The Hardest Battle Fought South Africa's
Terence Parkin Surprise Winner of Road Race
PESCADERO, CALIFORNIA (June 24, 2006) - Under a thick fog at
approximately 8:50 in the morning, 35 World Deaf Cycling
Championships riders started a grueling 75-mile road race that
would eventually test who was the best road race riders. In the
end, only about 15 cyclists finished, and the top three finishers
were not who everyone expected to finish. The WDCC website has
long said this race is the toughest road race in Deaf cycling
history, and many riders after the race agreed enthusiastically!
(see maps of the road race at the end of this page.)
At the feeding station, the reporters learned that on the first
loop, three riders from France, Italy and Czech Republic were
leading, with the first part of the pack not far behind from
them. Coaches from different countries were interviewed, and many
of them said they had no idea who would win the race, and would
have to wait to see. A Czech Republic coach said, "This race is
tough. Whoever wins will be commended." A short while later, the
deaf riders passed by and this time, Parkin, Australia's Jarrod
Denman, USA's Nick Schreiber and Trevor Kosa, and France's David
Cloux were the leaders, with the first pack not far behind them.
The second pack was much further behind. The second pack had the
silver medalist of Wednesday's time trial race, Czech Republic's
Pavel Pastrnek, and in a surprising move, he suddenly decided to
get off his bike and say he was done. When asked why, he replied,
"I've already got a medal. My country will sponsor me for the
2009 Deaflympics. I don't need to win this race so I'll give the
others a chance. Besides, I'm hungry!" he finished with a grin
and proceeded to wolf down some ClifBars.
After a drive up to the top, the reporters joined some other
people at the finish line. The finish line was located at the
very top of Haskins Hill. There, it was revealed that cyclists
would not be able to stop and chat, but instead would have to
continue going down the hill and back to Pescadero High School -
another 10 miles! The fog had lifted, and the sun was shining
strongly. After approximately 30 minutes, it was announced that
the deaf riders were now coming up the hill. Everyone was excited
and the tension was high. Then Parkin came into sight, and almost
everyone overlooked him as one of the hearing riders, as
Schreiber and Cloux was heavily favored to win. Suddenly, right
before the finish line, Parkin raised his arms in victory and
everyone went, "What? He won!" Before everyone could absorb the
shock, Colombia's lone representative, Luis Carlos Sanchez, burst
onto the scene and skated through to get a second place finish.
Czech Republic's Frantisek Kocourek was not far behind from
Sanchez, and placed third. Cloux was behind Kocourek, and he
looked extremely disappointed at not being able to place in the
top three. He later commented, "I was very frustrated during the
race. It was a great course, and I had no problems with the
hills, but I was always the leader. Everyone stayed behind me to
draft. I tried to wave other riders in front of me, but no one
would do that! Eventually I got too tired!" Schreiber eventually
showed up in 6th place, and when he passed the finish line, he
grinned, gave everyone a thumbs-up and continued down the road.
Kosa also finished well, much to the surprise of others.
Back at the high school, a score of interviews were done. Of
course, one of the first was done with Terence Parkin. He
admitted that he had cried tears of joy for winning the race,
because he had waited all week to do this race. "I wanted so
badly to win this race, and especially to get a medal in
America!" he said. When asked what his secret was, he said, "I
don't know. I guess having good lungs helped. That and strong leg
power. I started training for this only four months ago. It was
definitely a tough course, but I just went through and focused on
the finish, stayed true to myself and I did it!" he finished with
a laugh. Other riders remarked that Parkin had come out of
nowhere and zoomed them by to win, as he had been struggling with
the first pack. It must be noted here that Parkin was a silver
medalist in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2000 Olympics
in Sydney, Australia. He also came in second at WDCC's short
course mountain bike race. He has been a triathlete for the last
couple of years, so cycling is not new to him; however, like he
stated, he exclusively began training for this event only four
months ago. His remarkable stamina and athleticism must be
commended. Schreiber was also asked why he did not finish in the
top three. He grinned and said, "It was a tough course. Very
tough. I just went along at a steady pace. The wind was in my
face when going uphill. Then I saw Parkin pass me by, and I was
very surprised. I thought about chasing after him, but I knew I
would win the GC (general classification) jersey, so I figured,
let him go." Schreiber did indeed look good and not exhausted
like some other riders. Kosa shared his thoughts about the race.
"Coming into this race, I thought the most important thing was to
help Schreiber. I felt really good, so I thought I'd stay ahead
and help on pulling the pack, especially Schreiber, up the hills.
Now I've just learned that I could have worked harder and
medaled!" he laughed. Finally, Sanchez of Colombia was
interviewed. "It's my first time here in America, and it's a
wonderful country. I'm used to the hills in Colombia, so this
race was good for me. I slept only three hours last night, but I
felt good. Everyone did great, and they all were strong riders. I
put my faith in God, and he helped me get second for this race,"
he said and then made the sign of the cross.
It was inspiring to see Parkin on the gold medal podium at the
awards ceremony, and he made an announcement that South Africa
was going to try and get a bid in to host the next World Deaf
Cycling Championships in 2008. Normally, World Championships
events are hosted a year before the Deaflympics, but until this
year's WDCC, no one had volunteered to host for 11 years! With
the final race of the day done and in the bag, everyone could
finally relax and enjoy their evening at City Beach with a
delicious Italian buffet and an awards ceremony, as well as
plenty of socializing with the public.
| Place |
Bib |
LAST |
First |
NAT |
Time |
| 1 |
36 |
Parkin |
Terence |
RSA |
4:11:26 |
|
| 2 |
16 |
Sanchez |
Luis Carlos |
COL |
0:00:03 |
|
| 3 |
20 |
Kocourek |
Frantisek |
CZE |
s.t. |
|
| 4 |
22 |
Cloux |
David |
FRA |
0:00:13 |
|
| 5 |
21 |
Merunka |
Josef |
CZE |
0:00:19 |
|
| 6 |
47 |
Schreiber |
Nick |
USA |
0:00:54 |
|
| 7 |
23 |
Tomasina |
Jimmy |
FRA |
0:01:18 |
|
| 8 |
48 |
Kosa |
Trevor |
USA |
0:01:49 |
|
| 9 |
28 |
Buontempo |
Luca |
ITA |
0:02:46 |
|
| 10 |
25 |
Michel |
Gerard |
FRA |
0:03:03 |
|
| 11 |
19 |
Capek |
Jan |
CZE |
0:04:48 |
|
| 12 |
44 |
Kalinkin |
Dmitry |
RUS |
0:06:37 |
|
| 13 |
14 |
Cheng |
Huai |
TPE |
0:06:47 |
|
| 14 |
35 |
Carruthers |
Daniel |
NZE |
s.t. |
|
| 15 |
27 |
Cucco |
Luigi |
ITA |
0:06:49 |
|
| 16 |
24 |
Motschwiller |
Yan |
FRA |
0:07:05 |
|
| 17 |
49 |
Idler |
Matt |
USA |
0:08:19 |
|
| 18 |
50 |
Osbrink |
Rory |
USA |
0:08:56 |
|
| 19 |
30 |
Pandolfi |
Paride |
ITA |
0:11:16 |
|
| 20 |
41 |
Pestov |
Kirill |
RUS |
0:25:27 |
|
| 21 |
43 |
Prokhorov |
Evgeny |
RUS |
0:25:56 |
|
| 22 |
18 |
Cizek |
Libor |
CZE |
0:30:25 |
|
| 23 |
40 |
Abrahams |
Ashley |
RSA |
0:34:37 |
|
| 24 |
42 |
Moiseenko |
Dmitry |
RUS |
0:40:00 |
|
| 25 |
38 |
Duvenage |
Juan |
RSA |
0:44:20 |
|
| 26 |
13 |
Major |
Jean-Marc |
CAN |
unknown |
|
| 27 |
12 |
Kennedy |
Mike |
AUS |
1:14:18 |
|
| DNF |
11 |
Denman |
Jarrod |
AUS |
|
|
| DNF |
15 |
Lin |
Chung-Chi |
TPE |
|
|
| DNF |
39 |
Koekemoer |
Enrikus |
RSA |
|
|
| DNF |
10 |
van Beek, |
Reece-Emerson |
AUS |
|
|
| DNF |
46 |
Wood |
Paul |
USA |
|
Click here to
view an interactive map of the Pescadero Road Race
Click here to view a full sized version
Click here to view a full sized
version
Click here to view a full sized
version
|
|
Day: Saturday the 24th
City: Pescadero
Start Time: 8:00 AM (Pacific Time Zone)
Finish: 12:00 PM
Race Format: 120 km Road Race
Terrain: Mountainous
Directions: Google Map or
CSDF to
Pescadero Directions
Photo Gallery: Pescadero Road Race Pictures
|
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