Rare Allez

He is one in a million. No, he is one in a zillion! Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx, the greatest cyclist ever, turned 60 years old last Friday.

In my 41 years, I only asked for an autograph once, and the signature belonged to Phil Liggett, the most popular voice of cycling. But Liggett's signature is a far second from the signature I coveted most, Eddys'. Chris Aldeguer, the young owner of VELLUM bikes once asked me if I wanted something when he went to the US to attend a bike show and I told him that if he could get me a dedicated autograph of the Cannibal then I'd die happy. Here's one writer's description of Eddy writing his signature - "It starts with a big, swashbuckling "E" full of loops, followed by a surprisingly readable "Merckx," racing across the page at a sharp angle and punctuated by that unutterably cool terminal "x." Merckx adds a flourish, a streaking line that starts at the "k," kisses the top of the "x" and then swoops out and cuts back in a comet's path to end under the gaudy looping "E."

The closest thing that I could relate to Eddy, other than my daughter who shares her name with him, was the story of Lucas Kangleon, a seaman from Maasin. Five years ago, Lucas, whose brother, Frank was a good friend of mine, had bought a French made GITANE bike during one of his forays to Europe. As his ship docked in Belgium, he took his new rig for a spin and unknowingly ended up (I don't know how, but I don't care) in Eddy's bike factory. Lucas and Eddy made small talk. Then Eddy lifted his GITANE, which weighted like an anchor, and said, "This bike is heavy. You should have bought one of mine".

I'm not a sucker for stories like this but I could find no reason why Lucas would make up such an incredible story. So I swallowed it hook, line, sinker, rod and Lucas. Me, in denial? No, it's hero worship.

Eddy raced professionally 1,582 times in a 13-year career and won 445 races. He rode approximately 310,000 mi (500,000 km) in his career, longer than the earth to the moon (239,000 mi). In a sport where a 10-win year can make you a superstar, Eddy's annual average of 35 wins is simply incredible. Laurent Jalabert, a recently retired French cyclist whose racing style is similar to Eddy's, won "only" 150 races is his career. Lance Armstrong, the best cyclist of his generation, and about to retire next month, has 93 wins, "Ismol tym" compared to Eddy's.

Eddy won 5 Tour de France, 5 Giro d' Italias, 3 World Championships and lots more. He was exceptional in the mountains, sprints and the time trials. But what defined Eddy was his insatiable appetite to win. He not only wanted to win but crush the opposition to smithereens.

In spite of his stature and his accomplishment, Eddy remains humble and accepts the role model persona unlike other sporting greats. And by the way, I caressed Lucas' bike like a god touched it.

MENTAL STATE OF THE NATION. Had this weird NBA Finals been the PBA Finals, you can just imagine the conspiracy theories coming out from "savvy" street corner wags from Aparri to Jolo.