A to Z
Written by Rochelle Cuyco
Published by Filipinas Herald (7 May, 2009)
By the time this column comes out, a man named G. Dizon would have reached the Bicol region on his 10th riding day, after having cycled from Aparri, Cagayan. Dizon is bound for Zamboanga, on a trip he calls "A(parri) to Z(amboanga), the Ride of My Life". He rides a mountainbike.
In one of the last text messages I got from him he said the dreaded Bitukang Manok in Quezon province “is nothing but an overrated bully, I did it in less than an hour.” This is not to say he looks at the whole enterprise as a piece of cake. His anticipation of Bitukang Manok and what it turned out to be is a reflection of the many surprises of his journey.
I met Dizon a few nights ago when he passed through my home province of Bulacan. He had started the day from San Manuel, Tarlac, and by the time he reached Guiguinto, Bulacan he had cycled 138kms.
He has been cycling rain or shine, not having any definite itinerary or schedule. Totally unsupported, he carries only a single backpack containing 4 shirts and 3 pairs of shorts. He does his laundry at night when he can, and he begins the day and starts cycling when he is ready. He stops at night when it makes sense to stop, and tries to look for lodging where he finds himself.
Once he found himself in a 6th class municipality that had no commercial lodging places, and gladly accepted the serendipitous kindness of a barangay captain who offered him shelter in the barangay hall.
Another time he had to sleep in a waiting shed, which was beside a 24-hour burger stand. He bought his dinner from the stand, gave the keeper a generous tip, and asked that the fellow keep an eye on him and his bike as he slept.
Most times he gets lucky and finds an affordable and safe place to sleep when night falls.
He does take breaks, sometimes not cycling for a day to let his body recover. He loads on carbohydrates and rides at a relaxed pace, ensuring endurance for the daunting distance still ahead of him.
So far he has been doing no less than 100kms every cycling day. On the day I met him, he would complete a century, 165kms. I was surprised and concerned to find he had no headlight nor a blinker with him. He said he purposely did not bring any to discourage himself from riding at night. He finds himself riding at night anyway, so I insisted he takes my extra blinker.
He is amused when people ask him, "Where did you come from? Where are you going?" He says if he tells them, they do not believe him.
I think a harder question for Dizon is, "Why are you doing this?" Without going into a brief history of his life, he says, in a nutshell, that he needs to do this now before he gets too old. That to me sounds like a carpe diem logic. And as many of you who understand the lure of adventure know, when you are out to seize the day, there is no better time than the present.