Bikers check out the bike route along the South Road Properties in Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
EXPECT a smooth bike race in the Cobra Energy Drink IronMan 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships this Sunday.
Around 450 bikers were able to check out the 90-kilometer route in advance when they took part in the annual Ford Bike Out yesterday morning.
The bike out started at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa parking lot in Lapu-Lapu City and bikers travelled through the bike route along the cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay.
Aside from the 90-km bike leg, the international triathlon competition will also feature a 1.9-km swim in the waters the Hilutungan Channel fronting the Shangri-La and a 21.1-km run along Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu.
Most of the participants agreed that the bike route seemed “perfect” for this weekend’s race.
“The roads from Shangri-La all the way to Talisay have improved a lot. They are wider and the potholes were covered already,” said Mark Queblatin, one of those who joined the bike out. “The roads are perfect.”
Queblatin commended the great efforts of the Local Government Units (LGU) of the different cities for doing a phenomenal job.
“I think they (LGU) did their part well. I mean, fixing the roads is a very big thing that they did. On the race day, the roads will be closed, so that means it’s going to be safe. And in terms of road condition, I think it’s really perfect.
Although no complaints were heard regarding the condition of the roads, some did worry about the weather. Yesterday, some racers experienced trouble along the South Road Properties in Cebu City mainly due to bad weather condition.
“There were no bumps along the way, but the wind was so strong,” competitor TJ Mayol said. “Hopefully by the next week, the weather will improve.”
Princess Galura, general manager of the organizing Sunrise Events Inc., said they are hoping for good weather on race day.
“Nature is beyond our control. One of the Filipino elites, August Benedicto, told me that he almost stumbled off his bike during the bike out because of the strong winds. We can’t get accurate weather updates for the next few days, so let’s just hope that there is a fine weather on race day,” Galura said.
Another noted biker who joined the bike out was 16-year-old phenom Ana Patricia “Ica” Maximo, who is competing in this race for the first time.
“I haven’t done a 90km time trial race before, so this will be a challenge for me,” Maximo said.