The Inaugural Audax Baler and Updated 2019 SR List
06/24/2019 | Carmela Pearson
Friends, the final results from the recently-concluded inaugural Audax Baler will be posted in this site within the day. We held the first ever Audax rides in the Aurora Province with a total of 202 registered participants for the 200km and 300km distances. We had a total of 134 finishers for the 200km distance and 5 for the 300km distance. We have a total of 121 Super Randonneurs for 2019 duly recognised by Audax Club Parisien. For any corrections, please send us an email or a message through our Facebook Page. The Baler Audax rides are the last qualifying rides in the country for Paris Brest Paris. By now, those who have pre-registered should have converted their pre-registrations to a definitive registration - meaning, complete and paid already. Happy to announce that slots have been re-opened for Paris Brest Paris so if you are in the list of Super Randonneurs below, you now have a shot to register for the most coveted brevet in the world. Please visit the official Paris Brest Paris website for more details.
The Audax in Baler was not a walk in the park. The people who actually finish the ride are either 1) so happy at the finish because they can finally say, "now, the pain can stop!", or 2) quiet as they are at a loss for words and broken to the bones. It was unforgiving. It is one of the more torturous rides in Audax Philippine history. We saw a lot of seasoned randonneurs call it quits as the heat was unrelenting reaching temperatures of up to 42 degrees mid-day. While the elevation gain is still nothing compared to Audax Rizal (200km in close to 4000m of climbing), the gradient of climbs for Baler is definitely steeper reaching 15% at some sections. And since the roads are mostly coastal, the headwinds were brutal especially on the way back. We saw the highest DNF rate in Audax PH history at 43% beating that of Rizal's 41%.
Despite the very tough ride, there are so many things that went really well. From the very beginning, I have been warning our cyclists that there are a lot of technical descents on this course. Thankfully, we had no major accidents on these technical sections. We have the LGU of the Aurora Province and the Aurora Bikers to thank for that. The LGU provided 2 ambulances on stand-by and they were on high alert just in case anything happens. The Aurora Bikers (led by Mr. Dex Tolentino and Mr. James Sindac) have volunteered to be marshals at the critical downhill sections to warn any of the incoming cyclists of the descents and to tell them to be careful. Note that the Aurora Bikers volunteered because they were sincerely worried of any accidents as they know these roads like the back of their hand. Maraming maraming salamat po!
With less than a month of announcing and opening the registration for Audax Baler, we were expecting no more than 100 participants - just like in any of our inaugural Audax rides in the past. We were overwhelmed by the response and saw more than 200 start off. We were so inspired by all the finishers especially those who finished close to the cut-off. It must have been nerve-wracking but these individuals never gave up and pushed on! A new course calls for new records... JT Gonzales, one of the strongest cyclists based in Baguio, clocked in the fastest time in the 200km category and finished the course solo in 7 hours and 32 minutes.
While most are celebrating at the finish, we had 5 exceptional riders who did 300km yesterday - Dante Villanueva, Paolo Sebastian, Doods Mueca, Raphael Santos and Virgilio Belen. The 300km Audax Baler record has been set by Dante Villanueva finishing the Toughest 300km Audax in the Philippines with a time of 17 hours and 35 minutes. Special mention goes to Paolo Sebastian, the yougest rider yesterday and who has just made history as the youngest Super Randonneur in the Philippines at a tender age of 14 years old. Unbelievable.
The success of last weekend's audax wouldn't be possible if not for a lot of people. Thank you to the 202 brave souls who joined us last weekend. Just getting to Baler is already such a huge effort and your determination to do such an epic ride on that beautiful Saturday morning is just impressive. We really are a crazy lot to go through such hassle for a torturous ride. *wink* Thank you to the amazing locals - the LGU and Aurora Bikers for the support. Your warmth and your love for concern for your fellow cyclists were deeply felt and appreciated. Thank you to my ever-reliable Audax crew (Shai, Sherlee and the boys at the marshals). Thank you to Ms. Jola for your foresight and leadership. I wouldn't be able to do all these without your help. Thank you to David Charlton, who was also present in Baler, for his unconditional support for Audax Philippines since 2010! Thank you to Costa Pacifica group of hotels (Costa Pacifica, Casita by Costa, 18onButon and Cube) for the hospitality, the sumptuous post-ride meals and the wet towels for the cyclists. Thank you to Coca Cola Philippines for the refreshing drinks at the checkpoints and at the finish. Thank you to DataOne, Cellife and Spence Capital for the continued support!
I also want to thank those who purchased their Audax x Smile Train Foundation umbrellas! 100% proceeds from the sale will go to Smile Train Foundation. I will be sharing with you the result from the sale as soon as we tally them. :)
Again, finish or not finish, congratulations to everyone who made this weekend a success. I am already looking forward to next year's Audax Baler! Recover soon and hope we are still friends after this ride! *wink*
