THE dream of hosting national and international mountain bike downhill and cross country competition may soon become a reality.
Nestled on a three-hectare lot in Loakan near the airport, the mountain bike (MTB) course is designed by Marites Bitbit, who single handedly carved the different bike paths that would soon attract bikers from across the globe.
Bitbit said the track is almost 80 percent done and hopes to open the course to the public in due time.
"We were planning an event in Batangas but then Taal erupted, so I decided to move back to Baguio. And from there, we had initial talks with sir Gudz (Gaudencio) Gonzales of the city sports and development office to host an event here in the city," relates Bitbit.
The former two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist added they were initially eyeing the competition inside Camp John Hay but a suggestion to look for a vacant lot in Loakan crop up to be the venue of the event.
Bitbit said after setting their sight on the area, the lot owners agreed and allowed them to develop the future bicycle course in the next 10 years.
"It was a blessing in disguise that because of the pandemic and due to the Taal eruption, we were able to find this area," added Bitbit.
Since the lockdown in March, she started to work on the course and hopes to complete it later this year.
A long-time Baguio resident before the 1990 earthquake and moved to Cebu City, Bitbit said the course is a dream come true for local downhill riders who have been looking for a playground where they can hone their skills.
"At the moment, we still cannot organize races. However, this will serve as a training ground especially to our grassroots bikers and hopefully we could inspire them to bring excitement that enable them to engage in mountain biking," Bitbit added.
Once completed, the course will soon be inspected by Oscar Rodriguez, vice president of the PhilCycling and MTB Commission.
And after given the green light, Bitbit said all bike races will be in coordination with the City Government of Baguio together with other private groups.
Known riders from Manila will also test the course to enhance some sections of the track, according to Bitbit.
Aside the bicycle course, the area will also offer trail running routes and an obstacle racing circuit, while the archery range is also being developed.