The Killer Loop Trail

To celebrate his birthday, Robin arranged another trip to Bagac, Bataan. This time with Bong, Nix, Poch and Doris. Of course Mona, Elena and the kids were around too. Note that we avoid calling this place Montemar... the dreaded "M" word... he he he, that should be subject of another blog about Uncle Charlie.

The plan was to finally complete the Bonanza ride from Bgy. San Antonio to Saysain, reportedly a 4 hour ride. Then the next day, we were to ride around the Orion area with our guide, Eboy, who I found via the net. Unfortunately, after just 20 minutes into our ride along the Bonanza trail, my bike suddenly seized and my crank refused to turn. I thought it was just a kink in the chain but unfortunately it was more serious than that. My bottom bracket was loose and the only way to tighten it was with a special tool that nobody likes to lug around. Robin tried turning it with his fingers and ended up cutting himself. We managed to tighten it somewhat but we decided it was prudent to head back and abort the ride.

Next day I borrowed Nix's bike and we all met Eboy at the Total station in Pilar. Eboy is a hardcore outdoors man. An Amci veteran, he has climbed almost all the major mountains around. Since he got married though, he's had to tone it down by doing shorter trips using his mtb. "Shorter" trips of course is subjective. He talked about this many forays in the jungles of Mariveles,exploring old guerrilla trails and finding paths across the Bataan peninsula. Eboy started a group called the Bataan Trailriders.He tells of times when he and his wife Joyce would find themselves trying to head back from the trail beyond 7pm. In fact most of the trails in the area are Eboy discoveries. I somewhat liken him to explorers like Magellan or Columbus... always finding and mapping out new adventures for the sheer pleasure of it. In fact, the website I visited mentioned package rates for Eboy's tours but after talking to him on the phone and inquiring, he said he'd do it for free since he was riding that weekend anyway. It was as if he was reluctant to charge for something that was obviously a source of joy and passion.

With us that day, was Nestea (as in the drink), a music tutor and a member of Bataan Trailriders. Eboy apologized that the first hour or so would have to be "scripted" somewhat since we had people from the Bataan tourist office who wanted to take pictures to promote the area as a destination. We took the main road to the waterfalls near Liyang. After a 15 min hike down a steep hill, we came upon the short but impressive falls. It has a beautiful pool only slightly marred by plastic trash thrown by the locals. Eboy groaned in frustration as he narrated the clean up drive they had in the area recently. "Obviously, we need to be more than just janitors and educate the locals about this gift that they have," he remarked. After a few photo ops we headed back up the path with the tourist office guys, but not before seeing one of them throw his empty water bottle carelessly on the ground! Looks like it'll take more than just a lecture to educate those guys!

After a few kms of paved road, we hit the trail head. A graded road full of loose gravel. The first climb was a killer (hence the name killer loop?) as we struggled to get traction from our rear wheels. Poch demonstrated his new found fitness by getting to the top first, Robin was close behind and then me, Bong and our sweeper Nestea. Before that hill, Eboy was cagey about where he was taking us. He said we had many options like Killer Loop, Killer Loop Junior etc. I guess after seeing us tackle the hill, he was more definite about taking us on Killer Loop. The name is daunting and for good reason. It took us more than 8 hours that day to finish the trail although it included the rests plus the photo shoot side trip to the falls. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Near the top of the hill was a beautiful rest house with a windmill. It had a breathtaking view of Mt. Samat and a steady wind. Eboy explained that the guerilla trails that these roads followed were well-worn and wide probably to accommodate small artillery pieces designed to take potshots at the troops in the low lands. Later on the Japs probably used them to flank the USAFFE troops making a last stand on Mt. Samat 65 years ago. Seems like the same war story everywhere. Invaders in overwhelming numbers storm a handful of heroic, well-entrenched defenders. In the end, a traitorous local gives away the secret path that finally dislodges the defending patriots. "300" the movie? No! THIS IS BATAAAAAAN! (You're supposed to yell that while kicking the hapless courier into a bottomless pit.)

A few minutes later we were among the trees which was something quite unexpected. I've seen the deforestation of Bataan first hand when we did the Bonanza trail a few weeks ago, so seeing those lovely trees was just special. In some places the trail got quite deep in some places that it was like biking through a small canyon. The canopy didn't last long though as we hit the open trail again and labored up some of the toughest climbs that day. We rested midway up the last climb under a giant balete tree. Eboy's trail rides are planned well. He times his rest stops in cool, shady areas where the wind blows steadily. Parang aircon! And believe me, there are shady areas where the humidity can still kill you. Eboy and Nestea taught us a neat trick. While doing a slow steady climb, it'll help cool you off by taking off your helmet and just strapping it onto your backpack. Just don't forget to put it back on though once the downhill begins.

Finally most of the climbing ended and we entered a lush canopied area that looked a bit like the Makiling rain forest. It was so cool (literally) we almost fell asleep while resting. The trail in this area looked more like a road big enough for a 4x4. Eboy gets asked a lot if he could guide motocross bikers and 4x4 enthusiasts through this trail but he gives the cold shoulder. We'd hate to see such a great trail torn up by knobbies from an ATV.

Through out most of the ride we could see the cross of Mt. Samat to our left as we slowly made our way around it. We weren't actually on the slopes of Samat but on Mariveles mountain. Which is really an extinct volcano with numerous peaks. By this time, the noon time sun was beating hard on our heads (especially my naked head) but the wind kept us cool. Our water supply however was next to exhausted. I regretted not buying a spare bottle of gatorade at the station! Poch was especially worried. He drank like a fish and sweat it all off almost instantly. "Is there a water source up there?" he anxiously asked Nestea. "Yup. Meron." "Ano, tindahan?" "Walang tindahan doon," Nestea answered with a chuckle. In fact, that was one of the many extraordinary things about this trail. After just 20 minutes into it, we didn't see a single soul except for a solitary farmer somewhere near the start.



Luckily we soon hit the water source. It was a brook that crossed the trail. The water was clean, clear and refreshingly cold. Eboy laid out a leaf where we could lay down our bottles to scoop up the water. I could see Poch was a bit worried about drinking from it but thirst got the better of him. Bong had nursed his 2 liters throughout the ride and decided not to risk an upset stomach with the Subic Triathlon just days away.




Near the top of the trail we stopped to enjoy the 360 degree view of Mariveles,



Manila Bay, Mt. Samat, Mt. Natib, and the South China Sea. Soon after that we hit the downhills. I think Eboy calls this the Killer Loop trail because you can get killed on the way down. It was WILD. I'd say the scariest downhill I've been on so far. It was steeper, longer and faster than Makiling. It started with a slow extremely steep descent (much like Cali). Poch almost did an endo as he struggled to stop his bike. As his rear wheel went up, we could almost hear the sportscaster doing the commentary..."Will he make it?....will he make it?.... he made it!"











I think what made the downhill scary and difficult were the numerous unexpected dips and drops. "Stay on the right side of the trail, cause there's a bit of a drop on the left," warned Eboy. What an understatement! It was more like a cliff and I didn't dare look at it for fear of steering into it. At one point I did lose control and fell, luckily this was after the cliff. Although I didn't get any injuries, my adrenaline levels were so high my muscles started cramping up causing extreme pain. I was gasping for breath and decided to ride on through the pain. Luckily for Nix there was no damage to her bike although earlier, her shifters had given up on me and I was stuck on my granny gear, which was acceptable given the terrain.

Moments later I hit a severe dip and rise that caused my bike to violently buck up from under me. I didn't fall but again the cramps hit me so badly I laid down on the ground grimacing in pain. I heard Robin's worried remark, "O Dave, ano nangyari?!" "Cramps! Arrgghh!".

Luckily I got past that. Since we had a little more time, Eboy led us down "Joyce Trail" the loop he does with his wife when he wants a short training session. A single track joy ride is what it was. Less scary than the previous downhill but just as fast. Near the end of the ride we had a series of bad breaks. Although it gave a lot of comedy relief. Poch hit a thick patch of old cut bamboos that had been laid across the trail. As he went over, it closed on him like a venus flytrap and he got entangled in it. He was incredulous having seen Eboy just ride through the patch without incident.

Soon after we had to stop as Robin, and then Eboy got flats. As Eboy fixed his flat, a group of boys started to gather around and gawk at us. They were the first souls we'd seen on the trail over the last 6 hours. I made a mental note never to buy hydraulic brakes after one of the kids pressed on Eboy's brake lever while he had his tire out causing his brakes to close. He decided to finish the ride with this rear brakes constantly gripping, albeit lightly, his disk rotors. A few minutes later, while riding the last kilometer of highway before the finish, Robin got his 2nd flat running over a broken bottle.

Whew! After 8 fulfilling hours, we were back at the Total Gas Station in Pilar and our ride back to Bagac in Bong's Expedition was full of excited chatter recalling the day's fantastic ride around Bataan's Killer Loop!