First round wipeout

The saying "you never forget how to ride a bike" might be true. That didn't help me on the trails.

Last Saturday, at the invitation of Jojo, we headed for the trails of La Mesa Nature Reserve. It was drizzling in the early morning, so I expected it to be a muddy day. 

There were five other takers who showed up, with Ros as the lone thorn among the roses. After registering and paying the entry fees, we pedaled our way towards Tower 1.

(photo: Jojo Gutierrez)

I can still remember how muddy it was the last two times I was there at the reserve. This was two years ago, before and during the Adrenaline Off-Road Duathlon. And so we agreed to stay away from the single track trail going towards the reservoir, despite the ride being publicized as a mudfest. The way to Tower 1 promised to be less taxing for us, mud-wise.

And so 15 minutes into the ride, I crashed. After a sharp curve on the descent, my front tire slipped on the wet and mossy concrete bridge as I prepared myself for the ascent on the other end. It was a probably a combination of these factors: 1) I was looking to far ahead, and not thinking about the obstacle in front of me; 2) I was going down a bit fast; and 3) I took the wrong line. 

If you're going to crash, try not to do it on solid concrete. The scars from my epic wipe-out in last Trantados Fun Triathlon still feels not fully healed (especially the one on my waist area). I fell on my right side, scraping my knee and arms. Good thing my shoes detached from my bike and I "instinctively" didn't use my right arm to stop the fall (but my right shoulder still felt the brunt of the fall).

I basically shrugged it off and showed that I was fine. I didn't want the ride to end that early. Initial assessment showed the wounds were minor, so I told the guide I'm okay to continue.

With Ros. You can see the bruise on my right knee (photo: Jojo G.)

With my body and ego both bashed and bruised, I pedaled a little more carefully after. I shifted to "learning mode"; trying to get back what skills I had in the past. The rest of the ride became a little bit more fun. Fun but lung busting. I forgot that the trails here weren't all flat. 

(photo: Jojo Gutierrez)

I don't recall ever going to Tower 1 before. It appeared to be at the farthest end of the reserve. After a few more climbs and minor descents, we veered into a single-track made of packed mud. The first drop was nerve-wracking, and Ros got her first spill of the day (out of 5 or 6). We slipped and slid on this hidden trail until we reached a stream, where we got the chance to clean the mud of our steeds. 

Clean-up (photo: Jojo Gutierrez)

The last couple of hundred meters to Tower 1 was a tricky ascent in this condition. I made a valiant attempt to climb all the way up without walking and pushing my bike, but was foiled when I tried to correct the line I was taking. Daddy-o got so irritated when he didn't get all the way, he went back down and tried it again! 

We didn't stay long at Tower 1. The mosquitoes are pretty aggressive in these parts.

Group photo before heading back

The cherry on top of my ride was the flat tire. On the descent from the tower, I felt the rocks hitting the rim of my rear wheel. The tire was losing pressure by the minute. Thinking it was just a minor puncture, I just pumped the tire every kilometer or so, when I felt the pressure going down again. Eventually--after it rained and washed most of the mud from the tires--I could already hear the hiss of the air coming out from the tube; and then I saw where it was coming from. I knew then that I won't make it to the base without changing the tube or putting a patch. 

Good thing Nokman caught up and gave me cold patches, and I got on my way again. The trail seemed different and muddier than when we went in. It was a different trail! We were off our route and headed for who knows where. But we were in too deep so we rode it all the way, arriving eventually to a different gate. Rather than going back that river of slush, we exited the reserve and pedaled across the highway to re-enter in the other gate, which seemed like 3 to 4 kilometers away. When we saw the others, Daddy-o told us they also went through that detour since they missed the main turn, like us.

The lesson I take away from this is that I shouldn't let myself be away from the trails that long. Even if I did survive the ride, I felt like my reaction time was way off and that I struggled to summon the moves that came naturally before. 

Also, maybe it's time to invest on better tires.