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[av_heading heading=’What happened in Iloilo bike fest world record attempt?’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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Ilonggo cyclists line up their bikes, enduring the heat of the sun, during the attempt to set a new world record for the longest single line of moving bicycles at the Iloilo Circumferential Road on Saturday, March 4. The event was part of the 2017 Iloilo Bike Festival, which is now on its fourth year. IAN PAUL CORDERO/PN
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ILOILO City – Organizers of the 2017 Iloilo Bike Festival have stayed largely mum after Saturday’s attempt to go down in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest line of moving bicycles.
Some two thousand riders were expected to join the Grand Fun Ride on Saturday as participants of the annual bike fest gathered for a historic chance to break a world record. However, the initial headcount, as reported by the event organizers, came to just 1,255 participants.
Nevertheless, Iloilo’s Grand Fun Ride did exceed the previous world record set in Dhaka, Bangladesh – joined by 1,186 cyclists in December last year.
So why have the celebration bells not been rung yet?
As of this writing, international accounting firm Price Waterhouse is still reportedly verifying the data, according to Ronald Raymond Sebastian, Iloilo Bike Festival director.
For the pioneering attempt to break the world record, Sebastian described the number of participants that the bike festival gathered as already “okay” although he observed several problems.
“Some bikes broke down. Some bikers strayed out of the line. But the number of participants was really huge,” said Sebastian.
“We were more than Bangladesh’s number. The attempt is to be submitted to (the) Guinness (Book of World Records) for scrutiny,” added Atty. Pablo Nava IV, president of the Federation of Iloilo Cycling Organizations.
Sebastian added that the 1,255 count of participants may still be possibly whittled down by the verifying body as there were a number of disqualified entries.
Among the guidelines that a few bikers did not follow were: the wearing of helmets and Iloilo event team t-shirts, staying in line, and maintaining just a maximum of one bicycle-length distance between riders.
Similarly, a few frustrated cyclists who joined the attempt expressed their disappointment on social media, regarding some of the lapses.
“May mga event bi nga nagadungan man sa Guinness [world record attempt] ride, [that’s why] natunga ang bikers,” posted Vincent Cerbas on social media. “Kag iban wala kabalo kung diin ang venue, tani may mga information desk sila nga ginpangbutang sa Megaworld [where some of the bike fest events were held].”
“Tani before sang event, like weeks before, naghatag sila info kung diin ang venue kag ano oras. Para hindi mag sala-sala ang bikers,” added Louie Patrick Aguila.
“Na-confuse yung ibang riders na umattend sa fun ride at record attempt, nagka-aberya din ang mga barcode scanners for counting,” shared a certain Bio Ge Sic on Facebook.
During the Grand Fun Ride, each biker was assigned a unique race plate with a corresponding barcode to make the recordingg of participants easier. Before entering the starting line and after passing the finish line, each race plate was scanned for verification.
In preparation for the world record attempt, organizers of the bike fest conducted dry runs on Friday, March 3 and Feb. 25.
There is no word yet when the official result of the world record attempt will be announced./PN
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