Cris and I just finished our first Tour of the Fireflies. Didn’t exactly go according to plan, but nonetheless, she can now say that she went from Tiendesitas to somewhere in the north… to Makati and back on a bike… pretty impressive for someone who just learned how to ride a bike. I’m so proud of her!

I love GoogleMaps! It’s perfect for chronicling trips like these. Just like the past trip, I plotted out the path of our own “TOF” (since we kinda strayed from the program a lot) that day. Check it out here

Here are things to consider that make this a very memorable experience for the both of us:

1. Cris isn’t that good at gaining momentum from a full stop yet. Unfortunately, the tour is the worst thing that could happen to someone with that “weakness”; lots of people, stopping and going all the time, traffic from vehicles, you name it. The whole situation is quite unnerving to someone who just learned how to bike; but she took everything like a champ!
2. We ended up putting her seat back down because of it (so she could easily plant her feet down during panic stops), the problem that arose from that is that her legs would tire easily.¹ Given the route of the tour, you can imagine how hard it must’ve been for her.
3. Her maid put her bladder in the friggin’ freezer… so it was a block of ice for the most part… which didn’t really melt when you needed it to melt. We ended up drinking from my hydration pack – which ran out at the critical moment (going back home… mostly inclines)… since she couldn’t drink while riding yet, I noticed how few the times she actually got to drink. She was severely dehydrated without her realizing it.
4. We actually broke away from the whole TOF group eventually. So we ended up “bike-commuting” on our own² :) That was a very interesting experience.

So we’ve got a dehydrated woman who just learned how to bike, biking in a not so comfortable position, in the sun… in daily Philippine traffic. She’s a real trooper; taking all that punishment just so she could share this experience with me. I love her so much!

Click for more pictures in the gallery

Also some fun facts/musings:

1. Someone PLEASE invent sunblock that isn’t oily/shiny when applied.
2. Next time, i’ll make like a ninja and cover my whole damned head to protect it from the sun. With sunblock, kahit 75SPF, umiitim pa din ako, punyeta!
3. Insulated bladder tubes are the best thing that ever happened to hydration systems.
4. It’s BAD to be at the back of a group… because in the event of extreme congestion; I’d take bumping into fellow bikers over crashing into actual vehicles. Don’t even get me started on the buses.
5. Bells on handlbars are so ewwww, but damnnit, are they practical to have… lemme think about it. Someone should make a passively powered, light, and elegant sound-making-thing instead of those goofy looking (but useful) bells.

post updated on August 28, 2009 @ 8:54 am