Travel fast, spend less, yet safe

Contributed by JamPol

Motorcycles and scooters are slowly becoming the means of transportation not only in Metro Manila but also in the provinces. Here in Bataan, there are already a lot of scooters plying the roads. When a person chooses to ride a scooter instead of commuting or driving a car, his/her purpose is not only to get to his/her destination faster, but also to spend less.

A motorcycle or scooter is definitely more fuel-efficient than a small car. But the thrill of riding in the wind creates so much adrenalin that the rider sometimes chooses speed rather than fuel efficiency.

This is the reason why Adventure Team Philippines, Inc, a motorcycle club and Petron Corporation organized the Petron SAFERUN. The event is for motorcycles and scooters with displacement of 100cc and up. They are required to travel a specific route and stop at designated checkpoints. They are also only allowed to refuel at authorized gas stations as their fuel caps are sealed. The most fuel-efficient motorcycle and scooter per class are awarded prizes and trophies.

Venus started riding since 2007 as her means of transportation to work. Through the years, she has developed her riding skills not only by riding from home to her office, but also by riding to distance places. She has been to different places in Luzon, even as far as Ilocos and Cagayan. She is actually planning to ride to Visayas and Mindanao soon. Not only that, she has also finished several endurance rides like the Manila-Matnog-Manila Challenge and Cannonball Run.

When the Petron SAFERUN event was announced for 2018, she planned on joining and started practicing on how to ride for fuel efficiency. Her daily ride to work and home would sometimes take longer because she did fuel runs to measure how many kilometers would she get for 1 liter of fuel. She really wanted to prove that not only can she finish the route, but she can also get a very high fuel efficiency.

As the event date drew nearer, her Yamaha Nmax got the much needed preparations. The oil was changed, the belt and rollers were checked, the tire pressure was also checked, and all the other necessary things that need to be prepared.

The day arrived! As the clock struck at 6am, Venus, together with the other riders in the Class of the 400-kilometer route took off from Laus Events Center in San Fernando, Pampanga. They rode through Tarlac, Pangasinan and were required to log-in at Petron Agoo in La Union before heading to Petron Kisad in Baguio City via Ben Palispis Highway. They headed down via Kennon Road and again rode through Pangasinan, Tarlac and back to the finish line in Petron along Jose Abad Santos corner Lazatin.

She arrived at the finish line before their cut-off time of 4pm. Eagerly computing her fuel consumption, she got 55.55 kilometers per liter which put her on the top spot among the others in the Class 4 Scooter category.