400 Cyclists to Join Giro D’ Luca in Bohol on May 20 to 22

A record number of 400 cyclists are set to join the fourth year of Giro D’ Luca in a fun ride around Bohol on May 20 to 22.

The fun ride, which started only with 10 riders as a birthday celebration of cyclist and triathlete Gianluca Guidicelli, has now grown by leaps and bounds.

This year, the event attracted not only the locals but also foreign cyclists from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia.

Among the foreign participants are pro triathletes Belinda and Justin Granger of Australia.

“We did not expect that this will grow this big. We’re not thinking what will happen when we staged the first edition of the fun ride. What we’re up to was to have fun. We owe the growth of the event to Sunrise Events Inc. (SEI), which has helped us out with the organizingof the event,” Guidicelli said.

The event attracted around 200 participants last year.

SEI project director Princess Galura said the cyclists should not worry about speed on this fun ride because four groups will be created to categorize the participants.

The cyclists can choose whether they will be on the pack of riders with a speed of 21-24 kilometer/hour, 29-25kph, 30kph-above or 20kph-below.

Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Director Rowena Montecillo said they fully support the fun ride as it promotes the tourism of Bohol.

“One of SEI events’ objectives is to be able to encourage more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle through participation in athletic endeavors and I believe that events such as Giro D’Luca is something that like-minded individuals can feel the joy and camaraderie ofcompleting in a non-competitive but challenging stage ride,” said Fred Uytengsu, the founder of SEI.

The three-day fun ride will start and end at Bellevue Hotel in Panglao and will cover a total of 500 kilometers, passing through the historic and tourist destinations.

The first day will bring the riders to the Gindulman, Bohol for a 200K out- and-back ride; the second day, they will go out to the town of Carmen, which is near the famous Chocolate Hills for a 158K ride; and the third day will be a 142K ride going to the town of Tubigon.

During the three-days, riders will have mandatory stops to rest and regroup at hydration stations located at various Shell Philippines gas stations. (PNA) LDV/EB/MP/EBP