RACE REPORT: Patiis

^{photo of Jun Alavaro by ECR Fotograpika}

Patiis is, by all and any ways and means, one of the true testing grounds of DH and Enduro riding here in the country. You’ll need a generous combination of skills, guts, and a pretty good bike (at least one you’re comfortable riding) to ride down this hill the “right” way– and by that we mean fast and accurate. Racing in Patiis? Well, that’s a different story altogether. One that’s gamely represented in this year’s first race there: The Patiis Enduro Challenge.

Led by race director Edmund Garcia and his team of organizers Nilo Daep, Tovy Villanueva, Denise Santos, and Nyok Villanueva, this year’s race was as gnarly as we all expected it to be. With close to 400 racers from all over the country and even as far away as Guam, the 3 stages of our beloved weekend spot did not disappoint. There were new features — Renz and Polaris drop to name two, mixed in with old favorites like Nemesis, Highway, and of course Yummy, all put together quite nicely despite some last minute re-routing due to some “stuff”.

But, all in all, it was an amazing experience being back in Patiis for another epic race. Some of the winners may surprise you, some won’t.

THE WINNERS

Of course we HAVE to talk about all the winners. I’m tempted to say “everyone was a winner”, which is true, Patiis is an unforgivable track and the fact that almost EVERYONE made it down all three stages safely is a win in itself. So congratulations to everyone that raced, you are keeping the scene alive.

FLY Racing PH took the most champion spots out of all the teams there, with Raul Tabil taking the Open Elite, Nammi Gardoce taking the top spot in the Women’s category, and James Sardea winning the 50 and up category. Both Tabil and Sardea were here just for the race, coming from Cagayan de Oro and Guam respectively.

The usual suspects were abound, with Steve Velayo and Mark Kris Dela Vega winning their categories and Clinton Li Chuan winning the 40-49 set. Neil Buena, known for his suspension shop BBOY’s located in Taguig, took the top spot for the first time: placing first in the Executive Category.

WJC Timing was, as always, at the top of their game, working with the race team to manage the entirety of the event near-perfectly. Here are the official FULL results from WJC TIMING:

THE DIFFERENT STAGES

The race was divided into 3 stages, with SS3 being the closest to last year’s DH race — if not an almost identical line, almost. Each stage had something unique to it, SS1 had the cut into Dak-dak (pictured above) and then into Virgo, SS2 the steep start transforming into a pedal-heavy war, while the aforementioned SS3 had the Highway, which in hindsight was the most challenging part. Riders by then would have had to face that tiring section already exhausted from the first two stages.

The tracks were grueling, going from fast an flow-y to technical in a matter of moments, all made more challenging by the overly dry conditions that had some people dubbing parts of the hill as “beach resorts”. Some areas were lush and green, lulling the riders into a false sense of security, only to hit them with a surprise drop and tabletop into a fast chute back into a more familiar, dusty line.

In the end, all 3 stages went well together, with everyone either gassing out or pushing it to the max to get over the line. Patiis rarely disappoints and this year was no different, so thank you to all the people behind the race, especially Edmund Garcia, race director, who expertly navigated all the challenges to still put on one amazing event from start to finish.

We’d also like to say thank you to the local community in and around Patiis, along with the porters, without you all we wouldn’t have a playground to enjoy. The 2024 race season is indeed in full swing, so here we go. Who’s got next?