1st FRIKE (Fun. Ride. Bike) ENDURO CHALLENGE (Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales)

  

Participants of the  1st FRIKE Enduro Challenge

Last April 30, 2022, Saturday, Le Charme Suites in Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales became the place to be for mountain bikers and mountain bike enthusiasts as Le Charme Fitness Center, with the support of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the Aeta community and the staff of Le Charme Suites, initiated the First FRIKE (Fun. Ride. Bike) ENDURO CHALLENGE. 

 

1^st FRIKE (Fun. Ride. Bike) ENDURO CHALLENGE

Subic Bay, the triathlon paradise of the Philippines, is one of the favorite hotspots of mountain bikers who can choose to take exhilarating trails, with various levels of difficulties - longer treks, steep technical descents or high-incline climbs.  

Enduro mountain biking

For mountain biking in Subic and its surrounding areas, there are two types you can try - Enduro and downhill.  The latter, the most dangerous and extreme type, involves large jumps and drops of over 3 m., with trails generally steep from top to bottom.   For the Enduro, there is an equal amount of uphill and downhill but it is not hard to complete a trail, even for a novice cyclist.

The competition, just organized within a month, had two categories - Full Suspension (having both front and rear suspension) Category and Hard Tail (do not have a rear shock and have either a suspension fork or a rigid fork). 

 

Ms. Josephine "Jho" Floresca-Pellicer

The on-site registration (fee: Php1,200) started at 7 AM while race started promptly at 8 AM.  All registrants receive a race kit which includes a finisher shirt, a race bib, a L.O.H.A.S. (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) meal, automatic registration for Bike Show, discount coupon for all GGC outlets, lunch fellowship and raffle entry. 

According to Le Charme Suites CEO Ms. Josephine "Jho" Floresca-Pellicer, an active member of the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (now led by Subic Water & Sewerage Co., Inc. CEO Mr. Benjamin "Benjie" E. Antonio III), a total of 50 participants from Olongapo City and the nearby provinces (Rizal, Pampanga, Laguna, etc.) joined the competition, 30 in the Full Suspension category and 20 in the Hard Tail category. 

 

Jho (right) beside the ATV (all-terrain vehicle) that would bring her and members of media to the competition site.  

More wanted to join but, for the meantime, they limited their entries for the event to make sure that everybody will have fun. 

 

Participants, with their mountain bikes on their car's bike racks, leaving the hotel for the competition site

Some of the participants arrived, with their bikes, a day before the competition, availing of the Php5,800 Le Charme Suites offer which included an overnight stay at the hotel aside from the registration.  Le Charme Suites, a true haven for those who go and visit Subic with their bikes, is the only “bike friendly” hotel in town and in Central Luzon.   

Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Le Charme Suites Subic” and “Restaurant Review: Teppan 101”

 

The biker-friendly Le Charme Suites Subic

Through the years, it developed facilities to accommodate competitive and leisure bikers alike.  This is seen from its elevator (wide and spacious enough to bring in a bike and other recreational equipment); slip-free and wide carpeted hallways to its rooms and lobby with built-in bicycle racks.  

 

Bike rack at the hotel lobby

The eco-friendly competition, involving two downhill stages, was held at the 2.5 km. long Paco 55 Track of the Pamulaklakin Forest Trail inside the Aeta tribal reservation within the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) grounds.

  

The Paco 55 Enduro Track

One of two routes mountain bikers usually traversed when inside the SBMA (the other is the Macoy Trail developed in 2012), the very challenging Paco 55, 3-km. Enduro Track was developed in 2015 by local mountain bike enthusiast Mr. Romeo "Paco" Tagle. 

Bikers ready and itching to go

From a downhill starting area, competitors were released individually, at 20 to 30 sec. intervals, and timed individually. 

  

In the Race Competition, off-road enthusiast Demi Hollsen “Kimi” Grande (No. 33), from Sta. Rosa City in Laguna, won in the Full Suspension category with a time of 5 mins. and 39.9 secs. and an average speed of 31.82 kms./hr..   

Kimi Grande ((photo: Kimi Grande Facebook page)

In the Hard Tail category, Mark Jeffrey Tenedero (No. 18), who hails from Porac, Pampanga, won with a time of 6 mins. and 15.8 secs. and an average speed of 28.79 kms./hr..  Both Kimi and Jeffrey made it a double when they also won the Best Jump Competition in their respective categories. 

 

Mark Jeffrey Tenedero (photo: Mark Jeffrey Tenedoro Facebook page)

The other finishers, in the Full Suspension category, were John Lloyd D. Belano (second, 6:17.8, 28.59 kms./hr.), Raijon Kurt Siongco (third, 6:38.7, 27.09 kms./hr.), Christof Bastin (fourth, 6:46.5, 26.57 kms./hr.), Vincent David Ong (fifth, 7:08.9, 25.18 kms./hr.), Kevin Venus Cortz (sixth, 7:21.5, 24.46 kms./hr.), Jarod Miguel R. Mendoza (seventh, 7:24.5, 24.3 kms./hr.), Nico Nunag (eighth, 7:25.4, 24.25 kms./hr.), R.J. Dizon (ninth, 7:34.3, 23.77 kms./hr.) and Valencia Domingo Jr. (tenth, 7:40.4, 23.46 kms./hr.). 

 

Kimi Grande doing his best jump in the full suspension category
(photo: Kimi Grande Facebook page)

The other finishers, in the Hard Tail category, were Stan Espinola (second, 7:01.6, 25.62 kms./hr.), Diego Nikolas S. Capili (third, 7:35.7, 23.7 kms./hr.), E.J. Fernandez (fourth, 7:37.0, 23.63 kms./hr.), Emil John Rivera (fifth, 7:38.6, 23.55 kms./hr.), Christian Dino (sixth, 7:41.5, 23.4 kms./hr.), Jolly Capitulo (seventh, 7:41.6, 23.4 kms./hr.), Jun Alavaro (eighth, 7:49.8 22.99 kms./hr.), Harvey Baltazar (ninth, 8:04.0, 22.31 kms./hr.) and Chad Ganas (tenth, 8:09.2, 22.08 kms./hr.).

 

After the competition, a free fellowship lunch and awarding ceremony was held at Magic Lagoon where exciting prizes were given away.  Raffled off were a Buzz Rack Beetle (trunk mount bike carrier), a foldable bike, Le Charme Hotels room accommodation and other surprise items.  

Medics - an important component in any competition

First placers got Php7,000 cash, room accommodation, finisher shirt, trophy, medal and a certificate; second placers Php3,000 cash, Taichi Spa voucher, finisher shirt, trophy, medal, and certificate; while third placers got Php2,000 cash, Good Guys Deli voucher, finisher shirt, trophy, medal and a certificate. The fourth to tenth placers receive a medal and a finisher shirt.

 

Come next year, Jho plans to hold it during the long weekend (May 1, Labor Day, will be on a Monday) and she hopes that more will join and in an eco-friendly manner as well. Accordingly, she said “We aim to have lighter race, and not much of a hardcore Enduro race. Because this race that we had was meant to be done for fun.” 

 

The finish line

Le Charme Suites Subic: 2/F La Terraza Bldg. 1131 Palm St., Subic Bay Gateway District, Subic Bay Freeport Zone 2222, Zambales.  Tel:  (047) 250 3333. Mobile number: +63 915 933 8113.  Website: www.lecharmehotels.com.  E-mail: salesandmarketing@lecharmehotels.com and frontoffice@lecharmehotels.com.