June 2, 2014, one year ago, I was at my work cube at Orbitz.com headquarters overlooking Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. Little did I realize that the following year, I would be recovering from a 360-kilometer bike ride in Bohol.
At that time in Chicago, I was juggling a full time job, and raising our seven-year-old daughter, Amaya.
In between rushing home to the train station and cooking dinner, I would either Crossfit, attend taekwondo with Amaya, or run .
My biking experience was limited to the park or train station, a total of five kilometers roundtrip.
In August 2014, after 20 years of living in the US, I took a leap of faith, quit my job, and headed home to Dumaguete. My younger brother, Ritchie, came over to help us pack, and convinced me to purchase a road and mountain bike. “Just trust me, you will wish you bought it here in the US,” I remember him telling me.
Taekwondo Master Joshua Kim and Yvette Malahay-Kim gave me the confidence to get on my first mountain bike ride to Valencia in December 2014. Master Kim taught me that nasal breathing is best for riding. Yvette was the sweeper.
In January 2015, Ritchie accompanied me on my first road bike to kilometer 10 somewhere in Bacong. He showed me how to clip and unclip my shoes, switch rings, and spoke about riding safely (Always look in front of you; Anticipate people and dogs crossing; Watch out for small debris; Front brake should be used cautiously).
The TriONe family has since then invited me to go on rides with them, and have added value to my new-found interest.
The opportunity to practice what we trained for came in May 2015: Giro D Luca is a 530-kilometer ride around Bohol for three days.
Day 1 was a 200-km. ride on “rolling terrain”. We started at 7:00am, and I finished at 5:30pm.
During the ride, it was tempting to raise my hand, and hail the Ford support trucks that were traversing the area. Loading the bike on the truck would have been easier than finishing the ride.
The lack of training uphill caused my quads and calves to cramp bitterly after each climb. The biting heat seemed to penetrate through my pores. I had to learn to steady my mind, and focus on just getting to the next five kilometers.
“It is possible to bike through cramping,” I persuaded myself in thought repeatedly.
A teammate, Maru Rodriguez, chose to pace with me, and for that, I am truly grateful to her.
Another friend guided me through the last 30 kilometers, including the final monster of a hill in Panglao heading back to the Bellevue Pavilion.
At that point, my mind and body were numb.
Day 2 was a rest day for some of us. We bade our team members well on the 170-km. climb to Chocolate Hills.
During the evening, Daryll Shotz, an Australian inventor of Shotz energy gels, tablets, and bars spoke about the importance of hydration and nutrition. He shared the scientific basis of his products, and explained the sweat process of the human body, including how to measure your sweat loss during training.
Day 3 was the same route as Day 1. A total of 160 kms. This time, we were all-familiar with the topograph,y and readied ourselves for the hills that greeted us the second time around.
With Mr. Shotz’ words still fresh our minds, Maru, the teacher in her, decided to put his explanation into actuality: We hydrated every 45 minutes on the dot using Endurolites and Shotz.
I can now attest to the significance of proper hydration. We finished strong without any migraine or cramping after biking a total of eight hours.
The proudest moment for me was when one of our team members, Lito “Tolitz” Albina, was cherry-picked to lead the peloton of about 60 cyclists on Day 3.
Tolitz guided the pack, including international and national professional triathletes, and rode at an average speed of 35-40 kms per hour.
Seeing Tolitz being escorted by the police, and him pulling the pack behind, made every kilometer worth the ride.
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Marikit Armogenia-Teves has come back to her roots here in Dumaguete. When she’s not training at the pool or on the road, she is managing the family businesses at Azalea Restaurant & Casitas on the way to Lake Balinsasayao in the town of San Jose; and KRI Catering.
