Ondoy Anniversary Ride (a.k.a marshmallow ride)

Trend Mt. Bikers @ Roxas Trail, Mt. Maarat San Mateo Rizal  (Sept 26, 2010)

It all started from an email thread

Last Sept. 26, 2010 was  the first year anniversary of the Typhoon Ondoy(Int’l. Name: Ketsana)  onslaught. Prolly the one of the worst tropical typhoon depression that hit the Philippines. (some regions that is). A group of Trend Micro employees decided to organize a fun ride in remembrance  of  the said catastrophe.

Yes, it was fun indeed. Mixed with a few other emotions caused about by cramping legs and exhausted lungs.

The bikers met at around 0600H at the foot of  Maarat,  Aling Tinas.  It was there that we decided which trail we will assault.  The original plan was basic trail via “da wall”  and timberland.

@ aling tinas

It was a great day to bike, the weather was sunny and everyone was excited to meet and greet “the siko”.  There were a handful of “newbie” bikers that joined and few returning ones.

I may be biased when I say that there is no other place like “da  wall”. It is for me the best place  to bike or train or hurt yourself. You may not however enjoy it by yourself. We recommend getting a companion who will take pictures and document the ordeal.

Anyways, everyone were working on their own pace. There were those more experienced who arrived at the “timberland” gate earlier. For some, this was perfect time to enjoy “goto”.  Which I also advise to regain the burned calories climbing up.

surprisingly, these so called” newbies” were quite strong and fit. I vividly remember my first attempt at da wall.  I was accompanied by two very experienced mountain bikers who inspired or tricked me into believing that I could do it. Well I did, but it took us around two hours and several pit stops and rest and chit chat and picture taking.

Savoir-faire

Covey’s 90/10 principle tells us that 10% of life is made up of events or stimuli. 90% is our reaction. the stimuli is out of our control. our reaction is by no doubt controllable.

See, it’s really up to you how you will spend the 90%. Given a really bad situation, you may curse, complain, or blame. Undoubtedly, you know it has and will always just make the situation worse. Overall outcome is undeserved STRESS.

You’re right, we’re people. We are designed to feel anger, fear, insecure and all sorts of emotions when provoked. Sometimes we let these emotions stir us. Actually, a lot us have made these negative emotions control our lives. It has become a habit. Ever wonder why you immediately curse when somebody cuts you off in traffic? Why you shout at your kid when they break or play with your important things? Why you become defensive all of a sudden when you hear your name down the hall? why you pretend to be busy when your boss is around? why you immediately criticize people who don’t share your fashion sense? why you engage in verbal battles with your wife, just so you could hang out with your so called friends? and the list goes on.

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Life Cycles

This is the best mountain bike trailer i’ve seen so far. It’s such an eye candy. What makes it real good is it’sbreath taking natural settings.

For a  new mountain biker such as me, watching this just makes me want to go out and ride. Check out my bucket list of trails:

Damn, too many trails to conquer.

Tour of the Fireflies & CMRs – Owned

Metro Manila Urban Attack

Fort Bonifacio Trails

Pestano Farms – Owned

UP Diliman Trails – Owned

La Mesa Trails

Licao-Licao Trails – Owned

Maarat Trails -Owned

Antipolo Via Sumulong – Owned

Timberland’s Shotgun – Owned

Timberland’s Da Wall – Owned

Helipad Trail – Owned

Got Meat?

Picture care of Lady Gaga in a meat dress Facebook Page

Lady gaga,marked by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people on their  May 2010 issue, showed up at the 2010 MTV awards wearing cuts of raw meat. Complete with a hat, purse, and shoes. I

I wonder what the rest of the 11.4 million viewers thought about it. I expected that she would wear something weird.  This one is too overwhelming for me.

Gaga later explained that she chose to wear meat to show her  disfavor toward the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy.

It’s a US Army policy that prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships, including marriages or other familial attributes, while serving in the United States armed forces.

According to Gaga,”If we don’t stand up for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights, pretty soon we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones. And I am not a piece of meat.”

On this picture, Degeneres gave Gaga a bikini and skirt made of vegetables. Cool Beans!

Christchurch

An earthquake measured a powerful 7.0 magnitude in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Just saw this.  Hopefully the report that no one died holds true until all debris have been cleared and key services restored.

Disasters like this reminds us how fragile we are and how mother earth can turn things around in a matter of seconds.

Remember the 1990 Baguio earthquake? I think it was the most destructive earthquake on that region, registering at 7.7 on the richter scale. I was in school  when it struck, I recall all of us running out of the class room heading towards the quadrangle. The flagpole was swinging and it was total panic.Students were crying fearful of what might happen.

Unwell

The last three days have been challenging for  me and painful for my kids and wife. With the exception of me and my youngest daughter, everyone got sick. But they all are doing better now. Looking on the brighter side, at least it was all simple illnesses. I wonder how those inflicted with serious diseases are holding up. How about their loved ones?

As for me, looking at my two year old complain and cry about  tummyaches is enough to break my heart. There is no greater pain than seeing your kids or loved ones in anguish.