Tour to Maria Cristina Falls and Timoga Resorts

It happened to be one rainy Sunday morning. July 26, 2009, our scheduled tour to Maria Cristina Falls and Timoga Resorts in Iligan City. The weather was so cold and the roads seemed not ready to entertain any traveller. While my mind was set to brave the rains and enjoy whatever pleasure riding wet and wild could offer, I was also worried that others were not used to ride while raining like I do. As I sip my hot cup of chocolate, I was eagerly waiting for something to sound off. I was waiting for a sign, asking myself if this one's going to push through. Then my cell phone gave the 5:00 o'clock wake up alarm. I was awake earlier than usual and had already taken a very cold morning bath. Heavy rainfall from 4:20 to 4:45 A.M. had just lessen a bit, and I knew the sun will not just get up the way it used to be, not this time. The next sound that I heard was the message alert tone from one of our rider member from Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. "It was raining hard here awhile ago, are we gonna push through with the tour?". It was what I read written on my cell's LCD screen. "Can you ride now and ready to get wet this time?," I replied. The next message I read was, "I will be at the assembly line in 20 minutes". Yesssss, that's the sign I was waiting for. I picked up my bag and re-checked the things I readied the night before. I just added some rain gears and a T-shirt. Before I can get down from my house to the garage, one rider texted, "Sir, there is no rain in Iligan City", the other message said, "We are now here at the assembly line, where are you?. "Oh my," I said, "I'm not the only motorcycle addict here." I hurried up, warmed up my bike and there I went riding carefully on the wet highway to get at the assembly line as fast as I can get, with the rain still pouring moderately. From four riders that I found already waiting for the others with great enthusiasms, one by one the rest of the members arrived. There was this YBR rider (not yet a member) who's just passing by and stopped with curiosity and then asked, "What are you doing here guys, where are you going". Upon learning of our scheduled tour to Maria Cristina Falls, he quipped, "Can I join you?." I asked him how far is his house and how many minutes we have to wait for him to get some things for the tour. When he replied that in fifteen minutes he will be up and going, I immediately said, "Ok, then go, welcome to our company!." 17 riders, 3 wives and two friends, that made us 22 heads in all. We were late by 30 minutes on our planned departure time. After some safety briefing and a prayer, all 17 of our YBR motorcycles started to roar, in great sounds like thunders, ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of us as we toured the highway westward Misamis Oriental, to the City of Majestic Waterfalls, which is Iligan City.

The rains had already stopped and only small particles of water that came from almost all directions touched our bodies while we drive in moderate speed while we traversed the city proper and leaving Cagayan de Oro, just for awhile. We gassed up at Jetti Gas Station in Bulua where bystanders started to multiply while being amazed by our rides. At the next town we were joined by another rider with his girlfriend on  the back of his ride. Then the 24 of us continued the tour on the beautiful highway of the Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Corridors. What a nice place we have here in the northernmost part of the Islands of Mindanao. All riders who can taste the breeze, the unpolluted air of our island, not to mention the beautiful roads, especially the challenging sharp curves, the beautiful coastal scenery...I bet, they will be coming back for more rides like this one that we had.
We had our stop-over at the coastal road of Iligan, just before we entered the city proper where we started some picture taking, for remembrance purposes, you know. We also had to stop for awhile at the Caltex Star Mart to take a little snack and to buy some bottled water. We continued our tour, passed the city proper and directly went to Maria Cristina Falls. It is a waterfall of the Agus River on the island of Mindanao. It is sometimes called the "twin falls" as the flow is separated by a rock at the brink of the waterfall. It is a landmark of Iligan City, nicknamed the City of Majestic Waterfalls, because of the presence of more than 20 waterfalls in the city. Well-known for its natural beauty and grandeur, the 320-feet98 meters/320 feet high waterfall is also the primary source of electric power for the city's industries, being harnessed by the Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant.
After some time of feeling the beauty of nature within this twin waterfalls and listening to the sounds of heavy water pouring hard to big stones and down the stream, we felt relaxed, our minds, bodies and souls were filled with enjoyment and serenity that nobody among us just can explain. We then proceeded to Timoga Resorts for our lunch and continued fun and enjoyment embraced us all. Some gone to the pool and other preferred bonding with each other over a long neck of Tanduay and few bottles of Red Horse. There, we had conceptualized to help the fire victims of Brgy Tabaco in Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City. There were more than a hundred houses burned and families left homeless. We agreed to donate used clothing and dry goods on Sunday, August 2, 2009. At 3:30 P.M. heavy rain started to pour over the makeshift hut that we are staying. That made us decide to delay our departure time until the rain completely stop, hoping that it will. One hour passed, but it seemed the rains just want to hold us hostage in Iligan City. By the concensus of everybody, including the 4 lady backriders, no heavy rains can stop us now in going home. We started our rides for home at exactly 5:30 P.M. Our rides, the Yamaha YBR 125 G never give up on us. After 30 minutes of driving, the water started to penetrate my jacket. The rains drowned my entire body in complete coldness and with the long unlighted highway due to the brown out in some municipalities we passed, this rides, our own rides, the YBR's...you'll never think of getting home too soon, even if it is raining hard and all you see is a piece of the road ahead of you...you'll love the way its engine adopts itself in different conditions and temperatures. With a few more squeezes of the throttle, we arrived in Cagayan de Oro City at about 7:45 P.M. safe and sound, all wet, wild and filled with happiness and with a hope of another ride like this...with or without the rains....To all the members of Team YBR CDO, Inc..."Daghang Salamat Kaninyong Tanan"...It means..Thank you very much to all of you...of course, "Glory be to our Lord, Who is always our Co-Pilot".....

View all pictures of the tour at Team YBR CDO, Inc.'s Site

Ybro Orlando Tagolimot's Birthday

It was July 19, 2009, a bright and sunny day and good for a short riding adventure. But it was not all about riding, though we assembled again as a team and had prepared all our rides to the best of their forms and conditions, all of us had two things in our minds... it's Ybro Lando Tagolimot's birthday and of course a short 23 kms ride on board our YBRs. What a great simple lives we have. We traveled about 28 minutes before we got to Ybro Lando's house in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental. There were seven of us originating from Cagayan de Oro City. One rider joined us along the way at Agusan Highway, the other one in Puerto and another two from the Villanueva. Eleven of us, YBR riders graced our Board Member's birthday celebration. It was a day full of fun, native dish like lechon, drinks and videoke courtesy of Ybro Lando. All board members were present, so after partaking our meals, a short board meeting was held under a big tree (I just can't remember what type of tree it was). We talked about the plan for the upcoming tour to Maria Cristina Falls and Timoga on Sunday, July 26, 2009. All 20 active members of the club are confirmed to join the tour plus the 4 other applicants who are still to be introduced to the general asssembly and finally accepted to the club on the same day of the tour. We also hope to have with us some non-members who had signified their interest to join the tour as well as the organization. After the said short meeting, we went back inside the house of Ybro Lando then songs and laughter fills every corner of our Ybrother's home. By the way, YBRother is what we call each of us in the club, Ybro for short. At exactly 5:00 P.M., all were geared up to travel back to our home city, Cagayan de Oro.