Rekindling an old flame in Guam

My baby, Saber Altera

Hey y’all been awhile. My bad, this covid-19 @#%# has thrown us all in a loop. 

So quick recap. Since Feb. last year I’ve relocated to Guam. Just in time for the Covid-19 island wide lock down. Fast forward to this year. I got to send my kid to University in Georgia USA. While on my way back to Guam, I got Covid-19 in transit (so they say from researching my timeline) and quarantined for almost a month. Then I got quarantined two more times (11 days each time) due to contact tracing.

In between being quarantined and work I’ve been able to rekindle an old flame, mountain biking!!! I had my brother ship over from Canada, my Santa Cruz Nomad. It’s been too long since I’ve ridden her, haha. I can still recall biking Whistler/Blackcomb mountains back when there were no bike trails and no suspension on bikes….those were the days!!!

Here’s a pic of me and my baby, “Saber Altera.” I named her after my favorite Fate anime character. This was taken just hours from picking her up from the freight forwarder.

Me and Saber Altera 

What is it like biking in Guam? Well, different to say the least. The only bikes “readily” available here are from the brand, Giant.  There’s 2 (maybe 3) bike shops here BUT due to Covid-19 they don’t have stock readily available and "brand name" bikes are special order. Shipping is brutal too! Cost me $300 USD to have my bike shipped here.

Anyways, back to biking. So far I’ve done the usual “road” biking down the tourist strip, going down stairs, jumping curbs etc. I’ve also got in with a group of bikers that rides the jungle trails. There are a few other groups and a club here that is actively cutting new trails and adding trail features. It’s getting exciting for mountain bikers here!

So how is jungle riding different from regular mountain biking? Well first, there’s not really any mountains here. Just really big hills. The jungle growth are mostly little trees with trunks that branch out so the roots are actually exposed and they look like tentacles holding up the trunk. Then there’s roots and loose rocks all over the place, above ground not sparsely scattered like how I remember in Canada (but then again it could be my lack of memory due to old age haha). The branches of these little trees often grow parallel to the ground which means having to duck or getting hit by the “back swing” from the rider in front (a very strong possibility). Other than that, there are vegetation aptly named sword grass. Yup you guessed it, if you brush up on them, you will get cut! If you jungle ride, I highly recommend going full padded! I’ll write about / review my gear in future posts. You'll also run into wild boars (pigs), don't stop to take pictures, they are mean!

OH! If you have a choice don’t be the first rider down the trail unless you like the idea of potentially getting a spider on your face.  Here's some trail pics:

I think these are called banana spiders

Trail features

Trail features

Roots and branches

The soil here, if can call it that is red clay. Very, very slippery when wet, so are all those dang roots! The red clay is also very hard to remove from clothing. The roads here also also made from lime stone / coral, so I’m told.  This means the roads also get slippery when wet. Not to mention the “Guam Rules” traffic norm, which is, red light means 2 more cars can go. Seriously!!!

Coming out of the jungle

That’s pretty much all the bad, here’s the reward. Other than the challenge of the ride, the downhills and uphills but depending on the trail you ride, you get scenes like this:

Cliff line sunset after some technical trails

Beach sunset after an awesome, asphalt downhill.

Checkin out some tourist areas, road riding

Checkin out some tourist areas, road riding

If you’re ever in Guam and want to ride, look me up! 

Thanks for viewing and best wishes!

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you're interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don't hesitate to contact me for more details.

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