Two major off-road events are happening in Danao. Today, it’s the XTERRA Philippines . If Shangri-La has the Ironman 70.3 race involving smooth asphalted roads, this event is off-road. It’s the mountain-bike and not the thin, sleek tires of the road and time-trial bicycles.
XTERRA kicks off this morning at the Coco Palms Beach Resort in Danao. Three categories are offered. The full distance includes a 1.5K swim, a challenging 28K bike ride, and an 8K trail run. The “Lite Distance” features half of the Full distances. And if you’re afraid of the open sea, there’s the Duathlon: 2K run, 14K bike, and 4K run. Relay teams are available. This is the second time for Danao to host XTERRA. The previous host was Liloan.
On three occasions, I had the chance to join XTERRA. Twice as a relay (biker) participant and once joining the Lite category. (On the latter, I placed 2nd in my category — but there were only 4 of us!) If you’re a mountain-biker and do triathlons, this is your event.
ASIAN MTB. Two weeks from now, it’s the Asian Mountain Mountain Bike Championships — also in Danao. The event runs from May 2 to 6 and will feature elite cyclists from Japan, China, Malaysia, Iran and Taipei.
Oscar Durano Rodriguez, Jr. is the lead organizer. I spoke to Boying yesterday and he told me: “Olympians and World Cuppers are joining and we now have 215 elite cyclists coming from 18 countries.”
One of big names is the highest ranked MTBer in Asia: Toki Sawada of Japan. The other top starts are Iran’s national champ, Khodayari Farzaf; 2017 Japan national champion, Kohei Yamamoto; and the defending 2017 Asian Continental champion, Lyu Xianjing of China.
Among the women, the star is Asia’s top ranked cyclist, Kanako Kobayashi of Japan. She’s up against our very own: the Philippine champion and Asia’s No. 2: Ariana Patrice Dormitorio. They’ll be joined by Asia’s 3rd ranked and the defending Asian MTB Champion from China, Bianwa Yao.
With these twin events happening two weeks apart, it’s no wonder why Danao City is often called the “mountain bike capital of the Philippines.” The Durano family members are all avid cyclists, led by the mayor himself, Ramonito Durano, who has been pedaling bicycles for many decades.
Here’s an article I wrote 10 years ago (April 15, 2008):
“Oscar ‘Boying’ Rodriguez, one of the most recognizable names in RP mountain-biking (MTB), and the chairman of the Danao City Sports Commission, said:
“In the summer of 1987, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano and his brother Con. Red Durano, who were then studying in the U.S.A., went home for their vacation from their high school studies in California. They brought with them radical looking 21-speed bicycles with knobbed fat tires and ‘granny gears.’ It was then the craze in California. They brought back the first Mountain Bikes to the Phils! We were all hooked. We all converted our road bikes to ‘mountain bikes!’”
“Boying Rodriguez is right. Believe it or not, possibly the first-ever Filipinos to ‘import’ MTBs to our country were no less than the Durano brothers, Ace and Red. From those bikes brought two decades ago spawned mountain-biking in Danao, in Cebu, and all over the RP archipelago. Since then, Danao City has led the peloton in promoting MTB.”
