Country's biggest bike festival expands

ORMOC CITY, Leyte, Philippines – What started out as a family’s loving tribute to its patriarch has evolved into the largest bicycle festival in the Philippines, and has taken another leap as a multi-sport event. The 2011 edition of the Terry Larrazabal Bike Festival now includes events in at least five other disciplines and will add a few more next year, giving the organizers the happy problem of whether or not to rename the event.

“This all started after our father passed away in 1999,” explains former Comelec commissioner Gregorio “Goyo” Larrazabal, referring to former Ormoc Mayor Terry Larrazabal. “He was a casual biker and the community just embraced it. We’ve always stressed having fun whenever we organize the races.”

Since 2000, the commemorative event has been slated around the elder Larrazabal’s birthday on April 4, and has been primarily a bike competition, with major races in downhill, road races, criterium, mountain stages, flatland and cyclocross. Clinics on riding and bike maintenance start the four-day festival. Given the obsessive nature of many competitive bikers, it is one of the most-anticipated events every year. Some custom-built bikes cost about the same as a brand-new car. Hundreds of entries from the US, Australia, China and all over the Philippines have converged on this coastal charter city to partake of the serene, enjoyable environment. Teams have flown, driven or take ships to join the celebration. Even the Philippine men’s football team, the Azkals, arrived in their team bus to make an appearance, have their coaches play an exhibition match, and make a donation to local sports associations. Obviously, they caused a sensation among the local womenfolk, who brought out all their digital cameras, bought Azkals t-shirts and asked for autographs. Some of the shrill shouting caused a distraction at the soccer matches.

The event was not held in 2007 and 2010 to give way to the national elections, and was held in Subic Bay twice. But now, the Larrazabal family has gone back to their roots, giving a strong reminder to the local citizens of how festive and welcoming they are. The event is strongly supported by the Department of Tourism as well as several corporate sponsors. One of its striking features is that the organizers encourage participants to stay after their events and enjoy themselves while waiting for the formal awards ceremony at the end of all the competitions.

Some of the running and biking events were held at the Ormoc Farms, a breathtaking 120-hectare expanse of property framed by the geothermal power plants that provide natural clouds and moisture in the air year-round. The 5-, 10- and 15-kilometer “pineapple” runs took participants up and down the hills and through the winding roads around millions of pineapples, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. After all, you can’t visit Ormoc without sampling their trademark smaller, sweeter “queens” variety of pineapple, which the locals consume in vast quantities daily.

“It takes about 18 months to harvest the pineapples, so you have to be patient,” says Baba Larrazabal, Goyo’s brother and organizer of the races. “Ormoc alone consumes about 8,000 pineapples a day, while Cebu gets about 10,000 a day. And that’s just for table consumption, not even including the pineapples that are used for juice.”

The Larrazabal family has opened the city and provinces to visitors who experience a truly rare form of hospitality, even for the Philippines. Because of this, even football, ultimate frisbee, running and shooting events have become part of the yearly calendar. A special boxing match among effeminate types was also held at Ormoc Centrum, the town plaza, providing entertainment for the weary participants before last night’s awarding ceremony. But that is not even the festivals’ most peculiar event. Goyo, whose four-year old son Goyito made his entertainment television debut this year in a TV commercial with basketball legend Benjie Paras, explains.

“We have what we call the beer run,” the former disc jockey says. “It’s a five-kilometer run, and those who cross the finish line have to drink five cans of San Miguel Beer before they are declared the winner. So you can be a strong runner but a weak drinker. We do this for one of the cycling events, too. It’s a reminder to the participants to be able to compete but also have fun.”

True enough, at yesterday’s cross-country race, some of the fastest bikers found their Achilles heel when challenged to consume five cans of beer after a tough race through sugar cane and pineapple fields. A few were built big leads in the biking, but were overtaken in the drinking.

Next year, the Larrazabals are considering adding the national sport of arnis to their full menu, among other sports. In fact, they were already thinking of renaming the event as a sports festival since the family of events has increased beyond the boundaries of cycling. They want the world to not only remember their father, but also feel the strong, warm hospitality of their city and province through the binding power of sport. And it all started with a simple desire to perpetuate the loving memory of their father.

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The Philippine men’s rugby team will play two friendly matches against Hong Kong in preparation for the Asian Five Nations (A5N) in Korea in June. The matches will be played on April 14 and 16 at a venue to be announced at a later date.