Cross Country spirit alive and well
If there is one thing for sure, the oldest cycle race this side of the Atlantic, the Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic, is here to stay; and Belize cycling fans will hold on to their Cross Country with pride, and hopes and dreams, “no matta what”. “Come hell, high water, or Guatemala,” and it was the latter for the past two years consecutively, and still Belizeans are riding hard with hopes that “next year” might be the year when the garland returns to the Jewel.
This year seemed to be the year, after a 4-year drought (Shane Vasquez in 2006 was the last Belizean to wear the garland), and with a 3-man group, including one of Belize’s best sprinters, Darnell Barrow, among them, with a 55-second lead over the chase peloton as they neared the Burdon Canal bridge at Mile 5, hopes were riding high among Belize cycling fans.
Because of the nature of the race, as it nears Belize City, media vehicles are no longer allowed to get near their riders; and before they crossed the 5-Mile bridge, our Krem outside broadcast team was leaving the race to go ahead to Memorial Park for the grand finish. Everyone was in hopeful anticipation of a dramatic sprint to the tape, in which our boy, Darnell, would emerge victorious.
Another heartbreak
Alas, again, like last year, it was not to be. Between Mile 5 and entering Belize City proper, the race was pretty much decided, as Guatemalan cyclist Luis Santizo, riding for team Sugar City Starz, embarked on a blistering pace, determined to leave everything on the road. Cycling experts say Santizo is not a top sprinter, but he is a very good pacer, and he played to his strength, picking his time to launch his long range attack, and it was too much for the other two members of the 3-man lead group, American Jeremy Conn of Hicapie Green Creation and Belizean Darnell Barrow of Team Santino’s. Earlier, Santizo had appeared reluctant to share in the pacing, as Barrow and Conn did most of the work to keep the lead trio a minute in front of the chase group.
I left the Krem studios before the race reached the Mile 5 bridge, intending to drive over to Memorial Park and be there to witness the finishing sprint, as most fans anticipated it would be. But the traffic department had already closed off all outlets west of Central American Boulevard, so I was trapped on Southside. I therefore parked my vehicle, and walked across the bridge to take up a position on the northern incline of Belcan Bridge facing southwards, so I could see close-up when the cyclists came tearing down Belcan Bridge on their way to Princess Margaret Drive and then Marine Parade and Memorial Park.
Fans were hoping to give Darnell the cheer and the lift he needed to make that finishing sprint a winning one. But, all hopes were dashed when, in the distance, a lone rider appeared, and he was not wearing black and white, the Santino’s colors.
Snapshots at the Belcan crossing
From the spot where I took pictures of the cyclists descending Belcan Bridge, Luis Santizo (Sugar City Starz) passed a full 38 seconds ahead of the duo of Jeremy Conn (Hincapie Green Creation) and Darnell Barrow (Santino’s), who seemed to be laboring. Then, 16 seconds more and another duo appeared, Shane Vasquez (Western Spirit) with Carlos Gabriel Hernandez (Guatemalan National Team) locked onto his back wheel as they headed down the Belcan slope with a strong and determined pace in an obvious effort to catch the pair up ahead. Twenty-three seconds later, a streaming peloton of 17 riders roared down the Belcan on their way to Memorial Park.
The surprising result, when we finally arrived at Memorial Park a half hour later to get the official stats, was that both Darnell and Jeremy were caught and passed by Shane and Carlos, and it was Carlos who then took advantage of a weakened Shane, to move ahead and take second place by a good 13 seconds.
From Belcan Bridge to Memorial Park, going around Princess Margaret Drive, is probably a couple miles, and, as the race results show, a lot can happen in that stretch of road.
What actually occurred, as the station prize results show, is that at the Fabers Road junction, Luis Santizo made his move; and he didn’t look back, taking all the station prizes the rest of the way into Belize City and on to Memorial Park for the garland. The mark of a champion is that he knows when to make his move. Santizo rode an excellent race, and his name now joins 82 others in the record books of Belize’s Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic. And gracious, though disappointed, Belizean fans gave him their respect at the Memorial Park ceremony.
Station prizes, a consolation
On the bright side for Belizeans on Holy Saturday, the station prizes were not all gobbled up by foreign riders this year. Belizean riders won a majority of the station prizes up to and including the halfway point prize in San Ignacio, which was claimed by Junior rider Kyle Gentle of Cayo High Road, giving his Cayo fans something to cheer about. Another rider from the west, Peter Choto of Western Spirits/Galen Eagles, won 26 station prizes on the way to Cayo. Other station prize winners on the way to Cayo were Devon Medwood of Clear the Land (1), Venezuelan Wilmen Bravo Isaga of Zamir (1), Costa Rican Jose Vega of Bel-Cal (1), Daniel Choto of Western Spirits/Galen Eagles (1), Venezuelan Gil Cordevez of Zamir (1), American John Delong of Hicapie Green Creation (1), Frank Fuller of D&D Consultancy (1), Costa Rican Nieves Carrasco-Montoya (1), and Ernest Meighan of SanCas Red Bull (1), for a total of 30 Belizean winners to 5 by foreigners.
But on the return journey, the foreigners immediately asserted themselves. Guatemalan Edgar Hoch-Orosco of Santino’s grabbed the first 6 station prizes after leaving San Ignacio. Other station prize winners on the way back to Belize City were Venezuelan Wilmen Bravo Isaga of Zamir (5), Costa Rican Juan Rojas Villegas of Benny’s Megabytes (4), Shane Vasquez of Western Spirits/Galen Eagles (1), American Chris Harkey of Hicapie Green Creation (8), American Jeremy Conn of Hicapie Green Creation (6), Marlon Castillo of Zamir (1), Guatemalan Carlos Hernandez of Guatemalan National Team (2), Darnell Barrow of Santino’s (7), and Guatemalan Luis Santizo of Sugar City Starz (10) along with the championship. Station prize count on the way back to Belize City was 41 by foreigners to 9 by Belizeans.
Overall, the station prize tally shows 46 won by foreigners to 39 by Belizean cyclists. But the big prize, the one that counts more than all the station prizes put together, and that Belizeans would gladly trade for all the station prizes, the garland of the Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic is once again worn by a foreign rider in 2011. Last year’s champion, Guatemalan Miguel Perez did not return to defend his crown this year. But another Guatemalan, Luis Santizo-Lara by name, and riding under the banner of the Sugar City Starz cycling team, is the 83rd Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic champion of Belize.
Santizo is the fifth consecutive foreign rider to claim the garland, since Shane Vasquez won it in 2006. Shane was 4th in 2010, and he was 3rd this year, the first Belizean to cross the finish line in both races.
Finishing times
Of the 130 riders who lined up for the start at 6:00 a.m. on Holy Saturday morning in front of Leslie’s Imports on the outskirts of Belize City, only 53 finished the 142.4 mile journey to San Ignacio and back to Belize City within the 45-minute time limit after the champion, and 6 of those were disqualified, leaving a list of 47 official finishers. With a brisk southeasterly wind prevailing all day, the record of 5:40:12 (5 hours 40 minutes and 12 seconds), set by American Ryan Baumann in 2008, remained intact. 2011 champion Guatemalan Luis Santizo (Sugar City Starz) finished the journey in 6:08:10. Other top finishers include 2nd place Guatemalan Carlos Gabriel Hernandez (Guatemalan National Team) in 6:08:47; 3rd place Shane Vasquez (Western Spirits/Galen Eagles) in 6:09:00; 4th American Jeremy Conn (Hicapie Green Creation) in 6:09:10; and 5th Darnell Barrow (Santino’s) in 6:09:35.
Next was a scattered group of 17 cyclists, all officially clocked in at 6:09:42, from 6th to 22nd place. In their order of finishing, 6th was Venezuelan Wilmen Bravo-Isaga (Zamir); 7th American John Delong (Hicapie Green Creation); 8th American Andrew Myers (Hicapie Green Creation); 9th Brandon Cattouse (C-Ray); 10th Guatemalan Lisandro Ajuc (Santino’s); 11th Byron Pope (Benny’s Megabytes); 12th Guatemalan Manuel Rodas-Ochoa (Guatemalan National Team); 13th Mexican Donizetti Aburto-Vasquez (Depredadores); 14th Leroy Casasola (Santino’s); 15th Jairo Campos (Typhoon); 16th American Anthony Taylor (Unattached); 17th Costa Rican Juan Rojas-Villegas (Benny’s Megabytes); 18th Marlon Castillo (Zamir); 19th Henry Moreira (Zamir); 20th Jose Choto (Western Spirits/Galen Eagles); 21st David Henderson (Indeco); and 22nd Guatemalan Christian Quicibal-Estrada (Guatemalan National Team).
For the record, the other 25 official finishers were: 23rd Gregory Lovell, 6:10:53; 24th Guatemalan Luis Marroquin-Perez, 6:13:13; 25th Panamanian Christian McNish, 6:28:28; 26th Costa Rican Jose Vega, 6:18:28; 27th Michael Lewis, 6:18:28; 28th Mateo Cruz, 6:18:58; 29th Edgar Arana, 6:18:58; 30th Emerson Vasquez, 6:18:58; 31st Robert Stewart, 6:18:58; 32nd Guatemalan Edgar Hoch Orosco, 6:19:00; 33rd Rafael Choto, 6:19:26; 34th Geon Hanson, 6:19:49; 35th Patrick Bennett, 6:20:33; 36th Herman Requena, 6:23:29; 37th Devon Medwood, 6:29:12; 38th Frederick Sutherland, 6:29:12; 39th Luigi Urbina, 6:29:12; 40th Quinton Hamilton, 6:29:37; 41st Edwardo Babb, 6:29:50; 42nd Trevor Vaughan, 6:30:28; 43rd Ezekiel Gomez, 6:30:34; 44th American Chris Harkey, 6:31:21; 45th Ruben Cano, 6:38:05; 46th Wilbert Jones, 6:40:05; and 47th Guatemalan Santos Ajpacaja Tzoc, 6:40:05.
Of the five Junior riders who participated in this year’s Cross Country, 4 did not finish and the other was disqualified.
In the Under 23 category, 1st was American Andrew Myers (Hicapie Green Creation), 2nd Byron Pope (Benny’s Megabytes), and 3rd Jairo Campos (Typhoon), all recording a time of 6:09:42.
For the Masters, 1st was Shane Vasquez (Western Spirits/Galen Eagles, 6:09:00), 2nd American Jeremy Conn (Hicapie Green Creation, 6:09:10), and 3rd American John Delong (Hicapie Green Creation, 6:09:42).
In the Masters Category 4&5 Riders, 1st was Henry Moreira (Zamir, 6:09:42), 2nd Michael Lewis (Unattached, 6:18:28), and 3rd Robert Stewart (M&M Engineering, 6:18:58).
Finally, for the Masters 50+ Riders, 1st was American Anthony Taylor (Unattached, 6:09:42), 2nd Trevor Vaughan (Bel-Cal, 6:30:28).
Championship trophies
Aside from the $5,000 cash prize and the traditional garland of roses, donated by Florasol, this year’s champion received a number of trophies, a champion trophy donated by Bowen & Bowen; the Jeffery O’Brien Trophy, in honor of 4-time champion Jeffery O’Brien; the Elston Kerr Cup, donated by Jex Trophy.Com in honor of the first Cross Country champion, Elston Kerr; a champion trophy donated by Rotaract Belize; and the Altreith Smith Memorial Trophy, donated by the Smith Family in memory of former champion Altreith Smith.
There were also cash prizes and trophies for the top 20 finishers in this year’s race. 3rd place Shane Vasquez also received a special trophy as the 1st Belizean finisher from the Louie Smith family.
Cross Country lives
There is no killing the spirit of Cross Country in Belize. If it was possible, Cross Country would already be dead, after five consecutive wins by foreigners. But the race is ours, regardless of who wins; we made it what it is. This feeling was evident in the Belizean fans who greeted the champion at Memorial Park. One fan who posed with the champion, Kent “Takeoff” Clother’s white T-shirt said it all: “Too blessed to be stressed” plastered across a picture of the Belize national flag. Globalization has had its effects, but the Belize Holy Saturday Cross Country Classic remains the oldest, most glamorous and storied one-day cycle event – more than just a race, but a ride of history – in the hemisphere. Only one foreigner, American Chris Harkey, has been able to repeat as champion, a feat that 18 Belizean champions have achieved. A Belizean will win again, we must believe. And, oh, how sweet will be that victory!