Found this photo from my baul of photos. From the Vespinoy Baguio ride.

This was done a couple of months ago and was finally released in YouTube.

Thanks Cliff for the heads up.

Correction: Cesar’s scoot is an NSU Prima and not a Lambretta as featured in this program. But we forgive that transgression, for now ;).

I do believe that’s Mike Defensor.

Was browsing my favorite lunch break site Cracked.Com and was surprised to see that we’ve actually made their list…again. We’ve previously made their list, the Balut being the culprit and bagging top honors in their “The 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World” list.

Now we have this, “6 Retarded Gas Saving Schemes (People Are Actually Trying)”, a very relevant topic. And “The Khaos Super Turbo Charger” places number 4! As you can see from the photo above, even Mike Defensor seems to agree, this thing works! Apparently, according to Cracked….

This device will do exactly what it says it will do. It will actually change the fuel/air mixture in your car. Awesome! You know what else can change the fuel/air mixture in your car? Something we like to call, the engine.

Read the entire hilarious article here.

Oh by the way, I heard the Philippines will be filing a protest…….we wanted to be #1, #4 just doesn’t cut it! We wuz robbed!

2211 Works will be hosting Ciao Manila a get together of scooter enthusiasts from in and around the city.

It’s been a long time since 2211 has hosted a scooter party and I am highly anticipating this event, specially after the really nice facelift the place has undergone.

For more details of this event, you may visit the forum thread here.

After having been sidelined for the good part of a month, I finally feel better.

After a battery of pills and tons of rest I think I can slowly get back to my normal routine. Sorry for not being able to post as often as I would like, but it was really tough the past few weeks and I was really not in the mood.

Now that I have no more excuse, I guess it’s time to blog away again!!

Received this note this morning from my son Dino. It was neatly tucked underneath a tray of a breakfast of Hotdogs and Eggs he had made for me and Des. How this to make you forget about bronchitis (yup I’ve been battling with it since early this week). Thanks Dino and Marco, Daddy loves you very much!!

Happy Father’s Day to all!! Happy Father’s Day Dad!!!! I know you’re eating lechon right now!

Riding in Manila traffic and heat is hard enough, but riding with a bum shoulder just makes it all the more, well….harder.

I honestly don’t know where this pain in my shoulder came from, might be from sleeping too much on it or from Mountain Biking. But wherever it came from it’s giving me a hard time riding the GT. As everyone knows the Vespa GT is way heavier than the PX so having to maneuver it in traffic becomes a test of patience and my pain threshold since you have to literally wrestle in between a trucks radiator grill and a taxi cabs’ bumper almost every 500 meters.

Putting it on the center stand when I got to the office was THE worst. I actually yelped out a little as I pulled it up, totally forgetting about my bum shoulder, well the shoulder reminded me right away.

I hope this ends soon. This sucks!

Going to work this morning started out normal. Ordinary preparations before getting on my Vespa GT. Start the engine, make sure that it warms up nicely, since the weather’s been cloudy lately. Put on the gear, store the stuff in the compartment. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But as I started my ride to work, something was off. I couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Something just didn’t feel right. Recognizing these signs, I decided to take a more leisurely approach to my daily commute. Easing off just a tad earlier on the throttle than usual, and braking just a split second earlier. There were several instances of “near-misses” which were avoided today, I think they’d be better off called a “near-miss-miss”. A truck suddenly turning into it’s garage, an oil spill in the middle of the street, an open manhole, another motorcycle rider coming down from the sidewalk (yup, he was ON the sidewalk) and other “incidents” were suddenly easily avoidable and became mere annoyances on the road.

Anyone who has spent decent time on the road knows what I’m talking about. There are days when you feel that it’s just not there, and these are the days where we have to practice extra care and extra caution and proceed with a bit more patience. Having an off day doesn’t necessarily mean getting off the saddle, it might just mean take that extra second think and think again.

I did it. After roughly 9 hours and countless bouts with muscle cramps, I finished the minimum number of laps (25) at the Suunto 12 Hour Endurance Race at the Filcity Mountain Bike Park organized by Sabak.

It was my first race on a bicycle and my first athletic competition of any kind for a long time. So, it was with mixed emotions that I started the day for the race. The pre-race jitters were there. I miss that feeling. That feeling of anticipation. Although I was never in contention at any point in the race, since my main objective was to finish the minimum number of laps alive, I relished the feeling of competition again, something I had not felt in a long time.

After finishing the minimum required laps at roughly 7:30 PM (I was at 16 laps at 3pm but my muscle cramps in both legs rendered me useless for a good 2-3 hours after that), Mitch Estella, my partner in crime in this race had scheduled ourselves to go out on the track again at 8pm and finish the race. But the clouds opened up and rain fell on the track and that was that. We decided that someone else has decided for us not to continue the race.

All in all it was a really satisfying experience that I cannot wait to do again. I know I will never be able to even think about being in contention but who cares, obviously not me!!

More photos here!!

With summer just about to end, I find it a little bit odd that things have started to really heat up lately. Rain has been steadily falling in the afternoons and you hope that will cool down the rest of the day or at least cool down the city to make the heat of the next afternoon arrives. But no, it’s been really hot lately and I have been forced to bring a couple of extra shirts to work to change my sweaty (literally dripping wet) shirt lest I catch pneumonia.

This is the first time in a long while that I’ve found the need to bring extra clothing. I have been able to handle heat pretty well for quite a while but I guess the added humidity has made the conditions just right for profuse sweating. Hay carramba.

So, a word of advise to the urban warrior, bring a shirt, you’re gonna need it.