying what Bey taught me! I could have had the upperhand on the road had I only not gotten stuck in granny. My cogs were jumping as well due to the grass that squeezed into the spaces, so I couldn’t power up. I thought about forfeiting, thinking I had no chance. But I really want to be at least a finisher! Coach Anzai (SlamDunk) suddenly played in my head, “as soon as you give up, the game is lost for certain.” So I kept on going. Heat. Thirst. Exhaustion. I shrugged it off. I still couldn’t get over my newly bought shifters (as part of the groupset) detaching, but I appeased to myself,
At least you’re not flat. And then 10 kilometers away, my saddle started acting up like last time. I couldn’t sit properly and the discomfort it induced took a toll on my speed on the uphill trails. But since it was just 10 kilometers away, I endured it. NO RAGRETS!
Alas! I finally finished!
One person asked for a photo with me and this is how it went~
Riz, picture tayo (Riz, let's take a picture)
*comes closer*
Amoy putragis na po ako (I reek)
Ok lang, hindi ako nahinga (I'ts okay; I'm not breathing)
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| Dismounting prematurely, ready to get my medal!!!!!! |
(See my
Nuvali Dirtweekend 2016 record).
This was originally posted on my Wordpress account.
