Iba Ride - Time Trial Sat 090708

Saturdays are usually long bike rides for the training group and we decided to hit the Iba roads once more. Plan was to leave early and bike off from the white Rock resort to simulate the bike leg route for the WRT Long Distance Tri scheduled on October 4, 2008. It's actually a 4 hour ride and we would be getting past the turn-around point in Cabangan municipal hall which is about 45km away. Now is the time to gauge the months of training and big ring power pedalling we have been doing for weeks since May. Also to practice on our nutrition along the way. I got 2 powerbars and 4 gels plus 3 packets of Gu2O for my hydration. We biked off just past 8am heading towards Cabangan town. Chock has a new kick-your-ass bike and was super excited as always. I stayed close to him and we were taking turns in speeding up to almost 45kph in long straight aways. He has no cyclometer yet and I was like his navigator yelling out our speeds every 5 minutes or so. We got to Cabangan in 1 hour 20 minutes. Average speed of 34kph. Not bad at all. We waited for the rest of the group and after a brief rest we headed out towards Iba for another 40 min for our 2 hour turn around point. The head wing on our way back was ruthless. Me and Ferdi sticked together and we were just doing about 25kph at most. But we still managed to cling on to our big rings and powered our way against the forces of nature. We stopped over to hydrate in a store before San Marcelino town and waited for the rest of the group. Carlo came in a few minutes followed by Arni who told us that she got past Chock who was already wasted and red all over. Might be his wide body catching all of the head wind like a sail. Chock thought he forgot his gels but I noticed that a packet of gel was sticking out of his back pocket. He took it and we headed back to Subic town which is approximately an hour away. My nutrition must have been working just fine as I still have fire left on my legs attacking the hills furiously. I think I did a 60kph on the last downhill overtaking a convoy of trucks. After everyone had arrived at white rock resort we changed into our running gears and we hit the road for our 30min brick run. I maintained a steady 5min pace till Papagayo where me & Chock had a quick drink. On our way out Carlo & Ferdi were heading back to white rock. I just hit on the button and took on about a 4:30min pace and could feel the electrolytes had just kicked in. Felt good after the run. We hurriedly took a shower and stopped over at Binalot for a quick lunch. We still had a team pictorial to catch in Makati for the One Sports mag. The photo shoot is another story to tell. Me and Carlo capped the day with a sumptuous feast of Pares and Bulalo (with Litid & Laman) in a side street eatery in Mandaluyong.