Bicycle Ride to the Valencia Monkey Sanctuary.

 

Being retired, I try to keep busy by pursuing a few hobbies, one of which is bicycle riding, and another is photography. I combine the two in order to pursue a third hobby - posting photographs to Google Maps.

Not so long ago, I began riding along the upper portions of Rovira Drive. That area is heading toward the bundok (mountain) and is quite an invigorating sprint. I'd frequently ridden up the road to a friend's house - about 4 kilometers from my home. Looking at Google Maps, I set my sights on the Palinpinon Barangay Hall.

From looking at the map, I learned that not too far from the Palinpinon Barangay Hall is the Buayahan Bridge. On the morning that I road to the Barangay Hall, I considered going on to the bridge, but frankly, the climb had worn me out and didn't believe I could continue on.

A few days after that ride, I learned that the Valencia Monkey Sanctuary is located at the bridge and I decided to condition myself to make the ride.

According to Google Maps, the bridge (and monkey sanctuary) is 8 kilometers from my place - making the round trip 16 kilometers - or 10 miles. As far as distance goes,10 miles is within my range. However, also according to Google Maps, my location is 21 meters above sea level and the bridge/sanctuary is a whopping 166 meters above sea level. That's a pretty good climb for an old fart like myself.

The first part of the week, I did a couple of 10 mile rides along the Diversion Road to prepare myself. I took off at 6:00 AM this morning, determined to make the ride. From my previous ride to the Brgy. Hall, I knew I'd be taking mini rest stops once I entered the bundok.

Thankfully, I made it.

I had hoped that there would be monkeys feeding near the bridge when I arrived, but I wasn't really expecting them there, however. I had been told that the monkeys only get close to the bridge when hungry. The odds of my arriving at feeding time were slim. I didn't mind. I was able to post photos of the bridge and the sanctuary sign onto Google Maps, and the ride itself was an accomplishment.

As I wrote above, Google Maps says the destination was 16 kilometers (10 miles) but according to the odometer on my bicycle, the trip was 15.29 km (9.5 miles). Either way, the ride was a personal best for me, considering the uphill climb. Besides, it was all downhill on the trip home.

 

City Pound Bridge

A friend recently told me of a road located near his new house. Prior to his moving into his house, he had never been down said road. He also told me of a bridge on the road that crosses the Banica River.

One end of this road starts at the intersection of Rovira Drive and the Dumaguete-Palinpinon Road. The other end connects to the Dumaguete-Balugo Road. As far as I know, the road could, technically, be the upper part of the Dumaguete-Balugo Road. Be that as it may, I road my bicycle out to the bridge and took several photographs.

As can be seen from the photos, the bridge is named "City Pound Bridge". I discovered that the bridge had not be named on Google Maps. I've remedied that by adding it myself. Below are some of the photos I've uploaded to Google Maps, along with it's location on the map.Although the location has now been published, it may take a few days for the edit to show up for the general public.