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I was lacking in
adventure this past months. Eddon is now
in college, Amara is “wreaking havoc” in pre-school. Summer vacation was spent wondering and
thinking of future plans. We’ve been to
nearby attractions, but the fingers were too lazy to hit the keyboard, the mind
was too timid of what to write. Crater
trekker has been very much stagnant, partly intentional and partly
indolent. Indolence came probably from
criticisms and comments that partly affected much of my enthusiasm to write.
I am an
occasional blogger, apart from mood swings and lack of concentration this past
season. And since the summer that just
passed was the time I got a tan because of consistent weekend biking, my interest
suddenly shifted in my new-found mode of relaxation, if you can find biking
uphill relaxing.
It was when I
was testing the new folding bike that I decided to ditch my usual biking route
inside Clarkfield. As I reached
Mabalacat City proper from our place in Dau, I decided to head straight to
Tarlac and forego biking inside the former American base. Yes, Mabalacat is now a city by virtue of
plebiscite last year, although its cityhood was the result of revenues inside
the former base where, historically, seventy percent (70%) of the land area
belongs to Mabalacat. In the
Philippines, you can create a city by economic investments, not from what they
call effective governance. The base was converted into an economic zone
after the American Military left after the destruction caused by Mt. Pinatubo.
Passing Mabalacat
“City Proper”, I pedaled towards north and reached Bamban Bridge with its
famous suspension steel arch design towering in the middle of the highway. One of the modern bridges erected in the
Philippines, every traveler seems to be amazed of this kind of modernity in
spite of the massive destruction from the past that surrounded it. I stopped for a while to catch my
breath. Using the folding bike is not
that easy, with its 20-inch tires more tiring than the 26-inch tires of my
all-terrain bike. I regretted not to
bring a decent camera so I just took a picture from my semi-dilapidated mobile
phone and strolled away for a farther destination.
I reached Death March Memorial Shrine in
Capas after an hour and decided for another quick rest stop and tour around the
shrine. It was déjà vu all over again as
I remembered my first long ride was in this route around three years ago.
My sense of
adventure has finally awakened. I was
back for another adventure, albeit a shortened one - and I hope for more to
come.
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