During the last two weeks, I have focused my activities on training for my first 10K and 15K marathons. I have only ridden my roadbike just once...on a measly 15K around the UP oval.
Each time I get home from work since my last ride, I will always look at my bikes first before I get inside the house, that's how much I missed them. Before I go to work, I would always lift them up so I wouldn't forget how heavy or light they are.
This afternoon, less than an hour before I started writing this blog entry, I unlocked my mountain bike and rode it around the village with the tricycles, FXs, motorcycles, vans, jeepneys and delivery trucks...I never inhaled much more fragrant vehicle fumes...ahhhh, it feels great to have the wind on my face, no matter how polluted it is.
My bikes aren't the most expensive, they are, in fact, both a little above entry-level bikes. My roadbike frame, a Merida 901 Road Race Series 08 model, is one of the cheapest frames around. It is made of butted aluminum alloy with a carbon fork. Wheelset is Shimano and the rear derailleur is a Shimano Sora. The groupset that completes it is Shimano Tiagra. If you are a cyclist, you will know that my bike is a little above an entry level model. The aero-bar probably is a bit on the high-end but that's about it.
My mountain bike, on the other hand, is a GT Agrressor 08 model. I bought it brand new a little over Php 13K. I have, since then, put on bar-ends, a cyclo-computer, a saddle bag and a hand-pump so I can be prepared for any mountain biking ride at any time.
My bikes may be cheap, but to me they are the best, simply because they are both what I can afford. I have ridden them both for more than 500 kms each, and they haven't failed me so far except for flat tires. I have ridden my mountain bike from Pasig to Los Banos and Sierra Madre, and my roadbike have pounded the UP oval and Manggahan Floodway en route to Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal. It has conquered the uphill to Ultra and the practice roads of Valle Verde and Greenmeadows...and still is battle ready. Who says quality comes with a cost?
I am planning to build another entry-level bike, a full triathlon bike rolling on a TT ( time-trial ) frame. If budget allows, I will have it completed by middle of this year. Though tri bikes are really expensive, I know I'd find a way to come up with a cost-efficient road monster that will kick some ass on the asphalts...watch out for it!
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