Secret to success? Beer in the bidons.
Tour of Matabungkay 2013
Having enjoyed a fairly successful race at the 2012 Tour of Matabungkay, the Specialized Confero Mavericks eagerly returned to the Philippine province of Batangas for the 2013 edition, but never in our wildest dreams could we have envisioned coming home with so many gongs.
Not only did we capture our first ever elite title with //r (Bastian Dohling) winning the Open division, but TimTam (Ben Arnott) and Dibble (Adam Taylor-Campbell) were right behind him for the 1, 2, 3 sweep. In the women’s race, Vee (Veronique Florizoone) dominated throughout to take the crown, with teammate TinkerBell (Serene Lee) as runner-up.
Our age groupers shone too with Melon (Chris Nyonyintono) breaking his duck in spectacular fashion in winning the 26-35 Cat, AmeZ (Stephen Ames) taking his second “grand tour” title in two years in the 46+ Cat and Pigeon (Nick Swallow) finishing third in the tough 36-45 Cat.
The entire 15-strong travelling party covered themselves in glory with each and every Mav contributing to the many stage victories and podiums.
Stage 1 (10km ITT): Matabungkay Dreaming
The race started with a chrono of just 10km ITT on a dead straight road. There were a few gentle inclines to keep the racers honest, but it was a straightforward task; go as hard as we could for 12-14 minutes.
Mavs Open captain Dibble led by example. The second man on the road at 7:01, he put in a scorching time of 12:06, which nobody overcame. Who came closest? The extraordinary TimTam, just three seconds behind. His effort was remarkable when you consider that he suffered a puncture while warming-up 10 minutes before his start, meaning he only just made his roll-off time. But filled with adrenalin he put in the best TT performance of his short racing career.
It got even better with Herr //r taking third place and Snowballs (Michael Sagermann) finishing fifth to capture the last podium spot of the morning.
One of the distinctive features of the Tour of Matabungkay is that despite great marshaling efforts, anything can and often does jump out at you on the road; think trucks, cars, jeepnies, kids, madmen and most frequently dogs. In the ITT, Dibble sped off down the lamp and immediately found a vehicle in his path, bringing him to a screeching halt. While similar incidents affected many more riders, Dibble’s was witnessed by the full race organisation, and he was given a five-second “bonus” as compensation, leaving TimTam to always wonder if he could have beaten his mate.
What made the Open guys domination of the ITT even more remarkable was that they all rode S-Works road bikes, either the Tarmac or Venge, while many of the local riders and some of their overseas rivals were on full TT rigs.
Having led the way, our age groupers followed up well, with Melon (the rider formerly known as Wii) winning the 26-35 race, Bear (Brian Johnsen) following suit in the 36-45 Cat, Rambu (Alan Grant) and AmeZ taking third and fourth respectively in the 46+ division (separated by just 0.8 of a second), and Vee winning the Women’s race, with TinkerBell in third.
The ITT marked a truly tremendous start to the tour for the Mavs and a harbinger of doom for our competitors.
Stage 2 (97km road race): Consolidation
After a few hours rest it was time for Stage 2, a 97km road race. Two pelotons would ride each of the three mass start stages, with the Open and 26-35 Cats combined, and the 36-45, 46+ and Women all lumped together.
Stage 2 featured a few hills but was billed as one for the sprinters and that’s how it turned out. The Open race saw a few breakaways but ultimately the Mavs defended the jersey well and while things didn’t quite go to plan in the sprint, there were no mishaps and the five-man squad all finished near the front of the bunch.
Melon found himself a bit boxed in among the combined Open/26-35 melee and had to settle for fourth in his race, more than enough to hold onto the race lead.
The second peloton yielded a bit more individual glory for the Mavs, with Bear and Pony (Matt Lodge) second and third in the 36-45 sprint, and that master of the well-timed effort Oldish (Richard Paine) going one better in the veteran’s division, with AmeZ in second. Among the women, TinkerBell outfoxed the rest for the win with Vee right behind her in second.
There was some bad news, though, as 46+ team leader Rambu paid an expensive price for bad positioning in the early part of the race, suffering a puncture around the 15km mark while lingering in the middle of the bunch with all the other Mavs in front of him. While the team support van was there with a spare wheel ensuring he was on the road quite quickly, his teammates were unaware of his predicament and he never made it back across to the bunch. Finding himself in the second group with ITT winner and defending overall champ Ernie Hortaleza, a chase was out of the question as AmeZ was now in a favourable position on GC.
Rambu’s luck worsened, suffering a second flat after 40km, and with no neutral support left for the stragglers, he ended up limping home for a DNF on a patched up but leaking tube supplied by some good Samaritans.
Luckily the twilight Mavs are known for their strength in numbers and AmeZ duly moved into yellow after Stage 2, a jersey he didn’t relinquish for the rest of the race.
With Dibble, Melon, Bear and Vee all holding onto their leads, the final presentation at that night’s long award ceremony had five Mavs resplendent in yellow or pink on stage.
Stage 3 (57km road race): Moving Day
Day 2 brought Stage 3, which at 57km was very short, but with a profile containing eight vicious short climbs in the last 35km, proved as critical as everybody thought it would pre-race. The out-and-back course covered the same ground as 2012’s Stage 2 except that the u-turn came a few kilometres early, in the process taking out one climb. This only dampened the fear for those who had experienced the stage before. Most of the returning Mavs had unfinished business to take care of and some even had demons to slay. Rear cassettes with a 28-tooth were the norm rather than the exception, and some physically strong but obviously mentally weak Mavs, came equipped with a compact crankset to go with their 28s, while others even fitted dinner-platesque 32s on back.
The first 20km went through the bustling town of Lian and other busy villages, so the race was neutralized until just before the bottom of the first climb. But when the commissaries flag dropped the pace suddenly went from Sunday morning coffee shop style to BANG!
Most memories of the hills concentrated on the final one as that’s where people, including some Mavs, had to get off their bikes and walk in 2012, but even the first slope proved severe enough to cause considerable separation this year. In the lead race, all six Mavs managed to stay with the front group through the first four climbs. The one good thing about those first four hills was that going down each of them gave an idea of what was to come on the return journey.
Between the bottom of the fourth hill and the u-turn lay a 2km stretch of flat land, giving some 4km in total between the hills. It was on this section that //r drifted off the front. With Dibble in yellow, the other contenders seemed happy enough to let the young East German star go. But this was the plan and as a few other Mavs sat on the front of the bunch turning the pace down a notch or two, //r fired his afterburners and set off on what proved to be a spectacular winning move.
For the Mavs in the second race, it was a sight for sore eyes and limbs to see a smiling //r coming the other way with a big lead. By now the pursuit was in full flow but he proved too strong and won by 11 seconds. TimTam finished seventh to keep his second spot on GC, while Dibble dropped to fifth, but it was all part of the masterplan.
The lead group only contained one of Melon’s rivals from the 26-35 Cat and he comfortably managed that threat with the capable assistance of his new man-servant Snowballs. Things are certainly looking up for the race director’s favourite Ugandan if he has the big Canadian as his super domestique. Melon won the stage and extended his lead on GC.
If the hills provided some separation among the elite riders, they shred the field to bits in the second race.
After just the second hill, the huge peloton was reduced to a group of a dozen or so riders, with three Mavs represented; Pigeon, AmeZ and Rambu. The latter two were the only competitors from the 46+ Cat to make this selection and so their task was made slightly easier as they had no need to be aggressive on the climbs or the descents, rather they were able to just follow wheels.
As they headed towards the fifth hill after the u-turn, the leaders calculated a gap of just under a minute to the second group so there was no let up in pace.
Alas when this group hit the return hills, Pigeon fell off the pace, but the older duo, a well-honed stage-racing double act, were looking good for the 1, 2. The pre-race plan was for Rambu to stick with AmeZ in case of a mechanical or puncture, but he also had a licence to go for the stage win.
So when the notorious last hill, featuring the “walk of shame”, quickly shredded the leading group to three, Rambu impulsively went with them, determined to try and get line honours from the combined field. In hindsight this was wrong, as it left the yellow jersey isolated for the 5km of the final descent and flat run in to the line, but luckily AmeZ suffered no mishap and came across the line safely in second place in the Cat.
Back up front, Rambu lead out with 200m to go but opted to slam the brakes on when a dog came running straight at him out of the crowd amid the madness of the town-centre finish. Still, third place over the line and first among the old men was a nice consolation for the hairy one after his disappointing Stage 2.
The other Mavs all survived the stage, no walking, no pushing, as the field crossed the line in dribs and drabs. Vee easily won the Women’s race, and chicked many of the men’s field, including some of her male teammates. TinkerBell battled mechanical problems with her shifting but did enough for third on the stage.
The upshot of the day’s action was Mavericks still in yellow in all categories save for the 36-45 division.
Stage 4 (122km road race): Wet, Wet, Wet
At 122km and with a 20km climb slap bang in the middle, Stage 4 promised to be another difficult day in the saddle. Thrown into the mix was the addition of hundreds of new sportive riders, who had signed up for this Saturday morning queen stage only, and rain, lots of it.
The grey skies opened up shortly after the start and rain of varying intensities plagued the riders for the rest of the day.
Another long neutral zone of some 20km marked the opening hour and when the flag was finally lowered, a flurry of attacks shot forward from both pelotons. In the elite race, a group of six made it to the long Papaya Hill out of sight of the bunch, but averaging at just 3 percent, the hill wasn’t steep enough to allow any pure climbers to get away. The climb did cause some separation, but a big bunch reached the summit, which unlike the previous year, yielded no spectacular views of the volcanic lake to the right, instead the pouring rain and mist reduced visibility to almost nothing. The much lower temperatures obviously played a big factor in such a large group hitting the top together and out onto the 20km descent.
The ride down the Papaya Hill is a fairly shallow but spectacular one, with no bends, only curves and so the speed rarely fell below 60kph. At the bottom and with 40km of basically flat terrain to go until a 2km climb to the finish, it was unlikely anything would get away from the elite bunch and so it turned out. The Mavs were content to have defended the jersey and didn’t feature in the sprint for stage honours, although all finished near the front of the bunch.
Melon had a go for the win but came up just short, although his second place easily protected his big three-minute lead.
The majority of the sportive riders had joined the second race and so a huge bunch was together when the road suddenly and tightly swung left to commence the Papaya climb, resulting in a crash or two. The Mavs all made it through the melee unscathed, some with narrow escapes, though, and the climb started in earnest.
The pace seemed much slower than in 2012, yet post-race analysis revealed that the bunch actually went two minutes faster. With only the AmeZ jersey to defend, the Mavs were content to sit near the front and only chased moves by the Gendrano brothers of the Excellent Noodles team, one of whom was sitting second on GC, but over two minutes back. So when an Abolitz Power rider from the 36-45 Cat launched 4km from the summit into the mist after being told by a team motorbike that he had two “domestiques from the front race” up the road, the Mavs let him go.
With about 2km to the top, the Mavericks had one shaky moment when AmeZ dropped his chain, but luckily four or five Mavs were on hand. They weren’t actually needed and the leader was quickly back on the road but it was good to see the team ready and willing to support.
A huge group of 40 or so riders made it over the hump and the high-speed descent was on. The riders actually rode through a sizeable gap in the storm during the swoop down the mountain, providing a welcome respite, but even when the rain and wet patches returned, they didn’t prove to be the main danger. Halfway down a shirtless, bedraggled man appeared in the middle of the bunch having been walking down the road. How he and the racers emerged unscathed is a miracle.
Oldish, the grand master of the Maverick mountain bikers and handler supreme, unwittingly scared a few of the other Mavs by going back for water and trying to hand it over at 60kph+. He seemed offended by the polite refusals and was miffed to be stuck with all those extra bottles.
On the flat and the escapee was still away, with a 3-minute gap according to the marshals. The yellow jersey seemed hesitant to chase, looking for help from the Mavs and other teams. It didn’t come and eventually he sent one of his Franzia riders to the front and this big fella put in a truly tremendous effort as the speed shot up dramatically in the 30km run in to the finish.
The Mavs enjoyed the ride and only had to put in one effort when the ever-dangerous Noodles man sneaked away with some 10km to go. And then, not to far from the end, the escapee was caught. A brave effort, but it was always going to be tough for such a move to succeed.
And so to the 2km climb to the finish. Having ridden up the hill numerous times over the previous few days, everybody was familiar with it and while not super steep, it was likely to provide a selection. The last section of real gradient ends with about 500m to go, replaced by an ever-so-slight incline to the line. The field had indeed been whittled down, but there were Mavs everywhere and with 200m to go the Bold Bear launched a bit early. But such was the ferocity of his dig that he stayed away for a superb victory. Pigeon expertly picked his way through the mess of sprinters to take third place. Rambu had been perfectly positioned and for the second day in a row had hoped to try and beat the younger men, but he can’t sprint for toffee. His too-early effort was enough for sixth over the line and another stage victory in the 46+ Cat. AmeZ wasn’t too far behind and snared fifth place trophy to add to his growing haul of trophies.
Vee again won the stage and extended her GC lead, having been the only women to summit the climb in the first group. She then showed off her skills by riding right at the front on the long descent while some of her teammates hid at the back. TinkerBell finished the stage in fourth place, beaten for third in a close thing that was only revealed by the photo finish system that night.
Stage 5 (40km TTT): Total Team Triumph
Things looked good for the Mavs going into the TTT. With four leaders’ jersey to defend and (on paper) very strong squads, GC glory was surely just a case of riding their bikes. But there was no place for complacency as in 2012, the Rambu-led 36-45 squad had a 1-minute lead going into the TTT and ended up winning by just a single second.
However, Mavericks A consisted of //r, TimTam, Dibble, Snowballs, Jimmy Guardino and Melon, four of which were in the top five of the ITT, so it would have taken a disaster for them not to win. As it turns out, the opposite occurred, with the Snowballs-controlled sextet putting in a near perfect performance to win the stage in a time of 53:54 (which represents astonishing average speed of 44.8kph), putting them a clear 35 seconds ahead of DirectAsia.com in second.
The main and only officially stated goal for Mavericks B was to defend the lead of AmeZ, but with another strong seven consisting of ITT winner Bear, Pigeon, AmeZ, Rambu, Oldish, Pony and Lemsip (Conan Hales), there were hopes of moving Pigeon up from fifth place on 36-45 GC. Indeed, some even thought with just over a two-minute gap to the leader, that snatching the yellow jersey was a possibility.
That didn’t quite happen as the B boys, powered notably by Pigeon and Pony, finished 3:02 behind their Mavs A brethern, but their time was still good enough for fifth place on the day. It did move Pigeon forward to third overall, but there was a case of “what if” left in the air as the squad rode most of the 40km with just five men. If anybody had been expected to drop off it was the elder statesman Oldish, who had been battling a bug for the previous few days, but he dug deep and his reward was moving up a place to fourth on the final 46+ GC.
Vee and TinkerBell put in another dominating performance, but alas, a crash with just 500m to go saw their third TTT member, Melanie Irlbacher of Corratec, hit the deck. The German lady went down hard and ended up being escorted to hospital by Vee. She suffered some serious injuries but will be ok. With third across the line counting for the stage honours, the trio DNFd the stage. But Vee and TinkerBell did cross the line, and their times counted for GC, with TB’s effort enough to move her up to second place overall.
Just for good measure, Vee also claimed the Queen of the Mountains title, taking a green jersey home with her collection of four pink ones.
Stage 6 … eventually
The beers started flowing early as the bikes and bags were packed and the team gathered for the final lunch presentation. While hopes were high going into the race none of us expected such a large haul of booty. It shows that hard training and teamwork do pay off.
Post-ceremony there were a few hiccups involving the journey back to the airport or Manila. Firstly, two of the buses got stuck in the mud and despite several engineers being in attendance, it took plenty of digging and brute force to free them after an hour or so of trying. Lemsip stood out from the crowd, displaying both his reknowned intellect and a hitherto hidden expertise with a shovel. Then unluckily for Pigeon, his bike and bags went off ahead in one coach without him and so he was stuck in a “chase” with the raucaus Stage 6 bus. All’s well that ends well and he was reunited in time to make it back home.
As the Stage 6ers celebrated long into the night it was time for reflection. The highlights were of course //r capturing our first ever Open title, but equally impressive was the performance of TimTam. Firmly over 40, he could be riding age group, but he stubbornly stays among the elite and he undoubtedly deserves to be there. The return of Dibble to the fold also played a big part in the team’s success.
Melon, shed of his obviously unlucky previous name, made a big breakthrough, and should now be looking to follow up his winning performance in the, cough, Cat 2 field in the Tour de Bintan ;-)
The quiet man AmeZ, who selflessly sacrificed his own chances in this year’s Tour of Friendship, was repaid in heaps by karma, taking a popular and comfortable win in the 46+ race.
And who can stop the Big Momma? Maybe she needs to enter the men’s races, and we wouldn’t put it past her to notch up a victory of two there.
Salamat at paalam
The Tour of Matabungkay delivers a great cycling/tourism experience with a good variety of stages, tough but fair racing and the odd surprise thrown in to keep everybody on their toes. The main organisers, the Baterna brothers, are fantastic hosts, as were all the Filipino riders and supporters. And lets not forget the staff at the weirdly wonderful Matabungkay Resort, our home for four days, who treated all the visitors like kings and queens. Big shout out too to the lads from DirectAsia.com and the combined Matador/4T2 squad.
Next up is the Tour de Bintan. Fingers crossed for more glory.
Having enjoyed a fairly successful race at the 2012 Tour of Matabungkay, the Specialized Confero Mavericks eagerly returned to the Philippine province of Batangas for the 2013 edition, but never in our wildest dreams could we have envisioned coming home with so many gongs.
Not only did we capture our first ever elite title with //r (Bastian Dohling) winning the Open division, but TimTam (Ben Arnott) and Dibble (Adam Taylor-Campbell) were right behind him for the 1, 2, 3 sweep. In the women’s race, Vee (Veronique Florizoone) dominated throughout to take the crown, with teammate TinkerBell (Serene Lee) as runner-up.
Our age groupers shone too with Melon (Chris Nyonyintono) breaking his duck in spectacular fashion in winning the 26-35 Cat, AmeZ (Stephen Ames) taking his second “grand tour” title in two years in the 46+ Cat and Pigeon (Nick Swallow) finishing third in the tough 36-45 Cat.
The entire 15-strong travelling party covered themselves in glory with each and every Mav contributing to the many stage victories and podiums.
Stage 1 (10km ITT): Matabungkay Dreaming
The race started with a chrono of just 10km ITT on a dead straight road. There were a few gentle inclines to keep the racers honest, but it was a straightforward task; go as hard as we could for 12-14 minutes.
Mavs Open captain Dibble led by example. The second man on the road at 7:01, he put in a scorching time of 12:06, which nobody overcame. Who came closest? The extraordinary TimTam, just three seconds behind. His effort was remarkable when you consider that he suffered a puncture while warming-up 10 minutes before his start, meaning he only just made his roll-off time. But filled with adrenalin he put in the best TT performance of his short racing career.
It got even better with Herr //r taking third place and Snowballs (Michael Sagermann) finishing fifth to capture the last podium spot of the morning.
One of the distinctive features of the Tour of Matabungkay is that despite great marshaling efforts, anything can and often does jump out at you on the road; think trucks, cars, jeepnies, kids, madmen and most frequently dogs. In the ITT, Dibble sped off down the lamp and immediately found a vehicle in his path, bringing him to a screeching halt. While similar incidents affected many more riders, Dibble’s was witnessed by the full race organisation, and he was given a five-second “bonus” as compensation, leaving TimTam to always wonder if he could have beaten his mate.
What made the Open guys domination of the ITT even more remarkable was that they all rode S-Works road bikes, either the Tarmac or Venge, while many of the local riders and some of their overseas rivals were on full TT rigs.
Having led the way, our age groupers followed up well, with Melon (the rider formerly known as Wii) winning the 26-35 race, Bear (Brian Johnsen) following suit in the 36-45 Cat, Rambu (Alan Grant) and AmeZ taking third and fourth respectively in the 46+ division (separated by just 0.8 of a second), and Vee winning the Women’s race, with TinkerBell in third.
The ITT marked a truly tremendous start to the tour for the Mavs and a harbinger of doom for our competitors.
Stage 2 (97km road race): Consolidation
After a few hours rest it was time for Stage 2, a 97km road race. Two pelotons would ride each of the three mass start stages, with the Open and 26-35 Cats combined, and the 36-45, 46+ and Women all lumped together.
Stage 2 featured a few hills but was billed as one for the sprinters and that’s how it turned out. The Open race saw a few breakaways but ultimately the Mavs defended the jersey well and while things didn’t quite go to plan in the sprint, there were no mishaps and the five-man squad all finished near the front of the bunch.
Melon found himself a bit boxed in among the combined Open/26-35 melee and had to settle for fourth in his race, more than enough to hold onto the race lead.
The second peloton yielded a bit more individual glory for the Mavs, with Bear and Pony (Matt Lodge) second and third in the 36-45 sprint, and that master of the well-timed effort Oldish (Richard Paine) going one better in the veteran’s division, with AmeZ in second. Among the women, TinkerBell outfoxed the rest for the win with Vee right behind her in second.
There was some bad news, though, as 46+ team leader Rambu paid an expensive price for bad positioning in the early part of the race, suffering a puncture around the 15km mark while lingering in the middle of the bunch with all the other Mavs in front of him. While the team support van was there with a spare wheel ensuring he was on the road quite quickly, his teammates were unaware of his predicament and he never made it back across to the bunch. Finding himself in the second group with ITT winner and defending overall champ Ernie Hortaleza, a chase was out of the question as AmeZ was now in a favourable position on GC.
Rambu’s luck worsened, suffering a second flat after 40km, and with no neutral support left for the stragglers, he ended up limping home for a DNF on a patched up but leaking tube supplied by some good Samaritans.
Luckily the twilight Mavs are known for their strength in numbers and AmeZ duly moved into yellow after Stage 2, a jersey he didn’t relinquish for the rest of the race.
With Dibble, Melon, Bear and Vee all holding onto their leads, the final presentation at that night’s long award ceremony had five Mavs resplendent in yellow or pink on stage.
Stage 3 (57km road race): Moving Day
Day 2 brought Stage 3, which at 57km was very short, but with a profile containing eight vicious short climbs in the last 35km, proved as critical as everybody thought it would pre-race. The out-and-back course covered the same ground as 2012’s Stage 2 except that the u-turn came a few kilometres early, in the process taking out one climb. This only dampened the fear for those who had experienced the stage before. Most of the returning Mavs had unfinished business to take care of and some even had demons to slay. Rear cassettes with a 28-tooth were the norm rather than the exception, and some physically strong but obviously mentally weak Mavs, came equipped with a compact crankset to go with their 28s, while others even fitted dinner-platesque 32s on back.
The first 20km went through the bustling town of Lian and other busy villages, so the race was neutralized until just before the bottom of the first climb. But when the commissaries flag dropped the pace suddenly went from Sunday morning coffee shop style to BANG!
Most memories of the hills concentrated on the final one as that’s where people, including some Mavs, had to get off their bikes and walk in 2012, but even the first slope proved severe enough to cause considerable separation this year. In the lead race, all six Mavs managed to stay with the front group through the first four climbs. The one good thing about those first four hills was that going down each of them gave an idea of what was to come on the return journey.
Between the bottom of the fourth hill and the u-turn lay a 2km stretch of flat land, giving some 4km in total between the hills. It was on this section that //r drifted off the front. With Dibble in yellow, the other contenders seemed happy enough to let the young East German star go. But this was the plan and as a few other Mavs sat on the front of the bunch turning the pace down a notch or two, //r fired his afterburners and set off on what proved to be a spectacular winning move.
For the Mavs in the second race, it was a sight for sore eyes and limbs to see a smiling //r coming the other way with a big lead. By now the pursuit was in full flow but he proved too strong and won by 11 seconds. TimTam finished seventh to keep his second spot on GC, while Dibble dropped to fifth, but it was all part of the masterplan.
The lead group only contained one of Melon’s rivals from the 26-35 Cat and he comfortably managed that threat with the capable assistance of his new man-servant Snowballs. Things are certainly looking up for the race director’s favourite Ugandan if he has the big Canadian as his super domestique. Melon won the stage and extended his lead on GC.
If the hills provided some separation among the elite riders, they shred the field to bits in the second race.
After just the second hill, the huge peloton was reduced to a group of a dozen or so riders, with three Mavs represented; Pigeon, AmeZ and Rambu. The latter two were the only competitors from the 46+ Cat to make this selection and so their task was made slightly easier as they had no need to be aggressive on the climbs or the descents, rather they were able to just follow wheels.
As they headed towards the fifth hill after the u-turn, the leaders calculated a gap of just under a minute to the second group so there was no let up in pace.
Alas when this group hit the return hills, Pigeon fell off the pace, but the older duo, a well-honed stage-racing double act, were looking good for the 1, 2. The pre-race plan was for Rambu to stick with AmeZ in case of a mechanical or puncture, but he also had a licence to go for the stage win.
So when the notorious last hill, featuring the “walk of shame”, quickly shredded the leading group to three, Rambu impulsively went with them, determined to try and get line honours from the combined field. In hindsight this was wrong, as it left the yellow jersey isolated for the 5km of the final descent and flat run in to the line, but luckily AmeZ suffered no mishap and came across the line safely in second place in the Cat.
Back up front, Rambu lead out with 200m to go but opted to slam the brakes on when a dog came running straight at him out of the crowd amid the madness of the town-centre finish. Still, third place over the line and first among the old men was a nice consolation for the hairy one after his disappointing Stage 2.
The other Mavs all survived the stage, no walking, no pushing, as the field crossed the line in dribs and drabs. Vee easily won the Women’s race, and chicked many of the men’s field, including some of her male teammates. TinkerBell battled mechanical problems with her shifting but did enough for third on the stage.
The upshot of the day’s action was Mavericks still in yellow in all categories save for the 36-45 division.
Stage 4 (122km road race): Wet, Wet, Wet
At 122km and with a 20km climb slap bang in the middle, Stage 4 promised to be another difficult day in the saddle. Thrown into the mix was the addition of hundreds of new sportive riders, who had signed up for this Saturday morning queen stage only, and rain, lots of it.
The grey skies opened up shortly after the start and rain of varying intensities plagued the riders for the rest of the day.
Another long neutral zone of some 20km marked the opening hour and when the flag was finally lowered, a flurry of attacks shot forward from both pelotons. In the elite race, a group of six made it to the long Papaya Hill out of sight of the bunch, but averaging at just 3 percent, the hill wasn’t steep enough to allow any pure climbers to get away. The climb did cause some separation, but a big bunch reached the summit, which unlike the previous year, yielded no spectacular views of the volcanic lake to the right, instead the pouring rain and mist reduced visibility to almost nothing. The much lower temperatures obviously played a big factor in such a large group hitting the top together and out onto the 20km descent.
The ride down the Papaya Hill is a fairly shallow but spectacular one, with no bends, only curves and so the speed rarely fell below 60kph. At the bottom and with 40km of basically flat terrain to go until a 2km climb to the finish, it was unlikely anything would get away from the elite bunch and so it turned out. The Mavs were content to have defended the jersey and didn’t feature in the sprint for stage honours, although all finished near the front of the bunch.
Melon had a go for the win but came up just short, although his second place easily protected his big three-minute lead.
The majority of the sportive riders had joined the second race and so a huge bunch was together when the road suddenly and tightly swung left to commence the Papaya climb, resulting in a crash or two. The Mavs all made it through the melee unscathed, some with narrow escapes, though, and the climb started in earnest.
The pace seemed much slower than in 2012, yet post-race analysis revealed that the bunch actually went two minutes faster. With only the AmeZ jersey to defend, the Mavs were content to sit near the front and only chased moves by the Gendrano brothers of the Excellent Noodles team, one of whom was sitting second on GC, but over two minutes back. So when an Abolitz Power rider from the 36-45 Cat launched 4km from the summit into the mist after being told by a team motorbike that he had two “domestiques from the front race” up the road, the Mavs let him go.
With about 2km to the top, the Mavericks had one shaky moment when AmeZ dropped his chain, but luckily four or five Mavs were on hand. They weren’t actually needed and the leader was quickly back on the road but it was good to see the team ready and willing to support.
A huge group of 40 or so riders made it over the hump and the high-speed descent was on. The riders actually rode through a sizeable gap in the storm during the swoop down the mountain, providing a welcome respite, but even when the rain and wet patches returned, they didn’t prove to be the main danger. Halfway down a shirtless, bedraggled man appeared in the middle of the bunch having been walking down the road. How he and the racers emerged unscathed is a miracle.
Oldish, the grand master of the Maverick mountain bikers and handler supreme, unwittingly scared a few of the other Mavs by going back for water and trying to hand it over at 60kph+. He seemed offended by the polite refusals and was miffed to be stuck with all those extra bottles.
On the flat and the escapee was still away, with a 3-minute gap according to the marshals. The yellow jersey seemed hesitant to chase, looking for help from the Mavs and other teams. It didn’t come and eventually he sent one of his Franzia riders to the front and this big fella put in a truly tremendous effort as the speed shot up dramatically in the 30km run in to the finish.
The Mavs enjoyed the ride and only had to put in one effort when the ever-dangerous Noodles man sneaked away with some 10km to go. And then, not to far from the end, the escapee was caught. A brave effort, but it was always going to be tough for such a move to succeed.
And so to the 2km climb to the finish. Having ridden up the hill numerous times over the previous few days, everybody was familiar with it and while not super steep, it was likely to provide a selection. The last section of real gradient ends with about 500m to go, replaced by an ever-so-slight incline to the line. The field had indeed been whittled down, but there were Mavs everywhere and with 200m to go the Bold Bear launched a bit early. But such was the ferocity of his dig that he stayed away for a superb victory. Pigeon expertly picked his way through the mess of sprinters to take third place. Rambu had been perfectly positioned and for the second day in a row had hoped to try and beat the younger men, but he can’t sprint for toffee. His too-early effort was enough for sixth over the line and another stage victory in the 46+ Cat. AmeZ wasn’t too far behind and snared fifth place trophy to add to his growing haul of trophies.
Vee again won the stage and extended her GC lead, having been the only women to summit the climb in the first group. She then showed off her skills by riding right at the front on the long descent while some of her teammates hid at the back. TinkerBell finished the stage in fourth place, beaten for third in a close thing that was only revealed by the photo finish system that night.
Stage 5 (40km TTT): Total Team Triumph
Things looked good for the Mavs going into the TTT. With four leaders’ jersey to defend and (on paper) very strong squads, GC glory was surely just a case of riding their bikes. But there was no place for complacency as in 2012, the Rambu-led 36-45 squad had a 1-minute lead going into the TTT and ended up winning by just a single second.
However, Mavericks A consisted of //r, TimTam, Dibble, Snowballs, Jimmy Guardino and Melon, four of which were in the top five of the ITT, so it would have taken a disaster for them not to win. As it turns out, the opposite occurred, with the Snowballs-controlled sextet putting in a near perfect performance to win the stage in a time of 53:54 (which represents astonishing average speed of 44.8kph), putting them a clear 35 seconds ahead of DirectAsia.com in second.
The main and only officially stated goal for Mavericks B was to defend the lead of AmeZ, but with another strong seven consisting of ITT winner Bear, Pigeon, AmeZ, Rambu, Oldish, Pony and Lemsip (Conan Hales), there were hopes of moving Pigeon up from fifth place on 36-45 GC. Indeed, some even thought with just over a two-minute gap to the leader, that snatching the yellow jersey was a possibility.
That didn’t quite happen as the B boys, powered notably by Pigeon and Pony, finished 3:02 behind their Mavs A brethern, but their time was still good enough for fifth place on the day. It did move Pigeon forward to third overall, but there was a case of “what if” left in the air as the squad rode most of the 40km with just five men. If anybody had been expected to drop off it was the elder statesman Oldish, who had been battling a bug for the previous few days, but he dug deep and his reward was moving up a place to fourth on the final 46+ GC.
Vee and TinkerBell put in another dominating performance, but alas, a crash with just 500m to go saw their third TTT member, Melanie Irlbacher of Corratec, hit the deck. The German lady went down hard and ended up being escorted to hospital by Vee. She suffered some serious injuries but will be ok. With third across the line counting for the stage honours, the trio DNFd the stage. But Vee and TinkerBell did cross the line, and their times counted for GC, with TB’s effort enough to move her up to second place overall.
Just for good measure, Vee also claimed the Queen of the Mountains title, taking a green jersey home with her collection of four pink ones.
Stage 6 … eventually
The beers started flowing early as the bikes and bags were packed and the team gathered for the final lunch presentation. While hopes were high going into the race none of us expected such a large haul of booty. It shows that hard training and teamwork do pay off.
Post-ceremony there were a few hiccups involving the journey back to the airport or Manila. Firstly, two of the buses got stuck in the mud and despite several engineers being in attendance, it took plenty of digging and brute force to free them after an hour or so of trying. Lemsip stood out from the crowd, displaying both his reknowned intellect and a hitherto hidden expertise with a shovel. Then unluckily for Pigeon, his bike and bags went off ahead in one coach without him and so he was stuck in a “chase” with the raucaus Stage 6 bus. All’s well that ends well and he was reunited in time to make it back home.
As the Stage 6ers celebrated long into the night it was time for reflection. The highlights were of course //r capturing our first ever Open title, but equally impressive was the performance of TimTam. Firmly over 40, he could be riding age group, but he stubbornly stays among the elite and he undoubtedly deserves to be there. The return of Dibble to the fold also played a big part in the team’s success.
Melon, shed of his obviously unlucky previous name, made a big breakthrough, and should now be looking to follow up his winning performance in the, cough, Cat 2 field in the Tour de Bintan ;-)
The quiet man AmeZ, who selflessly sacrificed his own chances in this year’s Tour of Friendship, was repaid in heaps by karma, taking a popular and comfortable win in the 46+ race.
And who can stop the Big Momma? Maybe she needs to enter the men’s races, and we wouldn’t put it past her to notch up a victory of two there.
Salamat at paalam
The Tour of Matabungkay delivers a great cycling/tourism experience with a good variety of stages, tough but fair racing and the odd surprise thrown in to keep everybody on their toes. The main organisers, the Baterna brothers, are fantastic hosts, as were all the Filipino riders and supporters. And lets not forget the staff at the weirdly wonderful Matabungkay Resort, our home for four days, who treated all the visitors like kings and queens. Big shout out too to the lads from DirectAsia.com and the combined Matador/4T2 squad.
Next up is the Tour de Bintan. Fingers crossed for more glory.