Can you believe this? After biking for 21 days ending last Sunday in Paris, after pedaling for 3,642 kilometers, after the winner logged-in a time of 91 hours, 58 minutes and 48 seconds on that Specialized-branded bike, the difference between the champion and runner-up is minuscule: Thirty nine seconds. Yup. If you read aloud the [...]

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(Photos at team maX1mo) “Lance Armstrong is my idol,” said Luis Miguel “Igi” Maximo. “Apart from being a strong cyclist, what amazed me was how he fought cancer and won the Tour de France seven consecutive times!” Igi Maximo is only 15. But when I asked for an assessment of who, between the cyclists, he [...]

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I was born in Iloilo, studied elementary in Bacolod at La Salle, resided in Quezon City for several months, experienced vacation memories in Istanbul, San Francisco, Barcelona and Paris—but when I’m asked what I love most about this city of Cebu, I never fail to reply with one sporty answer: Mountain-biking. No experience I relish [...]

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Alongside Michael Jordan, the sportsman I admire most wears yellow. I own his Nike watch. Several Armstrong books adorn my mini-library. A pair of sunglasses with his signature I’ve purchased. That yellow band with the “LIVESTRONG” name? I’ve collected those long before Noynoy Aquino’s crusade. Lance’s story — a 22-year-old champion stricken by testicular cancer [...]

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Chris Aldeguer The 96th Tour de France has ended—but the word war just started. No sooner had Alberto Contador arrived in Spain when he unleashed a torrent of insults, saying, “My relationship with Armstrong is nil… I’ve never had a great admiration for him and I never will!” Ouch. That’s distasteful. And, to a seven-time [...]

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The Tour de France is our planet’s most punishing and excruciating sporting event. It spans 23 days—that’s 21 marathons of pedaling and only two days of rest in-between—covering a total distance of 3,445 kms. From the start in Monaco, it traverses through seven mountain stages, six countries that include Spain, Andorra, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland and [...]

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Thomas Sturges Watson is a winner of eight Major championships in golf. Lance Edward Armstrong has won the Tour de France a record seven times. Mr. Watson and Mr. Armstrong, in the vast universe called Sports, are two of the most venerated and hallowed names. Together, they are also two of the oldest competitors in [...]

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Tracing back history, we will find that the oldest man to have won the most famous pedaling race on earth is Firmin Lambot. In 1922, the Belgian was 36 years old. Studying today’s 96th staging of “Le Tour,” we see 180 cyclists joining. The oldest competitor is a 40-year-old Spaniard named Inigo Cuesta. The second [...]

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Of the tens of thousands of sporting events held worldwide each year, for me the most grueling and painful is the Tour de France. Having pedaled the heights of Busay on dozens of occasions, I can’t imagine how strenuous it is biking for 21 straight days (with only two days-off in between) the total mileage [...]

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Like you, dear readers, I’ve ridden a jeepney, a boat, a tricycle, an airplane, a car, the MRT, a bus, a Yamaha motorcycle, the subway train, a trisikad and, yes, on one occasion, Y101’s helicopter during the Sinulog. But, among all, what is the means of transportation that I savor the most riding? (From www.artsbycraft.com) [...]

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This time last year, I published this story in Sun.Star Cebu. Since the ’09 TLBF will be from March 30 to April 5, here’s my experience from a few years ago… Atty. Gregorio “Goyo” Larrazabal is to RP mountain-biking what Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III is to Cebu running. Each year, Goyo organizes one of [...]

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Ask me for my shortlist of five all-time sporting greats and this I’ll answer: One is currently the world’s No.1 pound-for-pound boxer, the other got knee-injured in golf but is now recuperating; the three others are long-retired: there’s a forehand specialist named Pete, a slam dunk champion first-named Michael and a cyclist who should have [...]

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He is Michael Jordan with a helmet, Tiger Woods on a saddle, Roger Federer wearing Nike tight-fit shorts. Of all the people on earth who’ve climbed a pedal-driven, two-wheeled vehicle, no one is faster. Or stronger. Or more famous. No one has won like he has and no one has a history like his story. [...]

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(AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski) If you’ve ever climbed on top of a bike, pedaled, and traversed the road near JY Square then climbed up to Marco Polo Hotel, then ascended some more to Willy’s, to Bu-ak, then to the very top of Tops, then you know that climbing mountains is agonizing. Pedaling on flat asphalt is [...]

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Sunday last week, on this same lazy day, my nine-year-old daughter Jana and I stared at each other at 4 p.m. to ask what we would do next. We had read three books, tossed the Frisbee at the parking lot, and were looking for an activity more exciting. “Dad, why don’t we bike? Let’s go [...]

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One is ridden on a seat with two wheels and a handlebar; the other, on man’s dear friend with four muscular legs and a saddle. Both you climb on and dance with. Both you mount to achieve the same purpose: to propel you to move forward. Two weeks from now—the weekend of May 2 to [...]

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Among the many Philippine websites devoted to sports, the Terry Larrazabal Bike Fest site is one of the best I’ve found. Check it out at www.tlbf.org.

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