50km with my Trek 4300 MTB
It’s nice to be back on long mountain bike ride as me and my Trek 4300 went on to an unplanned cycling adventure last Sunday.
It was supposed to be a ride uphill going to Tagaytay (Cavite, Philippines) but ended up working my way going north to my hometown in Bacoor, a 26km ride from our new home in Dasmariñas City.
I used to bike commute and got solid 160km per week but now the mileage drops due to the fact that running became my primary sport. It’s a little harder now when I am not making up to my saddle time and it shows on the way back at kilometer 30 when I began to drop the pace. My left knee began to have that usual piercing discomfort so I shifted to my right knee for those hard climbs and effort. Also, the wind was blowing against me which added up to the difficulty of maintaining the pace.
Took me 3 hours to finished the ride and that includes typical hydration stops and a quick 30-minute meal and rest. When I got home, the odometer read 50km.
The Trek 4300 handled both long asphalt and off road paths really well. Lesson learned, plan and prepare for rides like this. It should have been a great day if I still have enough on my tank to finish strong to the last 10km.
Deuter ACT Lite 25
My typical daypack is The North Face Neutron 34. It fits practically everything, camera, clothes, laptop etc. 34 liters is good, but trying the Deuter ACT Lite 25, this is much better.
Nike Downshifter 3
I got my first taste of Nike when my Dad bought me a Nike Air Pegasus II.
It’s love at first run. Light, fast and very comfy.
After the demise of my Air Pegasus II pair, I went hunting for the same Pegasus again, but sadly, there’s no available size for me on most Nike Stadium stores.
I ended up buying a Reebok DMX which is on sale on Toby’s.
Late last year, as I am seriously looking into more running mileage, I began hunting for a new pair of Nike.
There’s this great line of Lunarlites proliferating in most stores but I ended up buying old school, sewn decals, Nike Downshifter 3.
Actual price is around Php3,500.00 but got it on Php2,300.00 during a big discount sale.
The Nike Downshifter 3 uses the same light and sticky BRS 1000. The shoe serves it’s purpose well on road and oval run. The shoes are very light and the very comfortable on every run.
My only comment with the Nike Downshifter 3 is the lace’s white color. It looks better in black so I changed mine.
Here’s the product description:
Product Description
Trek 4300 Mountain Bike
Been riding a Trek 4300 mountain bike for 2 years now and here’s my opinion and review about this bike.
The Trek 4300 rolls well in both road and trails. The frame is very light and also the wheelset. I got this built bike from a friend and most of the parts were already upgraded so I saved a lot from upgrades.
The Bontrager tires were upgraded to Kenda Kinetics, the FD to Shimano Deore and the saddle to Specialized Body Geometry. Front suspension was also upgraded to Rock Shox Recon U-Turn. It’s an amazing bargain considering that the front suspension itself costs around Php17,000.00.
The bike kicks well on road and stable on trails. What I like about Trek bikes is its handling and also it’s lightness. You can speed up on challenging trails without losing control.
I made some upgrades with the bike to customized it to my riding style.
I upgraded the grips to Ergon GC2, so I could ride more mileage with comfort on the palms and also integrated bar ends of Ergon GC2 is great for climbing. I also upgraded the OEM pedals to Shimano M505 pedals so I could use both platform shoes and cleats.
All in all, Trek 4300 mountain bike is an awesome ride for beginners and those who’d like to start serious training in XC and long trail rides.
For complete specification and more reviews you may visit the Trek website here.
Little saddle time
It’s nice to be back on the saddle. After a week of gathering dust, the mountain bike finally got some rolling mileage. Just a quick bike commuting under an overcast sky, good breeze, very little traffic, and tons of biking bliss.
Maybe I just missed this kind of saddle time as I focus on running these past weeks. I am supposed to be riding 40 to 80km per week to cross train, but due to tons of tasks, both as Dada and Graphic/Web Designer, I am not able to pull it off.
Priorities – run now, bike later.
Transition time
It’s typical, and you can even call it a routine, but to me, each run tells me a lot more something about myself. Each run is a little different than the other.
It’s just same rounds; twelve and a half in the oval, every other day. That will be 5 kilometers (popularly called a “fun run”). I know it’s an itsy-bitsy-5K, but hey, there’s got to be a starting point, like a hot ball of gas that explodes into a big bang.
As much as I want to concentrate on both speed and endurance, lots of readings and lit about running told me to just stick to one – and I sided with endurance.
It’s been three months and I’ve been listening closely to my body. It’s giving me signs to go for the next level – 10K.
I nailed that 130 pounds this week, a goal I set when I came back to running 2 ½ months ago, after a ‘runner’s knee’ injury.
Being 5’5” and 139 pounds last January creates some drag, and these past weeks, the recent 5Ks felt easier and lighter. Got that 9 pounds shelved since I started to seriously stick to my typical MWF-5K routine.
It may seem easy but no, it’s not. It entails a lot of motivation and discipline. It’s about planning ahead, setting goals and doing it.
It’s more complicated when you have two toddler daughters and a beautiful wife to love and to take care of. To top it all, you have to squeeze in the passion into a lot of projects and tasks to make it all work.
So no, it’s not easy. It’s hard. But it’s very rewarding in the end.
It’s going to be harder this time, getting used to 10Ks, and it will eat up more time. But the outdoor is calling. Don’t run easy, as one ad goes – run like an animal.
Run easy is an oxymoron.
What is it about running that scares people so much? Why do people feel they have to put friendly modifiers next to running so everyone can feel good about it? Well, here’s the ugly truth everyone shouldn’t feel good about running. It’s hard! It hurts running requires sacrifice and heart and guts. Any attempt to water it down with feel-good adjectives is a slap in the face to those of us who still hold running sacred. In fact, if you’re running easy, odds are you’re not running at all. You’re jogging so do us all a favor, don’t run easy. Run hard. Run like an animal. ~ Pearl Izumi
Mt. Pico De Loro
“Take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time, leave nothing but foot prints.”
This is the mountaineer’s creed and to live up to this phrase is not as easy as it may sound. Litter, vandal, and campfire traces have degraded several trails and campsites in Mt. Pico de Loro, the highest peak in Cavite. To lessen the impact of weekend trekkers on Mt. Pico, declared as Cavite’s Protected National Park, the De La Salle University-Dasmariñas Mountaineering Society (DLSU-DMS) geared up and held a Trail Restoration Activity on February 26-27, 2011. DLSU-DMS also closed those trails where mountaineers usually get lost.
With this effort, DLSU-DMS hopes that visitors climbing Mt. Pico will live up to the mountaineer’s creed – bring their trash down and “leave no trace.”
Mt. Batulao (Batangas, Philippines)
Mt. Batulao
LLA: 14.0408 N 120.8011 E 811 MASL.
Fantastic view from Mt. Batulao (Freedom Climb 2009) Batangas, Philippines
Mt. Batulao is located in Nasugbu, Batangas. Our Jump-off point is Evercrest Golf Course
This mountain is a minor climb with 4/9 difficulty, trail class 3 with 60-70 degrees assault
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