Sunday, April 15, 2007
TOUR OF THE FIREFLIES 2007
Coincided with the worldwide celebration of Earth Day, the 9th Tour of the Fireflies was a 50-kilometer bicycling event -- geared to promote a clean environment -- that took about 4-to-5 hours to complete; starting and ending at Tiendesitas, Ortigas Avenue corner E. Rodriguez Jr. at Pasig City.
The pace was relaxed and well-controlled at 13-15 kph to enable riders of all ages to ride their bikes en masse safely and comfortably. There were several photo opportunity locations -- Ayala Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, Quirino Grandstand and Welcome Rotonda. My friends and I caught the one over at Baywalk on Roxas Boulevard.
It was a pleasant surprise to have run into a friend, Doy, who participated in the event with his girlfriend (4th photo from above). There was also the TV and movie personality, Dominick Ochoa, who took a break to have his photo taken and to give us an appraisal of the ride up to that point (last photo).
It was obviously a successful event enjoyed by all.
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posted by Señor Enrique at 7:06 PM
22 Comments:
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HiPnCooLMoMMa said... i was there =) it was fun indeed!
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said... Man, it sounds really fun!
(:
Love the first photo.-
Wil said...
I think i've heard of this group. They want bike lanes, right? so all the city needs to do is add bike lanes so people will drive less and decrease air pollution, correct? Sounds simple. ;-)
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Señor Enrique said...
Hello HipNCoolMomma!
This event made me miss my bike :(
Everyone looked to be having such a wonderful time that I wished I was riding a bike instead of taking pics.-
Señor Enrique said...
There must have been thousands of them, Kyels! And some custom made bikes are way cool!
The guys on the first photo are my photo buddies who got up super early last Sunday morning to accompany me to this shoot. Die hard photographers they are!-
Señor Enrique said...
I think they want more tha that, Wil. Here's an interesting URL about how this all got started:
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-58376.html-
Jaja said...
My hubby and his friends joined the tour yesterday. Nag-enjoy sila. Hopefully next year, makasali na rin ako:D
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Señor Enrique said...
I've a feeling, Jaja, that to all bicyclists, this has got to be the most awaited annual event. It's huge; it's fun; and it's well organized.
I've even saw vehicles at the tail end who will take on those unable to continue with the trip. Most important, participants were of various ages so, it is a family-oriented event as well.-
carlotta1924 said...
ang cute naman ni dominic! hehehe.
looks like the event was really a great one.
oh yeah, i love the bay area. now that i'm in LA, i left another part of my heart in san francisco hehe.-
Sidney said...
Tsk,tsk... you didn't bike during this event?
You could have been the "biking photographer" ;-)-
Señor Enrique said...
Aha! So now you're in L.A. Wouldn't be surprised if next time we hear from you, you'd be in Manhattan :)
This was indeed a great event. Like I said, it made me long for a bike.
Enjoy your travels, Carla!-
Señor Enrique said...
I'm sure that would have been really fun, Sidney -- to ride and take pics along the entire route.
Hmmm ... maybe it's time to window-shop for a bike now :)-
Unknown said...
do you have more pictures? or can you suggest where i can find more pics? the tour was such a huge event and it's getting bigger every year. seeing the number of participants and how they all filled the streets was awesome. thanks.
archie-
Señor Enrique said...
There was an estimate figure of 5000 participants in this year's event, Archie.
I suggest that you contact the event's media coordinator to find out more about photographs taken of this event.-
sheilamarie said...
loved the pics, eric. esp. the 5th one. were you in the middle of the lane at that time? haha. nice shot!
my version of the "bike" is the rented bmx near ccp complex where we used to go during sundays. kaso wala na pala =P LOL!-
Señor Enrique said...
Yes, I was in the middle, Sheilamarie! Thank God everyone was pretty much aware of what I was doing and didn 't mind it. The biker on a low bike on the right is a parapalegic who was operating his motorized bike via remote control.
I didn't realize that they had evicted those bike rental outfits. But a lot of people seemed to enjoy using those rental bikes on weekends and holidays.-
Unknown said...
Ang saya kakaingit mga pictures-- sayang I have to work in Baguio over the weekend and missed a lot.
I have few friends who are members of the firefly. Our org are part of the registration volunteer com this year -- were supposed to join but ahahay..
but 2 years back I was part of the tour reg team and indeed super dami ng tao--ang saya kasama mga small kids kaya family event din.
Thanks for sharing your pictures at least nakita namin ngayon pagbalik
namin :)-
sheilamarie said...
eric, i was afraid someone would run over you with their bike. LOL! "the hazards of photography!"
was there a lot of handicapped people who joined the race? galeng naman!
yeah, i was saddened to learn that the rental bikes were gone. i was able to bring luis there before we left pinas 2 years ago. sayang, 'coz that's where i learned how to ride a bike.-
Señor Enrique said...
Hi Daisy!
Please keep me informed of your organization's future events so I can cover it, ok? It was great thay passed by Baywalk just as we were finishing with the Dragon Boat Race shoot.
It was loads of fun! Made me wish for a bike ... hehehe!-
Señor Enrique said...
Their pace was rather moderate, Sheilamarie, and thought it'd be manageable to stand right there in the middle. The riders were also very nice and alloed me to take shots right there in the middle :)
I only saw one physically-challenged rider.
Yes, that bike rental place was a fun place to bring the youngsters so they can ride their bikes in contained environment -- no vehicular traffic.-
said...
thank you for taking our picture :)
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Señor Enrique said...
You're very welcome, Doy!
