We went around the Batangas peninsula, really the pan of the panhandle, over the weekend in our road bikes. Met a local rider, Ka Berto, about 3 miles into the ride and ended up doing the loop with him. He regalled us with his stories of riding his bike from Luneta to The Palace in the Sky in Tagaytay. And, bombing his bikes from 14 foot drops. And, his kid being the valedictorian of STI. I'll look for him again this weekend.

After leaving the Matabungkay shore, the ride flattens out South until you make the turn East for Balayan. There's a nice hill which will get you aerobic pretty quick, and lets you down softly at around 40 kph. No tight turns, but it rolls downward.

At the bottom of the hill, and maybe 2 more miles out, we met Ka Berto, who initially wanted to escort us to the next turn, but decided to loop around with us. The next 10 miles or so is flat, winding and very scenic. Heading North, you encounter trucks festooned with sugar cane, and fields of the same. I think we crossed two rivers, and the roads, I remember, were lined with trees.

Once you get to your turn West towards Nasugbu, the road begins to narrow. There's not much to see, as this area is a bit more populated. It's a short 14 kilometers until the turn South, which is punctuated by a Shell gas station, and a nice break before a climb Ka Berto and his kin call "Little Hong Kong".

Back in the saddle, you hit the town of Lian, which slows you down to a pace where you can appreciate small town Sundays. There are plenty of bakeries, and a bike repair shop here, so you should be in good shape.

Then you meet the same ridge you climbed in the earlier part of the ride; this time, it's a lot steeper. The ascent (Little Hong Kong) is about 2 miles from Lian and, when taken North to South, will drop you down a winding tight line at what is a manageable 50 kph. Had to slow down here, as the curves are narrow, and I can't go wide in any of the turns. But the climb itself was decent, as I hollowed out.

A few miles from the descent, you reach Matabungkay. The stretch of road is pretty open, so the sun will beat down on your neck. All told, around 48 kilometers. I feel like a metric century next time. maybe reach Calatagan and back.