Touring Report

May 20,
Naga∼Lucena

A route of 320 km was planned for the fourth day of the Philippine leg of the PAN-ASEAN TOURING.This is the longest distance in this leg. We left Naga at 8:30 in the morning headed toward Daet.The road was a pleasant one with mostly straight sections in the early part of the day but also occasional sections of winding roads that kept the riders from getting bored.
But, just when we thought we were making good progress, an accident occurred. Our Vietnamese rider Hoang lost his balance while braking on a curve and went off onto the dirt shoulder and took a fall. Fortunately, he wasn't injured seriously, but just for safety's sake he got in one of the vans for the remainder of the run. After making sure that Hoang was OK, the caravan started off again and arrived roughly on time at a restaurant in Daet. Everyone came back to the van to check on Hoang and he answered their words of concern with a smile.It was still only 10:30 in the morning but we decided to have an early lunch and a one-hour rest. At this point we had still only completed one third of our day's planned course.
The road after lunch turned out to be a hard one for the riders. The roads were winding and had considerable inclines that would normally have made for enjoyable riding, but the committee car running in the lead was going at such a slow pace that the riders began to get bored. Being just after lunch, some of them began to complain of feeling drowsy. Aristeo [the Philippine rider who had ridden the Thai leg and joined this time as support rider and media representative] riding in place of Lester at the front, gave the signal repeatedly for the lead car to pick up the pace, but it appeared that is was not possible for a car on these winding roads.
Through his windshield it was easy to see from his face that Maico was fighting with drowsiness. Noticing this, one of the support staff members riding in the bed of the lead pickup, Itong, took out a loudspeaker and began calling to him with big gestures. After that, another staff member, Edorian, began playing some lively music from his cell phone through the loudspeaker.The riders really appreciated this. Some of them began to sway to the music, and it was clear that no one was sleepy anymore.
After we cleared the winding sections, there were straight roads again that enabled the riders to get up to cruising speed again. But then, all of a sudden it began to rain heavily without warning. Quickly pulling off the road, the riders put on their rain gear and started off again. The weather continued to change rapidly, raining hard at times and then stopping until the road dried before rain fell again. At the town of Calauag we stopped for refueling and a rest at a gas station.The rain had stopped at this point but the riders decided to keep their rain wear on as they got back on the road again. Just after we saw a patch of blue sky, it began to rain again, even harder than before. It was in this rain that the Philippine press rider, Dino [who rode as one of the ASEAN riders on an earlier leg] slipped and went down. The group before him had stopped when they realized that Dino wasn't behind them anymore, and they were greatly relieved when he finally caught up and looked unhurt. Jokingly, Hardi patted Dino's big stomach and asked him if he was OK. Then, after making sure that there was no damage to the bike or the rider, they started off again.
Finally the weather cleared and we were out of the rain for good. At 5:00 in the evening we arrived at the Pacific Mall in Lucena. At our welcoming ceremony we watched a performance of the Maria Klala dance that has been handed down since the Spanish traders brought it to this region in the 17th century. Reaching our hotel, everyone enjoyed a poolside dinner party. Even though it had been a solid day of riding, the ASEAN rider team was still lively and enjoying themselves.

Naga∼Lucena

On the winding roads from Daet to Calauag the slow pace had the riders battling with drowsiness

Itong used a loudspeaker and big gestures to rouse the riders and drive away their drowsiness. Edorian, [wearing face mask] looked for lively music to amplify from his mobile phone

At the welcoming ceremony there was a performance of the Maria Klala dance that came from Spain centuries ago

Coming out to the sea, the skies had cleared enough to see blue. Soon the riders took off their rain gear and headed off for Lucena

Riding through the streets of Daet