Jangan Bikes

It's been two years since I last raced at the ATTCK UNRSTRKTD gravel race in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. This time, to start my race calendar, I decided to sign up again to test my conditioning and to experience some amazing gravel routes again, despite some bad experiences with the race organization last time.

I talk all about it in my latest video. Watch it now on Youtube: https://youtu.be/mWuvl7gF1zw

My Gravel X race did not go as planned.

It was a fast and fun start with one lap around the Batangas Racing Circuit. It felt like a quick crit right before a gravel race. But as soon as we hit the first gravel section, around 5 KM in, I also hit a problem.

My shifter got stuck at the heaviest cog, and I couldn't shift to any lighter gear. At least though, the chainrings could still be changed. I tried to fix it myself, hoping I could still catch up to the lead group. But I stopped when I remembered that I saw of before the race and he said that he'd be manning a mechanical station at Checkpoint 2. The problem is, I didn't know how far CP 2 was. All I could do was to pedal-mash my way to CP2 and hopefully get my bike fixed and still enjoy the ride despite being already put out of contention.

To make the ride tougher, the route was very punchy with a lot of short, steep descents leading to short, steep climbs. Some of these climbs I was still able to power my way, while others, I was forced to get off and just walk. Riders that passed thought I had a more serious problem. I just told them I'm riding a fixie.

But finally after 30 arduous kilometers, just as my knees were starting to hurt from all of the pedal-mashing, I reached CP2. There, Eugene quickly diagnosed and fixed my shifting. The problem was a loose cable by my rear derailleuer. It was so fast that it felt like an F1 pitstop. Kudos!

Soon enough I was racing again. My goal switched to just chase down as many riders as possible. I was able to build good momentum, until a crash. I froze on a steep single-track descent and hit some roots. Luckily I escaped with only a few scratches. And I was soon back on the chase.

The last stretch was an uphill false-flat road section and I found myself in a group of three riders. We drafted with each other as if we were Van Aert, MvDP and Pogi. And in the last 200 meters, I jumped on them.

The finish was two consecutive 90 degree turns. And I got ahead of the two. But, I overshot the first turn, which led to me losing our tiny race.

Despite finishing far from the top, it was a fun ride with an amazing route.

I've always been amazed at how pro cyclists can climb alpine peaks and still have the stamina to finish a stage race with a time trial effort, or even in a bunch sprint.

And at the La Union 200, we tried to act like the pros.

Bessang Pass and the climb from Cervantes are two of the hardest climbs of my life. At any other time, each climb would have been good enough for me to retire from riding for a week, maybe.

But other than reaching the cut off time, I wanted to finish as early as possible. Because there are things in my life now way more important than a time stamp on a list.

cc

Two years ago, I joined .unrstrktd 220 KM gravel race. The course was brutal, with headwinds that made conditions worse, but it had everything a cyclist would ever want in a gravel race. Everything, except the race organization that was more...disorganized.

Two years later, after an injury, two kids, a wrecked bike replaced by a new one, I decided to see how this Feb 2026 edition would be like. Since I haven't had the time to go on long rides, I decided to just join the 60 KM gravel race.

And as expected, the race course was amazing. It was about 90% off road through the fields of Cabanatuan. And the river crossings and technical (hike-a-bike) climb up the Aulo Dam were nice touches to throw off the monotony of flat fire roads.

One delightful surprise was that they made sure turns were marked as clearly as possible with so many orange ribbons at turns.

But also as expected, marshalls were missing at critical junctions such as main road crossings. We were lucky traffic was light and we had the headspace to look out for each other even while racing. One marshall also threw us off to the 120 KM course.

At one point the given GPX told us to go straight. But one good marshall forced us to turn right and even escorted us with his motorcycle. This turned out to be the correct route.

Awardings were 3 hours late because the prizes were not properly endorsed to the staff. And when ceremonies did start, the hosts didn't even have a mic!

My win was cool, but the wait was such a hassle that it sucked the joy of it. Winning or not winning UNRSTRKTD, in some way the organizers haven't improved the experience aside from having the amazing gravel riding terrain of Nueva Ecija.

Will I join again? Right now, riding with track reads are more appealing because at least I won't have to deal with my expectations from a race organizer that tends to be...disorganized.

1st 30-39
5th Overall
Mens 60 KM Gravel

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non-stop in my head the entire race 🤣

Today, I was finally able to go out for a long ride for the first time since my crash back in April. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to use the Engima Escape because of a huge fold(?) or dent (?) in its downtube spotted by the mechanics over at , probably from the crash. 🥲 So I took out my trusty Cannondale CAAD10 from the trainer for its first outdoor ride in three years.

Thanks to and for the coffee at .coffee

Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga are known as gravel biking paradises. In recent years, these provinces north of Metro Manila have been hosting major gravel bike events.

But I have been to some gravel routes south of Metro Manila that will overlap with the routes of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. Where is it?

Join me and Manila on this beautiful gravel bike route. Check out my latest video on Youtube (link in bio)

Happy World Bicycle Day! What have your bikes taught you?

It's been almost a week since I *upgraded* my left collarbone to titanium.

I spent the night in the hospital after the surgery. Good thing the cable had Eurosport which was just showing spring classic replays. Thank you to my mother for keeping an eye on me and to .garcia for sending a post-op burger hehe.

I hope to ride with everyone after a few months!

A very eventful week before an unexpected end to this cycling season. See you all in a few months? 😜

Thank you so much to and the .cc for helping me out this morning 🙏

An Audax-cation: There are routes where you can just the ride and still finished refreshed and energized to enjoy the rest of your trip. And one of the best Audax-cation routes is the Bohol 200.

In my latest Youtube video, find out how refreshing the route can be and you can still enjoy your vacation right after 😀 (link in bio)