Sports Eye
Meeting my cycling wards after 26 years
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
SACRAMENTO, California—I’m in this beautiful capital city in the state of California to visit my former cycling wards Anthony Milevsky who is from here and Rick Baza of Los Angeles who sacrificed a six-hour drive from his place just to meet me after 26 years. The two were my racing students during our days in Guam in the 1980’s, and both of them were successful in their chosen careers. Milevsky, a triathlete who captured the 2000 Esprit Montreal Triathlon in Canada, and Baza, ruling two stage races in Hawaii in 1985 and 1986. Baza also garnered countless cycling titles in Guam that paved the way for him to represent the U.S. protectorate island in the 1987 South Pacific Games held in New Caledonia and brought home two bronze medals, the individual pursuit and the time trial events.
It was really a nostalgic gathering for the three of us during my two days and two nights stay here at Milevsky’s house recollecting our ups and downs in cycling. The two have visited the Philippines, Baza twice and Milevsky once. Baza preferred to stay in Manila while Milesvky stayed at my mother’s house in barangay Buenlag, Mangaldan during his visit in the 1980s. The two Caucasians said they’re planning to visit our country next year and will most likely watch the 2012 Padyak Pinoy, which now has an international name: “Le Tour de Filipinas.” The duo wants to see how some foreign entries like the Australians, New Zealanders, Iranians Mongolians, Singaporeans, to name a few, battle against our national and local bets in this annual summer sports spectacle, now recognized by the world cycling governing body called Union Cycliste Internationale. I wish and hope the plan will push through so I can reciprocate their hospitality during my brief and colorful stint here.
Milevsky is now a successful professional painter and Baza is currently employed as a commercial security consultant of world-known Protection One Company. Age has forced them to retire from competitive cycling, but they still ride their bikes for fun and physical fitness.
What amazed me was knowing that Milevsky’s house, located at 45th street, is just a stone’s throw away from that of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. We made a brief stop there and videoed the front with a U.S flag waving about.
The house is not so big as many might think, Reagan having been a president of the most powerful nation in the world. But we found it cute and very elegant. Remember the undefeated politician Reagan, a former Hollywood actor before entering the political arena, was also the former governor of California, the state where you can find many Filipinos.
After Sacramento, we’ll proceed to Baza’s house with my daughter Lavinia for an overnight stay. After Los Angeles, we’ll visit my daughter Baby Ruth and her family, my other athletic son Philam in San Diego and my cycling friends Gerald Valdez and Raffy Soriano, formerly from Sual and Binmaley towns, respectively. I hope to be back home on March 28.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” John 8: 3-7
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