Asean Mountainbike track nears completion

Philippine gold medalist Baby Marites Sotto Bitbit maneuvers and uphill trail in Danao City during the 23rd South East Asian Games in 2005. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

Danao City Councilor and UCI commissaire Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez said the routes for the upcoming Philippine series of the 2014 Asean Mountainbike Cup in Danao City on June 13 to 15 just needs a few more fine-tuning before the race tracks will be 100 percent ready.

Rodriguez said that they have already finished preparing the cross country trail of the said event and that only the downhill route needs a few more kinks to be ironed out before all will be ready for the coming series-opener.

“At present, the downhill route na lang amo gi limpyo kay finished na man ang trail for the cross country race,” Rodriguez said.

When asked about the list of the riders who will represent the Philippines in the Danao race and for the coming 2nd series at the Masilou Highlands in Kundasang, Malaysia on Aug. 15 to 17, Rodriguez said he is still awaiting the results of the coming mountainbike race during the Philippine National Games in Tagaytay this month as this will determine the final listing of the members of the Philippine national mountainbike team.

Among the shoo in for the national team is the 27-year-old Talamban, Cebu pride Nino Surban, a national team mainstay, who just recently snared a string of two victories in the local scene.

Surban bagged the 1st Bugoy Bikers Cross Country Challenge on Sunday and the 1st San Fernando XC Challenge 2014 cross country mountainbike race, which started and ended at the Plaza Rizal in the South Poblacion, San Fernando, Cebu.

Aside from Surban, also another possible candidate to race for the coming event is Joseph Miller of Mandaue City, who earlier expressed his interest in racing for the country.

However, Miller is said to have been injured recently and is still recuperating from his injuries, which some said needed at least three weeks to heal.

In the Philippine series, the categories to be contested in the Downhill competition are the; Women Junior, Women Open, Women Elite, Men Junior 17 to 18 years old, Men Open 19 and above, Men Master A (30 to 39 years old), Men Master B (40 and above) and the premier Men’s Elite.

In the Cross Country race, the categories are; Men Junior 17 to 18 years old, Men Open 19 and above, Men Master A (30 to 39 years old), Men Master B (40 and above), Men Elite, Women Junior 17 to 18 years old, Women Open 19 and above and the Women’s Elite.