Ahon CC

We planned the day ahead of time and it had the makings of an epic adventure. Daraitan, right where the Tinipak River starts. Four riders. Coffee. And a whole bunch of good vibes.

Initially, we had thought of biking all the way. Marlowe, Ara, and I were, after all, used to climbing the Sierra Madre. Trasienne, on the other hand, had never done it before and was not mentally prepared to grind her way up to Sierra Madre hotel and then some, all the way to Daraitan.

With that in mind, we decided to drive to and park at the hotel, and descend to the river from there. It was a good plan for people who had nothing to prove and just wanted to have a good time in nature.

My alarm rang at 4:30 AM on Tuesday morning, but I actually woke up before it did. Having showered the night before, I changed into my riding clothes, made sure I had all I needed for the trip in my Chrome bag, and rode out to Marlowe's place (which we refer to as the Budol Bahay). In less than half an hour, I was being greeted by Graham and Gracie, Marlowe's dogs. Enne arrived soon after.

We loaded our bikes in the bed of the pickup and drove to Tanay to pick up Ara. The sun was rising and it felt a bit strange to head to Rizal in an automobile, but I didn't let that bother me. Excitement built up in me as we got closer to our destination.

Ara and her bubbly energy lifted our moods even more. With grapes and bananas from the vendor on the sidewalk, we drove up to Sierra Madre hotel. Upon arrival, we took everything we needed and packed them in bar bags and saddlebags. Fruits and tools in Marlowe's pack, and coffee brewing equipment in mine. Soon we were good to go.

Descending to Sampaloc is always a joy. Usually, we'd be relishing the speed as a reward for crushing our legs on the way up, but there was none of that at this time. Instead, I was itching to run into some gradients. I was not disappointed, after consecutive descents, we finally ran into some good ol' walls on the path toward Daraitan. What used to be a dirt road was now paved; perfect for bikes.

I tackled the climbs like second nature, keeping an eye out for how Enne would perform. She was a real trooper. She stopped to rest once but pedaled her way up like a champ. Maybe we should have biked all the way?

When the pavement vanished and turned into dirt (or light gravel), I was very excited. It was time to test the capabilities of my Fairweather for CX tires. Unsurprisingly, they did great. Probably one of the best bike upgrades I've ever made.

Marlowe's gravel bike had no problems with the climb and terrain, obviously. Ara's had problems with her rear brake. Thankfully, she made it down safely. Enne was riding on skinny, 25c road tires, so she had to be careful on the dirt. But I had no doubts that she'd have no problems, simply because those skinny tires were the toughest road tires you can find: Continental Gatorskins.

Eventually, we reached Daraitan. We were greeted by the view of the river and the mountains behind it. It was enough to get our hearts pounding. Instantly, I felt freer. Away from the city and the stress that comes with living in it. For the next few hours, there was only peace and joy.

The Velosamba cycling sneakers were released early this March in the UK and US markets. I was excited to see my favorite Adidas silhouette get an SPD version (DISCLAIMER OF MY BIAS), so without second-guessing, I went to the UK site and copped a pair. They finally arrived, and I've already used them for about 75km.

TL;DR: I lied. It doesn't suck. Believe the hype.

If you're still here...

Adidas UK shipped the shoes to my forwarder of choice for free. My card was charged 7,038PHP (100 GBP), which is not bad considering that regular Sambas retail at 5,300 PHP. Shipping to my doorstep through Shipping Cart cost me 1,919 PHP. The Crank Brothers compatible cleats I bought from Shopee cost 215 PHP. My total expense is 8,957 PHP. This is by no means a cheap price to pay for a pair of bicycling shoes, so I wasn't surprised that many people hated on the shoe.

I've read plenty of commentary in the Manila scene about the Sambavelo not being worth the price. People ripped into it for just being a commuter that won't support your foot well, the gum sole not being durable enough, and the shoe not being suitable for long rides. It seemed to me like baseless conjecture; none of these people has bought or used or even seen the shoe in person. But is there any truth to it?

It's probably just grumpy keyboard warriors who secretly want it for themselves attacking the shoe and anybody who buys it because they couldn't get it before it sold out or because they can't afford it.

COST

Let's exclude the cost of shipping in the value-for-money discussion. The shoe was released only in specific markets, and getting it outside of those markets will cost you more -- there are no two ways about it. Whether you are willing to/capable of or not of paying for it is a different matter. If this were released in your local market at the same SRP, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

The shoe is worth it in my humble but correct opinion at its SRP of 100 GBP or 120 USD or +- 7,000 PHP depending on the exchange rate. If you'd pay full price for both a new pair of Sambas and full price for a pair of Shimano MTB shoes, copping a pair of Velosambas makes sense. It is, after all, the best of both worlds.

FORM

This is a moot point. The Samba is a classic; ergo, it's widely accepted as a good-looking shoe. People have their tastes, and some might think it just looks okay, but if you think that the Samba is an ugly shoe, I don't think we can be friends... kidding.

That said, there's nothing visually remarkable about the shoe. It looks almost exactly like a regular Samba. The only visual difference is the gum sole, which is thicker to hide two-bolt cleats, and the band on the tongue to keep bunny ears in place. Oh, and the 3 Stripes are reflective, both for style and safety.

FIT

It fits true to size. I'm an 8UK with Adidas. While that's the case, the Velosamba does not feel the same as a regular Samba. Sure, the upper and inserts are just as snug and comfy, but the midsole is stiff. It doesn't flex much because it's reinforced with a plate similar to a regular cycling shoe. Some people might prefer to go half a size up and wear thicker sports socks.

FUNCTION

The shoe feels great while you're clipped in. My foot felt very supported and secure, which is the opposite of what naysayers said. I couldn't tell the difference between the Velosamba and my Shimano XC3 in terms of support while clipped in.

At first, my foot wasn't as comfy on my pedals because the Velosambas are wider than my XC3s, and they were rubbing on my cranks. I was having a bit of difficulty clipping out too. But fixing the position of my cleats eliminated these issues, and I was pedaling without any sole rub on my cranks and twisting out with ease.

This eliminates any unfounded concern that the gum soles wouldn't last long and would rip from clipping in and out. I use Crank Brothers Candy pedals, and with the cleats positioned correctly (I prefer them all the way back, closer to the midfoot to avoid numbing in my forefoot and toes, and as far to the medial side of the shoe), there's barely any contact with the gum sole. The little contact isn't enough to wreck your soles any faster than walking would.

In terms of walking, the shoe is better than your typical MTB shoe. Even with an MTB shoe, there's still a bit of clacking as the cleats still hit the ground. Granted, it's not as horrendous as road cleats, but it can still be annoying. There's none of that with the Velosamba. Overall, I was comfortable walking to and fro in these bad boys.

CLASS

The shoe is sold as a commuter, and it certainly lives up to its classification. When we're back to working in the office, this would be my daily shoe. I'd go as far as saying that I'd wear the shoe to anywhere in the metro that I'd go to on my bike. Like, say, to visit a pretty awesome girl in the South area...

Gone are the days of packing your sneaker of choice and switching shoes at your destination. But is it more than that; can the Velosamba fight outside of its class? Can it be an adventure shoe? The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is that any shoe can be an adventure ride shoe. Heck, sandals, which technically aren't even shoes, can be adventure ride shoes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

10/10. I love the Velosamba, but that's a given since I love the Samba in the first place. I love it so much that it restored my faith in Adidas after years of substandard and just dull, repetitive sneaker releases. Even Yeezys got boring. But objectively, the shoe isn't for everyone. The shoe is only suitable for you if:

You use two-bolt cleat pedals

You plan to use two-bolt cleat pedals

If you like the Samba but don't fit the above criteria and:

You're a fixed-gear rider who only believes in toe cages or straps

You only use flat pedals and are a hater

THEN BUY A REGULAR PAIR OF SAMBAS AND LET PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE SHOE ENJOY IT. NO ONE NEEDS YOUR COMMENTARY. PEACE.

Hello people, my name is James. I am neither a pro cyclist nor a barista, so don’t take my opinions on either subject too seriously. I just love brewing/drinking coffee and riding my bike; I think the two are a match made in heaven. Not surprisingly, a lot of people think so too. 

To start things off, allow me to chronologically share 100-km bike routes I’ve taken within the past seven months of cycling. 

1. Lower Antipolo, Caloocan, North Caloocan. 101 km. 

This was my first metric century ride, a month into cycling. I had planned a coffee delivery route and a schedule and was fully expecting to make it to each stop in good time. On paper, it didn’t seem that hard. How naïve I was. What the map doesn’t tell you is how horrible the roads are, how hot the weather is, or how crowded with trucks some streets are. Add to that the fact that Komoot is not a good on-the-fly navigation tool, and I was on the fast lane to disaster. Getting lost in a totally janky area on the bumpiest roads was not fun at all.

I was dying, but I kept at it. I was a noob who refused to admit defeat. After getting out of the sticks known as North Caloocan, I hit the mythical wall and bonked. As I thought that things couldn’t get any worse, it rained. Thankfully I was close to a Jollibee so I refueled and let the rain pass. Later that day, I did laps close to home just to complete 100 km since I was just a couple of km short.

4/10. It was totally my fault for being unprepared, but this ride sucked. I’d give it a 3/10 but there’s a bonus point since it was my first long ride.

2. Tagaytay via Daang Hari and Paliparan. 140 km. 

Tagaytay seems to be a test of courage or rite of passage that every budding cyclist has to undertake. And it is quite an undertaking. However which way you slice the cake, you’ll have to climb. If gradients aren’t your thing, you’d quickly question why you’re doing this in the first place. 

Like every long ride (I know this now), it requires adequate preparation, i.e. time, weather conditions, road and traffic conditions, hydration and snacks, and physical fitness. I was more prepared than I was the first century ride, but we started late and therefore finished late. 

I had good company during this ride and being with them made the exhaustion bearable. It was hot on the way up and the traffic was dreadful on the way back, but we survived thanks to Pocari Sweat and Choco Mucho. 

7/10. This was a good “beta test” for me. Could’ve easily been an 8/10 but the Mang Inasal at the roundabout ran out of inasal. I got the last piece, but Jilson and Dan had to settle for something else. 

3. Pililia Windmills via Binangonan. 114 km.

This was my first time riding with a large group. There were seven of us. As this was in the same week as my ride to Tagaytay, I came into this fairly confident and with high morale (aside from the fact that I was the seventh wheel). It slowly got lower as mishap after mishap occurred; a flat tire, a broken chain, another flat tire... 

On this ride, I learned that it’s essential to have an idea of each person’s capabilities so you can set the right pace and adjust where and when necessary. We all had different types of bikes, different fitness levels, and different experiences biking on the road. It couldn’t be helped that some were dropped and others had to wait. In this regard, it was a tough and long day and toward the end of it, I was itching to be home.

6/10. At the time, climbing Pililia felt like treading through mud, but making it to the top was very rewarding. Good food and good conversation made up for aching legs.

4. San Jose Del Monte (Fake Eiffel Tower) via McArthur Highway. 111 km.

This started out as an easy ride on flats. We were all prepared and even the traffic and heat didn’t hamper our confidence. Once we were out of the highway and passing through barangays, the views became nicer. There was less pollution too. We saw the fake Eiffel Tower and met a couple of lolos who were still going strong. It was a good day that was only made better by a tasty, cheap, meal. 

By this time, my fitness level and technique were steadily improving, and I was starting to enjoy climbing more. The way back was hilly, but it was no trouble for me. The cause of stress was, as usual, the traffic on the way back. If you can help it, don’t ever pass through Caloocan! It’s the worst. Commonwealth is also a horrible place to ride a bike.

7/10. Good times with good friends! The stop-and-go, clip-and-unclip traffic was a bummer. AG cramped up, but proud of him for powering through it and clocking in his first 100-km ride.

5. Tagaytay via Nuvali and Cardiac Hill. 136 km.

Second time riding to Tagaytay. This time, we rode out early. Iver and I met up in Makati and rode straight to Nuvali where we were to meet the rest of the guys. All was going well and we were maintaining a steady pace, till we made a mistake and met an accident. 

Instead of making a right to Greenfield, we went straight to CALAX. We were none the wiser, so it felt strange when workers started screaming at us. While Iver was looking at them, one of the security personnel near the toll gate stepped in front of me. I had to stop and since Iver was still looking at the guys yelling at us, his front wheel hit my rear and he went over the bars. When I felt the impact, I looked back and I kid you not, I saw him go over in slow motion! He landed on his shoulder and he burst an eyebrow; thank God for helmets! 

As he sat with his blood dripping on the pavement, I was torn between taking a photo and making sure he was okay. I went with the latter, but later on, he told me that I should’ve snapped the photo.  What a guy! 

Cardiac Hill was a bit of a challenge. In fact, it was the hardest part of the way to Leslie’s. I stopped at the base of the hill for a moment just to steel myself and went up the hill without stopping. Slowly, but surely. 

8/10. As usual, the traffic was the worst. Sorelle was in so much pain that going all the way back to Manila on two wheels was out of the question. It was getting late too, so we decided to stop in Bacoor and take a Transportify back to manila. The first and only time (so far) I did the forbidden technique, but it was the smart thing to do.

6. Pisong Kape via Sumulong and Teresa. 103 km.

One of those rides where we didn’t have a fixed destination. We just wanted to go up Antipolo and down Teresa and back, and maybe climb to the windmills if we felt like it. 

A fairly easy ride up Sumulong Highway and a fun time descending to Teresa. It wasn’t all good vibes though, since one of the guys punctured a tire on a descent, which we think caused his crash. He was okay, but his brand new cycling jersey wasn’t.

We made it all the way to Tanay and had breakfast silog there, and decided to head to Pisong Kape at the base of Pililia. When it showed signs of rain, we decided to turn back. More mishaps. Someone got a flat, and another one dropped a chain and had FD issues on the way to the climb to Antipolo from Teresa. We got split up at some point too.

5/10. This is what’s referred to as a bad juju ride. Hot, traffic, and a ton of things we’d rather not experience on the road. I stopped and waited for a good half hour at Decathlon Masinag, but left and rushed home since I needed to poop, lol.

7. Nuvali via a straight and narrow road through barangays and National Highway. 102 km.

It was the day before heading to Baguio for the holidays and I made brunch plans in Alabang with Elle. I was really excited to bike to her but more so to see her. If I left the house late, it would be hot and traffic would be terrible, so I decided to leave at dawn and make a long ride out of it and go all the way to Nuvali. 

I didn’t want to take the service road like last time, so I followed the map through I don’t even know what road this is. All I know is that it was straight and narrow and clogged with tricycles. It spanned several barangays in Pasig, Taguig, Pateros, Sucat, Alabang, etc., and eventually led me to the National Highway. 

It was all flat and this was my first ride on carbon wheels. I was riding solo, so I could go as fast or as slow as I wanted. I made it to Nuvali in 2:20. After resting for half an hour, I took the same route to Alabang and was there in 1:30. On the way back, I took the service road.

ELLEven/10. The route sucked both ways but it was a good day with Elle. What else can I say?

8. Macabebe Beach via Obando. 175 km.

The flattest route I’ve taken, both literally and figuratively. Levi and I rode out from the Mandaluyong circle at 3:30 AM and cut through Manila to get to Monumento. From there, we opted to avoid McArthur Highway and instead took the more scenic, Obando way. I say scenic, but in reality, all we saw was black. We only stopped to buy pandesal and to navigate. As the sun rose, we found ourselves getting closer to the longest 24 km of my life. 

It was a hard left turn from the highway about a km from the arc of Pampanga. The streets were narrow, and we passed through about four barangays. There were a lot of cars on the road, which was quite irritating because we had to stop when they did. The straights never seemed to end; in fact, I went “Look Ma, no hands!” for about what seemed like a couple of km. As we neared the beach though, we were rewarded by breathtaking views on both sides. The beach itself was mediocre and we stayed only for half an hour to eat our pandesal.

The way back was more difficult. You guessed it, it was due to the heat and the traffic and the horrendous roads in Bulakan. We stopped for coffee and to shield ourselves from the burning sun a few times, but overall we kept a steady, okay let’s be honest, frantic pace. We got to Makati a little over 1:00 PM. Levi and I made it in less than 10 hours. With stops. I was spent.

9/10. This was quite an experience. I always wanted to try a purely flat ride, so I did. It was boring. I’m not saying it was easy -- far from it. Being on flats takes a certain type of mindset and discipline, not to mention you have to be strong. The effort it takes to get from point A to B in a specific time is the same back and forth. Unlike climbing, there’s no descending that comes after. You can’t freewheel down the mountain and recover. I learned a lot on this ride, one of the things being that I like gradients more than watts. 

9. Tagaytay via RevPal, Sungay, and Sampaloc. 110 km. 

Tagaytay take three, route three. This time, we drove to Alabang and started there. What we should have done is start in Nuvali. But Luz insisted on starting in Alabang. This was not a good idea, lol. I want to preface this with the statement that as it was, the planned route was a killer. It didn’t help that I had little sleep and had a hard workout the day before. Another bad idea.

Let me give you a TL;DR: We climbed up RevPal from Nuvali, went down to Taal via Sungay, and climbed back up to Tagaytay proper via Sampaloc. From there, we went back down to Nuvali via Cardiac Hill. 

Easy on paper, not so much in action. RevPal is steep, but not impossibly difficult. Part of the difficulty is avoiding all the other cyclists occupying the road, weaving their way up (known as nag tatahi) while staying out of the way of cars. At some point, my right knee started acting up, adding to the difficulty level of the ascent. 

What was unexpected though was how scary the descent on Sungay was. I won’t get into detail, but suffice it to say that we should have taken it as a sign when we saw that other riders were dismounting so they could walk down... That said, what an adrenaline rush!

The climb up Sampaloc was tough with an aching knee (which by the way has no ACL), but thankfully there were a lot of trees and cover. Not my best performance, but I still made it up without stopping. The descent from Tagaytay proper was meh. From Nuvali, we rode with our friends who had the brilliant idea to park there. I slept on the way home. 

9/10. I officially dubbed our group Mountain Goats after this ride. We have a lot of rides that are less than 100 km, but we often reach over 1000 meters of elevation gain. On this outing, we hit 1,640. I wonder how I’ll fair if I do this again in good condition.

10. Sierra Madre Loop via Teresa. 118 km. 

I think this is the most fun Grand Fondo I’ve done. It’s the highest I’ve climbed in the fastest time. 1740 m in 5:43:28. Arguably the most fun I’ve had on a bike. The climbs could kill you if you don’t pace yourself, but the descents were so rewarding. 

The only sucky part about this ride was motorcyclists who go up on their underbone bikes and bank the corners like they own the place. They don’t signal when they turn. They take sudden U-turns. They overtake you, swerve, and suddenly stop in front of you. They are a danger to themselves and others. In fact, Levi mentioned that when she was there, a guy on a Mio overshot a corner and he and his bike went under the guard rail onto the cliff. Thank God he was alive.

10/10. The chicsilog was made even more delicious by the view from the top of the mountain. 

10 + 1. Laguna Loop. 192 km.

Laguna Loop is fun they said. You should try it, they said.

Well, I did. And I hated it. THEY LIED. This is by far the worst Fondo I’ve done. It was fun climbing Antipolo via Cabrera Road. It was fun going down Teresa. It was fun going up Pililia (which was so much easier than the first time). It was fun going down Mabitac. And that’s where the fun ended.

From that point, it was flat. It was hot. It was traffic. And the drivers were so bad. By bad, I mean jempoy bad. By jempoy bad, I mean trying to ride you off the road and driving at your side with their window down to argue with you. It was not fun. Have I said that it wasn’t fun?

2/10. Not gonna lie, I don’t even consider this ride as a Grand Fondo (which is why it’s a +1 and not a solid 11); the only part of the ride that counts is the first part with the ascents and descents. The rest was just really getting it over with. One point for that first part and another for the good company. WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN.