A Pinoy Biker’s Philippine Rural Adventures

This is about too many things happening on one day.

The weekend was quite busy, as I was preparing for the final presentation of our batch 2007 project for the Firefly Brigade. The project is a bike advocacy “kit” that will be presented to different companies where we will do our campaign about using the bike as a means of non motorized transport. With a limited knowledge of powerpoint, I was able to prepare a decent project, albeit a long one which needed more editing if it is to considered for presenting to company CEO’s. The project was actually a group effort and with many inputs from the other members; the original document in which the powerpoint presentation was based, was quite long. As a group, we did not have the time to review and edit it before the announced day of presentation.

This was yesterday at 8:00 AM.

My youngest daughter woke me up at 6:30 AM. Although I planned to wake up early, it was not this early since the place where the presentation will be done is only about 20 minutes away by bike, of course. She always does that when she sleeps beside me, so even if I lacked sleep I would have to rise up with her. Well, rise up I did. I prepared breakfast for the whole family and after eating, I showered and at around 7:20, I prepared to go. I went to our backyard where I keep my bike and my wife’s, usually locked together with a cable lock.

The first surprise of the day: no wife’s bike. It was stolen. And I was wondering why my bike was still there, still locked with the cable? I called my wife and kids to tell them. As I was already leaving, I didn’t have time to investigate and ask the neighbors if they saw anything. One problem I kept thinking about was how to keep my bike safe. Later, when I went home in the early evening, my wife would tell me that my eldest daughter actually left the bike at our front door, where it could be seen from the street. It turned out, I speculated, that it was a “crime of opportunity.” The robbers saw it there for the taking, without any hindrance, and so they did. And if this is the case, then the reason why my bike was still there is that they did not see it.

I arrived at my destination early, but panting and running out of breath. I was the first one out of the ten group members expected to attend. I was beginning to fear that I might become a one man show. A few minutes later, Eric arrived with the LCD projector we requested him to bring. One by one, the others arrived, some late, the others more late. Eventually, two did not make it, but two others from previous batches joined us. We divided the presentation among ourselves, with me getting the least part. Well, I prepared It anyway. The presentation began at around 9:00 AM. (You must understand the concept of “Filipino time” to forgive such lateness, so this is actually a non-event.) It ended in due time, after which our work was evaluated by the senior Firefly Brigade members. With a few constructive comments, they deemed it okay. They congratulated us and told us to prepare for another task that would lead us to full membership as Fireflies.

This led to the second surprise of the day: an adventure race, using our bikes. It is going to be a short one, they told us. Nevertheless, an adventure race is something to look forward to. Seeing it done on TV is nothing compared to doing it yourself. We were divided into three groups and as there were ten of us, there was one group that had 4 members. Someone brought out a bottle of “lambanog” or firewater if you want to call it. Before we were to tackle the first major task, each member has to drink a shot. And if one member cannot take it, one member has to take it for him/her. I told Judah, one our team members, that he would have to drink for me as it would not be able to due to my medication. Rizza, the other member was hesitant to drink too, but Judah was game enough to accept the challenge for us. He took his first straight up and the second too.

He was already holding the third shot glass when I told him to wait. I took it from him and said I will drink half of it. I did and handed the shot glass back for him to finish it. After that, they gave us the first major task: interchange the inner tube of the front and rear tires. We decided to do it on my bike. We finished first and was given our next task. We were to attach a Firefly Brigade banner on one of our bikes and proceed to the Arts and Sciences parking lot in UP (University of the Philippines). We decided to put it in Judah’s bike. The three of us went out to the street to go there. About a kilometer away, I noticed that Rizza did not have her helmet. Judah immediately volunteered to go back and get it and motioned us to go ahead. We did so and I told Rizza that we might be disqualified if she did not were her helmet. Judah was the best choice to get it back as he is faster.

We continued on our way and a few minutes later, the second group easily overtook us. I couldn’t go faster and Rizza could only manage to pedal a little faster than I. About two kilometers from our destination, Judah reached us and gave the helmet to Rizza. Since he was faster too, he overtook us to lead the way. I lost sight of him on one intersection, but knowing the way, I turned left as I signaled Rizza to follow me. Together we arrived at the the parking lot, but not before dodging hundreds of cars along the way. It turned out that it was the day for UPCAT (UP College Admission Test). But Judah was nowhere in sight. He must have gone straight instead of turning left where we did. They could not give us the next task until all members are in. After a few anxious minutes and the arrival of the some of the members of the other group, Judah came. I saw the banner even before I saw him. And so they gave us the next task. They gave us a piece of paper with an illustration and 16 toothpicks. The objective was to reduce five squares to only four while moving only a certain number of sticks. I knew the solution before hand so it was a cinch for us.

The next task, tomorrow.