Racing in Mangoland

CEBU, Philippines — For the past two days, I’ve been here in the Land of the Mangos’, aka Guimaras, for a 2-day, 2-stage road race titled the “Manggahanike Fest”. Cycling is just one of the many activities that has been lined up for this annual mango festival, which runs for about a month.

I was talking to one cyclist and learned that bicycle racing is very healthy in the region that includes Negros, Iloilo, and Antique.

To get to Guimaras, me and my number supporter, my better half, Tata, took an early morning plane ride to Iloilo. Then we took a 40-minute taxi ride to the Parola Pier. Then we jumped on a ferry for a 10-minute ride to MacArthur’s Wharf in Guimaras. Then it was another 15 minute ride to our place just beside the Guimaras Capitol Grounds in Jordan.

In case you’re mistaken, the capital, Jordan, is not named after Michael, but from St. John the Baptist, its patron saint. Jordan is of course the river where John baptized Jesus. Anyway, Jordan is pronounced as, “Hordan”.

Guimaras is three times bigger than the Island of Mactan but the roads here are wide and well paved, and traffic is similar to an economically growing area. I thought that Guimaras was just a part of Iloilo but it became a fully fledged province in 1992.

Beaches also made Guimaras popular. A friend of mine once said that if you want to party, go to Boracay but if you just want the beach, go to Guimaras. But it was mangos that put the island on the map. While Cebu was known to produce the best mangoes in the world, mismanagement has led to its demise and the eventual rise of the Guimaras mango.

Anyway, back to the race…

I thought that the ITT (Individual time trial) was flat or rolling 10km as advertised, it turned out that it was 4.5km but uphill! If I have an Achilles heel, it’s basically climbing and going down. But I cherished the challenge.

I was the first to be released in our category (45yo+). Just over a kilometer into the climb, the second rider passed me, then the second rider and with about 700m to go, the third rider, fighting his machine since I saw that he only had a 53t chainring. But it was the right choice I guess since the guy didn’t have a single fat cell in his body. I tried to hang on to his wheel (illegal) but he just dropped me like a bad habit.

I ended up having a time of 12min1sec. The winner had a 10.30.there were only eight participants in our cat and I came in 7th! It’s easy to say that. “If only”… but those words are only for romantics and dreamers. In this sport, you have to put in the time, otherwise, suffering is the option.

I’m looking forward to the road race. I’d be entering the race cold turkey and I hope the course won’t surprise me. I’m not surprised by the competition, though. This is not my race but I’d join it anyway.

Next week, I’ll be reporting about the road race.