Top riders across the country converge in one place for the OZ Racing Descent Force, DROP National Series Round 5, which will be held on Friday and Saturday in barangay Cansamuroy, Balamban town, southwestern Cebu.
The mountainbike-downhill race will feature Tan Hong Chun, a top Singaporean rider who saw action in the 2005 pre-Southeast Asian Games in Danao City.
Chun will try to stop the domination of JR Barba, who has been winning the expert category since the first leg of the series.
“Hopefully, I can give a good showing. It will depend on the race track,” said Chun in a press conference yesterday at the West Gorordo Hotel.
Barba, meanwhile, welcomes the challenge.
“Now that Chun will be competing, I think my chances of lording the fifth leg will be 50-50 because I think he is the best rider who’s going to compete in this leg,” Barba said.
Organizer Zandro Fajardo of OZ Racing said 108 riders will see action in the event, which will be held at the Canso X Mountain Adventure Park.
Fajardo himself has been competing in the previous legs but decided to skip the competition to focus on his role as chief organizer.
“We want to bring awareness that moutainbiking is not an extreme and dangerous but an enjoyable sport,” Fajardo said.
Mark Balamon, the race’s consultant, said the race will be using top-of-the-line technologies.
“Sensors will be installed that as soon as the rider crosses the finish line, his time will be immediately recorded in the computer,” Balamon said. “We will also install cameras so that the riders traversing in an area that can no longer be seen by the spectators will be displayed in wide screens.”
This year’s series will feature five legs, said Fajardo. The next leg will be in Ormoc City on Oct. 21.
The competition features open, expert, 40-above, 30-above, 20-above, 19-below categories and local categories.
At the end of the series, category winners will be sent to Australia to compete against the best riders in the world. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA and Correspondent Dale G. Rosal