 | by Pinay Ako |
The last time I wrote a formal story was way back in my elementary days. Now, let’s see how I would fare after so many years of “barok” texting. Admittedly, I sometimes do not remember the correct spelling and grammar in English. Blame it on SMS.
Now, here is my story.
At about four o’clock in the morning of January 23, 2009, on my way to our meeting place in Plaridel, Bulacan my bike suddenly stopped just about 4 kilometers after leaving home!
I thought it was because of the new clutch linings that were changed a few days ago. So I tried to put the gear into neutral position but it wasn’t moving. I tried again but it was still in the 5th (or 4th?) gear.
A few minutes after, my brother - who accompanied me on my way to Plaridel and who was ahead of me by several meters - went back to see what happened to me.
After telling him about what happened, he instantly pointed at my rear tire. I asked myself whether it was bad enough for me that I shouldn’t be joining the trip anymore.
Well, I think I was lucky I didn’t fall while my rear tire was fishtailing.
So we went on after fixing my things.
I met the other 7 riders in Plaridel: Kuya Oli, Rolxi, Cruziere, Sunset Rider, Chem, Wind Rider and Rjmvirgotaurus. They were surprised to see me there except for Rjmvirgotaurus who knew I’ll be joining. We left at approximately 5:10 a.m. and blasted off our way going north. Rolxi spearheaded the group. We regrouped in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija at about 5:50 a.m. Since we were so close to a Jollibee store we decided to have our breakfast while waiting for Wind Rider, whom we thought was behind us. But when we called him, he was already in Sto. Domingo so he was advised to eat his breakfast and wait for us at the Baloc junction. With Rjmvirgotaurus on the lead, we left Cabanatuan City at 7:00 a.m. We stopped for gas at a Petron station in Sto. Domingo. After a few more kilometers, Wind Rider hooked up with the group. We reached Dalton pass at around 9:15 a.m. amidst a moderate rain .We spent a 15-minute stop there. We had our lunch at the G & B Buko Pie after negotiating the Sta. Fe road. This was the first time we tasted the famous Pancit Cabagan. But I enjoyed the buko pie much more than the pancit. He, he, he. Kuya Oli was taking our pictures while he was riding. We arrived in Cordon, Isabela at 12:45 p.m. where we halted for gas and 2T oil for the smoke belchers. We continued our journey after 20 minutes or so with moderate rain trailing us all the way to our next stop. Instead of putting on my raincoat, I enjoyed getting wet in the rain. We regrouped at the Cabarroguis junction in Quirino and arrived in Maddela at 2:10 p.m. where we had another gas up before proceeding to the mountain road of Nagtipunan. After the well-paved road came the muddy road with some river crossings. However, all of us were too lazy to take some shots of the muddiest part of the terrain because of the rain. Cruziere suffered as his chain jammed after the river crossing while Wind Rider agonized over his wet spark plug. We passed the Quirino-Aurora provincial boundary at around 5:20 p.m. We regrouped at Sitio Kalookan in Dipaculao (16 kilometers away from Dinadiawan) for a hot coffee break. Finally, we touched down at Barangay Dinadiawan in Dipaculao at 6:30 p.m. after some 14.5 hours on the road. While scouting for a good beach resort to stay for the night we bought fresh fish, vegetable, rice, charcoal at a nearby "talipapa". There were seafoods, seafoods and seafoods. So I asked the guys, “Any pork for dinner?”
We checked-in at the Rock and Sand beach resort. A single-bed room costs Php300 and a double-bed room costs Php500. We requested the staff to cook our food, we just paid a certain fee. Kuya Oli was the one who paid for our expenses in the resort. The evening was great, what with an abundance of seafood and good conversation. I didn’t have the appetite for dinner because there was no pork, but I ate up the baby shark! Masarap pala!
Finally after our dinner, most of the tired riders hit the sack at 9:00 p.m. ### Grand Matador II: A Lady Rider’s Tale:
Part 2 |
