I’ve done several tours of Manila, but never on a real bike ride. In late 2019, our regional team in our company did a biking tour of Intramuros and I was one of two who didn’t know how to ride a bike, so we rode in a side car. So for our first long tandem […]
I’ve done several tours of Manila, but never on a real bike ride. In late 2019, our regional team in our company did a biking tour of Intramuros and I was one of two who didn’t know how to ride a bike, so we rode in a side car.
So for our first long tandem bike ride, Hubby planned to ride through the City of Manila—well at least the locations reachable via Roxas Boulevard.
We woke up very early, 4:30 AM, because we needed to leave the house around 5 AM. Once Arnel, our videographer, photographer and overall chaperone arrived and after a banana meal, we were off!
When we reached our subdivision gate, hubby recommended a stop since he was hearing something off when we pedaled. So there we were, on the side of the street near our gate, hubby adjusting stuff with his tools, and Arnel helping him, and me wondering whether something will go wrong during the ride.
Once we started the trip again, we passed through the normal streets we would have driven through, but since it was early morning, there wasn’t much traffic. However, there were a LOT of bikers going the same way. What was cool was that people were amused and delighted with seeing Tanny & Demi (and us) and they weren’t shy to say so. I don’t think I’ve smiled at (behind mask), waved, nodded at and greeted as many strangers in all of my life.
Because we passed through the normal streets, we also stopped at traffic intersections. More smiling, nodding and even talking, while still keeping a respectable distance from one another. My hubby was a natural. He sounded like a commercial for the bike—how it was made, what parts it had, etc. All I concentrated on was making sure I got on correctly and in synch with Hubby every time we had to start biking again when the light turned green.
It was fun! I got to appreciate the sights there more because the pandemic had forced a lot of us to stay at home. Being outside after a very long while, it made me thankful.
We passed through flyovers and busy intersections. When we reached Roxas boulevard, I was already thanking God because I made it halfway!
We stopped by Luneta, but couldn’t get in because we didn’t have face shields. We took pictures nonetheless.
We visited Manila Cathedral and took a moment outside as people stood a few meters apart hearing mass. We stopped by the facades of Manila Ocean Park, Star City and CCP. We posed for pictures in front of the big Manila sign, fountains, art installations, and carabaos.
What was great was when we were at the Kilometer zero marker, we got to pose with the Manila bike police squad! At first it was just me posing with the guys and hubby taking the picture, but then they offered to pose with both of us and one of them took the picture.
Then we were at Baywalk, and we tried to avoid the big crowds and took copious videos and pictures.
Going home, we passed through Ayala Avenue and I relived my years of being a Makati working girl. The bike lane there was very convenient. We then went through Fort Bonifacio, where I also spent some years during an FBDC project and we did more picture taking. Somewhere along the way, we lost Arnel, or maybe the better term is, he lost us, so then we were on our own.
At some point during the trip home, my legs and butt started aching, my arms started numbing, but I pushed through. I also had to concentrate on making sure I never lost my pedaling pace, anticipating Hubby’s movements—there were times he would pedal faster, he would lean a specific way, he would just stop pedaling and just cruise through. Unlike the first ride, this time he didn’t verbally announce each change.
Fact: I wore padded bike shorts and we used a special bike seat, but not enough padding was going to avoid the reality that I was spending hours riding on my butt, passing through uneven, bumpy roads and humps. At intervals, I had to reposition myself to ease the pain and discomfort. I had to call these out to Hubby so he could anticipate the shift in weight and the stopping of my pedaling.
When we were close to home we stopped by Chowking and ate breakfast. It had been a long time since we’ve eaten out. We had to buy face sheilds, but it was all worth it for me to eat hot lomi again.
First long ride done! I was still alive, albeit with sore muscles and sunburn.
Till the next Tan&Dem adventure!
Click below for the video and photo montage of the entire ride.