Posts Tagged with: "Junior Challenge"

This is part of a series of posts under the Quaker Challenge. It’s about the quest that my kids and I have to achieve our Quaker Goal to swim, bike, and run more. Read about it HERE.

Anton and I joined BGC Cycle held last November 15-17, 2013.  It was a fantastic, well-organized event, but I’m posting about it only now as I limited my posts about running or events the past couple of weeks out of respect for those affected by Typhoon Yolanda.  As we help with rehab efforts, I’ll be getting back into posting about running again.

Back to BGC Cycle.  Anton signed up for the Junior Challenge held in the afternoon of Saturday, November 16 while I joined the 40k Community Ride the following day, Sunday, with friends (I’ll post about that separately).  It was Anton’s first bike ride and, since he enjoyed the bike portion the most in his first triathlon (I was hoping he’d love running more, but what can I do?  Ouch. My heart. LOL), he was looking forward to this event.

The BGC Cycle Junior Challenge was a 30 minute ride around a small loop near Bonifacio High Street.  It was for children from 10 to 12 years old.  As the kids stood at the starting line with their bikes, some of them looking pretty serious and strong, the organizers repeatedly reminded the kids that it was not a race, that they should just enjoy the ride.  I whispered the same to Anton and told him “Have fun!” before the gun went off.

– Kids await the gun start –


– Anton’s all set –


– with my boy! Not sure who’s more nervous –


– Nice to see Vima (Kulitrunner) and Bee Yen (Kamote Runner) before the race start –

Since it was a looped course, it was perfect for family and friends to watch the kids fly by.  We would see Anton bike past us and I would hurriedly yell: “Go Anton!” while simultaneously attempting to take action shots. (Such is the life of a trikids mom!)  It was great to see him enjoying!

– Anton passes us on the bike! –

Time flew fast and, before we knew it, the host announced that there was just 1 minute to go!  I was ready to congratulate my little boy and I patiently waited to see him.  As more and more kids biked past us, I noticed it was taking him too long to come in.  I looked at my hubby and he looked equally worried.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  Every second felt like an hour.  My imagination went wild with all the bad things that could’ve happened to my baby.  Seriously.

Within a few minutes, we saw Anton walking towards us escorted by a marshal holding his bike.  It was a huge relief to see him, but, when I saw the wounds on both knees and his arm, I freaked out.  “What happened?!!” I asked.  As the medics dressed his six (SIX! Waaah!) wounds, he recounted how he turned too fast on the curb, hit the edge of his tire on the sidewalk, flew off the bike and slid on his right side.

I wanted to hug my baby boy and forbid him from ever riding a bike again, but as I watched him tell his story with half a smirk on his face, I realized that he was completely fine.  No broken bones nor cracked helmet, no broken spirit either.  While I was a nervous wreck, this boy of mine seemed secretly proud of his battle scars.  In fact, he looked challenged to try even harder.

– Check out that smile! –

We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen after the race and I asked him over pizza and pasta: “So, are you going to ride a bike again soon?”  He replied confidently “Yes.” probably thinking to himself: What kind of a question is that, Mom?

– Nice seeing the Pangilinan Family at the finish! Here we are with top cyclist Robbie McEwen and Chris –

Thank you to the organizers especially the medics of BGC Cycle for caring for my son.  A doctor even met with us after to advice us on tetanus shots and appease the most worried member of the family, me!