There are two very interesting out of town races this coming June and another one in July.
The first two races will be in Southern Leyte and the event is in commemoration of the anniversary of the province. Governor Damian Mercado has put up handsome prizes, which have attracted riders from Luzon. June 23-26 will be a MTB stage race and a road race on the 28th. While the MTB race is an open race, there are 3 categories for the road race which should fit all ages and capabilities.
Contact person is Jonas Gorgonio (0917-9280264) This July 20, all roads will lead to the Chocolate Hills that is if you will be joining the KIA Ironlegs. The race, held during the Sandugo Festival, is “just” 60km but the route littered between the route are a lot of nasty climbs which makes it very interesting. It is very encouraging to see KIA sponsoring a bicycle race so I hope this will open up for other would be sponsors to take the sport under their wings.
Speaking about sponsorships, a local TV company, BALLS, will be showing the Tour de France next month. We have seen the Tour on TV on different channels but the feed came from abroad. Solar Sports used to air the Tour but it was inconsistent at best.
The reason for the growth of road racing in the country is the popularity of executive racing in Manila. On certain weekends, about 150 executives get on their pricey Colnago’s, Seven’s, LOOK’s- buckle up and race. If you consider the dynamics of Manila, you’ll be amazed how these weekend warriors can balance family, work and race the whole year round.
Executive racing is a lot of times more well organized than those races organized by Padyak Pinoy. The racing is more competitive and intense than in professional races. The racing dynamics is also different and I can say that “team” is better defined in executive racing than in the pros. The reason is that if there’s money to be won, it really doesn’t make a difference.
In fact, Dondie Azarcon, the team captain of team PLDT-SMS, one of the many teams in the XRC (Executive Racing Competition) Series, says that in 2005 alone, he spent racing close to 300K Php for racing expenses, and that doesn’t include his GIANT bicycle and accessories. He said that he just can’t go to Matabungkay or Subic to race so he has take his family with him. Dondie says that if you add up the expenses for gas, hotel rooms, food- and multiply that for the number of races in the Luzon area alone, well, it adds up. And that doesn’t include races in Cebu, Leyte, Bohol or even in Thailand.
For executives who race, family is very important. The sport eats up a lot of quality family time and you have to be a good juggler of your time to be successful and make your wife and kids happy. It seems ironic that professional and national road racing scene is being left behind by executive racing. it should have been the other way around. Well, it just goes to show how mismanaged the sport is at the elite level.
Crit rider of the month race results:
CAT C (July 9, 2003 climb to Busay) 1- Loloy Berdun 2-Rudy Mendoza 3- William Pagula 4- John Ermitanio 5- Pedro Naval
(July 14, 2008 Mandaue Rekla) 1- Celing Villarosa 2- Rudy Mendoza 3- Nanie Quijano 4- Lito Quebec 5- Loly Berdun
Sponors: Jong Sepulveda and Calixto Cruz.