Japanese riders off to fast start, sweep races

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY–The Japanese riders, as expected, turned the tricky and scary downhill course here into a virtual playground.

Relying heavily on their experience and top-of-the-line equipment, the Japanese scored one-two finishes in two of three events contested yesterday in the 10th Asian Mountain Bike Championships.

Yayushi Adashi, a 27-year-old veteran of this rugged Asian event, made good use of his US-built Cannondale Gemini bike as he took the gold in the elite men’s downhill race at Sitio Magarwak with his time of two minutes nine seconds.

Another Japanese, Hiroki Maruyama, won the silver at two minutes 12.77 seconds while Indonesia’s Setiawan Sigianto, a two-time silver medalist in the SEA Games, took the bronze with his time of two minutes 14.70 seconds.

Adashi negotiated the two-kilometer course with ease. The course begins with a 10-foot, 70-degree drop off point and also features three jumps that could get the riders flying as high as 10 feet off the ground.

Those jumps, including the last one that allows the riders to cross a creek mid-air, are definitely not for the faint of heart. Riders are allowed to skip them and take a side trail but will be penal ized with a five-second deduction.

The Philippines’ Joey Barba came in seventh at 2:22.46, Micharl Borja 11th at 2:27.39 and Parabanne Mendoza 14th and last at 3:48.76 with a five-second deduction. A Thai and an Indonesian landed fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the elite women’s side, it was another Japanese domination as Mio Suemasa, the silver medalist in the recent World Championships in France, took the gold in 2:32.97 using her Trek Diesel bike armed with Boxxer shock absorbers, Tamashi IRC tires, Shimano breaks and gears and Tioga rims.

Her compatriot, Miho Kamoshita, took the silver at 2:35.27 and most of the attention, including those from spectators and fellow competitors, because of her Honda bike that costs $70,000 or roughly P3.9 million.

Unfortunately, the Honda bike had its front-wheel suspension damaged during transport to the starting line on board a 4x4 vehicle.

Risa Suseanty, a petite rider from Thailand and three-time SEA Games champion, took the bronze, failing to match the Japanese in terms of height, heft and equipment. She covered the course, which dried up under the good morning sun, in 2:53.39.

The top three women riders were assessed five-second penalties for skipping a jump each within the course that starts on top of a mountain and ends at a bare, roadside area.

The Honda bike, which is still in the production line back in Japan, turned out to be the event’s biggest draw, with so many bike aficionados having their photos taken with it. Some even had videocams, taking shots of the expensive bike.

The bike, blue in color, weighs 17 kilos, just good enough for the downhill ride. It goes with Kayaba shock absorbers, IRC Deep Contact tubeless tires, Tioga seats, Shimano Deore Xt brake system, Mavic D 3-1 rims, a Honda Fox Dragon frame and a friendly reminder from the Japanese mechanics: Please don’t touch it.

Two riders from Taipei finished fourth and fifth while the Philippines’ lone entry, Athena Beltran, was sixth at 5:17.46.

In the boys’ junior event, Hong Kong’s Ka Ho Liu won the gold in 2:8.13, followed by Iran’s Mohammadreza Hosseinizadeh in 2:36.46 and Hong Kong’s Chun Kau Tsui in 2:39.56. The Philippines’ Jefferson Odviar was fourth in 2:38.84.

The event comes to a close today with gold medals to be disputed in the men’s and women’s cross-country race over a 5.8-km course to be covered five times by the riders, including Eusebio Quinones, Ruel Casaljay, Frederick Feliciano, Niño Surban, March Aleonar, Mylene Borja and Marites Bitbit of the Philippines.