TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
there it is: a lovely mud-covered and a funcertified-looking red multi-cab, more like a top-down mini container van. Bikes at the back, JR tells me to“ Hop in man.” The mud on their choice of vehicle, the big fat tires of the bikes, and the sun burnt faces of these boys already give me an idea of how days two to four in Dumaguete will be like.
In our armada of National Downhill Cycling Team, Joey Barba has the most number of achievements under his belt. At only 25, he has already joined almost a hundred races, international and local combined. He has bagged the first gold for the Philippines in Downhill Cycling at the 2007 SEA Games, and silver during the 2005 SEA Games with only 1 / 100 of a second difference from the first place racer. To date, his line-up of sponsors are Oakley, Ground Zero, Fox USA through the help of Edgar Pornel, and Green Thumb DH Team.
Before we hit the mountains, my hosts shows us other fun stuff they do in Dumaguete besides riding their bikes, or what defines a downhill rider’ s free-spirited attitude. This include the 200ft high The Rush Zip Line in Valencia; skim boarding in Agan-An Beach, Sibulan where the sand and the waves are perfect; and an old-fashioned
seafood barbeque at Scott’ s beach house in Tandayag, Amlan. A land where hangloose lifestyles and good vibes are never too much, Dumaguete is an appropriate training ground for downhill riders. According to Joey, riders from Manila, Cebu, and Iligan visit Dumaguete for world-class downhill race training. After three to five days of training, these riders go home packed with enough experience and guts to make longer jumps and land higher drops.
So what’ s their training ground like? These boys homemade downhill racetrack called Camp Look Out was built in the mountains of Bongbong, Valencia. Riders coming from a 50-foot drop make their approach literally a ground shaking experience. If you have stood near a moving train in South Super Highway while waiting for it to cross, more or less that’ s the feeling. It has different skill levels: easy, moderate, and hard, varying
Meeting new friends with brave and fun-loving souls from the Downhill Cycling team, and pure and saintly hearts from Silliman University made my trip a very memorable one.”
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( Above) JR, Joey, and Scott, members of the National
Team for Downhill Cycling.( Right) Camelback HOSS, the best adventure partner.
50 7107 ISLAND TRAVEL