Philippines
sorry it's been a little since I updated my site, just been busy and not on the computer much.
A week ago I landed in Manila Philippines for the Terry Larrazabal bike festival. Since the time I arrived it has been an incredible trip and the reception I have received has been like no other place I have ever been in my 30 plus years of racing.
Goyo Larrazabal is one of the sons of Terry who passed away some 7 years ago and in memory of their father they have started this great bike festival. Goyo had Hans Rey come two years ago to the festival and this year had both Hans and I on the list to come since Interbike last year. Unfortunately Hans had an accident a month ago, leaving him with a broken ankle, so my wife Paula took his spot and brushed up on her front wheel hops...ha, ha!
The festival consisted of just about every discipline of bicycle competition, for all ages. I took a small MOJO and a few different kinds of tires and used the same bike for the DH and the 4x. The DH was first so I put some EL MOCO DH tires on, a 2.35 in the rear and 2.1 in the rear, softened up the rear shock, and lengthened the suspension on my Marzocchi 55 and she was turned into a short travel DH machine. The course was pretty good, tight through the bamboo forest, dry and dusty, and a few technical rock sections. One of the toughest parts about the race was dealing with the extreme heat and humidity and there were NO shuttles, which meant you had to push up everytime. In the end I wound up winning, but only beating the Philippines national champ Joey Barba by 2 seconds on the 2 min 19 second course. There were a few riders that had some skills, but Joey wins pretty much all the DH races in Asia from what I hear. Super nice kid and pretty damn fast. Good thing I had a pretty good run or he would have got me for sure.
The 4x was the next day a few miles from the DH course. The area was completely flat, so it was more like a bmx track, which they did hold bmx races on at the same time. Pretty outdated in how they run races over here, you pretty much just have to be prepared for a long day and not your normal equipment, such as start gates, rules, etc. In the end it is all about having a good time for most of them the racing is just a way to bring the biking community together for an event.
Sunday night Goyo and his family put on a huge awards ceremony where they gave out cool trophies and some of the best prizes for all the participants. The small kids won complete bikes, while the pro's won everything from frames to forks. For the 4x I won a Marzocchi 4x fork, which I donated back for the raffle and for winning the DH I won a Fox Talas, which I gave to Joey Barba.
Now we are loving life over in Boracay which is a short 30 min flight from Manila, which has one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Tropical paradise. Unfortunately we only have two days here before we have to head back home, but I am already looking forward to next year and extending the trip to see more of this great country which is made up of over 7000 islands.
Thanks Goyo and all the people of the Philippines for making our stay so great!!!
Posted by Brian on April 7, 2008 06:11 PM