Health | I Love Biking to Calamba
Even with a busy schedule, one must try to be healthy and must do some exercise. I chose biking as this isn't hard on one's joints. At my age, I don't want to pound the pavement and create stress on my knees and ankles. Biking is the next best thing for me since I don't know how to swim. LOL.
Since taking up this sport or hobby or exercise, I've seen a boost in my stamina in terms of physical. Unexpected good results were also noticed such were improvements in my emotional and psychological well being. This was brought with my biking and I did not regret one bit when I bought my bike (a cheap kind) way back last year 2017.
If you were following my bike adventures, I've ridden this bike to Batangas City andVictoria, Laguna, to the urban center of Ortigas, Manila, Makati. I have crossed a large body of water and reached Puerto Galera with this cheap bike.
It has been a tough and expensive (not that much) journey as I have to upgrade the bike many times over. This writer is not into dressing up but the upgrades were for practical reasons. Since advocating for my health and the environment, I have made this bike as my main mode of transport next to commuting.
I use the bike to do my marketing and grocery chores. I bought the necessary upgrades like rear carrier and the panniers. These panniers or bags are also important in my long rides to carry my spare inner tubes and tools. So all upgrades have their uses, necessary and not for "astig" purposes.
From my house in San Pedro, Laguna, biking to Calamba is 26 kilometers one way so in total I would generate 52 kilometers of travel. I can't compute the calories lost but what I can say is, I feel great after every ride to and back from Calamba. This trip is my practice and conditioning run. It's purely a flat out road trip so If you are afraid of uphill climbs (like me), then this route is for you. The only uphill here is the short 2 minute climb on a bridge in San Pedro.
If you want to circumvent this bridge, one can easily pass through the town (now a city) of San Pedro Laguna. It's a longer way but it's flat all the way. As I said, this is the route I take for a bike conditioning ride. For uphill training I found one and I will discuss this in my next articles on the subject.
Going back to Calamba, I never knew that this city is still charming when you ride through it. Before I was passing through this place via car or bus, I never appreciated the place like I do now with my bike. Bike offers a slower pace and one will be given the chance to see the place in a new light.
With traffic nowadays, when I drive to this place by car, actually I don't pass through here anymore. There are short cuts veering away from the traffic, thus I can't see much of Calamba then. With my bike, I was able to see the church, the house of our national hero Jose Rizal.
On my way back, I was able to pass through the towns of Santa Rosa, Binan, Cabuyao. Each one has their own distinct charm for which I will truly cherish. Thus I always pass through them with gusto.
I do hope that I will be given more time to bike to and from Calamba. I plan to do more rides in the future and in my bucket list - laguna loop, batangas loop I hope to accomplish within the year. In this trip of mine, this was my last ride with my bike as I have bought a new one. More on this in my next adventure. Stay tuned.
