Dominators

Ramon “Amon” Espinosa is one of the nice guys in the local cycling community. I could never forget last year when he readily volunteered to donate blood via apheresis when my daughter needed platelet when she got dengue fever.

That’s why I was more than happy to see him dominate the under- 40 category of the Race Around Southern Leyte ( RASoL) two weekends ago. He stomped his class in the 30km ITT by winning it by almost 3 minutes over his only rival, Baybay’s Danny Cabugwason. He also claimed the next days’ 80km road race that started in Maasin going to Malitbog and back, by negating the teamwork of Cabugwason’s teammates from Baybay. One of the surprises was Lee Van Gingoyon, Cabugwason’s teammate, who turned out to be good in the race against the clock.

If you ask me, Baybay is now the center of cycling in the whole of Leyte Province, thanks to the support and leadership of Dr. Daniel Roa. His boys are very strong and with a few more racing experience under their belts and I’m sure they’ll be a team to be wary off in the executive circuit of the future.

In the + 40, it was Jon Simbajon who, like Amon, won both event and the overall win. He was challenged by Jonas Gorgonio of the Maasin City Cycling Club ( MCCI) but the support Jon got from teammate John Gayatin was more than enough to claim the top 2 spots for both teammates in their category. I was also happy to see my “old” friend, Sael Reuben “Choppy” Cobile, coming in second behind Simbajon in the road race. Choppy’s training finally paid off big time!

RESULTS: RASoL III UNDER 40 DAY 1 30 km ITT 1st - RAMON ESPINOS A41.21min, 2nd- DANILO CABUGWASON, 44.04, 3rd - LEE VAN GINGOYON 45.14, 4th - ROBERTO SANIEL 46.04, 5th - HERNANI CABUGWASON 46.14.

DAY 2 80km RR 1st - ESPINOSA, 2ND - DANILO CABUGWASON, 3RD - LYNDYL CARAQUEL, 4th - DIXON MENDOZA, 5TH - HERNANI CABUGWASON.

OVERALL 1ST - ESPINOSA 2ND- D. CABUGWASON, 3RD - LEE VAN GINGOYON 4TH - LYNDYL CARAQUEL 5TH - HERNANI CABUGWASON

+ 40 DAY 1 30KM ITT 1ST - JON SIMBAJON, 2ND - JOHN GAYATIN, 3RD - JONAS GORGONIO, 4TH - RONNIE ADLAWAN, 5TH - REX TAN.

DAY 2 80KM RR 1ST - SIMBAJON, 2ND - SAEL REUBEN COBILE, 3RD - GORGONIO, 4TH - GAYATIN, 5TH - RONNIE ADLAWAN

OVERALL: 1ST - SIMBAJON, 2ND- GAYATIN, 3RD - JONAS GORGONIO, 4TH - CONBILE, 5TH - ADLAWAN

Finally, RASoL III was more than I expected and there are so many people and organizations to thank and I don’t think I’d have enough paper to write them all. The Montalbos, Mayor Maloney Samaco, Governor Damian Mercado, Congressman Roger Mecado, Councilor Toto Montalbo, Barangay Capt. Copoy Montalbo, Maasin’s Finest, Maasin Traffic Enforcers, Karancho, Jonas Gorgonio and the MCCI, Nedgar Garvez, 8 Magazine, www.manilachannel.com and all the participants from all over the region who joined the event…I’d like to mention the passing of the best disc jockeys ever, Y101’s Bob Sellner. Bob had the coolest voice in radio, so soothing that you could sleep by just listening to him talk. He introduced me to Steve Winwood, Dan Fogelberg, Three Dog Night and some of the best rock and roll. Y101 may not be the FM radio it once was, with the internet and all, but it once was part of me during the best years of my life. Thanks a lot, Bob!