As Bikers, we all have been to different
places to witness some wonderful scenic views such as falls, trees, mountains
and seas those we do not normally see nearby the city. So, we all choose to
pedal the long way and encounter more ascents and descents despite the distance
but last year, I have visited such a wonderful place full of thrills and
obstacles that will make everyone’s adrenaline go higher not to mention the
destination was something perfect for nature tripping too. A week ago, my
friend and I together with our bike mates from Timberland planned to revisit
the place and explore some more, the experience was indeed the best so far, we
actually did everything, we biked off road, single track trail, rocky with
loose gravel trails, did some trekking , rock climbing ,and swimming all those
were overwhelming, exhausting activities yet fun at the same time, especially
if you were with such cool companions
and happy people like my bike buddies , Jess, Jim, and May. We were just 4 but
it felt like we were more than 4. That’s how we enjoyed our very first nature
tripping together. I figured it’s worth sharing.
The place is just a few kilometres
away from Quezon City, approximately 32km from Batasan Hills if my data serves
me right. It’s located in Rodriguez Rizal formerly known as Montalban which is
very famous for its tourist destination WAWA DAM also located in the wide range
of Sierra Madre Mountains But the place we revisited is called “Puray” Barangay
Puray is an isolated place near Barangay San Isidro, The place is something you
wouldn’t imagine to still exist by now for a lot of far places in the
Philippines are already well developed but this place despite not being so far
from the city it’s undeveloped yet , no electricity , water supply is deep well and if riding a bike going to that place is
such a challenge then having a car going there is worst, If you plan to go
there with your family it’s best to take an SUV and make sure the ride you have
is ready to be punished and your driver is well skilled. Yes, despite how
beautiful the destination is, going there could actually feel like hell unless
you are an adventure seeker but when you get there all your hard work will be worthwhile.
The ride out was supposedly at
5:30am but Jess who just live nearby the rendezvous was a little late. When she
came, Jim, May and I were ready to go but I had to hassle them a little more
because I needed to change my shoes which was compatible for a clip less pedal.
Since Jess and I knew the level of difficulty of the road going there, we
decided not to push ourselves too hard on the first part of the trip for we had
to make sure we would make it. I was the one who knew the way going there, I
made sure the pacing isn’t so slow but safe for all of us. We maintained on
20-25 km/ph pacing while we were all looking for a bakery because all of us
haven’t had breakfast yet. After about 15 km, I told them to stop over at my
house in San Isidro to have breakfast and feed my furry companion cats and dogs
, we stayed at home for less than an hour then we hustle up again going to
Puray.
While we were pedalling in
Barangay San Isidro, the road was gradually becoming rough and steeper so we
all had to pace even more and shift our gears to the lightest possible our legs
and lungs could tolerate. The ascent wasn’t as difficult as it is in Timberland
but surely was longer than the wall. When we got through the first few km of
uphill we decided to stop and capture the wonderful view of Sierra Madre
Mountain Ranges. Of course every stop over matters, we had fun posing and
resting for a while.
After like 10 minutes of stop
over, we rolled out again, this time the challenge was to defy gravity and make
sure we wouldn’t slip off for the road we were taking was wet and too long, on
this kind of descent braking power had to be efficient as well as the rider’s
position or else any rider could experience a worst accident, thankfully we did
it safely. We reached Barangay Mascap
where the market is located after less than 20 minutes of pedalling from my
house in San Isidro. I knew there was no Market in our destination so, I told
them to buy everything we needed before we choose whether we’d go and take the
river crossing or go the other way which is a muddy long ascent ride. Good
thing everybody wanted to take the river crossing. So, after buying everything we needed for
lunch we started pedalling again this time everyone had to be more careful as
we get closer to our destination because the road gets more challenging and difficult
, which made us 4 really excited.
Most of us tried our hardest to
finish each and every river crossing without casualties, if we had to go down
from the bike for safety purposes we allowed to. But we also pushed each other
to our limits so we kept on saying it’s ride able just keep on pedalling to
keep your balance. Anyway, as we were patiently pedalling our way and crossing
the river we came along with some locals and we were really overwhelmed because
everyone was warm and nice to us. Which actually made us feel even more
inspired to get there, when we finally did , we looked for the last tour guide
I met but she wasn’t there so we just stayed in her parent’s house for a while
to prepare our food,
Jimue the only guy on our group
was the one who cooked our lunch and while he was preparing it, Jess and I were
busy counting bikers , we figured , the Panas Falls which we refer to as Puray
Falls was probably too congested with lots of bikers we’ve seen so we all decided to take our adventure to another level
something more challenging, more dangerous yet more fun.
When lunch was finally served, we
were too hungry so we didn’t mind how hot the rice was, we just went with it
and enjoyed the delicious, sizzling and spicy adobo with egg, prepared and
cooked with love by the only thorn among the roses. We wanted it to be spicy so while were eating
everyone was clearing throat and sweating but indeed it was very mouth watery
that made us want to have some more. Although we had a lot we still had to take
some of the left adobo and rice on our journey going to a place they call
Biteng Uhay just in case we needed to eat. To add up to the fun that we were
already experiencing we all agreed to take something to drink, the classic
choice of course was MP lights which I had to carry while trekking so
difficultly so I eventually gave it to Jess and Jim to make sure it would get
there. (Not advisable for young ones)
The initial information about our
next destination came from a local we hired to be our tour guide. Her name is
ate Vivian , she said we had to walk for only 30 minutes from Panas Falls going
up to a much peaceful and less crowded place they call Biteng Uhay but the
description and the information must have been an under estimation of what we
really had to go through just to get there but we took everything she said
seriously so we didn’t expect it to be longer that it should.
The adventure and thrill we felt
trekking and rock climbing just to be able to enjoy the place like as if we had
it rented was perfect for everyone who seeks real nature tripping but I wouldn’t lie it was indeed one of the
most difficult things I have ever tried , I honestly wanted to give up several
times ,especially during those times that we had to climb a big slippery rock
without anything to hold on to but one of us was too determined to get there,
so she kept on motivating me and the rest of the gang to keep on going despite
how difficult it was. We were all sweating in the middle of a very cold weather
imagine how challenging it was to keep ourselves warm while it was raining like
cats and dogs but it was amazing due to the level of difficulty of the path we
were taking we didn’t stop sweating that made us pushed harder and went a
little faster.
Ate Vivian kept on saying ayan na,
malapit na, as if she was deceiving us while the destination was still far but
we were all taking it positively. When we got there, I couldn’t believe we made
it. Everyone was so happy because we got there safely. We started swimming,
drinking and of course taking lots of pictures so we could share how beautiful
that place is. I realized, as I looked at the beautiful scenery of trees, rocks
and water falls as well as all the species under the water that the ride, the
trekking, the cardiac uphill and rock climbing were all worthwhile.
After enjoying our God’s wonderful
creation, we all decided to start trekking back to the house where we left our
bikes. We were still very cautious but we all found out that our body and
strength eventually adapted to the weather conditions as well as to the terrain
we were taking so going back was a little bit easier. In addition our muscles
kind of had its memory to cope and bear so it wasn’t as painful and difficult
as it was. We were the last bikers who
went home because we wanted to enjoy every bits of what we worked hard for.
Location: Puray, Rodriguez Rizal
Photos: By Jessamyn Delima
Written by: Rodelyn Llorico
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