Seems like just a few short weeks have passed since Karen asked me if I’d like to travel to the Philippines to attend the 7th annual Terry Larrazabal Bike Festival (TLBF).  Hmm, let me think about that for a minute…

In its 7th year running, the TLBF will be held northwest of the Philippine capital of Manila at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, (SBFZ). SBFZ is sight of the former US Navy base at Subic Bay, and has become a successful model of military base conversion to commercial use.

Gregorio Larrazabal, aka “Goyo”, started the TLBF in his father’s honor in 2002 to “…cultivate in the youth an aptitude for physical power through a sport, which caters to the young and not so young, rich and poor alike. It is the hope of the family that this legacy will pass on as the years go, in humble remembrance of a man worthy of emulation.” Quote pulled from terrylarrazabalbikefestival.blogspot.com.

According to the blog the TLBF is “…the only multi-discipline cycling event of its kind in the Philippines and Asia…” featuring something for every imaginable cyclist (click here to see a schedule of events).  The three day festival, April 2-5 this year, features mountain bike racing ( XC, 4x, dirt jumping, downhill), trials (26″ and 20″ categories), BMX events (supercross, dirt jumping), road racing, and Olympic/standard distance triathlons.  Truly something for everyone, eh?  In addition to racing there will be a show, called FilBike, with bikes from nearly 30 companies and independent builders from Commencal, to Pivot, to Parlee, to GT.  The fun certainly won’t end when the sun sets, as Jagermeister will be sponsoring nightly parties.  More info can be found on the TLBF blog, and in this Dirt Rag Forum Thread.

Few pics from the thread:

I can’t wait to join the other 1,200+ participants, and 5,500+ attendees, to celebrate cycling of all disciplines.  Look for updates throughout the festival, here in the blog and in the Dirt Rag gallery, as there is much, much more to come.

Now if I can just sleep through the 17hr flight from LAX to Manila…