Sports Eye
Cycling-minded Mayor Camacho
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
LAST February 23, the first of three scheduled Bayambang cycling road races was held. I directed the unique race participated in mostly by the town’s barangay captains and municipal employees with a total 47 contestants. Unique because I believe the event dubbed as “BayamBike” was the only one in the province, so far, (if not the entire archipelago) that involved cycling fanatics among barangay chairmen and municipal workers.
It was the town’s chief executive Ricardo M. Camacho himself who initiated and organized this one-of-a-kind bikefest, and believe it or not, the hizzoner Camacho courageously joined the tilt and in fact fearlessly paced the main peloton during the first of two rounds that amazed the spectators along the route. Eventually, the short and hilly 24.1-kilometer course was won by Willy Cayabyab, outsprinting his breakaway partner and relative Alvin Cayabyab in the last 150 meters to pocket the P3,000 top prize while Alvin received P2,000. The duo had an identical aggregated clocking of 52 minutes and 38 seconds. Alvin Menor came in a far third good for P1,000. All the fifteen finishers received cash prizes from the mayor with the top ten getting medals apiece.
“Cycling got my heart and I have to continue to hold this kind of sport annually not only because of its popularity in the province, good exercise but because the founder of Philippine cycling and the father of Tour of Luzon, the late Atty. Gerry Lacuesta, was born in this beloved town,” said Camacho before the awarding ceremony. The town will hold another on March 16 which is an open race and national cycling celebrities are expected to participate. A third race on March 29 will be for the veterans (38 years old and above) to complete the celebration of the town’s quadricentennial foundation and anniversary. Camacho talked about organizing cycling and other sports events a quarterly affair. Great!
The Bayambang bike tilt was the 183rd under my directorship starting March 14, 1974. But this was my first that involved barangay leaders and municipal staff members. Nakakataba ng puso, ‘ika nga. I wish and hope that this kind of unique cycling tiff will be adopted by other hizzoners in the province. Remember, cycling is one of the best exercises in life and prolongs life aside from jogging, walking and swimming. I believe this is one of the reasons why the three-termer Camacho involved himself, too. I doff my hat for that. But in case you don’t believe it, you better ask your physicians.
This is also the sport that I believe Filipinos could indubitably excel in international competitions, a thought shared by cycling-minded Camacho. In fact, here in Pangasinan we already produced two silver medalists in Asia. They’re Bugallon’s Edgardo Pagarigan in 1983 and Arnel Quirimit of Pozorrubio in 2001. Well, even though I beat the two-time Asian road race king Sutiyono (I forgot his first name) of Indonesia in 1977, I will not count myself as Asian king because the competition was an eight-day road saga called Tour of PICCA (Phil. Industrial Commercial Cycling Association) that was participated also by the best Filipino cyclists. A one-day road race is very different from a multi-stage competition. Relentless perseverance and endurance count a lot unlike in a single day race. There are cyclists who are superior in a one-day race but inferior and subjacent in a higher level of competition like the multi-stage racing. If you are non-believers, then follow the Tour de France on TV to confirm what I said.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: And the prophet Moses said, “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you! DEUTERONOMY 1: 10-11
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