Junior cyclists prepare for Cross Country
We’re not sure what vitamins they’re taking, but come this weekend a bunch of young men will be in need of all the strength they can muster. This morning I met them out on the Western Highway.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Before dawn these disciples of cycling pay homage to the highway…pacing…sprinting…sometimes struggling to keep up. Throughout the season, the seniors dominate the cycling scene, but come Sunday, the babies in the bunch will take over, participating in the second annual Junior Cycling Classic.
Janelle
“What is it that you like about racing that you like so much?”
Francisco Avilez, Independent
“The speed and the impact and all the excitement and the pressure until you reach the state that you feel like you want to die.”
While the big boys will ride one hundred and forty-four miles, this time around, organizers are going by the book, limiting the junior cyclists to an eighty-eight mile course according to international standards.
Kevin Hall, President, Belize Cycling Association
“This race is about ninety miles, it’s an exception because it’s a classic. So this is what these guys are going to be participating over the weekend. As we mentioned, this is the second annual of its kind since we have separated it. In terms of prizes that they will receive, we are not giving the junior cyclists any cash prize…We are trying to keep away these guys from cash because once you start giving them cash they don’t want to ride for anything but cash.”
Dollar bills aside, these young athletes know what to look for in a champion.
Janelle Chanona
“What does it take to be the best junior rider?”
Giovanni Leslie, Team Santino’s
“Skills, power, and common sense.”
Janelle Chanona
“Common sense for what?”
Giovanni Leslie
“Common sense to know what to do and what not to do. If you should drop an attack or should you wait or when should you recover. That’s basically it.”
They are all obviously talented, even to the untrained eye. And here too, the loners and the squads fight for supremacy.
Janelle Chanona
“What’s the benefit of being a solo performer?”
Leslie Sanchez, Stone Jam/Malic’s
“The benefit is that if you win the prize, most of the prize will be for you cause you don’t have to really share it with your team mates.”
Janelle Chanona
“So that’s the motivation when you are out there on the road?”
Leslie Sanchez
“Yes.”
Wilbert “Yellow” Banks, Team Smiling
“The hardest part is the distance of the race and the heat of the sun.”
Janelle Chanona
“So what you do when things get really bad that way?”
Wilbert Banks
“Well I just hope and try finish the race.”
“The sponsor give you courage and tell you to go ahead and the people in the crowd is taking the same lick that you is taking and they just give you courage to come out and do the best.”
Francisco Avilez
“I no have nobody to sponsor me so I do it on my own.”
Janelle Chanona
“So what makes you want to compete in a race like this, knowing how difficult it can get?”
Francisco Avilez
“Well, that’s what makes life challenging; one man against the world out here.”
But the consensus in cycling circles is that the odds are stacked against these determined young men.
Matthew Smiling, Cycling Sponsor
“The riders only get a bike and go out riding. There is no program set up for them to actually teach how to ride a bike and specifics on bicycle training…there’s more to be done that way.”
Janelle Chanona
“Do you think there is some expectation then that as sponsors you are responsible for training your riders…do you think that’s a fair assumption?”
Matthew Smiling
“Yes, the onus is on the sponsors, but it’s not all the kids that have sponsors. For the most part, most of the kids just get a bicycle and go out riding and then when they become good, the sponsors they grab him. And between that time before they get on a sponsored team, there should be some training for them.”
Kevin Hall
“We are trying to move away from that in that we are going to set up programs where these guys are going to be supervised in different riding tactics, we have trained Belizean coaches here, for example we have Allan of Budget Rental, we have Mr. Smiling and we have some of the other senior cyclists that are willing to come out and teach these guys a few things. So this is definitely something that we have in place as soon as we are rid of these big races, we’ll have some time to focus on these things.”
Theirs is a highly disciplined sport, but there is danger around every curve.
Francisco Avilez
“They need to put like more sporting facilities and more safety on the road because the road is dangerous to go out there and train by yourself because the traffic doesn’t respect us all the time.”
Lyndon Garnett
“Right now I de try noh get inna no accident or anything fu mek ah noh ride the race.”
Janelle Chanona
“Is that possibility or probability high of getting hurt right before the race?”
Lyndon Garnett
“Anything could happen cause right now with deh lot a vehicle pan the road and thing like the drivers noh respect we so just have to ride safe and da the Lenten season right now.”
In this sport, sponsors are not just moneymen…they are alarm clocks, trainers, and cheering committees who appear determined to break the vicious cycle that has captured many Belizean youths.
Janelle Chanona
“Beyond the training, what do you think is the most difficult obstacle that the young cycling element has to overcome?”
Matthew Smiling
“Staying alive. If you notice, a lot of our young kids are just falling by the way. Sports on a whole, is one way that they could see a way out of most of their problems. It’s not the say it will solve all the problems, but at least sports gives them something to look forward to.”
This Sunday morning, some thirty cyclists will converge on the ring road in front of the Belmopan Comprehensive School where the race will start at eight. The course runs from Belmopan to San Ignacio and back to Belize City. The riders will compete for prizes which include a computer and printer, school fees and cycling equipment.
