This pandemic has brought me to places Ive never thought I’d see.
During Black Saturday, me and a couple of friends, Michael Flores and Kristiane Lim, had planned to scale Osmeña Peak in Mantalongon, Dalaguete. Luckily for me, we turned left on a sharp and steep incline and proceed to a dead end-a cafe called Kapihan ni Kapitan.
Two days before, Maundy Thursday, I, with Michael again and his brother, John and Lex Diaz, had crossed the Transcentral Highway from the western side via Manipis and Toledo. And for that suffering and painful back, I got home with a bum stomach that left me a little bit off Good Friday. But I decided to go. It was my plan and I wasn’t going to back out!
Mike and King are clearly fitter than me, and younger and have BMI’s close to ideal. I could hold my own on the flats but once the road started to tilt up, it was really a struggle. It gets embarrassing but I simply shrug it off. I was more concerned about not getting dropped than anything else.
We started the ride from Mambaling at around 6:30 and while King was waiting for us in Minglanilla. The weather was cool up to 8AM but after that, it was a scorcher.
I had my first flat somewhere in Argao and then I had another two more before the right turn to our destination. If you have ever experienced getting a flat tire during a very long ride, you’d have a premonition that you’ll have more!
We started the climb just before noon. The first three kilometers of the climb was paved and steep and exposed. It was like the heat, instead of being absorbed by the cement, was reflected back to us.
The air was getting cooler as we gained altitude. As we passed by the Mantalongon Market, we turned left. The first time I was there, I rode straight. Big mistake! Man, the roads are just steep. Add100km of riding on your legs prior and a mouse running inside your leg.
The two boys were very generous, they waited for me, pretending to take a breather when I know they were really waiting for me to cheer me up. Hey, don’t BS the BS-ter!!!
Then as we reached the high point before descending to the base of Osmena Peak, Mike said, lets go to the cafe instead. The noodles there is so good! Well, any noodles in this part of the world should taste like something from Marco Polo!
The left turn and the rest of the 2-3km ride was nastier! I had to move my weight forward just to keep both wheels on the ground. But once we got to the end of the road, which was a coffee shop, my breath away! I could see clearly Badian Island, I could see people queuing to the top of Osmeña Peak, I could see nature at its best at more than a thousand feet. Local folks were wearing coats and along the road, the cabbages were in full bloom!
While noodles wasn’t on the menu for that day at the “Tindahan ni Kapitan”, the corn soup and the cornedbeefsilog was just what we needed. Coffee is un-li. They dont have spoons, they hand out plastic gloves.
I have been living here since 1978 and the beauty of Cebu island, whether its in the city or its towns, has never ceased to amaze me.