Christina Ricafort, Tony Zaldua Jr., and Wilson Blas at 2013 SCNCA State Masters Track Championships

One of the very anticipated annual 2-day track event of Southern California Nevada Cycling Association (SCNCA), Masters States Track Championships! Held just 2 weekends ago at Encino Velodrome in Los Angeles, California. Fixed Gear Fever noted this concrete velodrome as 252 meters with 30 degrees of maximum banking. We were well represented by Christina Ricafort, Tony Zaldua Jr., his brother James Zaldua and Wilson Blas in their respective age groups.

Remember Christina Ricafort? She was that singer hitting the high notes of the National Anthem during last year's USAC Elite Track National Championships! She's been a roadie for a while now but got into track cycling for a year or so. She learned the track fast and well.... and look at her now. She is now a SCNCA Champion! The photo below was from the 3-km Team Pursuit with team mates Melanie Phillips and Jan Palchikoff with a winning time of 4:35:85 earning the Gold Medal!

Here Christina is grinding it out during the 2-km Individual Time Trial finishing with a time of 3:06:98 for 2nd place earning the Silver medal!

Moving on to Tony Zaldua Jr..... Do you notice the 2 medals he's wearing? Both medals were awarded during the morning of Day 1! He earned them from 1-km Individual Time Trial with a time of 1:13:56 for the Silver medal and Team Sprint with teammates Shon Halasi and Joe Camacho.with a time of 55:.49 seconds for the Gold medal.

He came back again in the afternoon session with team mates David Brinton, Dominic Clark, and Scott Evans for the 4-km Team Pursuit. They clocked in at a time 5:14:68 to finish first place for the Gold medal! Below is a picture from his supportive brother and fixed-gear cyclist James Zaldua!

But Tony wasn't done yet! He was back at the track on the afternoon of Day 2 to compete at the 10-km Scratch Race and 20-km Points Race finishing 2nd place for another Silver Medal and 1st place for the another Gold medal respectively.

A total of 3 Gold medals and 2 Silver medals from 5 races he signed up for. This Champion shows consistency year after year!

Last but not least, Wilson Blas also raced the 1-km Individual Time Trial with a time of 1:13:34, finishing second for the Silver medal. Missing only a second for the Gold! Here he is ready for his Kilo.

So who got the Gold? Who did he compete against for the Championship? Here's Wilson at the podium with Jon Davy. Yes, Wilson was up against a much bigger and stronger competitor.... and only lost it by 1 second!

But he wasn't done yet! He was back at the track on the afternoon of Day 2 to compete at the 10-km Scratch Race and 25-km Points Race finishing 2nd place on both races for a couple more Silver medals. You probably know by now who he was up against! He earned a total of 3 Silver medals!

Let's all congratulate Christina, Tony, and Wilson for all the hard work they did!

Some photos courtesy of Gus Sarmiento. Thanks Gus!

Meet Italy's Fixed-Gear Cyclist Danilo Dizon Jr.

Hello to all Pinoy Fixie viewers once again! Please meet Danilo Dizon Jr., one of our special Pinoy fixed-gear cyclists.... born in Italy in 1991 and lived briefly in the Philippines in his earlier years before travelling back with his parents and sister to Pordenone Province, northeast of Italy. Unknown by most, Filipinos is the largest alien resident group in the country per Wikipedia, During Dan’s early years, he usually rides his bike to school, for grocery runs, and to visit friends to name a few. They later moved to Milan which 350 kilometers west of Pordenone and graduated in 2009 with a Degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering at ITIS Giovanni Giorgi College. He now works at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Milan’s flagship store of the specialty clothing retailer. He also works at the renowned aquarium shop in Milan called Yato Aquari where they install and maintain marine and fresh water aquariums. Fortunately, aquascaping is one of his hobbies. Amazingly, after all these years, he still learned his native tongue, good in English, and can whip his Italian lingo anytime and anywhere!

To get started about Dan’s cycling world, he is one of the founders of Milan’s Filipino Fixed-Gear Cycling Club named Pinoy Heavy Pedal  that is now about 50 members strong! He is proud to mention his co-founders: Sonny and Sean Santiago, Nico Benito, Jonathan Batoctoy, and Aldrin Delos Angeles.

Eventually, he started training at Parco Nord Velodrome, 497-meter long and made of asphalt…. The local cyclists call it the mini-velodrome not because of the length but because of the minimal banking.  This is where he got hooked on track riding. Check this video he recorded with his friends Fabio and Lorenzo, and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Titled: Velodromo "DateciPista" Parco Nord Bresso. That gathering was organized by a group of volunteers called "Dateci Pista", meaning is "Give Us Track"!

Not too soon, Italy’s “Fixed Forum” organized an event and rented Montichiari Velodrome for 3 different days. He was able to go to the 2nd and 3rd days and experienced riding the track with about 40 other cyclists.  He mentioned that it was crazy!

 This velodrome is spec’ed at 250-meters long, 43-degree banking, wood surface, indoor facility which is very different than Parco Nord. This is where Dan fell in love with track riding. For the next few weeks, his group of friends traveled to the track whether it rained or snowed. It was just the cost of travelling 114 kilometers to the velodrome that got in the way.

Most of the time, he rides from home to Martesana Pista Ciclabile which can be a 100+ kilometer bike ride without any cars along the way. He mentioned that Martesana is roughly 30 kilometers west from his home but the ride distance can be varied to create more challenges.

Now we think that these are the only two velodromes he’s been to…. What surprised me was that he’s been to a few more! That’s an impressive statement from a mild mannered fixed gear cyclist. So I had to ask, which velodromes have you visited?! He mentioned five more… Roberto Battaglia Communal Velodrome in Busto Garolfo, Giuliano Pacciarelli Velodrome in Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Dalmine Communal Velodrome in Dalmine, Vigorelli Velodrome (defunct) in Milano/Milan, and Fausto Coppi (TO) Velodrome (also defunct) in Torino / Turin, Italy - aka Moto Velodromo. Hopefully you can just imagine the efforts he has to go through to get to all these velodromes! You can find details of all these velodromes he’s been to on the right side of this blog.  Just by being at these different velodromes especially in Italy, as one of the premier countries in cycling, we cannot disregard what he knows about velodromes. Even if he hasn't competed in track racing, he knows something most of us are not aware of.

So who is his mentor behind all these? He is proud to mention his friend Nicholas Varani, and Italian/Swiss all-around cyclist. Nicholas mentors Dan on track riding skills and also about bike parts. If you are following Red Hook Criterium in Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York, Nicholas of Iride Fixed Modena Team travelled to compete there! Now that’s dedication to the sport! Our Pinoy Fixie member Langdon Taguiped of Los Angeles also travelled there to race!

Last but not least, Dan is very thankful of his friend in Manila, Ian Oliver Atendido. Ian was very kind to lend his Ave Maldea fixed-gear bike while he was on vacation last month.

You can follow Dan in Facebook where he usually visits Manila Fixed Gear Group.

Arden Arindaeng

National Games at Amoranto Velodrome on May 28 - 29, 2013 - Summary (Part 4)

The calm before National Games 2013 (photo by Gilbert Sy Chan)....

There are a lot's of pictures posted in Facebook by Virgilio Espiritu, Gilbert Sy Chan, Mark Dumandan, Leo Dino, Mark Cristino, and Jojo Villa to name a few. Thank you for sharing! There are more photos at PhilCycling and Manila Fixed Gear's Facebook Group. Don't forget to visit WeFxd's blog, MFG's blog and Mark Dumandan's post about the track event. Special thanks to the event organizers for having MFG and WeFxd some track time during the event.

Start of a Keirin Race. Photo courtesy by Mark Dumandan. And below are the awards Alfie Catalan earned.

I didn't see much about Day 2 - Olympic Event but I assume it was also a great day at the track! And because of everyone's response, this resulted to a proposal for future track events:

Personally, the race results of the 2-day event are great but what really matters is as long as we continue with the spirit, learn from our experiences, and perfect it time and time again and eventually get the respect at a World Class level. Seeing Juniors ride the track was also a delight! Hopefully, the proposal for future events is a promising start and let's all hope it goes a long way. Once again, it's also a matter of volunteering, help maintain the facilities, and a lot of training.... racing is just the creme of the crop of all those hard work.

Thank you Race Director Jose 'Jojo' Villa Jr., to all the staffs and volunteers that made it all happen! Thank you also to all the trackies, coaches, and everyone who participated in the event. Congratulations to all the winners. I really appreciate Kiko Escora of Manila Fixed Gear and Leo Dino of WeFxd for helping get the word out. And for Erickson Bautista of Mashin'Manila for linking Pinoy Fixie Blog.

Aden Arindaeng