By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   I WAS shocked to receive a sad message from a retired cyclist and former Highway Patrol Group (HPG) member Anthony Valdez of Urdaneta City, informing me that 1976 Tour of Luzon champion Modesto Bonzo passed away last April 18 but it was not clear…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   DUE to extreme heat that we’re suffering these days, two natives of my beloved town Mangaldan suffered ‘heat stroke’ and eventually died after staying in the hospital for just a few days. The first victim was my nephew, Ronnie Suratos, who died last April…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr. SINCE basketball is my third favorite sports in life, after cycling and boxing, I made it a point to watch the sixth season opening of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basket League (MPBL) hosted this time by Calasiao at the town’s sports complex that featured two of…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   I WAS not stunned but felt so sad when I learned from somebody last March 3 that my former cycling teammate, my town mate and most of all my cumpadre, the well-known Pangasinan cycling legend Cesar Catambay just passed away. I was not so…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   AFTER my retirement in cycling, I found myself mingling with some of my old fans and new acquaintances, relatives and diehard cycling enthusiasts of competitive cycling. Of course, in most cases, these were done with alcoholic drinks but most of the time the less-liqueur,…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   MANY say the month of March is the start of summer. We have to believe it because we now feel the heat wave of the season. And if it’s summer, unquestionably, it’s time for sports. Outdoor sports like running or track and field, baseball,…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   AFTER five years, the revival of annual Mapandan bikefest regularly conducted in the past in conjunction with the celebration of its Pandan Festival, will finally be realized on March 18 under the leadership of the town’s new chief executive Karl Christian F. Vega. According…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   UNKNOWN to many, our province already has six professional cyclists competing in many international races sanctioned by the world governing cycling body called Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Our latest entry to the world of cycling was the Philippine Navy (PN), headed by 2018 Ronda…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   I didn’t plan on doing this Part 2 of my article last week about Pangasinan cyclists’ declining performance in the last five years but there have been nagging queries from numerous cycling fans and overseas, who I believe were from our co-Pangasinenses, asking for…

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.   MANY of our cycling diehard enthusiasts in Pangasinan say that competitive cycling in the province is fast losing interests and support. I tend to agree because I have noted, to my own dismay, that our provincial cyclists’ performance in the last five years have…