TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) –In an epic three-man-race that signaled Bohol’s opening to extreme outdoor sports activities after the Coronavirus disease lockdowns, Bohol’s top cycling teams jockeyed for superiority, and to top it all, teams composed of members from other elite teams to seek for the perfect triad proved Bohol’s promise in competitive outdoor cycling.
Bohol’s elite cycling club Paseo de Loon/ Concept Racing Team continues to wave its pennant of superiority in endurance mountain biking when its three-man team of cyclists crossed the finish line first after a grueling 65 kilometers of epic racing Sunday, April 24.
Yet collaborating with another elite and leading triathlon team in Bohol: TriBohol, Paseo de Loon also claimed the last podium honors in a race participated in by 165 mountain bikers all over Bohol.
The team of Nicho Lumay, John Mark Ackman and Alpris Pajo crawled up the wave carved embankment after carefully completing a 5.5 kilometer maze of rubber-tearing coral stone garden trail over the historic Maribojoc uplift, and basked in the applause of friends and supporters to he hailed champions in the Bike Ta Bail 3×80 epic mountain bike challenge in 2022.
The trio bearing race numbers 001 clocked 4:44:32, some sex minutes ahead of their closest rival team of United Sagbayan Cyclists (USC) composed of Roberto Saniel, Archie Enad and Nicole Joshua Gambe, in race numbers 007.
The Sagbayan team trio finished the same distance at 4:50:18.
A race that relies on team work, coordination and cooperation as well as the capacity to be self-sufficient in the trail that includes stretches of isolated forest trails, the BtB 3×80 is the second edition of the toughest endurance mountain biking race that demands an excellent realtime reading of a computer fed route where a wrong turn can mean precious minutes of lost time.
Meanwhile, TriBohol’s Butchie Zamora teamed with Paseo de Loon’s promising riders Ruel Bryan Orcullo and Deven Valderosa for race number 002, claimed the third spot in the three tiered podium, finishing the route in 05:09:367, after the Sagbayan cyclists.
Tagbilaran City’s CycloTribe trio of Julius Quilario, Paul Karlo Cericos and Glenn Lopez, in race number 005 checked in 3 minutes later, the team thankful after completing a draining 5:12:27 or continuous pedaling.
The city cyclists finished fourth.
Two minutes off their last man’s second wheels were cyclists from Duero based Ako Ikaw Way Asawa (AIWA) with cyclists Joseph Bobby Felisarta, Christopher Gultiano and Ariel Angelo Mapalo to register their team as the fifth to finish.
Also putting their strong contention was a CycloTribe team in a different name: Cycling Squad, running with race number 009 is Rhoel Solarte, Aldwin Adora and Gian Rolando Romarate. There riders clocked in at 6:13:19 for the sixth finish.
But the most nail-biting and saddle-dropping finish was the sprinting finishes by Sikad Maribocjanon’s (SIKMA) race number 23 with Marjun Hibaya, Regino Pacifico Antasuda and Resty Porlares against USC Team 2 with Austine Joseph Labuga, Melchor Gambe and Aster Bitang.
Battling for the seventh place finish, the six riders were head to head where a team can only officially finish as soon as the last man crosses the painted line.
Keeping their contenders at a visual distance, both teams have earned the respect and admiration of the opposing team, each eyeing the moment one team mounts the attack.
In the sharp-coralstone strewn trail in the dash to the finish, it took the team from SIKMA some 8 seconds edge to finish at 6:36:25 while USC team two at its heels for 6:36:33 to settle for eighth.
Antequera-based Brotherhood Engaged in Environmental Rides Bringing Oneness and Genuine Satisfaction (B.E.E.R.B.O.G.S) – Antequera, Bohol Cycling Club in race number 035 with top cyclists Mario Nilo Lawag, Miguel Angelo Taga-amo and Neil Lloyd Lawag came in three mintes later to clock 6:39:34 while on the tenth place is Pedal Brothers’ Marcelo Sague, Christopher Ruiz and Jervis Marimon clocking in at 6:40:15.
The race’s youngest rider; Austine Joseph Labuga at 17, finished with his team USC in sixth while the oldest biker; Emmanuel Galab at 61, finished 23rd.
Of the 55 teams which competed the grueling race that featured an elevation gain of over a thousand meters above sea level and a sauntering 400 meter climb in less than 4 kilometers, only 53 teams finished the race. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
