Flats, rains and bad roads

Our Saturday crit at the Mandaue Reclamation Area (or Wreak-la as Dan III says) last weekend was the unluckiest Saturday since I can remember.

The black cloud that was stationary over the reclamation area was already a sign of things to come. It reminded me of good, ol' Charlie Brown standing on the baseball mound with a cloud over him. However, from Labangon where I am staying, the roads were dry and the sun was out, so I was expecting of the same at the Recla. But when I passed by the Cebu International Port, the roads were already and it was drizzly. When I got to my appointed site, it rained again, stopped and rained for the third time.

We waited for a while for the sun to come out and dry the roads before we started our crit and during the warm up lap, one rider had a flat. After lap 1, there was another rider who flatted. There was nothing unusual about the roads- it was full of loose soil and a few shards of broken glass, the usual stuff you see at the Recla. But then, somebody else flatted and another and another. All in all there were at least ten who had a mechanical problem. As if the cycling gods didn't have enough misfortunes to shower us, Bernard Mabini crashed on the u-turn. Good thing it was nothing serious, just a deep gash on the knee.

In spite of the rain, the turnout was good. Thanks to the effort of Boy Pikpik, Rogelio Basirgo and Felix Dechos, the Golden Boys (50yo+) cat is attracting a lot of riders in this category that normally won't race. In fact, to level the racing field, cat GB has two subcategories, the GB-A and the GB-B! It's very nice to see these guys, who used to just spectate during races take part of the action.

Top three cycling quotes

The first is by Greg Lemond, the first US cyclist to win the Tour de France. After winning his second (of three) Tours in 1989 by the slightest of margins- 8 seconds, he was asked what he was thinking during the final time trial where he had to overhaul a 50sec deficit over the Frenchman, Laurent Fignon, in just under 25km. He said, "I didn't think, I just rode"…The second best quote comes from the greatest cyclists ever, Eddy Merckx. When someone asked him what his training secret was, he said, "Ride lots"... In my book, the best quote comes from the greatest Tour rider, Lance Armstrong."Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

Road Race Calendar

• Mandaue Reclamation Crit. Every Saturday mornings

• The 5thSikadPalompon will be held on November 28, 2010. This event is both a road and MTB event organized by our friend, Alan Pastor.

• Cebu Cycling will be organizing a road race next month, December 5, 2010. The race will start in Danao and proceed north to Ilihan and then back again to Danao, approximately 100km distance. For more information about these races, please go to www.cebucycling.com and then click "Special Events".

CAT C NOVEMBER RIDER OF THE MONTH (2010.11.13 CRIT)

1ST- NONOY ABASOLA, 2ND- RALDY VIOS, 3RD- MARCELO BERDUN, 4TH- DEDENG JALUAG, 5TH- OSIAS CAMILO. OVERALL STANDINGS: ABASOLA- 41PTS, ARANETA- 25, ABASOLA, JALUAG-24, VIOS-20, RONNIE ADLAWAN-20

CAT B: 1ST- RAMON ESPINOSA, 2ND RUDY MENDOZA, 3RD- CELSO NEBRIA

Finally, belated happy birthday to my favorite brother, JC and my sister-in-law, Edna "Baby" Montalbo-Colliflores!