Last April 15, Kiko and I joined the Tour of the Fireflies. This annual event is a massive 5 hour bike ride along the streets of Metro Manila that is held to raise awareness of our deteriorating environment. It's called that way because air pollution has driven away the beautiful firefly from the city. The motto of this event is, "We'll keep doing this ride until the fireflies come back."
I could tell Kiko was excited about the ride. He'll take any opportunity to show off his biking skills and knowing Paulo was going to be there, he was all set. I shoved a sandwich into him on the way to Tiendesitas to make sure he was fully fueled. It's funny the way I worded that, but that's exactly the way Kiko treats food... like a necessary chore. He wolfs down his food without a trace of enjoyment. I think he eats faster than it takes to load gas in my car.
We were well prepared for a hot, long ride. Bananas, Cliff Bar (like a Powerbar) and 2 liters of water each on our backpacks. Nix and Paulo joined us at Tiendesitas for the mass start. Bong was still in Iba, Zambales after his first Olympic distance triathlon held the day before."Massive" is the correct word to describe this ride. I'm not sure of the official estimates but I'd say there were more than 3,000 people that Sunday including 120 members of a Pasay bike club all dressed identically in blue jersey an
d helmet. It was really quite a site seeing thousands of riders of all ages, shapes and genders (some in costume) crawling along C5 at 10kph. It was actually scary trying to keep our balance as the throng slowed down along the narrow stretches and curves. The bikers were so close together that at one point Kiko's handlebars snagged onto mine and we had a few hairy moments keeping our balance while entangling ourselves. After Kiko extricated himself from that and seeing him weave through traffic, I realize that biking is undeniably my son's strength. There's a lot of pride in that statement... sniff sniff.
From C5, the ride went through Fort Bonifacio, then into McKinley, and then Ayala Ave. Meanwhile, I saw a few people getting flats, some others taking a spill... I think it took us close to an hour to hit the Ayala triangle... one of the designated stops. We blocked traffic along Makati Ave. and the motorists were furious! We just gave them this "Asa ka pa!" look. Once a year... just once a year.... bikers rule this city! You could see th
e marshalls really sticking their bikes in front of these angry taxi drivers... ready to fight for this once a year privilege. There were a few motorists who really didn't give a damn and they pushed their cars and trucks through the line regardless of who was in front. Nix had to stop for one of these bastards in the intersection but little Paulo didn't stop at all, and a van almost hit him. Nix was furious! She cussed at the driver but instead a confused pedestrian answered her back, "Sino'ng tinatawag mo'ng gago!?!" thinking Nix had addressed her. Close call!
I could see that Paulo was slowly tiring. I pushed him up the hill going into the Fort and by the time we hit Buendia, Nix and Paulo were several minutes behind Kiko and I. When we got to Roxas Blvd I couldn't spot them anymore. It turns out Paulo had to pee several times and by the time they tried to join the pack, Nix and Paulo were too far behind. Luckily the sweeper van was there to pick up Paulo. We regrouped in front of Malate Church and Nix decided to call it a day. It was a good decision... we were just 15km into a 50km ride and it was getting hot! Kiko gave me this worried look and said, "Uhhh, is it still far Dad?" "Kaya natin to Kiks!" was my standard reply. He was a trooper nonetheless.
We turned right on Padre Burgos, passed the Manila City Hall, the old Metropolitan theater (in a sorry state) and made a right up the Quezon Bridge. Tight squeeze on that bridge! Then down through Quiapo. Poor Kiko, he just went with the flow. I don't think he ever realized the historical significance of the whole area... until we turned into Espana and I pointed out the UST and its hospi
tal. "That's where you were born, son!" His face lit up... "Huh? How come you never told me that Dad?" Sigh. It's the simple things we take for granted that are sometimes important to our kids.
By the time we got to the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City and turned right into E. Rodriguez, the pack began to slow down even more as the road got narrower and it began to get hotter. Along St. Luke's Hospital it was almost unbearable as the surrounding tall building prevented any sort of wind from cooling us down. When the pack would stop, you could see the bikers veer off to a shade on the road side to escape the oppressive sun. Kiko gobbled up half my Cliff bar in less than 3 seconds. Right turn on Gilmore road. "We used to live near here Kiks," I said as I tried to get his mind off the heat and the ride. He had this glazed look but all through out the ride you could see his kick never faltering. When we hit Ortigas I thought we'd go straight on to Tiendesitas but the sadistic organizers felt they had to take us down Santolan first and into Cubao to please the Araneta Center sponsors. So we turned left into Edsa and right into Cubao. I chuckled to myself that it was better that Kiko seemed lost. If he had known how quickly we could have cut short the ride, I think he would have broken away from the pack.
We took the mandatory rest in Cubao to listen to the speeches... in the shade of course. As the ride restarted I made the mistake of
not filling up my empty hydration unit. There was a 20th avenue water station but it seemed too full of people for me to stop. Back into Santolan and right into Katipunan and I finally decided to stop at the water station in front of White Plains Village. Finally, the welcome relief of cool water!
As we approached the home stretch our pace got faster... relieved that the finish line was just 5 minutes away. Time to showboat a bit in celebration. I did a few bunny hops on my bike which brought some laughs and encouragement from my no.1 fan, Kiko. I saw a speed bump (hump) near the end of Temple Drive and I decided I'd show my son the Mother of all Bunny Hops. As I hit the hump I tugged hard on my handle bars and on my cleated shoes to push up the front and rear of the bike. I felt an excruciating pain stab into my lower back and I struggled to keep from falling. I had seriously strained my lower back muscles... again. I thought to myself, is there no end to this back problem? I used to say that I pull my back maybe once a year. No problem. I stay in bed for 2 or 3 days and that was that. Well this was the 2nd time since January of this year. Sheesh. It's embarrassing to admit but I no matter how much I deny it, I'm getting old.
My back was so bad I could hardly keep myself on the saddle let alone pedal the bike. Luckily Tiendesitas was just around the corner. We were greeted by a firetruck spraying us with water. Sarap! But I couldn't stay long under the waters spray with my camera with me. I had a hell of a time trying to put our bikes on the Terrano's roof rack. Luckily, my son has really grown up and his strength has improved significantly. He hoisted the rear and I took the front of the bikes. Whew! That was probably the worst back strain I'd ever experienced and I was bedridden the rest of the day.
Recovery from the injury was coming along fine and by Monday afternoon I was walking around (I couldn't even sit up from bed Sunday night). By Tuesday I was back at work and but when Wednesday came I reinjured my back soaping my foot in the shower! Aaargggh! Frustrating! Obviously this injury really needs more than a week of rest and taking it easy. No sudden movements allowed! Sigh! Hopefully I'll be ok by this weekend. We're planning a ride in Bataan again. This time stretching will be part of the agenda.
Is it The Limitations of Age or The Age of Limitations?
I could tell Kiko was excited about the ride. He'll take any opportunity to show off his biking skills and knowing Paulo was going to be there, he was all set. I shoved a sandwich into him on the way to Tiendesitas to make sure he was fully fueled. It's funny the way I worded that, but that's exactly the way Kiko treats food... like a necessary chore. He wolfs down his food without a trace of enjoyment. I think he eats faster than it takes to load gas in my car.
We were well prepared for a hot, long ride. Bananas, Cliff Bar (like a Powerbar) and 2 liters of water each on our backpacks. Nix and Paulo joined us at Tiendesitas for the mass start. Bong was still in Iba, Zambales after his first Olympic distance triathlon held the day before."Massive" is the correct word to describe this ride. I'm not sure of the official estimates but I'd say there were more than 3,000 people that Sunday including 120 members of a Pasay bike club all dressed identically in blue jersey an
d helmet. It was really quite a site seeing thousands of riders of all ages, shapes and genders (some in costume) crawling along C5 at 10kph. It was actually scary trying to keep our balance as the throng slowed down along the narrow stretches and curves. The bikers were so close together that at one point Kiko's handlebars snagged onto mine and we had a few hairy moments keeping our balance while entangling ourselves. After Kiko extricated himself from that and seeing him weave through traffic, I realize that biking is undeniably my son's strength. There's a lot of pride in that statement... sniff sniff.From C5, the ride went through Fort Bonifacio, then into McKinley, and then Ayala Ave. Meanwhile, I saw a few people getting flats, some others taking a spill... I think it took us close to an hour to hit the Ayala triangle... one of the designated stops. We blocked traffic along Makati Ave. and the motorists were furious! We just gave them this "Asa ka pa!" look. Once a year... just once a year.... bikers rule this city! You could see th
e marshalls really sticking their bikes in front of these angry taxi drivers... ready to fight for this once a year privilege. There were a few motorists who really didn't give a damn and they pushed their cars and trucks through the line regardless of who was in front. Nix had to stop for one of these bastards in the intersection but little Paulo didn't stop at all, and a van almost hit him. Nix was furious! She cussed at the driver but instead a confused pedestrian answered her back, "Sino'ng tinatawag mo'ng gago!?!" thinking Nix had addressed her. Close call!I could see that Paulo was slowly tiring. I pushed him up the hill going into the Fort and by the time we hit Buendia, Nix and Paulo were several minutes behind Kiko and I. When we got to Roxas Blvd I couldn't spot them anymore. It turns out Paulo had to pee several times and by the time they tried to join the pack, Nix and Paulo were too far behind. Luckily the sweeper van was there to pick up Paulo. We regrouped in front of Malate Church and Nix decided to call it a day. It was a good decision... we were just 15km into a 50km ride and it was getting hot! Kiko gave me this worried look and said, "Uhhh, is it still far Dad?" "Kaya natin to Kiks!" was my standard reply. He was a trooper nonetheless.
We turned right on Padre Burgos, passed the Manila City Hall, the old Metropolitan theater (in a sorry state) and made a right up the Quezon Bridge. Tight squeeze on that bridge! Then down through Quiapo. Poor Kiko, he just went with the flow. I don't think he ever realized the historical significance of the whole area... until we turned into Espana and I pointed out the UST and its hospi
tal. "That's where you were born, son!" His face lit up... "Huh? How come you never told me that Dad?" Sigh. It's the simple things we take for granted that are sometimes important to our kids.By the time we got to the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City and turned right into E. Rodriguez, the pack began to slow down even more as the road got narrower and it began to get hotter. Along St. Luke's Hospital it was almost unbearable as the surrounding tall building prevented any sort of wind from cooling us down. When the pack would stop, you could see the bikers veer off to a shade on the road side to escape the oppressive sun. Kiko gobbled up half my Cliff bar in less than 3 seconds. Right turn on Gilmore road. "We used to live near here Kiks," I said as I tried to get his mind off the heat and the ride. He had this glazed look but all through out the ride you could see his kick never faltering. When we hit Ortigas I thought we'd go straight on to Tiendesitas but the sadistic organizers felt they had to take us down Santolan first and into Cubao to please the Araneta Center sponsors. So we turned left into Edsa and right into Cubao. I chuckled to myself that it was better that Kiko seemed lost. If he had known how quickly we could have cut short the ride, I think he would have broken away from the pack.
We took the mandatory rest in Cubao to listen to the speeches... in the shade of course. As the ride restarted I made the mistake of
not filling up my empty hydration unit. There was a 20th avenue water station but it seemed too full of people for me to stop. Back into Santolan and right into Katipunan and I finally decided to stop at the water station in front of White Plains Village. Finally, the welcome relief of cool water!As we approached the home stretch our pace got faster... relieved that the finish line was just 5 minutes away. Time to showboat a bit in celebration. I did a few bunny hops on my bike which brought some laughs and encouragement from my no.1 fan, Kiko. I saw a speed bump (hump) near the end of Temple Drive and I decided I'd show my son the Mother of all Bunny Hops. As I hit the hump I tugged hard on my handle bars and on my cleated shoes to push up the front and rear of the bike. I felt an excruciating pain stab into my lower back and I struggled to keep from falling. I had seriously strained my lower back muscles... again. I thought to myself, is there no end to this back problem? I used to say that I pull my back maybe once a year. No problem. I stay in bed for 2 or 3 days and that was that. Well this was the 2nd time since January of this year. Sheesh. It's embarrassing to admit but I no matter how much I deny it, I'm getting old.
My back was so bad I could hardly keep myself on the saddle let alone pedal the bike. Luckily Tiendesitas was just around the corner. We were greeted by a firetruck spraying us with water. Sarap! But I couldn't stay long under the waters spray with my camera with me. I had a hell of a time trying to put our bikes on the Terrano's roof rack. Luckily, my son has really grown up and his strength has improved significantly. He hoisted the rear and I took the front of the bikes. Whew! That was probably the worst back strain I'd ever experienced and I was bedridden the rest of the day.
Recovery from the injury was coming along fine and by Monday afternoon I was walking around (I couldn't even sit up from bed Sunday night). By Tuesday I was back at work and but when Wednesday came I reinjured my back soaping my foot in the shower! Aaargggh! Frustrating! Obviously this injury really needs more than a week of rest and taking it easy. No sudden movements allowed! Sigh! Hopefully I'll be ok by this weekend. We're planning a ride in Bataan again. This time stretching will be part of the agenda.
Is it The Limitations of Age or The Age of Limitations?
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