VW #44 Revisited

 

While riding my bicycle this morning, I turned down the road going to Brgy. Cadawinonan on a whim. Not far down the road, I spied this yellow VW.
I've come across this VW before. In March, 2018 it was featured on another of my blogs-[Yellow Beetle With a Rack On Top ]

Fun At The Vulcanizing Shops

 

In March of 2021, less than a month from my 69th birthday, I purchased a mountain bike. It wasn't my intention to do my biking off road, but knowing the condition of the roads in this area, a mountain bike seemed a safer option than a road bike. Prior to buying this bicycle, it had been 40 years since I last road one. It would take time to build up my endurance, but I would eventually get up to seven days a week, averaging sometimes 15 miles a day. I would often get in 100 miles a week.

A few months ago, I decided to cut back to five days a week. This would mean - weather permitting - Monday thru Friday. If, for whatever reason, I lost a weekday, I'd make it up on Saturday or Sunday. This past Saturday I was not scheduled to ride, but as I was up early (as usual) I wanted to do an inspection of my bicycle. There it was - a flat front tire. Depending on what causes the flat, sometimes a tire will flatten while I'm on the road and that requires an immediate detour to a vulcanizing shop, of which there are, thankfully, many. Sometimes, the object that causes the flat will be so minor as to be unnoticeable until the next day when I go outside to go on my ride. That was the case this past Saturday.

I was planning to meet a few fellow Americans that morning, so I removed the front wheel, put it in the back of the car to be taken to a vulcanizing shop after breakfast.

As it turned out, the man at the shop said the tube was damaged due to the spokes rubbing the tube. There is a lining, of sorts, around the rim which is supposed to prevent that. Obviously, this one needed to be replaced. This lining wouldn't be something a vulcanizing shop would have, so I decided to wait until a bicycle shop in Dumaguete opened up Monday where I could buy a new tube and liner for the rim.

The bicycle shop doesn't open until 9:00 AM, so I wouldn't be able to get a ride in on Monday. Today, I went outside at 6:00 o'clock to go for my Tuesday ride and all looked OK. Unfortunately, I hadn't gone more than a mile when I got another flat. I was able to flag down a pedicab to take me and my bicycle home. At home, I removed the front wheel - I'm getting good at that. There was a rather nasty looking pointy thing sticking in the tire. I took the tire to yet another vulcanizing shop for repair. Hopefully, I'll be good to go Wednesday morning.

A word of note - the photos of the pedicab and the offending object are from today's adventure. The other two are from earlier flats.

 

#79 or #50 or #18?

 

While attending Palm Sunday services at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church in Dumaguete this morning, I saw this VW Beetle in the parking lot. It looks very much like VW Beetle #50 from July 12, 2018. The only noticeable differences are the wheels. It's also very possible that this one and #50 are the same as VW #18 from January 3, 2017.

 

When Cycling in Philippines........

......it's good to know where the vulcanizing shops are located.

 

The Return of VW#77

 

While out on my morning bicycle ride, I spotted this Volkswagen Beetle as I passed Asian College on Locsin Street. This particular VW is actually the last Beetle I photographed on Palm Sunday of this year..

 

The New App

After posting about yesterday's flat tire adventure I realized that it had been far too long since I last posted anything about my bicycle rides through Dumaguete and Sibulan and I haven't made any comments on the new bicycle app I installed on to my phone.

As I mentioned in a post from March of this year, I purchased a traditional odometer for my bicycle sometime around April, 2022. This odometer has a part connected to a spoke on the front wheel which sends a signal to another part attached to the bicycle frame whenever the wheel makes a revolution. The computer in the odometer uses π (pi) and tire size to calculate the distance traveled with each revolution. This worked well until around July of this year when the bike computer began to malfunction. Although the clock on the device works fine, the odometer was way off in it's measurement of speed and distance. It might show me traveling 80 or 90 kph when it was obvious that that number was impossible.

My first thought was that the battery needed replacing. Replacing the battery did not fix the problem.

In August of this year I installed a phone app which would provide the data I want using GPS. I began using the app on August 3. I've found this app to be so helpful that it has pushed me to ride farther every morning.

As seen in these screen shots, my distance for August was slightly more than 400 miles. My distance for September was just over 404 miles.

This app not only measures distance traveled, but the duration of the ride, the average and maximum speeds, calories expended, the elevation gain (and loss) and the average pace. It even records a video of the ride using Google Maps.

 

Today's Flat Tire Adventure

 

After my bicycle ride yesterday morning, I determined that I only needed about 36 miles, spread over the three remaining days, to achieve 100 miles for the week. My average daily ride for the first half of the week was just over 15 miles. I wasn't certain that I wanted to do 45 miles in the last 3 days, but 12 miles a day shouldn't be a problem.

This morning, about 8 miles into my ride I got a flat rear tire. I think it's been six or eight months since I last got a rear flat. I turned off the bike app I was using and started pushing the bike in search of a vulcanizing shop. Fortunately, I only had to walk 1/4 mile.

As it turned out, there were 2 pin-prick punctures. Two patches. The cost for the repair was ₱60 ($1.06 USD). I felt it was worth a ₱40 tip (0.71 USD).

With my tire repaired, I turned on the bike app and continued my ride, getting a total of 13.7 miles for today.

The Dumaguete Airport Road Bridge

I mentioned on one of my blogs that Google Maps Can Be So @#%$ing Lame. At that time, I had attempted to add a couple of local bridges to Google Maps only to be told that the edits could not be verified. As it turned out, those bridges were eventually added to the Map without my getting credit. At least I was finally able to upload some photos of the bridges.

Now today, I found myself in a part of Dumaguete where I had never ridden my bicycle, and came upon Dgte. Airport Road Bride. I took photos of the bridge and attempted to add its location. The edit was not accepted.

I don't understand how Google Maps can reject an edit when photographic proof is provided. At any rate, I'm posting the photos here. Maybe one day Google Maps will "aggregate its fecal material".

 

Palm Sunday VW

We were on our way to attend Palm Sunday serves this morning when I spotted this VW parked near the church.

 

2,500 Miles

I mentioned in my blog post from Sunday, that during that morning bicycle ride, the odometer on my bicycle passed the 4,000 kilometer point. I also noted that when my odometer reached 4024 km that number would translate to 2,500 miles.

So, to commemorate that....um.....milestone, I'm posting a photo of the odometer at 4024 km and a photo of where I was when I reached that number. Metro Dumaguete College on E.J. Blanco Dr.

 

4,000 Kilometers

While out on my morning bicycle ride today, my odometer went past the 4,000 kilometer mark. This is not the distance I've ridden the bicycle since I bought it two years ago, but the distance ridden since I purchased the odometer. I don't have an exact date on when I bought the odometer, but as near as I can calculate, that would have been at the time I replaced my tires. That would put the date at around the last week of March or first week of April, 2022.

So, the 4,000 kilometers were put on in about one year's time.

The first photo is, of course, the odometer reaching the 4,000 kilometer mark. The other photos are of my location when I hit the mark. I'm making an effort now to keep track of the date.

In a couple of days, I'll be reaching another milestone, if you will. I'll soon be passing the 4024 km mark which will translate to 2,500 miles. I'll blog on that as well.

 

Two Volkswagens in One Day - Part Two

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I hadn't come upon a "new" VW in the area since November 2022 when I came upon an orange VW on E J.Blanco Dr. As luck would have it, I came upon two this morning while out on my bicycle ride thru Camanjac.

I felt that each VW deserved it's own blog post.

After photographing the blue VW, I headed back to the Diversion Rd. to continue my ride. I was nearing the intersection with the Dumaguete-Palinpinon Rd where I intended to turn around, when I spotted a white VW on the opposite side of the road. I travel this area several times a week and this was the first time I'd seen this particular car, so unlike the blue one I discovered moments before, this one did not appear to be derelict.

I crossed the road and proceeded to photograph my discovery.

When I had finished my photo-shoot, the owner of the VW appeared from out of nowhere. As can be seen from my photos, the owner isn't seen. He appeared to be disturbed that I was photographing his car. His English was only slightly better than my Bisaya so I had a difficult time explaining my hobby to him. I even showed to him the photos of the blue VW I had just taken, but he seemed to think from what I said that I lived in Katrina Homes 2 Subdivision. We talked for a few minutes. I don't know how much of our conversation he finally understood, other than my name and that I lived near the Magatas Barangay Hall.

At any rate, here are the photos of VW Beetle #76.

 

Two Volkswagens in one Day - Part One

Just when I thought that I'd managed to take a photo of every Volkswagen located in the Dumaguete area I happened upon two this morning while out on my bicycle ride.

I spotted the first - the blue one #75 - by traveling down a road which I had never traveled before. I had taken a detour off the Diversion road in the Camanjac area. I was near the Katrina Homes 1 Subdivision (I'd been that way before) but I had never ridden out toward the Katrina Homes 2 Subdivision. It's not currently shown on Google Maps. As I was passing what I believe to be the Fatima Chapel, I came upon the blue VW shown in these photos.

This was the first "new" spotting since November 2022 when I came upon an orange VW on E J.Blanco Dr

As I returned to the Diversion Rd - in an area where I frequently ride - I came upon my 2nd VW of the day. That will be the subject of my next blog post.