There’s a bike route I’ve been following more often. And the irony is the trail is within a mall.
The Festival Mall canals are really something else. In a way it reminds me of the huge ponds of the former QUAD (now Greenbelt) in the 1980’s and Virra Mall but on a larger scale. Festival Mall’s humongous expansion extends the mall towards Asian Hospital with new outdoor areas around a forum that follows the freshwater Alabang Creek as it makes its way out into Laguna de Bay. The creek itself isn’t a sight to behold, and to be honest I have doubts of how “safe” that water is as I’ve seen freshwater fish floating dead in some of the more stagnant waters. But easily accessible bodies of water are a rarity in the urban sprawl, and in this case — it IS the urban sprawl.
Read on to see the photo gallery.
The biking / walking lane extends from the start of Civic Drive (marked by the new chapel and private mauseleum) all the way to the bus terminal behind Crimson Hotel. The entire area is about 2km. There are an ample number of ramps that allow bikers to circle the mall (you can onramp and offramp by Civic Drive / Starbucks / Nono’s entrance).
Since the trail is quite near the new Filinvest Central Park, you can easily transition by crossing Corporate Avenue. It’s a great route for the family especially on wekeends because the roads nearby are closed to cars.
Bonus: I was pretty bummed when the picturesque Starbucks overlooking the canal closed down. It was such a nice branch to hang out because of the huge outdoor area with the view of the bridge and canal. The coffee shop has ressurected in the form of Twelve Bikes — a bike shop / tattoo / coffee shop. Huge plus points because the shop has a shower so if you’re biking and need to freshen up, you can do so while you leave your bike. It’s meant for the Filinvest working crowd that bikes to get around meetings.
