Cyclists ready for Cross Country
It’s one of Belize’s most passionately followed sports, and there is always a hefty helping of nationalism surrounding the outcome of the biggest cycle race of the year. News 5 hit the road early this morning and met up with the competitors from both home and abroad.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
After hundreds of hours of body breaking training sessions, days of dieting, and months of dreaming the Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic is here. And more than a hundred cyclists are ready, desperately hungry for the glory of the garland.
At the climax of the cycling calendar on Holy Saturday, every rider will have his own strategy.
Robert Mariano, Winner, Valentine’s Day Classic
“You can’t do nothing from now till Cross Country Day, you have to just wait, just rest now… You have to put in lot ah mileage and just eat, sleep, rest, take your vitamins to time…weh you put in dah weh you get out.”
Orlando Chavarria, Former Cross Country Champion
“I have to try focus on finish the race and see how the race ride. But I noh got no big team, so I just have to ride smart and watch how the how the race ride.”
Orson Butler, Megabytes Cycling Club
“In the big one it’s a very technical game, more patience than anything. If you go out early in the front and you are not prepared for it, you will not be around at the end. So it’s a very technical and patience game that you have to play out there.”
And while some are veterans to road, others are virgins.
Todd Buckley, First time riding Cross Country
“This is my third day out there. I came on Monday, we rode Tuesday and yesterday and today’s the third day. I still haven’t made it to the hills or rollers as they call them, but I’ll do that on Saturday.”
Janelle Chanona
“So what’s your plan, to try and get as much of it done before or is it to rest up for what’s ahead.”
Todd Buckley
“Rest. If I don’t have now, I’m not going to get it.”
For Belizean cyclists living abroad, the hype of Cross Country is inbred.
Dwight Lopez, Team BelCal Express
“This time of the year, you kinda get nostalgic, especially if you been in bicycle racing for so long. So this is something that’s a part of me now.”
Janelle Chanona
“You ride in Houston?”
Dwight Lopez
“Oh yeah, a lot. You can’t give it up, a good drug.”
But for Belizean-American, Andrew “Caliman” Williams, the race has lost its appeal.
Andrew Williams, Team BelCal Express
“Sit back and relax like I inna me couch, that’s all I could do because I feel like the competition with the foreigners really too high for local Belizeans and it set up for the foreigners help Smiling or Santino, nobody else could get no foreigners fi help them, so I feel like da that.”
And Williams is not alone. In fact, this year, the Belize Cycling Association has barred Belizean sponsors from hiring international riders.
Gerald Garbutt, President, Belize Cycling Association
“No local teams can bring any foreign riders and that still stands. All invitation comes from the committee, myself, inviting all the foreign riders. We get assistance from some of the local teams who have the contact with some of these foreign riders… So when they come to Belize, they ride in their own jersey, pay their own registration, when they are out there, they ride for themselves. As far as we concern, that is not my interest, to know who pay their passage and where they stay and who pay their expenses, that is not my category.”
But it’s a big category: Mexicans, Guatemalans, Americans, Jamaicans, and possibly, Cubans will all hit the road on Saturday. And one big sponsor admits he’ll use the foreign influence to his team’s advantage.
Santino Castillo, SanCas Team Sponsor
“I think they will impact the race, seventy percent. Truth of the matter is that there is only a select bunch of Belizeans that can keep up with them. I say we have twenty foreigners in the race minimum and I believe there are only ten, fifteen at the most Belizean who can handle. So the rest of the guys are just to be there for the ride.”
“I think that foreign competition always helps the sport. If we didn’t have foreign competition it would never take us to the level that we are riding now. At one time we didn’t even have one guy that could ride with them. I just mention a while ago that we have ten to fifteen. On top of that, by now being in our jerseys now, it forces us to use them as domestiques and let the Belizeans win the race. And as I previously mentioned, the race will be won by Ariel, Mateo, or Jawmeighan.”
But Castillo’s archrival begs to differ.
Matthew Smiling, Sponsor
“The foreigners still ride on their own. Chris Harkey is the defending champion, he’s a foreigner, and for the first time a defending champion who’s a foreigner will have his whole team behind him. People will say that he’s riding for Smiling, but remember there are three others that come team mates along with Chris Harkey.”
Janelle Chanona
“But will Chris Harkey be riding for himself or will he be helping a Smiling man cross the finish line first?”
Matthew Smiling
“I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t ride for himself, he has his own team, he has his whole team to ride for him and I don’t see any reason why he should ride for anybody but himself.”
Janelle Chanona
“Last year I asked about your predictions for the race, you want to take a gander at that guess?”
Matthew Smiling
“I won’t comment this time.”
Janelle Chanona
“You superstitious this year?”
Matthew Smiling
“Bad.”
News 5 will have highlights of the race on Tuesday.
