Philipino biker gangs

"Dad, I want to go join a Philipino biker gang." As a parent I would expect these words would make me nervous- but in fact I too would like to join a Philipino biker gang. Qatar actually has a healthy cycling community with different factions to boot. There is QCR (qatar chain reaction) which consists of the road purists- who make fun of the triathaletes, the triathaletes- who make fun of the mountain bikers, and the mountain bikers- who don't make fun of much on account of the lack of mountains. There is a Qatar National Team- seriously. There is the Doha runners club- who like to dabble on wheels at times. 

And then there is PADYUK the Philipino biker gang. Padyuk means to pedal on and is an amazing group of fun lovin cyclists. They have hosted two races that Lisa and I have been able to attend and it really reminded us of our home bike series- not the terrain- just a group of adults out playing and acting like kids. As we live among different groups of people from the world I try hard not to generalize because usually once you do you meet someone who breaks your stereotype- So far every person from the Philipines that I have met is friendly, laughing, and generally having a good time. Not a bad stereotype to have I guess.

The start of the race.

Pre-race talk: ride till that one pile of dirt, turn at that pile of rocks, go until you see a bush...

As I sized up the competition I felt I could take the guy in jeans at the start but the guy on the little bike might give me trouble. I was right.

lucky number 214- this race was put on to help out their countryman back home affected by the typhoon. 

With climbs like you see in the background- it going to be a big ring day.

These are from the duathalon- Lisa did a 5k run,20k bike, 5k run. I wisely did the 2.5/10/2.5 and for once I finished before her (barely) not only that but I won!