BELIZE CITY, Wed. Dec. 8, 2021– As the cycling fever rekindles in Belize with the announced return of the KREM New Year’s Cycling Classic in 2002, a reliable cycling source out of Los Angeles has informed us of the serious health situation being presently endured by one of Belize’s cycling greats of the 1970s era. Two-time Cross Country Champion (1976 & 1979), Alfred Parks is reportedly bedridden in L.A. at this time, as he has been diagnosed with spinal cancer, which has shrunk both his legs beyond usefulness.

From this sports desk and on behalf of all his fans in Belize and elsewhere, we send our love and best wishes to brother “Sparks” for strength in this battle. The legend lives on… “Ketch di bull fi mi!”

Back in the mid-1970s, under the guidance of his trainer and mentor, the renowned sculptor George Gabb, the Parks crew took Belize cycling training to another level with the design and construction of a cycle home trainer, which allowed him to get in the necessary distance work on wheels in an adjoining room, and still be available to carry on with his daytime job at the Gabb’s Art Studio. After his 1976 Cross Country victory, Parks had become so dominant and feared by other young cyclists that he was practically smothered by a surrounding field of dozens of cyclists in subsequent events which hampered his efforts to make any getaway in the Country. So, in 1979, he decided to leave nothing to chance, and came out blazing from the start, separating himself from the field early, and led all the way to the finish for a most spectacular and memorable ride, when, on passing by Busman Arnold’s Farm where a bull was the station prize, “Sparks” reportedly shouted to the jubilant roadside fans, “Ketch di bull fi mi,” as he rode on to victory and into the cycling lore of Belize’s Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic.