Tour hangover

A week after getting back from the Tour of Luzon, my body’s still in recovery mode.

The journey began on 22 April and we rode a van bound for Paoay in Ilocos Norte, where the eight-leg Tour kicked off two days later.

I had driven once from Manila to Ilocos Norte and the trip was truly long and tiring.

Once again, I did the same thing but didn’t drive even for one second. I had a great seat inside the van and thought it was going to be a breeze.

At first, it looked like the trip was going to be nice and easy.

Leaving the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila at around 10 a.m., we took the skyway and in no time, we were cruising at NLEX.

We made a quick stop for lunch somewhere at SCTEX before hitting the road again.

While we made two more quick breaks along the way in Pangasinan and La Union, the next meal stop took place in Sta. Cruz in Ilocos Sur, 330 kilometers north of Manila.

Once again, it hit me.

The trip is starting to take a toll.

I was starting to feel uneasy and thought once again that it’s going to take forever to reach our destination.

Sunset took place as we were driving along the scenic beaches of Ilocos Norte near its border with Ilocos Sur and finally at 8:30, we slowly entered Paoay and marveled at the UNESCO World Heritage Site San Agustin Church.

After the 23 April grand launch fronting the church, Stage 1 began with the Paoay-to-Paoay ride before the trip to Vigan during Stage 2.

As we were in the Paoay-Laoag area, we had the chance to visit a few tourist spots such as the Malacañang of the North and the city of Batac courtesy of my younger brother Mark, who now lives in Ilocos Norte with his wonderful partner and equally-wonderful kids.

Since we were in Ilocos, there was no way we would get to eat the region’s top culinary treats such as the empanada, bagnet and the bevy of vegetable dishes.

In Vigan, we stayed at Hotel Salcedo, which is a charming hotel a couple of minutes from Vigan’s bustling Plaza Burgos.

Again, I had to take a bite of Vigan’s version of the empanada. And the bagnet. And the vegetable servings, too.

Before I knew it, we were off to Agoo and San Juan in La Union for the next two stages.

Then, it was off to Clark in Pampanga where we feasted on the province’s sisig (not at Aling Lucing but at EMP Lechon Manok and Sisig and Edwin’s Sisig) and kilayin in Mabalacat.

In a wink of an eye, we were already in Lingayen, Pangasinan, for Stages 6 and 7 and enjoyed every bit of our stay as well.

For the final stage — Stage 8 — we had to drive from Lingayen to Baguio City via Kennon Road.

In just under two and half hours, we were already having coffee and cinnamon bread at Session Road with a few buddies while waiting for the cyclists to arrive at Camp John Hay.

Now, here I am back in the big city attending to the same old, same old, slowly recovering the countless hours that were lost during travel and work during that grueling 10-day road race.

During the first few days after my arrival home, I managed to sleep earlier than usual and woke up kinda refreshed in the morning.

Mind you, covering the eight-leg tour that logged a total of more than 1,000 kilometers across northern Luzon was exciting but utterly exhausting.

Am I going to do it again in 2026? You bet I would.

But looking back to Day One — as we were getting ready to depart — it was all a blur.