By TITO SANQUI

At last I made it! This was my first thought as I rolled in to the finish line of the biking competition I joined last Saturday in Rosales, Pangasinan. The Rosalenian Mountain Bike Extreme Challenge was the first biking competition I ever had the guts and nerves to join. It was sponsored by the graduates of the Rosales National High School Batch ’88 in cooperation with the Department of Tourism in Pangasinan and is now on its second year.

BIKERS. Baguio-Benguet bikers in Rosales, Pangasinan biking competition.

The Baguio-Benguet delegation left Baguio City at 5:00 in the morning and arrived at Rosales around eight. Our bodies immediately reacted to the change in temperature which is incidentally one of the many lessons I learned in joining this competition ­ always expect the changes in temperature in the competition venues and take the necessary measures to be able to adjust to the weather of the place. Easier said than done! Though I expected the place to be warm, it was difficult to adjust for the first few minutes, especially for the bikers of Baguio and Benguet who were used to the cold climate of the highlands.

The Rosales Biking Competition was held in a one-hectare agricultural land with all the bumps, humps and jumps needed to make the competition tricky for the competitors and thrilling enough for the spectators. This is another lesson I gleaned from the experience – when joining competitions one should be prepared emotionally, psychologically, and most especially physically. Since mountain biking is a sport requiring alert mind and strong physique, one should really prepare and rigidly practice.

Endurance, perseverance and determination are the key words of the biker when joining competitions like this. Sometimes the heart and mind could persevere but the body fails to respond, just like in my case. We were supposed to complete the race by going around the track five times. I finished only two rounds, though my heart and mind was willing my knees would not do the works. The drop offs were difficult for me to manage but it would have made the trip shorter and faster.

Bikers would make drop offs by jumping over a 25 to 30 degree slope of the land, to be able to do this one needs enough courage, strong legs and knees and a lot of practice. This part of the race is the most difficult part for the biker but the most awaited part for the spectators. This is where the audience gets to see bikers fall, get bruises and hurt themselves, but still with willpower and resolve the biker has to finish the race.

Everything was really a first for me, and all the lessons learned and experiences gained would be cherished.

By the way, almost all the bikers from the Baguio-Benguet delegation led by Sir Boyet, got an award in all the categories they participated in. I would especially like to thank the people of Rosales, Pangasinan, who welcomed us and made the event possible. #