PATRICK Gerard Lee put the Philippines on the medals board with his bronze medal in men C5 scratch race of para cycling in the Asian Cycling Confederation Track and Para Track Cycling championships on Sunday at the Tagaytay CT Velodrome.
It was the first medal for the Philippines in the annual championships hosted this year by the PhilCycling and Tagaytay City — and the first continental exposure of the national para cycling team.
As importantly, Lee earned points for qualification to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics.
But before Lee turned the crowd inside the Tagaytay CT Velodrome into a frenzy, a Panda Food delivery bike rider — Zedrick Ivan Honorica — set a new Philippine record in men elite sprint using the same bike he uses in plying his trade.
Honorica’s bike? A Brain frame that costs P2,500 and a wheel set worth P12,000 which he raised from delivering food — a bicycle that astronomically pales to the equipment used by the elite countries’ riders, some breaching P7 million.
“I pushed and pushed myself, it’s a very tough race,” said Lee, 21, who lost his right forearm from under the elbow in a meat grinder at his aunt’s stall at Marilao Market when he was five years old.
“I’m really very happy because it’s for our country,” added Lee, who’s set to race again on the last day Wednesday of the championships supported by Tagaytay City Mayor Brent Tolentino and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MVP Sports Foundation, Sports Plus PH, Toyota and Peak.
Uzbekistan’s Azimbek Abdullaev won the gold medal and Japan’s Ruito Kameda secured the silver but with a tough challenge from Lee — the result went down to the photo finish. Another Filipino, Joel Inn Tacutaco, finished fifth in the 14-rider race. Honorica? He’s not your ordinary elite cyclist—literally, he came out of nowhere.
“I race in ‘bente-bente, nothing more,” said the 21-year-old who broke the national record his fellow Marikeño and many-time tour champion Jan Paul Morales set in the Doha 2006 Asian Games.”
“I wasn’t aware of the national record, but I know Kuya JPM [Morales], him being a champion ... he doesn’t know me, though,” he added.
Honorica said he’s an accidental member of the national team in the Asian championships.
Honorica clocked 10.865 seconds, beating Morales’s 20-year-old record of 11.42 seconds.
The effort landed him in 21st out of 22 riders in the event won by Japan’s Kaiya Ota in 9.348 seconds, also shaving a fraction from his previous best of 9.350.