Story in a Nutshell
- Himamaylan City led by Mayor Raymund Tongson will send off riders from two Negros Oriental localities, Bais City and Mabinay town.
- This year’s ride, hosted by Himamaylan City in partnership with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and the local governments of Bais and Kabankalan City and Mabinay town, is held in the month World Bicycle Day and the 19th Wildlife Month are being celebrated.
- Close to 400 riders will ride to Himamaylan in three race types from Mabinay town and Bais City with a brief stop in Kabankalan City
- Project director says race from Bais City includes continuous uphill climb of more than 13 kilometers
BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – The Negros leg of the renowned Tour of the Fireflies advocacy ride returns to Himamaylan City for the eighth straight year with close to 400 riders pedaling from a city and town in Negros Oriental Sunday tomorrow, 26 November 2023.
Startimg guns will fire early in the mornimg yesterday in Bais City and Mabinay towns where two race categories will come from and end in Himamaylan.
At the Mabinay town market, an estimated 300 riders composed of women, boys aged 15 to 18, and girls aged 15 and above will start early from the starting line and make their way to Himamaylan City 53 kilometers away, briefly stopping at the Kabankalan City Hall before the final pedal to Himamaylan.
This year’s project director, Alejandro Deoma, an executive assistant of Tongson, told DNX the Mabinay starting point is for the community ride that will have a relatively relaxed pace of 20 to 25 kilomeyers per hour.
Those who want to pedal faster can break off from the main pack 10 kilometers away from the finish line for the Test Race, Deoma added.
The Bais City event, meanwhile, starts around 8:30am and will feature the gruelling part of the race that will have around 30 riders in th open elite class for men aged 19 and up.
Deoma said the race for road and mountain bikes will span 97 kilometers from the plaza of the city to that of Himamaylan.
Tge challenging part of the race is a continuous uphill climb of 13,5 kilometers that will reach an altitude of up to 460 meters above sea level, Deoma added.
For the first time in Negros island, elite and amateur cyclists will ride two different courses, one leisurely, the other gruelling that will take them through mountains bordering the two Negros provinces that were practically separated when borders closed at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
This year’s rides will be for the original advocacy of clean air qnd twin calls for road sharing and discipline, the briefer on this year’s TOTF said.
