PNoy promotes bicycling

By Jesus A. Garcia, Jr.

TWICE we read in our national broadsheets and saw that our president PNoy was having fun riding his mountain bike. He did not say that bicycling is his favorite sport but averred that he usually rides a bike because it helps him to cope with stress when faced with the the gargantuan problems he is facing daily being the father of the land. He also said that bicycling is one of the best exercises that a man should do to keep fit physically and mentally.

I applaud him for that. He got it right.

I recall that it was sometime in February when he was first photographed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer riding his bicycle surrounded by some members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) also with their bikes inside Malacanang Palace compound.

I was touched because I never expected him to be a bicycle lover too like me, unlike the other former presidents (with the exception of Fidel V. Ramos who is also a cycling fanatic like PNoy).

Last May 16 his picture riding alongside bicycle enthusiasts that included former Senator Mar Roxas around the Quezon City Memorial Circle was published in all national dailies and I was touched again because he’s seriously promoting cycling especially at this time when pump prices of fuel keep going up.

For us in the cycling world, this new advocacy of PNoy is very laudable. Being the number one citizen in the country today, his efforts have a positive impact in the field of exercising and in cycling avidity. Many sports lovers will imitate him. Not only that, I think that someday soon, cycling races in the Philippines will be marketable similar to what’s happening now in football. Let’s count on months, and not years.

Hopefully PNoy will come to Pangasinan and ride with Pangasinan’s professional and amateur-hobbyist cyclists. It’d really be nice to see him riding his bicycle with us, many of whom are former Tour champions, like this writer. After all, our national scribes always still write to this day that this beloved province of ours is still the cycling capital and the hotbed of Philippine cycling.

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By the time you read this piece, the publicized CAMSUR Tour is already in progress and our Pangasinan squad is one of the favorites to win the team competition as well as the individual honors. Our local six-man contingent is composed of Arnel Quirimit of Pozorrubio, Renato Sembrano of Mangaldan, Renier Clauna of Bugallon, Emil Pablo of Umingan, Salvador Salvador of San Manuel and my namesake Jesus Garcia of Sta. Maria. The May 21-29 race is the biggest (so far) this year that will be held with ten teams involved or with a total of 60 participants. Reports reaching me say that the team champion sill receive P300,000 and the individual honor is worth P100,000.

Good luck to you guys. Bring home the bacon.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: And Jesus Christ said, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. REVELATION 22: 11-14

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