In the Zone

Blue Trail, Timberland Heights, San Mateo, Rizal. Pen joked that I needed off-road/trail riding training before I moved away. So Pen and Levi took me to their little playground for some fun on the trails. Trails are a chaotic mess that wreak havoc on your mind, body and bike, but then you hit that zone where absolute serenity happens. Then the madness happens all over again.

The truth is, these trails frighten me. There is always that drop, curve or that insanely steep climb with the loose rocks and soil where you ask yourself if you can ride it or if the bike can handle it. Truth is, it's always the latter.

It's a stubborn relationship where the bike keeps asking more of you, but you hold back. It's aggressive and wants to let loose on the trails, while you're tightly gripping the handlebars-- heart thudding, sweat dripping, legs turning to jelly. Eventually, you give in and it turns out the bike was right all along.

Well, that paragraph turned into more drama than expected. I just imagined all that in my head, actually. Bikes will make you do that.

SHEroes Behind the Scenes

March 2015. I received a message the other day from Charley, a good friend of mine, asking if Pen and I were available for a shoot on women on bicycles for Rappler. So on a Saturday afternoon, I sat on the steps of Vargas Museum with Mia, Tina, Nitya, Julia, Charley and Pen. As it usually goes with people with similar interests, we fell into easy conversation talking about what we loved the most: bicycles.

We know that people like this exist: women who brave the streets of Metro Manila everyday to get to the office or school or for leisurely pursuits, despite the obvious challenges and risks. We knew that there were other women who are as passionate about bicycles as you are. But outside of our little group of friends, we've never talked about cycling in the city. We introduced ourselves, how we got into biking, why we do it, the risks and challenges of cycling in the city. When you do something so often, you forget that what you're doing is something special. That day was a much-needed reminder.

The afternoon was getting late, still we kept talking.

Lei, Pen, Tina, Julia, Nitya, Mia. Photo c/o Charley

This was part of Rappler's feature on #SHEroes for International Women's Month. The article can be found here. You can check out our video here: