Tagaytay, Nasugbu and Lian 02/13-14/2013

Overnight Solo Cross Country Cycling

After recovering from a knee injury, I scheduled myself to run on a day off. I planned to start running in the morning intending to return home before sundown. On the day of reckoning, however, house chores suddenly and unexpectedly fell down from the heavens. No choice but to do chores the whole morning. Running in the afternoon meant returning home in the evening. Thus, I thought of hitting the road on Bisikletang Tagalog. Moving up and down Tagaytay on bicycle would make travel much faster and would allow me to return home before nightfall. 

Though I was a bit stronger than before, I still found pedaling thru the steep slopes of Casile and Dapdap difficult. Dapdap just had a shower and was foggy when I arrived. Adrenaline rushing, I decided to defeat the very purpose of choosing the pedal over the trail running shoes. I proceeded toward Nasugbu reaching its poblacion at sundown.

Freewheeling was the main course when biking from Tagaytay to Nasugbu. On the border of Cavite and Batangas, three kids, namely, Arlene, Lovely and Ratse agreed to pose for some pictures with my bike. The outstanding natural sceneries of Casile and Tagaytay had always been captivating but the panoramas of Nasugbu, especially the sunset and the fields, were more mesmerizing. Gusts of wind were pounding shaking the bike a number of times. I found the town proper pleasant, friendly and blissful. Young ones were playing in the plaza while their mothers were watching. Teens were having their stroll in small groups.

That night, I ate heavy meal in a carinderia making sure that I would have the energy to go thru the long uphill road back to Tagaytay. After dinner, I immediately left for home. Thirty minutes had passed when I learned that I had just been thru the town proper of Lian and was heading toward Calatagan! I missed the signs because of the dark. It took me another thirty minutes going back Nasugbu. I then started all over again to retrace the right way home. Huge trucks rumbled and thundered almost unceasingly on the entire length of the Nasugbu-Tagaytay road. I narrowly escaped being sideswiped by a ten wheeler truck by just a hair’s-breadth.

Just like in other less congested places, more stars glittered the skies in Nasugbu than in more congested ones like Calamba. I was touched by how passersby-- a tricycle driver and a group of mobile barangay tanods-- showed kindness in the midst of isolation and darkness by offering assistance asking me if everything was okay. Intriguingly, two policemen in their patrol car did not even bother to ask any question when they went past me at midnight in Tagaytay. Instead, one of the cops just shouted the puzzling remark “Aba!”.

The cool night air in Tagaytay literally had the wonderful fragrance of dama de noche. Beautiful lampposts lit the road. Talisay, Laurel, Calamba, Cabuyao and Sta. Rosa, sparkled with millions of lights downhill. The city of the ridge was glamorous but with its high-rise buildings and other structures, I could not help but think of its fate if ever Taal Volcano would erupt. I also thought of the environmental woes that Tagaytay had been inflicting the nearby lowlands and Taal Lake. These hazards such as garbage, effluents, erosion and flooding surely were causing a lot of harm on downhill communities.

The fog in Dapdap was a lot thicker than when I was going uphill from Calamba the other day. It was very dark all throughout the road going down the plains. Thanks to my wife for buying me a pair of bike lights (and a helmet) which proved to be very useful in overnight long distance biking. I saw something brown and furry on one side of the loneliest, darkest and steepest part of the road. The strange creature might have been a giant rodent or a civet.

During those unholy hours, the dogs of Casile turned terrifying, more terrifying than the dogs I encountered earlier in Nasugbu. In a situation reminiscent of Ternate and Naic, I biked across Casile with brake in one hand and stones for vicious dogs in the other. The most vicious dogs were those along the unpaved and rugged parts of the road.

I freewheeled down Dapdap and Casile reaching Marcos Mansion within less than half an hour. Stopping over Terelay, I had an early morning meal at a burger stand. I arrived home at around 3:30 in the morning. Home sweet home! All praise to the Supreme Spirit who guides and keeps us all safe all the time!