The Pinoy Bikepacker: A Cycle Touring Primer by Lagalag

Last night, I attended Lagalag's "The Pinoy Bikepacker: A Cycle Touring Primer" at their store in SM City North EDSA. I've always been interested in touring and it would be nice to hear from people who have been doing it.

The event started a little after 7:00pm and the discussion was led by Pen and G-third, who I believe are members of UP Mountaineers.

G-third and Pen

There were quite a lot of us packed inside the store. There were about 10 of us there who had no experience in the kind of multi-day bikepacking that they do. There were also other members of Lagalag in attendance. Generally, the talk had a very friendly vibe because of the presence of the "veterans". It's nice to see other people being interested in trying to do a bikepacking tour. As mentioned by G-third, people do bikepacking for different reasons. Some people just want to see new things and be in new places. Some people want to explore the in-betweens of their destinations. For me, it's all about experiencing getting from point A to point B using one of my favorite things in the world - a bicycle. I haven't really been doing a lot of traveling. But I love having more reasons to ride my bicycle. And seeing the pictures of their bikepacking trips (see them in their Facebook page) makes me think that seeing the beautiful scenery and the interesting people are just more reasons to do so.

Crowd shot

G-third was the one who discussed about the finer points of bikepacking. In his introduction, he told us how Google differentiated bikepacking from biketouring. Basically, to some, bikepacking involves shorter distances and lighter loads compared to biketouring. But for the purpose of our discussion, these two terms are interchangeable, thus the title of the talk. He also emphasized the idea of "Filipino bikepacking/biketouring". I've been researching on the web for a while and as G-third pointed out, foreigners do biketouring differently than we do. Mainly, Westerners have more financial freedom to do long tours so they can actually leave their day jobs and even sell of their possessions to fund their expeditions. This phenomenon is documented in several of the blogs and sites that I follow. Filipino bikepacking, is shorter and more on a shoestring budget because most of those who do it, can't leave their day jobs and have families to take care of. So in a sense, our brand of bikepacking is more "practical", I suppose.

G-third is bikepacker himself with a lot of experience

G-third then talked about the key things in preparing for a bike tour. Here are some of the things I learned:

1. Don't worry about age or lack of athleticism. There are many bikepackers who started in their latter years and those who came from virtually zero physical fitness. The key is to cut the length of the trip into shorter distances per day. But of course, having a couple of long rides are still a good way to prepare for any bikepacking trip.
2. Don't worry about having the right gear. Sometimes we can get too fixated on buying the right stuff, that we overspend for luxuries, distracting us from the more substantial planning. It's bikepacking, Filipino-style so all that is needed are the practical things. Keep it light and keep it simple. Conversely, we were comforted that we shouldn't worry about our gear, particularly the bicycle, breaking down. The occasional flats or even broken spokes happen, so knowing how to do basic fixes are important. But as G-third mention, worry about your body more than your bike. This means eating, hydrating, and resting properly before and during the trip.
3. Planning is everything. A bikepacking trip starts with a desire to see things.They talked about their Souteast Asia tour and it started with one of them just wanting to try the new border pass. Then, proceed to ask how much time and money can you spare for the trip. Knowing the destination, the budget, and the duration shapes the itinerary of the trip. The itinerary will only be complete if the route is plotted in the map. One of the most important tip that G-third mentioned is to check blogs, because more often than not, other people have tried the route that was envisioned. Researching online leads to knowing the right gear for the climate and finding out the best places to stay.
4. Find out the airports' and the airlines' policy on checking-in bicycles. We had a lengthy discussion about how to make sure that the bikes are checked in properly. Airlines and airports have different policies on this, so it's important to check online and to call ahead of time. When confirming the policy via the telephone, make sure there's a way for you to show the check-in counter personnel that you were instructed with a certain policy. This involves asking for an e-mail confirmation of the policy that you can print out and show. There was a also a discussion on the merits of checking-in a naked bike, putting it in a box or a bag, and wrapping them in plastic. Whenever able, try to push for a naked bike check-in.

The talk ended with a walkthrough of their Vietnam-Laos-Thailand. It was a very interesting trip. Going abroad for a biketour isn't in my mind yet, all I want to do is bikepack around the country, particularly in the Cordilleras. But seeing the photos and hearing their stories made me want to try it. G-third even mentioned that it's actually cheaper to go bikepacking in Vietnam than in the Philippines because the food and lodging are cheaper there. He said that they spent around 35,000 pesos for their 15-day tour. Then Pen said that exclusive of airfare, they spent around 7,000 for their 2-week tour.

Now all I want to do is plan a bikepacking trip to the Cordilleras

(photo c/o Lagalag's Facebook page)

All in all, the talk was quite informative. It's good to get some pointers from people who've actually done it. It's also nice to see how normal these other people are. They're not athletes or exploring extraordinaires. They're everyday people, with everyday responsibilities. If they can do it, so can I.

Postscript: I think it's awesome that even though we're in a store, G-third, Pen, Bunny, and everyone else aren't trying to sell us any of the equipment they have on sale. I appreciate that because it means they're really into it for the love of bikepacking, and not just to sell us stuff. I guess if I'm really into biketouring, I'm now in good company.

The Larga gear are actually cool and practical

Bikepacking to Puerto Galera

​Last weekend, I went to Puerto Galera with my college friends. Feeling a little extra adventurous, I invited my friend Jet to bikepack with me from Quezon City to Batangas Port. I was confident that the trip won't be too hard because I already rode to Calamba  last year for another outing with friends.

Jet found a biker's route map posted online that we'd follow. Honestly, I didn't check the route at all and just let Jet navigate. That's a mistake in bikepacking. Everyone should know the route.

View the MapMyRide route here

The second mistake I committed was not getting enough sleep. I was out drinking and playing Netrunner the night before so I only had roughly 2 hours of sleep. I woke up at 5:00am the next day to pack my bag and to make sure that my bike's tires have the right pressure. At aroung 5:45am, Jet arrived.

I opted to keep the basket so I can secure my backpack to my bicycle

The first agenda of the day is to get to Alabang, Muntinlupa. We crossed EDSA via Ortigas Avenue and proceeded to C5 via Shaw Boulevard. We then entered the SLEX west service road via Fort Bonifacio. Going through the service road on a weekday meant going alongside jeeps that keep on loading/unloading every 20 meters.

Eventually, at around 7:30am, we arrived at Alabang. I grabbed a quick breakfast in Jollibee and agreed that our next stop will be at Calamba.

Aside from having to wait for Jet in Muntinlupa (he took a "buko juice break"), the ride up until San Pedro, through the national highway, was uneventful. Then in Binan, we had to go through some sort of carmageddon. Both of the north-bound lanes were blocked off for about 50 meters due to road construction. The section was covered up so drivers can't see the oncoming traffic. Those going soutboud occupied one lane on the other side. The traffic wasn't moving so Jet decided to walk his bike through the sidewalk. I followed suit. We did the right move because traffic was indeed hopelessly gridlocked. On the other side, the northbound vehicles occupied all of the lanes. There was no traffic enforcer in sight. Oh well, it looked like there were a lot of people who'd have to take a leave from work.

At around 9:00am, we arrived at Calamba, Laguna. The sun is already up so it was getting really hot. We rehydrated and figured out how to go to the Laguna-Batangas boundary. We also checked on our friends who were traveling by car.

The ride to Batangas is actually an uphill one

We arrived at the boundary at around 10:00am. At this point, we've been covered around 70 kilometers already. Batangas is a big province and we have about 50 kilometers of riding to cover.

Our bikes' Laguna-Batangas boundary shot

After a quick 7-Eleven hydration break, we pushed through. We went through Tanauan and had a quick lunch in an eatery in Malvar. I ordered a plate of pancit canton and Jet opted for gotto with rice. I wanted to drink some softdrinks but for some reason, the town didn't get any delivery that week. The route was a gradual uphill until we arrived at Lipa City at 11:30am.

We then pushed onwards through Lipa City and San Jose. We eventually veered away from the national highway and took some sort of a back road in San Jose. 

At around 12noon, we got a call from out friends who just arrived at the Batangas Port. We needed to be in the port ASAP because our boat for Galera will leave at 1:00pm. Jet and I were confident that with a little over 30km to go, we can make it in time. So we started pedaling faster. Fortunately, the route from San Jose to Batangas City was more or less a downhill one.

After 10km, we were already approaching Batangas City. We were pedaling at a pace wherein, at best, we were covering a kilometer every 2 minutes. The time was around 12:35pm. By my estimate, if we maintain the pace, we'd get to the port by 12:55pm. At that point, I wasn't sure what the procedures for boarding were so I wasn't too confident that we'd make the 1:00pm boat ride. Nonetheless, we continued racing against the clock.

At around 12:50pm, we arrived at the port area. I had no idea the Batangas Port was so immense. We eventually found the right gate by 12:55pm but by that time, we were told that we won't be allowed to board the 1:00pm boat. So, we had to wait for the 2:45pm one.

While waiting for our ride, we freshened up (tip: always bring wet wipes when bikepacking) and ate a nice lunch. We had to buy 2 extra tickets for our bicycles. I'm not sure if that's the official policy at the port but we were in no mood to argue. We're just glad our bikes were allowed to board.

Our bikes at the pier

Waiting to be allowed to board

Our bikes were the last ones to be loaded into the boat. They were placed at the front. Unfortunately, we forgot to put a cover on our leather saddles. They got wet with sea water. Good thing there was no damage after the 1 hour ride. Another thing we didn't account for was the chain rust accumulation due to the salt water. Next time I'm bringing my bike to a boat, I'll make sure I pack some lube.

We arrived at Sabang Beach at around 4:00pm. We had to walk our bikes to our resort. A lot of sand stuck to our bikes and the brake pads so we knew we had to clean our bikes soon. Eventually, "after ten year", we saw our friends and we can finally say that we have arrived.

Jet and I decided that on our return trip, we'll just board our bikes on the van via Jet's bike harness. So there's no long biking for us on the way home. I was open to doing it but I'd rather not do it alone that day. Maybe next time.

Shirley along Sabang Beach

All in all, I think it was a good ride for us. If I'd do the ride again, I'd star earlier. 6:00am was a little too late. We had to do the climbs under the heat of the midday sun. Shirley, as usual, was more than capable to do this bikepacking trip. I couldn't be more happier with her. We actually met a couple of guys in Sabang that own Surley LHTs. One pf them actually did a bike tour from Europe to Hong Kong in a span of 3 years. 

For me, bikepacking is fun because I get to experience going through the towns along the highway. Cars go through expressways so most people don't get to see much of the sights. I know to some bikepacking is impractical because our 5-hour ride (7 hours total, inclusive of stops) would only take about 2 hours by car. But for me, the riding is all worth it. It's all about the experience of being able to ride a long distance, of being able to go to places in my own terms. A little sweat and some dirt never bothered me anyway.