Looking forward to the 2019 Season

All dressed up (bike and all), and nowhere to go. That’s me last Friday, late Friday night, when I decided that I wasn’t going to throw my hat into the cauldron called the Tour ni Frank. I was hoping I’d feel well after a week respiratory infection. In fact, I swear it got worse last Friday! (If you want to see the result, get a copy of the Freeman yesterday. Caecent wrote an article about it)

Talked to Frank Gatdula, the founder of the TnF, after the race and he was surprised of the large turnout. Maybe because the road racing scene here is dormant and races are far and few in between that cyclists would take advantage of any raced being organized. WE all know how expensive (and super-fun) to race outside of Cebu these days.

Did I miss missing the race? A small percentage says I did but majority said I made the right decision. The degree of difficulty and the heat, I know I’m not built for that, and with an ongoing infection, I’d be as weak as a wood eaten by termites. I’d probably drop out at the sight of the first climb. I’m already registered for my first Grand Fondo, the GF New York will be held in Bohol in two weeks. I hope I will be fine by then.

But the race, as a whole, was generally successful and fun. Everybody enjoyed it! How did I know? FB is a good source you know. So hopefully, when 2020 rolls out, I’d be ready for it. Thanks again to Frank and his, “Boss”, Salome, for the never ending support of the race. Till next year.

The 2019 professional cycling season is upon us. It will start in Australia, where it is scorching  at this time of year. Then this will be followed by small one day races and short stage races, these are, “warm-up” races for the Classics and the Giro d’Italia. By July, it will be the Tour de France, then followed by the World Championships and the  Vuelta a Espana. Of course, there are small races in between.

Now, there is a name to watch out for. The name is Remco Evanpoel. He’s Belgian, he’s 18yo, and I think he is the second coming of Eddy Merckx. I know a lot of riders have been labelled as the next… but in my lifetime, Remco seems to be the guy.

In the races he joined last year, he won more than 50% while Eddy Merckx has a lifetime winning percentage of 33%. OF course, Remco is still wet behind the ears but this kid really excites me

During the World Championships last year, he won the junior time trial and the road race, a feat that has never been done before. But what made him so compelling was that during the road race, he had flat tire and it took forever for a replacement. But when he finally got his tire, he slow, methodically caught everyone, one by one and finally dropped the last rider to he caught and won solo. Just impressive!