The secret bicycle race

I’ve been saying for a long time that bicycles will always be considered by our countrymen as a “toy” rather than serious sporting equipment like a golf club. For that reason, until we can produce a Pacman in the Tour de France, cycling will always be a niche sport.

Therefore, I always try to make it a point to highlight any local and international bicycling events or use the right vernacular in my articles to make those small inroads that in the future will become huge highways for the sport in the minds of spots fans.

But sometimes, politicians and some people who are in a position to increase the sports visibility don’t know better. Look what happened to the fiasco at the SEA Games last year where ego ruled over logic, reason and most importantly, the sacrifices that our athletes make only to be told by some pencil pusher they were going do the Three Musketeers- “all for one, one for all” crap!

Yesterday, to my surprise, I read that read from the www.cebucycling.com forum that Stage 1 of the 2010 LPGMA Tour of Luzon International Edition was already in the books! Whoa! I’m speechless! For a race that uses the “Tour of Luzon” title, there should have been pre-race press releases regarding the race. If our local barangay fiesta race organizer tries to get a bit of media mileage for their race, then why, oh why, an event of this magnitude, doesn’t even try to get a snippet of air time?

There are rumors that this race lacks funding but there are four foreign teams in the race. They’re not exactly “powerhouses” nor do the LPGMA organizers claim they are but still they didn’t come here because of better race conditions or exceptional prize money. Although I’m not privy to anything but in most cases, these teams come to these small, non-UCI sanctioned races in exchange for a sum. And its not illegal. Lance Armstrong going to Australia early this year for the Tour Down Under would have been difficult if he wasn’t given an appearance fee of a million US dollars.

The LPGMA Tour of Luzon International Edition is a 9-day stage race, and in my non-expert opinion, I think that a Php5million budget for this event would be on the low end of my guess. Not peanuts, mind you.

I’m sure that LPGMA is sponsoring the race as a vehicle to promote their business, but the fact that there is little data available for the event boggles my mind. This is not the way to present the sport to the mainstream sports fans.

But what do I know about the real objectives of the LPGMA? In the end, I just hope that organizers meet their targets, the cyclists get the expected exposure and racing experience and the fans, despite the lack of coverage, get a race that they want to see. Good luck!

Finally, for those new in the sport, it is a lot better to wear the correct attire. Cycling shorts and jerseys are designed for a particular reason therefore, wear it when you ride. Two decades ago, people would look at us, chuckle and smile at our spandex shorts. Now basketball players use spandex for support……Bon Voyage to my good friend and one of the nicest chap I know, Dr. Woo Sung Hoo and his wife, who will be returning to South Korea next week……Hi! to Bing Urpiana of VOCO! -  THE FREEMAN