Subic to Anvaya and back

I used to think that biking in the Philippines couldn’t possibly compare to biking in Europe - how could we compete with the cool weather, snow-capped peaks, brilliant blue lakes, and pine-forested mountains, plus the excellent food that you can grab along the way? And there are the traffic-clogged roads.. But the reality is that if one bikes between the months of November and February, you generally get good cloud cover, and on January-mid March, you get good strong winds, that make it possible to bike the whole day without breaking into a sweat.  My favorite rides so far have been the stretch along Marcos highway from Boso-boso to Tanay (a really beautiful road, with very little vehicular traffic, and climbs up to 3000 feet - you even get a glimpse of pine-covered hills, and the blue Laguna de Bay), the road from Sierra Madre Hotel (still on the Marcos highway), all the way down to Tanay/Sampaloc junction, then past Erap’s resthouse all the way to Infanta (this is currently an unfinished highway with zero traffic. - I’ve actually biked here with my then 10 yr old and 8 yr old son), the climb from Pililia up to Bugarin (which spectacular views of Laguna de Bay), and the climb from Pagsanjan up to Lucban.

Now, I’ve discovered a new road which is relatively short - 1 3/4 hr from Subic to Anvaya.  Riding within Subic is of course, a joy. No pollution, good asphalted roads, big ancient forests. There is else nothing like it in the Philippines.  What is surprising is how good the stretch is from the Subic Morong gate to Anvaya. (a 10km stretch). There are a few rough stretches (although it is navigable via a road bike), but the last part prior to Anvaya is a ridge road, with views on the right of the China sea and on the left a Valley with a cloud-covered mountain range beyond.  Beautiful.  

Not surprisingly, I spied Fernando Zobel himself (with what seemed to be his young son - perhaps 13 years old), biking along the same road. (When I first saw Anvaya, it was clear that it would be a perfect place for a triathlete to train - there’s a roped-off swimming beach, and good deserted roads for biking/running).  I must say, it’s good to see a top CEO spending time with his kids. (It’s hard enough for me to get my kids interested in biking).  I like it when people have their prioriities right.