I MISS the Tour of Luzon, the long-gone cycling marathon known famously as the spectacle on wheels. Held yearly in summer, usually in the merry month of May, the bikathon overshadowed all sporting events as its exploits hogged headlines daily for a minimum of two weeks.
It started as a four-day road race from Manila-to-Vigan in 1955 as part of the tobacco festival in Ilocandia, with Antonio Arzala of Biñan, Laguna, the winner.
The late Geruncio Lacuesta, from Bayambang, Pangasinan, fathered the bikefest, naming it the Tour of Luzon in 1956. Arzala prevailed anew, making it a “three-peat” in 1959.
Arzala winning it a third time in five years foiled a third straight win by a Pangasinan rider in 1959, following victories by Rufino Gabot in 1957 and Mamerto Eden in 1958.
But Pangasinan would proceed to produce the most number of Tour of Luzon champions with a total of 10 from 1957 to 1982.
After Eden’s 1958 win, Edmundo de Guzman of Lingayen, Pangasinan, would triumph in 1962 to snap the back-to-back wins by Cebuanos Rodrigo Abaquita in 1960 and Jose Moring Jr. in 1961.
Another Pangasinense in Gonzalo Recodos took the crown in 1963, becoming the first to win the Tour without pocketing a single lap/stage. Consistency did the trick.
After Recodos came the first official successive winner in Bicol’s Jose Sumalde in 1964 and l965, with Cornelio Padilla Jr. of Tarlac duplicating the back-to-back feats in 1966 and 1967.
There were no Tours in 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1972, with Nueva Vizcaya’s Domingo Quilban ruling the 1969 edition by unleashing his mountain-climbing prowess in the Baguio stages.
But with the revival of the Tour in 1973, Jesus Garcia Jr. discarded his perennial bridesmaid role by lacing his win with showbiz pomp and human touch.
Garcia became an instant celebrity as his victory helped make his dream of becoming a recording artist a reality. His “Buhay Siklista,” rich in yodeling, remains the anthem of cyclists.
His rise to stardom also keyed Garcia’s reunion with his Texas-based father, an American soldier in the Philippine-Japan war. After his victory, Garcia flew to the US to meet his Dad, whom he hasn’t seen since his birth in Mangaldan, Pangasinan.
“Meeting him in person was the happiest moment of my life,” Garcia said to me upon his return from Texas.
But if there was one cyclist that left an indelible mark in the sport, it was Manuel “Maui” Reynante, whose legend is equaled in part by Pangasinan’s Jacinto Sicam (+), the two-time champ in 1981 and 1982.
After Garcia’s win sparked a four-year winning streak by Pangasinenses Teodorico Rimarim in 1974, Samson Etrata in 1975 and Romeo Bonzo in 1976, Reynante broke the Pangasinan dominance with his smashing victory in the 1977 Tour ng Pilipinas.
With his win, Reynante captured the longest bikathon ever, a 24-day ordeal on all kinds of roads conquered under all the cruelest of elements.
After winning again in 1980, Reynante would drift away and tried his luck in the US. But the warmth of home saw him come back in no time.
In 2012, biking at around 1 p.m. along the Service Road in Sucat Road, Muntinlupa City, Reynante collapsed after a heart attack. He was dead on arrival at the hospital. He was 67.
Like Garcia, Reynante was also my compadre. Their sons being my baptismal godsons makes me proud.
THAT’S IT Michael Jordan’s timeless NBA magic is the current toast at Netflix. His The Last Dance documentary shown every Monday, beginning 3 p.m., will prove to be a sporting classic too hard to surpass, even equal.