2014 has come to a close and what a year it has been.
I was just celebrating and welcoming 2014 at Marco Polo with my friend and it seems it was only yesterday. A lot of things happened then, and boy it just blinked in a flash. A brand new year is around the corner.
One of the best thing this year is connecting more with my bicycle. Yes that is right, cycling!
Nothing beats the joy of riding a bike, feeling the air flowing through your skin, smiling down on rough roads and at times swallowing mud?
This year, I started to bike to work and from it I discovered how so many Cebuanos commute by bicycle to work and school. An ordinance was passed by the city council to build bike lanes and promote cycling, although I am not for this. Bike lanes in Cebu is premature and such a bad idea, they should first build and provide proper sidewalks for pedestrians. But I am all for bicycle commuting. A lot of work is need to make this acceptable to society, but we are on the right track.
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| Waiting for the green light. |
Cebu has become more and more congested. A lot of people blame it on the increase of car sales, maybe true. However, interestingly we need to improve our traffic flow and make it more fluid. How? One, as mentioned above, is to provide sidewalks, one free from lamp posts, vendors and other obstacles. Improve drainage to avoid flooding. Implement traffic rules not just to four wheeled vehicles but strictly on motorcycles as well. And, promote alternative transport like cycling and even walking.
Just before the year ended, I transferred to a new team within my company. A big change for me indeed. From being a team lead back to a individual contributor but with bigger responsibility and scope of work. The new team? What can I say? My new teammates are great, I feel very welcomed and the new atmosphere is a welcome change for me.
Mountain biking. I logged more kilometers this year or maybe because I started recording my millage that I feel I biked more, this thanks to numerous free apps available for smartphones. Sunday before Christmas, we rode down south going to Manipis trail in Talisay going uphill and down exiting at Minglanilla. It was a sweet ride indeed, along the way we met a rather talkative biker whom we nicknamed the Giant Onano, Onana being the Cebuano term for dwarf. As a bystander commented, "ang imong bike Giant pero ang nag sakay kay onano". Total ride was 37.5 km in 5 hours. Pacing was rather slow, but allowed us for more chitchats. Our bike mate brought some sweets and cookies to share with the children we passed along the route.
On Christmas, we had a charity night ride with my biking buddy. We packed our Osprey backpacks with food and some shirts. Rode around the city and shared our blessing to our less fortunate brothers and sisters. It was indeed a very good experience, putting smiles on strangers faces. Not even the pouring rain stopped us from pedaling. We may be drenched in rain but our spirits are high and warm. A genuine smile of happiness on a stranger is just priceless. So we have planned to do this more often. Cannot wait for our next charity ride.
Last Sunday we pedaled for about 36kms + looking for more trails and uphills to challenge ourselves. This time around we took a different route on the home stretch. Since there was a tropical depression, the sun didn't showed up, so much the better for us but still had some su burn after the ride. Took us about four (4) hours for the whole trip, along the way meeting more interesting people and places. We passed by a trio of cyclist, two were foreigners on 29er Santa Cruz bikes, drool. As usual we had our pancit bihon half way in our trip and soda to recover our sugar. After more chitchats and laughter we started our way back home. This time the pacing was much faster but still a relaxing chill ride.
It was a good long ride to end the year. Of course it wont be complete without meeting an interesting fellow.
Since it is still the holiday season, we met a talented caroler. Pure home brew local talent at its best.
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