Our First Ever Family Long Ride

130 kilometers on the road but actually,
it was more like 150 km.

This ride happened in March 22, 2014. That day was supposed to be an EB (Eyeball) ride with the Cebu MCP members to Felixberto in Balamban. Everybody was busy I supposed so it didn't pushed through on the last minute. We also didn't properly setup the schedule and everyone didn't really confirm 100%. So, what happened was a memorable family ride with my wife and daughter.

The ride started from Mandaue City, then to the Transcentral Highway to Adventure Cafe, up to Balamban Town proper Gaisano Balamban, down south to Toledo City, turned to Naga City to the east, Minglanilla, drop by at Tubod Flowing Water then back to Mandaue City via SRP. Around 150 kilometers on the road, our first time as a family. The Dumaguete City ride was only me and my wife. I left my daughter under my cousin's care.

With that, let's start the story which I would tell in pictures. Captions are provided. :)

Time check was 6:05 AM, I checked the oil, brakes, lights, tires and found everything was fine.
Odo initial reading is 1,631 KM.

Early morning traffic flow in Mandaue. You couldn't help but appreciate the timer-initiated city traffic lights. Hopefully, all traffic lights would be like this because it is really helpful for all motorists.

I was alone at Shell in Lahug. I stayed for a couple of minutes but no MCP member showed up. Before I went to Shell, my wife wanted to come along but I didn't let them because the MCP members might do a higher speed than she would like. Thinking about it when I was there alone, I decided to get my wife and daughter with me and I planned to take them to Felixberto's Burger and Hotdog in Balamban, a popular rider's den.

So, I texted them to prepare and I went home to fetch them. There and then, I have a photographer/videographer. LOLZ! Here's her first photo on our journey, the Marco Polo Hotel which marked the uphill road that we were already travelling.

Mountain road views are always relaxing and beautiful. We were off to a good start and  a nice sky. We hoped the weather would stay that way.

These mountain views were already in the mountain part of Cebu City in a barangay called Busay.

We were on an adventure ride and so we brought along an adventure buddy, Finn from Adventure Time.

Green landscapes are always an attractive place to take photos. My family posed with those as background.

Yours truly wouldn't want to leave the place without a photo. :)

The world is so beautiful yet why are we destroying it?

Next stopover was at Cafe Bayer. It was unfortunately closed. I was planning to have our breakfast there but no luck.

Cafe Bayer has a swimming pool before but it was difficult for them to maintain because of mud slides.
So it became a fish pond (sort of).

And because Cafe Bayer was close, we decided to move uphill (more) after nature's call since they have a clean CR. :)

A few meters after Cafe Bayer, you will see sweet corn vendors.
They are the famous sweet corns of Busay so we bought some.

We knew that "Caloy" was in Cebu that day but we under estimated "him" because it was only a tropical depression. But then, it became a little scary to go uphill because the sky was getting darker.

We didn't knew this was what riders call the Red Cliff so we didn't stop for a family photo.

Now the fogs were getting closer. 8:00 AM fog, only Caloy was to blame. :(

It looked like Caloy heard us and the winds grew stronger as well. Scary indeed.

More uphill and now the fogs were starting to show up on the roads.

The ride was feeling like getting gloomy. I didn't know if my wife and daughter also felt the same. The road was quiet, the sky was getting darker and the fogs added more drama. lolz!

But then again, because of nature's beauty, it mixed my feelings with gloominess and somewhat reflective about my life. Okay, I was riding and I should be concentrating on the road even if there was no other vehicles around.

More uphill and the fogs were all over plus the temperature was dropping significantly and I was starting to feel like my hands were getting numb.

But we were fighters and we didn't realize we already reached the famous Adventure Cafe. So, we stopped over and checked the place.

Fogs were still all over the place so some views were obscured. Nevertheless, we were happy that at least, if Caloy get's stronger, we were already under a strong building. :)

I was able to snap a photo of there signage in their zipline area but after taking the photo, maybe 3-5 minutes later, the sign was gone because of the thick fog.

The weather may not be looking good but Mesha still had to pose. :)

And another family picture.

Adventure Cafe also had their own version of "Love Locks" of Paris.

A couple of minutes later and breakfast was served.

This coffee looked tempting but I didn't give in or my palpitations would attack me. lolz

Is the view better with a fog or not?

Foggy background.

The weather wasn't clear and I said that we should go back home before the weather becomes uglier but my wife was brave to tell me to just proceed to the western side. I was hesitant but my wife looked to be eager so she won and new plan was made, go to Balamban and Toledo City, two towns we haven't been yet. Some bikers at Felixberto. The fog was really thick at that moment so we decided to stay for a couple of minutes because there was almost zero visibility.

After a couple of minutes, the fogs were getting clearer although they were still there like these foggy twisty roads.

The fog thickened and lessened and back and forth. :(

This was a really deep curve and we were riding downhill already. Thankfully, there were no fogs at this level of the mountains already but there were a lot of deep curves and we're going downhill. Mesha's brakes were taking a beating because she's automatic so engine brake was useless.

We can't find any CRs so nature's call at the side of the roads. lolz!

Finally, we reached Balamban Gaisano after a long trip down from the mountains of Balamban.

I was not familiar with the place so I gassed up, just in case we could not find any gas stations along the road.

Then we proceed to Toledo City. Green landscapes couldn't escape my eyes.

We would've went inside this church but there was a wedding being celebrated so we didn't proceed.

We saw this small seashore and we thought we would stop for a while to rest a little bit.

Then we continue down south and Caloy was still spreading his presence.

We then saw another church, we didn't really know where we were. Were we in Toledo or Balamban, we didn't care. lolz. Asked for protection from the Big Guy above.

The power lines in these areas were impressive. Unlike in the cities where the power lines were mostly made of woods.

Then, we saw Gaisano Toledo.

We knew that there was a road from Toledo to Naga but we didn't knew where exactly it was so we asked some locals. They pointed us to this corner where we also saw a jeepney. Look at that!

Amazing roads and views. Wow!

Then we arrived at this junction where a nice church was built. Gorgeous, isn't it?

When we reached Naga, my wife told me why not rest a little in one of the famous resorts there. What I remembered then was the Tubod Flowing Water in Minglanilla. When we arrived there, I forgot that my wallet was empty so I left them in the resort, they took their snacks and I went back to the town (Minglanilla) to find an ATM. They opted to eat the sweet corn we bought in Balamban as well.

After they took the sweet corns, they took some photos in the resort and then a few minutes later, I arrived as well.

Can you guess what the monkeys were doing here? lolz

The resort internal designs were nice.

Rest and recreation. :)

One of the pools. :)

They also have a canteen where they sold value meals so we bought food for our lunch.

Our princess couldn't wait to get wet.

Pool for the kids.

Panoramic view of the pools. They have 4 pools all in all.

Nice little bridge.

Another panoramic view in a different angle.

Only our princess got wet in the pool. Me and wife only relaxed. After that, we prepared to get back home.

But before leaving, it's nice to have a nice family picture in Tubod.

On our way back home at SRP.

Approaching SRP tunnel.

And out of the tunnel. :)

Finally, it's good to be back home.

Along the way, we saw this KTM Duke 200. Nice bike. :)

Finally, we're home safe and sound! :)

Final odo reading. :)

Ride Report:
Total Kilometers travelled: 150KM
Gas: ~3.5 liters
So, Fuel Consumption: ~42 KM/L
Sweet Corn: Php150
Breakfast at Adventure Cafe: Php382
Tubod Entrance: Php120 (adult) x 2 and Php60 (child)
Lunch at Tubod: Php100 (value meal) x 2, our princess' lunch was her left over from Adventure Cafe
Gas (~Php50/L):  Php175

Total Expenses: ~Php1,207.00

And that was it. Totally memorable because it was our first family long ride.

Ride Safe! Ride Scoopy! Godspeed!