Summer tends to bring back happy memories of loving, living and struggling.

Want to know the second most memorable summer experience for me? I learned how to ride a bike at the age of seven, thanks to my playmates who had enough patience to teach me for one whole day during summer. I then had a butterfly bicycle with a foot brake. If I remember right, I did not like it that much because it was rusty and not much of a head-turner. My mother, I think, bought it second-hand.

About five years later, my parents had enough money to buy me a 10-speed blue Motocross bicycle which, at one point, I used in going to school. I was the envy of my classmates, as well as other children, as there were only a few bicycles then that can shift gears. Unlike my old bicycle, most pedestrians and motorists would take a second look at me as I braved the streets of Caloocan City where we used to live.

I was already in high school when we moved to Novaliches, Quezon City. My interest in biking somehow waned as I became more preoccupied with academics and other school-related activities. I think there came a time when the blue bicycle I used to love became as rusty as the first due to my failure to properly maintain it. I don’t remember feeling depressed when, one morning, my mother told me the “sad” news that a thief somehow managed to go over our fence to steal my blue bicycle.

Fast forward to college, circa 1986. For my birthday, my mother gave me a very unusual gift: A black Honda 350-cc, 4-cylinder motorcycle which she bought from a neighbor. I became immediately hooked to biking again, this time with an engine that roars!

Never mind if it was second-hand. Never mind if, at that time, I could only ride around the subdivision — and some nearby streets before reaching the national highway — since I did not have a license. This motorcycle was a total head-turner and I was attracting a lot of attention by just simply standing beside it.

Trust me, this black motorcycle was such a beauty! Want proof? Look at the old, undated pictures below, both taken by my mother.

Riding without a helmet sometime in 1986! Yes, I wore jeans in the past!

That’s me posing, unsmiling as expected. Notice the broken left side mirror?
I took a spill as I tried to make a difficult turn.
How glad I was that only the side mirror was broken!

It did not take long, however, before we were forced to sell this motorcycle due to financial problems. This time, I really felt sad since I was deadset on getting a non-professional driver’s license so that I could ride my big bike to the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman where I studied.

That was more than 20 years (and 10 pounds) ago and, I have to admit, I longed for the day when I can have a motorcycle again. Thanks to Joy, we were able to buy one in time for my birthday in 2005 — less than 300 cc, but still a Honda. To be specific, a blue Honda Wave 125 MD. I think it was around this time that I was forced to apply for a student license so that I can ride our new motorcycle, subject to certain restrictions.

I actually got around to applying for a non-professional driver’s license at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Tabaco City. I even passed the written examination. However, my very busy schedule prevented me from taking the practical examination.

Small guy, big bike in the past; big guy, small bike now. Check out the pictures below, both taken by Joy.

 
That’s me in Tabaco City sometime in 2005. See, I’m now wearing a helmet!

That’s me holding the registration sticker sometime in 2006.
For security reasons, I erased the motorcycle’s plate number.

This motorcycle was bought in Bicol and we had to ship it to Manila in the latter part of 2006. I finally had some free time last February 20 so I went to the LTO — this time in Cainta which is nearest our house in Marikina City — to apply for a non-professional driver’s license. Unlike in Tabaco City where there were specific schedules for seminars and examinations, it only took me one day to get a drug test and medical exam; fill out the application form; attend the seminar; take the written and practical examinations; and get the license.

Of course, it wasn’t all that easy for others. There were more than 50 of us who applied that day for either a non-professional or professional driver’s license and only eight of us passed the written examination and were consequently allowed to take the practical driving test.

Since getting my license last February, I have been using the motorcycle to go around the metropolis. My riding experience in Tabaco City and Metro Manila actually prompted me to write two essays in Filipino on streets and motorcycling which were published in my column titled Konteksto in Pinoy Weekly. Do you remember “Lansangan bilang lunsaran” (February 28-March 6, 2007) and Diskarte at diskurso sa motorsiklo (March 7-13, 2007)?

Ah, the joys of motorcycle riding. Expect occasional posts about motorcycling in the days, months and years to come!

Incidentally, I cannot end without telling you my most memorable summer experience, although you should know this by now: It was the summer of 2005, my first summer as a married man!