Warm up
After a quick breakfast at Shell C5, we went off for the day's motorcycle ride. We warmed up at the Antipolo twisties. We then stopped over at Pililla Laguna to regroup.

The beginning
An evil grin from 1 of the faster riders could only mean 1 thing, it's time to play on the Pililla Twisties. Quite a number of us called the invitation and went off as Group A - "Ayaw Paawat". Group B - "Breakin lang" took off after us.

The symptoms
after only a few corners, I was dragging peg left and right. Afraid to push the bike further, I slowed down a little. This has caused the group to bunch up behind me while the faster guys ahead of me disappeared into the distance. A couple of the guys went in front of me. I kept up with them and tried to see of I can get back the position.

Trail braking
Slow in, Fast out. That has always been the guiding principle in taking the corners. Unfortunately, slow is a subjective matter. Every time I'm into a corner, I find myself gaining on the guys in front and have to trail-brake. Trail braking is braking WHILE in the corner. If you ride motorcycle or drive a car at the twisties, you know that this is an evil thing. It can be a cause of losing control of the vehicle. Unknowingly, I have caused 1 rider to overshoot when I trail-braked. He stood up the bike and overshot a corner taking a spill.

I hate trail braking! which has caused me to become eager to get ahead of the guys in front. I ran dangerously close for a good number of corners trying to find a way past.

The highside
I don't normally use the rear brake.
But when we came into this particular left hand corner, I was again gaining ground.
I braked (front only).
I am still gaining and have to do a split second decision;
Risk collecting the guy in front and attempt to make the corner;
or try to test the limits of my brake and tyres.
I chose the latter (which turned out to be painful).
I braked my rear tyres.
At the speed we're taking the corner, it's really likely that you loose the bike if you brake hard.
I did loose it.
The rear tyre locked and lost grip momentarily.
At this point, I'm preparing for a lowside spill (a plain slide where you fall on the side you're leaning on).
But, the dreaded thing happened; the tyres gripped the road again flipping me and the bike over to the right side.
Helmet and knee paddings did it's job.
The elbow pad moved resulting in a small wound.
I wasn't able to use my padded riding jacket, which resulted in minor scratches on the shoulder.

The aftermath
I almost got ran over by the VFR400 bike behind me.
Bike's still running.
The foot pegs were bent.
It took sometime to realize that I lost the windshield of my helmet 'cause there was so much wind on my face.
I have to ride back to look for the helmet lens.
After sometime, my foot is already swollen. Might have twisted it while being flipped over or during the fall.
I can't put pressure on my right foot.
I have to ask somebody else to buy me water and gas my bike.
I am not able to put my bike on it's center stand.
Using the car to go back home, I'm having a hard time braking.

/rom