Pesky Philippines 25

Another full English. Leaving our three day stop at the Outback hotel. Bags packed and off at 10 for the retun leg to Angeles city on another hot humid day. Some nice fast roads A optional river crossing      Out And safley back!    A detour through some minor roads 70k in before the usual coffee stop . Had just left when the heavens opened Main road through heavier traffic. A somewhat simpler day than yesterday.

A very hot and muggy day, a lazy start and full English breakfasts all round. Mark took a day of to Chill in the South China sea at our base in Subic bay. A lesuirley 60km circular route for the others in the sunshine. Stopping at a viewpoint we were befriended by some emaciated hungry kittens, as we munched on a water mellon from a passing vendor. Russ an BJ had very different perspectives: Whilst the others carried on to a scenic lake:   BJ ,the softie, headed back to the shops. Sardines gratefully devoured Meeting up again followed a long sandy track beside the river hat seemed to be a neverending aggregate quarry     Before arriving at the coast. Terry had an upset stomach so he and Russ headed back to base where Terry soon felt better after vomitting up yesterdays 7_11 hotdog.🤮 That left David and BJ to do the scenic route. 30km through clean rural villages on narrow tracks   Then uphill to a road that may..... or...

A ride out of San Fernado via the backstreets. A bit Squalid and smelly and dubbed Cholera road. Once out of town a little off road action Past ponds with locals treading to find edible snails in the paddy fields.   Men standing astride their mopeds with harpoon and line shotguns to catch Talapia fish. Through the most amazing traffic to the open roads:   Being a health & body conscious group loaded up with fruit. Mangoes the best but messy. Russ and Terry diverted to sort a hotel for us in Subic bay whilst the rest added a 60 km loop 20km of traffic followed by twisting open roads arriving ar the scenic bay mid afternoon.  A few beers sunk in rapid succession, and then a few more, and then............

After a gentle night out for some, the morning greeted us with heat but,thankfully no rain. While Russ and BJ made like bedbugs and declared a rest day, the remaining trio set off on a 220km loop around the promontory to the south. BJ, not one to sit still for long, had his own little solo explore. Among his snaps was a local chap showing just how high the water had risen up his house during the recent typhoon—sobering stuff     Meanwhile, the intrepid bikers were having a glorious time. Th e first half of the loop was superb: super twisty, super smooth and surrounded by fantastic scenery   Then came the next quarter… best forgotten. Wide, flat-out roads with lorries belching fumes, spraying grit, and generally making life unpleasant. Yuk. The final stretch was ridden at “enthusiastic pace” as the trio tried to outrun the looming thunderstorms. They made it back before the heavens opened but… At a fo...

    The morning started very early, with all of us being serenaded by a cock... cock-a-doodle doo! Followed by a christmas beat mix tape played full volume by the neighbour. They are keen on their christmas decorations but they look a bit incongruous  in the humid rain or boiling sunshine.  Today served up 180 km of “character building” riding: it began with a twisty mountain road made far more exciting by the heavens opening and dumping rain so hard that visibility went from poor to “guess and hope.” Glimpes of the verdant forest could be seen through misty rain spotted visors and low cloud. Eventually the route spat us out onto a busy main road… just in time for the heavens to open again .  Still it was wrth it to get away from "rachel from Accounts" budget sham.   Mid-deluge, Russ discovered his front brake had completely given up—pads utterly shot. Luckily, the local Honda dealership worked at lightning speed and had him sorted in recor...

Its going to be a wet one today as we will be setting off from Cauayan for a 200km ride to Baler. The rain has been incessant since we arrived last night and will continue all day as tropical storm Verbena slowly passes over the area. Desperate attempts overnight to dry kit and buy new,so we have a chance of getting there at least partially dry.  That was the morning prediction but Russ reckoned the forecast was for the rain to clear about 9am.  We set off and he was right, bang on 9 the rain stopped for 5 minutes then came back in stairods all day. 40 km of main road then climbing up the hills still on good roads. The Typhon damage became more apparent with power lines down and trees stripped of leaves. We descended to the coast, stopping at a resturant  for lunch and snacks. Onward down the coast...which must have taken the brunt of the storm. Here whole concrete buildings had been undermined by the sea , some now at a jaunty angle. Vegitation de...