Ride like the wind PBA chief: leisure ride allowed, not racing

MANILA, Philippines  — Some PBA players have discovered a new pastime that keeps their minds off the daily grind – motorbikes.

And these ballers have actually been sharing photos and videos of themselves in complete rider getup mounted on their sleek bikes going on a quick getaway outside the capital lately.

They go by the group name “PBA Moto Club” which, according to their Instagram account, was established only this year and made up of former and present players.

In March, just after the pro league suspended play due to the pandemic, the group of James Yap, LA Tenorio, Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand, Joe Devance, KG Canaleta and Raymond Aguilar rode to Tagaytay in probably their first activity together.

The most recent ride happened on June 29 with Canaleta, Devance, JC Intal, Sol Mercado and Rico Maierhofer travelling north to Canaleta’s house in Capas, Tarlac.

SMC’s Alfrancis Chua, Alaska Milk’s Dickie Bachmann and Phoenix’s Raymond Zorrilla are PBA officials who are also into motorbike.

“Travelling by car is like watching a movie; riding a motorcycle is like starring in it,” was how Canaleta described the feeling of a bike roadtrip in a recent post on IG and Twitter.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said he sees no problem with the players’ motorbike activities as long as they won’t go into “racing.”

“Sa akin, pwede kung bike, motorbike, or kotse lang at walang racing,” Marcial said.

He cited the PBA rules and stipulation in the players’ contracts that prohibit cagers from doing exhibition or games in boxing, football, wrestling, baseball, car racing, bicycle racing, motorcycle racing, and outside leagues.”

“Hindi namin ine-encourage yung motorcycle or bicycle pero hindi naman bawal; pwede naman (We’re not encouraging them to use motorbikes or bikes but they’re  not prohibited from doing so),” he said.

“Pero syempre dapat din kumpleto sa safety gear (Of course they have to wear complete safety gears),” he added.