Biking

Riding a bicycle is a skill that you will not forget once you learn it. After a very long time, I decided to bike again last week and went to those back roads that my summer buddies and I used to take in our town of Minglanilla.

My last bike was a BMX and I had it until I was 17 years old. I remember that it was a no frills chrome-colored bike that I personally assembled using money that an aunt from the US gave me after seeing how I often had to repair my old bike that I used for stunts that I would not want my kids to do.

Going back to last week’s attempt to visit the old places that my friends once went to, I realized the importance of the gears that my new bike has and how they seem to help you look fitter than you are.

But then climbs, although not so steep, are really a challenge. Unlike when I was a teenager, I also realized that it was easier to stop and get off the bike during the uphill climbs. Yeah, when you get older you seem to realize that your ego is not worth saving if you feel you’re going to get a heart attack doing something hehehe…

I have set some goals for the next several months as I embark again on this old passion of mine.

No more big talk about racing around tracks that has left me with a remembrance of five stitches under my right eye. I bike to exercise and to enjoy the pleasure of breathing the rural air once again without breezing through the place inside the confines of an air-conditioned four-wheeled vehicle.

If you can’t run, bike.

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It has surprised many when I tell them that I am not a big fan of boxing champ Manny Pacquiao. I have also been quite vocal about my dislike of his political ambitions, which I believe is not the right path for him to take if he is after serving the public.

But, despite that, I felt very bad when Italian-American comedian Adam Carolla insulted Pacquiao and the Filipino people.

A lot have already raised hell about the issue and Carolla had been man enough to apologize for what he said, but of course, the damage has been done.

Maybe Mr. Carolla does not know that more than entertaining his countrymen in his fights, Pacquiao also contributes to peace and order as almost everybody is glued to the TV screen to watch the bout resulting to a drastic drop in the crime rate.

Maybe Mr. Carolla can try to take a walk in the toughest neighborhoods during Pacquiao fights to see and experience what I mean. You’ll be safe Mr. Carolla unless the people in the place would know you were the one who insulted the boxing hero and the people of this nation.

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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings to Tourism Sec. Ace Durano, Col. Jay Tindoy and Cavalier Pards Espejo, who all turned a year older last Saturday.

The same goes to Nissan Cebu’s Peterson Yap and PAL’s Pinky Mag-iba-Balagtas, who celebrated last Sunday, and to Morella Carlos-Noblejas and my mistah Joey Dalauidao, who celebrated last Monday.

Camille de Guzman, a big sports fan, celebrated her birthday yesterday along with Parian’s Henry Lim Uy.

Today’s greetings go to Joan Young-Tiu and my cousin Bernardita Versales-Aves.

More power to all of you! -  THE FREEMAN