The Crazies That Went Up Mount Maarat

We could have been relaxing at home, lazying at the most comfortable couch watching action-packed movies with chips on one hand and the remote control/beer/coffee on the other, while the cool breeze  of the naughty weather spears through the window all for us to enjoy.

But nooohh.  Some buffoons reckoned that the weather was inviting and we should RSVP to it.  

They say real men wear pink.  Ok I say.

Buffoons that we were, we were braced by some of the legendaries in the community.  My biggest salute goes to Mr. Toto Villanueva of Touratech who, brought the right equipment for the wrong job, a mighty Yamaha Tenere.  What was he thinking, at first I thought, but had me impressed the way he handled the slipperry roads. 

Mr. Toto Villanueva selfieing at the top of the conquest

We all get by with a little help from friends.

Another legend, motocross racer Mr. Mel Aquino show off his skillz tackling the undesirable mud.  He used the CPI GRX 200 that's distributed by Ropali.

Conquistadors!

Mr. Brando "Cow Manure" Rosales contemplates on ending it all, I mean, ending the journey with a bang downhill.

At the top of the Maarat taril they call Manggahan.  Ironically, no more mango trees stand here.

I told them so!  That it was gonna be an "exciting" ride up due to the slippery muds the weather created.  We could have opted for an easier trail.  But easy was not what they want.

Local guide hardcore offroader

Another luminary but not of the dirty world.  Mr. Glenn Bellido top finishers of endurance events had his day out screaming to the top of his lungs while speeding down the track.

Endurance master Mr. Glenn Bellido poses for a shot.  Both of us hadn't had a decent sleep FBing into the wee hours of the night until the morning, few hours before call time/

Our impromptu tour guide.  Also a Spyder fan.  Superb!

Mr. Melencio "Mel' Aquino wanders off into wonderland.

Honda dual-sport ambassadors hard at work ambassadoring.  The XR125L and the CRF250

Mr. Aquino rockin it.

Mr. Brando "ended-career-with-first-jump" Rosales

The Trail Team Spyder also made their soft debut on the soft terrain.  The Trail Team Spyder is a group of Spyder brand ambassadors that are fanatics of the not-so-beaten-paths.  The team composes of Victor Lacreo, Bryan Punay, Brando Rosales and of course yours truly.

Dual bikes and Spyder helmets!  These are now my favorite people!

A favorite eatery, Giant Store.

waddayamean right equipment?  I didn't even bring the right gears!

I've had two drops.  I actually hate mud actually (yes I doubled the actually for emphasis .  You can get me to cross a lot of things but mud would be my least favorite, my arch-enemy.  And admittedly, it's the most fun drops ever.  

Drop it like it's hot.

I soiled my pants - literally.

As I said, we could've been spending the rainy day inside the safety and comfort of our own homes.  But we didn't and thankfully had another enjoyable day to go down the books with stories to tell.

The crazies that went up the mountain and survived.

*drop photo credits to Mr. Glenn Bellido