Sports Eye
Manuel “Maui” Reynante, 67
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
IT WAS the afternoon of October 26 when I received a shocking text message from a close friend that my cycling contemporary, the three-time Tour champion Manuel Reynante, just passed away due to stroke. The text message also said that Reynante, 67, was accompanying his son Llyod and they were riding their bikes with Reynante behind when Reynante suddenly fell from his bike on the road side, became unconscious, and eventually was declared lifeless upon arrival at the hospital. According to my other source, the father-and-son were supposed to go to a friend’s house and planned on riding a van together with 2012 Ronda Pilipinas champion Mark Galledo to go to Tarlac City to watch the two-day qualifying race (October 27-28) for the 2013 Ronda Pilipinas bikathon. Unfortunately, they never reached their intended destination.
The message really stunned me knowing that Reynante (better known as “Maui” by his co-cyclists and friends) was very healthy. Despite his retirement from professional cycling competitions, he still rode his bike religiously to stay fit. I still recall when he told me on the phone way back March 2011 when I was in San Diego, California that he never abandoned bike riding despite being a sexagenarian and occasionally joined some bikefests in the San Francisco Bay Area where he temporarily stayed.
In fact, he once invited me to visit him but because of time constraint I was not able to do so. His health discipline is really laudable, unlike me who gave up the two-wheeled sport after suffering a road accident on September 9, 2001. After that mishap, I never rode my bike up to this time fearing that bicycle, which that thrust me into the limelight and could also be the one that will cause my demise. Honestly, nagkaruon ako ng matinding phobia after that mishap. But I’m not saying that I won’t ride a bicycle for good because I might eat my words. I won’t ride my bike until the doubt that still lingers in my mind eventually vanishes.
Maui first rose to prominence even as he was still an amateur rider, winning a gold medal in the track event during the 1964 National Amateur Cycling Championship held in Lingayen, Pangasinan. His victory propelled him to be a member of the then RP team, which also paved the way for him to win three gold medals (one in track event and two in road race) during the 1965 Asian Amateur Cycling Championship held in Manila. He also won the first and only 1965 Asian Amateur Tour of Luzon, which was participated in by Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Malaysia, and Thailand, among others.
He turned pro in 1969 and bagged the first runner-up plum of the 1969 Tour ng Filipinas won by Nuevo Vizcayano great Domingo Quilban. His first championship in multi-stage racing was the 1974 Tour of PICCA (Philippine Industrial Commercial Cycling Association) which was done in seven days organized by the late Tony Kairuz. His second triumph was the 1977 Tour ng Pilipinas, a 24-day cycling marathon that covered more than 4,000 kilometers in the entire archipelago. That was the longest race ever held in the Philippines and I believe longer than the world fabled Tour de France bikefest. His third and his last was the 17-day 1980 Marlboro Tour.
Due to some differences between professional cycling associations in the country during the 1970s (Lacuesta, Kairuz and Defensor groups), I only raced against Maui twice in two different names of Tours. The first was the 1975 Tour of PICCA (9-day) won by my town mate and teammate Samson Carino of Mangaldan. I took the first runner-up plum and Maui who was then the defending champion landed only 11th overall. The second was the 1982 Marlboro Tour in which the two of us, at the sunset of our cycling career, did not finish prominently. I placed 16th overall and him 21st. That was the last time we raced against with each other.
And the last I heard he was in the U.S. and stayed there for almost 20 years. He came back to the country last summer and unfortunately took the last ride of his life, an untimely end that shocked the cycling aficionados. His cycling contemporaries and fans will really miss him, especially his antics, his friendship, his garrulous ways of jokes and especially his discerning cycling experiences here and in the United States.
Goodbye Maui, my co-cyclist, my friend and contemporary. May you rest in the Valley of Peace the Almighty God had prepared for you. We, the cycling buffs will never forget the legacy that you rendered to your place and especially to your beloved country. Amen.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Then Jesus looked around to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” MARK 10: 23-25
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