First-time racer, Luis Canto Moniz, Ferrari Philippines general manager was eager to participate in the Timberland Heights King of the Mountain (TKOM) and was taken aback by the steep, lush green terrain of San Mateo, Rizal nestled at the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Moniz shares in an interview that the difficulty of the biking trail is what makes him come back for more at Filinvest’s Timberland Heights in San Mateo.
“It is a challenge like no other. I have been coming back to the Timberland Heights biking trail almost every week to train and it is a really tough climb,” Moniz enthuses of the 25- to 40-kilometer uphill climb of the Timberland trail that has cliff side single tracks.
Moniz, 46, is on his first foreign assignment here in Manila and is glad he is able to pursue his passion for mountain biking while in the country. His wife has recently taken up the sport and joins him on weekend trainings at Timberland.
As a marathon biker for five years, Moniz, shares that doing the Timberland King of the Mountain race is a test of one’s limits.
“You are up against the weather, the difficult trail and yourself. It makes you push and work harder and that is what I love,” Moniz says.
Moniz was one of the 400 participants to the Timberland King of the Mountain. Fellow bike enthusiast Philippine Seven Corp CEO Jose Victor Paterno has been joining the race for four years.
Paterno says in his team’s cycling blog that while the technical skills, adrenalin rush and closeness to nature that define mountain biking is his favorite discipline, he has learned to appreciate the strategic complexity, athletic purity and team orientation of road biking.
As a swimmer in high school (competing as a national athlete in the SEA Games) and a boxer in college, Paterno says in the cycling blog that neither sport has inspired the passion and fascination that cycling has brought to his life.
Paterno seems to not get enough of the difficult mountain bike tracks in this part of San Mateo, Rizal.
On Feb. 23, Paterno staged the 7-Eleven’s first ever mountain bike race—the Trail 1000 at Timberland, which offered a grand prize of P100,000 for the winner.
Mountain bike capital of PH
“Filinvest Timberland has been dubbed the Mountain Bike Capital of the Philippines because racers are treated to a world-class race course built in accordance with International Mountain Bike Association trail-building standards,” race director Edmund Mangaser says.
The race course, maintained, developed and managed by All Terra, has been built in accordance with the International Mountain Bike Association trail-building standards. It has an estimated 700-meter trail, a 25-km elevation.
Mangaser explains that the race course is truly world-class as it has almost everything a mountain bike cross country racer can ask for: steep technical ascent, multiple switch backs, flowy single track, turns, fast descents, fire roads, rock-gardens and even stream-crossing.
“It is designed to make better mountain bikers out of all its participants. We believe that as we make world-class mountain bike courses, they help, shape up potential world-class mountain bikers,” he adds.
“All Terra is the only IMBA-trained group in the Philippines trained by IMBA renowned trial-builder Tony Boone,” he points out.
Filinvest Timberland Heights shares this vision: “Being the only mountain bike destination closest to Metro Manila with world-class caliber bike trails, we would like to give back to the community by opening our gates to people who are into mountain sports,” Francis V. Ceballos, senior vice president and northeast cluster head says.
He adds, “This year’s King of the Mountain award goes to Leopoldo Japitana of Bacolod City. Crowned Queen of the Mountain is still Ariana Dormitorio of Pasig City who won the race for the past four consecutive years.”
Timberland Heights is a 677-hectare recreational township created by Filinvest. It is a master-planned community with themed communities that will suit the different lifestyle needs of its residents and brings them closer to nature.
It is under the Filinvest Premiere brand which offers masterfully-crafted luxury residential spaces and leisure developments.
Filinvest is one of the country’s most trusted real estate developers with over 50 solid years of experience built and guided by the Gotianun family’s tradition of integrity, quality and service. For more information, call 8500888, 0917-8770888 or log on to www.timberlandheights.com.