On the Lighter Side

I left for Bangkok, Thailand on September 6, Thursday, on board a Philippine Airlines Flight at 10:45 in the morning. There were 10 of us in the team - a PSC official, 2 coaches, a mechanic, 4 senior cyclists, and a junior cyclist. Walang supplies at allowance. Kanya-kanyang bayad ulit pati sa mga uniforms. Pagbalik na lang daw ibibigay ang allowance. I do not dwell on this too much. Nakakababa lang ng moral at negative pa sigurado ang effect sa performance. Mawawala lang ako sa focus. Buti na lang Mr. Washington Ong of Newton Multisales and Cannondale Philippines provided me a pair of tires. I also brought powerbars given by Sir Hiso a couple of months ago. I am saving those for emergency cases tulad ngayon. I arrived at the airport around 7am with a full stomach. Mahirap abutan ng gutom sa airport kasi mahal ang bilihin dun. At galing ako sa bahay kaya walang problema sa almusal. Pero hindi pa pala nakakain ang mga galing ng quarters kasi maaga sila umalis. While waiting for our flight something good happened. A congresswoman from Laguna learned about our situation and gave our group 5,000 pesos. Salamat po mam! Mam Judith Caringal also called, and interviewed our group.

The group arrived in Bangkok at 1pm Thailand time (Manila time + 1hour). While waiting for the 7pm bus to Nakhom, Ratchasima, our group was able to watch the scratch race in the velodrome. I was really excited and focused in watching the race dahil iyon sana ang event na lalaruan ko. The race was won by Malaysia, Japan, and Thailand. The next race was madison. Hind na namin natapos panoorin ang karera dahil aalis na ang bus namin. After a 4-hour bus ride, we arrived in Viena Resort at 12 midnight.

The next day, September 7, Friday, I woke up past 8am. Tanghali na para makarecover sa pagod at puyat sa byahe. The group ate breakfast around 8:30. We left at about 10am for an 80 km ride E1, then 4km E3, then easy ride on the way back to the resort.

 In the evening, our group attended the opening dinner of the road events of the Asian Cycling Championship. I approached UCI President, Pat McQuaid. He playfully gave me a knock on the head. Pero nakailag ako hehehe. Ako ang napagtripan dahil ayaw lumapit ng paborito nya habang hinahanap nya naman sa akin ang isa pa. Pero lumabas ang totoo namimiss nya lang ako hehehe. We had a short chat. He asked me where I was after the trade team. Bakit daw ako nawala. I looked at him but said nothing. He then shook his head. I know he understood my message. Medyo matagal na din kami magkakilala. May 10 years na rin. He seems really happy seeing me again. At masaya din ako nagkausap kami ulit kahit sandali lang. Sa dinami-dami ng mga siklista kilala nya pa rin ako. Natutuwa talaga ako.

There was another instance in the same evening that made me smile. Tinanong ng makulit na junior sa team ang mga bago niyang katropa na junior team ng Singapore, “Do you know this guy?” One of the Singaporeans answered, “Of course. The legend, Victor Espiritu.” Natawa ako at ang makulit na nagtanong. Sabay sabi sa akin ng ” The legend, para ka ng si Jaworski ah. Ang tanda mo na kasi kaya legend.” hehehehe. Hindi naman kilala nung mga yun si Jaworski.