For as far back as I can remember, I have always been riding solo. The last time I was on a ride (of significant distance) with Des was during a short trip to Tagaytay during the early 2000’s. My scooter than was my old reliable smoke belching 2-stroke Piaggio Hexagon 150cc. Then the years passed without her riding with me on any ride, till yesterday.
It all started innocently enough when I saw a post on Facebook by VCOP President Uriel Protomartir, about a ride to the regular rider mecca in the city, Marilaque (Marikina-Rizal-Laguna-Quezon to the uninitiated or officially known as the Marikina-Infanta Highway). I’ve only ridden that area a couple of times and really wanted to ride it again. Being short and near the city I asked Des if she wanted to join me on the ride. To my pleasant surprise she said yes right away so I confirmed our participation right away before she could change her mind. Not even a mild thunderstorm before we left made her lose any interest in the ride.
After a few reminders about what to bring and what to wear we were finally off.. As expected, we were stuck in normal Saturday traffic along C-5 and Marcos Highway on our way to the Shell gas station along the said Highway, which was to be our meeting spot. Arriving just in time to find out that the ride was cancelled (because of the strong rain earlier), then un-cancelled (because they really had nothing better else to do), we were off. Riding with Des on the MP3 was really fun. First of all, I really have to give credit to the scooter. The bike really does work as advertised, even 2-up. Stability, safety and all the stuff they say you get with the bike, you really do. We were practically having a conversation all the way up to the twisties of Rizal. I was acting like a pseudo tour guide, pointing out things that you might never see if you travel this route by car. We had fun during cornering as I did exaggerated body leans just to show her how stable the scoot was. Eventually I found my line straightening out during the tight turns because, apparently, she was a bit nervous already and was countering my weight shifts, so we reverted back to plain old touring.
We eventually reached to small eatery (near Pranjetto Hills) before dusk, spent a few minutes there and started the trip down as the sun was setting. We did the ride home in the dark, singing duets all the way down the mountain.
I am glad to see and hear that she had so much fun and I hope we can do it again. Imagine a beautiful day of riding, a great performing scoot, and your best-est friend in the universe riding with you…..good times indeed.
Leave a Reply