Sports Eye
Cycling kills again
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
I WAS stunned and very sad to know from my cycling child Jazy that another cyclist died on May 21, not in competition but while riding his bike along the national highway of San Fabian town. After my visit to Our Lady of Manaoag pilgrim church, I proceeded to the San Fabian PNP station to get a copy of a police blotter that recorded the death of 66-year-old San Fabian born rider Julian Diagan Placido. He was killed when he was hit head- on by a wayward tricycle driven by a certain Ernesto Bautista Tiamson, Jr. of Barangay Bantayan, Mangaldan. Placido suffered severe head injury that caused his death instantaneously. The tricycle driver fled immediately but was eventually arrested by the pursuing policemen at Barangay Bateng, Mangaldan.
Jazy knew the fallen fellow as a competitor in some of our organized races in the 60-and-above category. He said Placido was a U.S. government pensioner who worked in the United States Postal Service for more than 20 years. He was actively involved in cycling after he retired because cycling was one of his favorite sports, and main form of exercise to stay in shape. He died five days short before celebrating his 67th birthday last May 26. His remains lie at his residence in Barangay Angio, San Fabian.
There were other cyclists who met their untimely demise because of this two-wheeled sport during competition and non-competition. First to suffer the fate was army man Sgt. Pablo Ramos when he fell off the cliff while negotiating a daredevil run in the Naguilian Road during the 1958 Tour of Luzon won by Mapandan-son Mamerto Eden. The second Tour casualty was Felipe Asuncion. He succumbed to a cardiac arrest in the first stage of the 16-day 1967 Tour of Luzon. I raced there and placed third on that day and eventually landed second in the overall classification triumphed by Cornelio Padilla, Jr., now deceased. The third fatality riding his bike was 1990 Marlboro Tour champion Manuel Buenaventura when he was sideswiped by a bus along the EDSA-Aurora Boulevard in Cubao, Quezon City sometime on August 1992. Fourth well-known fatality was the great Manuel “Maui” Reynante who suffered a fatal stroke while biking with son Llyod on October 26, 2012.
There were other Pangasinan cyclists that I can still remember who died due to road accidents while training. Among them were Wencelmo Torio of San Carlos City, Raffy Peralta of Alcala, Calosa (I forgot his first name) of San Jacinto and Reynante Conde of Pozorrubio. Except for the three, Conde met his end when he fell from his bike in San Fabian and suffered a brain hemorrhage because he was not wearing a headgear. Our two Marlboro Tour champs Jacinto Sicam of San Manuel and Romeo Bonzo of Sual also died because of road accidents but not in cycling but while riding motorcycles.
Goodbye Julian. May you rest in peace in eternal life, your co-cyclists will surely miss you.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: And Jesus Christ said to his disciples, “And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” LUKE 9: 5
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