Last Sunday 3 intrepid Hombres,Philip C,Philippe S and I crossed the Sierra Madre mountains from the plains of Marikina all the way to Infanta via the infamous MARILAQUE road.  This was to be the off-road "circumcision ride" (or Pinoy baptism) of my KTM 990 Adventure.  The off-road baptism was the ride to Ambuklao & Binga dams with Addie as the Ninong (sponsor). The confirmation ride was the Lobo coastal run with Philippe S as the Ninong.  This time,it was Philip Camara's turn to be the Ninong for my fully "tuli" KTM,removing any "prepuce of doubt" as to the identity of this great adventure bike. 

It was very cold that Sunday morning.  We had to eat breakfast at Pranjeto with our jackets on (of course it felt like spring to the legionnaire).  We met Boylit (my bike's pediatrician,he figured out the regulator problem 3 weeks ahead of Access,[that's 2 out of 2 man]) who joined us all the way to the first remnants of a landslide.  It started to rain but the 3 of us pushed on. The air was so fresh and almost tasted sweet. At the beginning of the unpaved stretch of the highway,we had to stop and let out some air from our tires (this was also where we had to make an improvised ramp to get down from the freshly cemented area we inadvertently took).  Philip C brought his tire pressure down to 23psi and I to 30,Philippe S kept his at highway levels.  When we were riding through the muddy segments,Philip C's bike looked the most stable and swayed the least. He was also the fastest and kept on disappearing into the fog.  I'll have to remember that.  The distance from the Shell station in Sampaloc to the end of the cemented section was 35km. 

The 25km of dirt was mostly compact with short stretches of mud probably from the rain the night before.  The light drizzle plus the thick fog that rolled in and out couldn't have produced the mud.  The only precarious part was a 20 meter stretch of mud about 2 inches deep with a 5 meter long puddle of mud and water in the middle.  This was where we caught up with a group of 4 underbones and small road bikes who were probably waiting for somebody to pass through so they could determine how deep the mud and puddle were.  Now this is where the gritty Philip C,without pausing,confidently rode straight through.  The legionnaire and I had to stop and see how Philip would tackle the challenge.  Seeing him navigate successfully,the Frenchman immediately followed suit.  I had to wait for him to pass through the puddle before following (just in case).  But a few meters into the mud,the gang of 4 underbones,realizing it wasn't that deep,decided to ride on.  One of them (with wife and 2 kids on board,all helmet-less) overtook me in the puddle with a grin on his face.  That was truly humbling. We also met a couple of HD-175 "pang-tricycle" type of bikes going in the opposite direction. Except for that segment,I would say almost all the bikes of the Hombres could safely traverse the Sierra Madre as long as it is not raining. The sway of the bike through the mud was unnerving at first,but after a few kilometers I learned to dance with it.  The view was simply spectacular and made the trip worth it.  I will definitely go back there.

The ride after Infanta was dry and turned really hot by the time we arrived at Petron Famy by 11:30AM.  The gas boy at Petron was wondering how we got all muddy when the weather was so nice and dry. With a grin on my face,I proudly announced that we had just crossed the Sierra Madre and it was raining up there. The other bikers at the station all marveled at the 3 muddy lunatics who looked out of place on such a fine day.  When I reached home,my kids were all surprised at the amount of soil I brought home that my wife couldn't resist asking me if I had brought with it also the "titulo" (land titles).