Sagada Mountain Biking

TheLoneRider.com Friday March 29, 2024 EDT 
a nomad in search of...
HOME PAGE About TheLoneRider Contact TheLoneRider Web TheLoneRider.com      
HOME PAGE
DESTINATIONS
Cambodia Canada France Hong Kong India Indonesia Italy Laos Malaysia Monaco Myanmar Nepal Philippines Singapore Switzerland Thailand Vietnam USA
ACTIVITIES
Astral Projection Caving Fitness Freediving Kayaking Meditation Mountain Biking Mountaineering Rafting Rock Climbing Scuba Diving Snowboarding Surfing Traveling Yoga
REVIEWS
Book Review Gear Review Hotel Review Movie Review Show Review Restaurant Review
MISC
Art Chilling Out Cool Sites Community Counter Culture Food Odyssey best food recipes Lucid Thoughts Peoplescape Politics Print Media Quantum Mechanics Random Lives Showbiz Snapshot Slice of Life Thought Bubble Teaching Verbatim Wealth Building
WEB SERVICES
SEO Services Web Design Services Advertising Here

mountain biking

Mike barreling down Deadman's Plunge at breakneck speed October 23, 2006 Monday

Riding Bangaan Ridge with 43Bikes

Of all the immediate trails within Sagada, the Bangaan Trail is the only one I haven't ridden. Steve and friends have recently done some trail clearing that just adds one more reason to ride it. It's the most imposing ridge as seen from Poblacion. The ridge starts from Danom Lake and extends all the way to the village of Bangaan. Today's crew was headed by Sagada's in-house hammerhead, Steve, with son Joey and 43Bikes riders, Mike and Ben.

Danom Lake
From Poblacion, it's a long continuous climb on the main dirt road up until the Danom Lake junction. Turning left leads down to Danom Lake. Turning right starts the steep ascent to the ridge. We turned left to chill on the lake.

Choc-Full-of-Single-Track
After ascending the steep trail to the top of the ridge, we found ourselves on the plateau that gave us a breathtaking scenery and a playground to fool around with. The single-track system consisted of fun narrow trails through varied terrain - fern-covered overgrowth, through the mossy forest, crossing log bridges, short but technical nose dives.

Berry Picking
Before portaging the bike down the steepest descent, we were treated to berry picking. They looked like miniature orange raspberries that exploded in your mouth after a handful - sweet and astringent. It was one of the many treats this trail system offered for the taking.

Deadman's Plunge
Ok...I just coined this name but it's a fitting one to call this small but ultra-steep downhill shoot at the tail end of the ridge. Braking will not stop the bike but cause it to slide down - it's that steep. This is where you separate the men from the boyz. Since I couldn't shake off the possibility of a serious wipe-out, I chose to be a boy. Joey, Mike and Ben displayed their trail-handling virtuosity by barreling down with utmost ease. From thereon, it was all downhill on paved road to Bangaan and back to Poblacion.

Ending Thoughts
Trail riding along the Bangaan ridge is a blast...probably one of Sagada's best single-track trail system. The views are jaw-dropping, the drops are knee-wobbling, the weather cool and chilly, the single-track long and continuous, with numerous sprinkling of technical wake-up-call sections. It's definitely a must-experience for any mtb enthusiast.

Riding with Ben and Mike was equally a blast. They remind me of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in the cult movie classic, Easy Rider - 2 guys on 2 wheels off on an adventure ride in-search-of... They threw me back to the early grassroots days of mountain biking where intrepid adventurers saddled up and hit the trails for the sheer fun and adrenalin - no podium aspiration, no swaggering around with bling-blings, no beating their personal best....just them, their bikes, and the endless possibilities of the open trails.

Hey Steve, thanks again for making it all happen.

--- TheLoneRider

Comments? Email webmaster@thelonerider.com

Reader Comments:

Capt. Crash
(October 28, 2006) yes they remind me of them (Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) too...especially their age...hehehe

»» next story

»» back to Mountain Biking
»» back to Homepage

IMG_7695 IMG_7697 IMG_7707 IMG_7708
IMG_7710 IMG_7721 IMG_7729 IMG_7732
IMG_7738 IMG_7740 IMG_7741 IMG_7743






43Bikes

Tell A Friend!
Your Name:

Friend's E-mail:



TheLoneRider