The Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic - it's more than a race, it's a part of Belizean culture. And, with good reason - the sporting event is almost 100 years old. And in all those years of tradition, only once, in 1932 - was it cancelled - and that was due to the 1931 hurricane, which had killed an estimated 2,500 people a few months earlier.
But, now, COVID 19 has forced the cancellation of the race for two consecutive years. For cyclists, fans, and indeed, the entire country - that's dismal news, knowing that they can't look forward to this secular highlight of the Easter weekend.
What does it mean to the cycling community - and how are riders staying motivated? The man who reports on the race for Channel 7 annually, cycling historian, Kwame Scott put it in context:
93 years ago on April 5th, 1928 40 brave men with the backing of the colony of Belize set out on bikes like this Kirmer Arrow bicycle to prove that you could travel by road from Belize City to Cayo. Of course, in those days, it wasn't called a road. It was called a trail.
It took Elston Kerr 10 hours, 50 minutes and 49 seconds to reach Cayo - and on Monday, April 9th 1928, and after a total time of 21 hours 29 minutes, Elston Kerr was the first rider back in Belize City Norris Wade was second, and Bertie Cleland, third.
Of the original forty that started, 33 finished the journey. Since then, many stories have been written, some have been forgotten, but some names will forever remain etched in the history of the cross country.
Over the years, the names Aston Gill, Jeffrey O'Brien, Duncan Vernon, the Miguel Brothers, Kenrick Halliday, Alpheus Williams, Alfred Parks, Charlie Lewis, Ernest Meighan, Clinton Castillo, the youngest cross country champion ever, and many others have become synonymous with the cross country.
It is now 2021 and and for the first time in the race's history, there will be no race for two consecutive years.
When we look back, the records will only reflect the words: "no race due to COVID 19."
For cyclists like Oscar Quiroz it has been crushing. 2020 was supposed to be his year, after a big victory in the KREM New Year's Day Cycling Classic. But COVID 19 had other plans leaving this cyclist in his prime with a bitter taste in his mouth.
Oscar Quiroz, Winner - 2020. New Year's Day Race
"Obviously when everything came down to nothing, it was so devastating. I went through a whole month of demotivation; I don't even have words to explain what exactly I went through. I went to the point I actually cried. I am just emotional about the whole cycling thing. I was very hard for me to believe that everything that I worked for was just literally I couldn't execute anything that I did."
"I mean I really did a lot to develop myself and it was the time of my life, I said I had to make a difference that specific year and it just came down crashing to nothing. At this point after the 3 months devastation I pretty much accepted the reality and from there I said up to this point it's just to maybe just keep fit. Whose knows when sports would have started again."
"I think yeah, it robbed me at least a year off my entire cycling career. These are the 4 years that I would have expected to do my best."
For other elite cyclists like Byron Pope, time might running out. The 31 year old stays fit by training regularly, as best as he can while observing COVID restrictions.
On Thursday he was swinging his pedals in a time trial ride:
Byron Pope, Former 4th Place Finisher Cross Country
"It's frustration on top of frustration for me in the cycling world for over the past 15 years its been a rough road, but the Covid19 is a killer and we can't be blind to that. Covid came last year I was prepared for the Cross Country, this year we still have the Covid cases and I am half way in preparation for if they had a Cross Country, because being at this state we can't race right now and so it's hard. I just try to stay motivated and do it for the love and exercise. I am 31 years old and I think missing 2 cross country you are a bit set back, so from here on I just try to help the younger guys and motivate myself and keep young."
Reporter
"Are you still thinking about winning a cross country or are you just about staying healthy?"
Byron Pope, Former 4th Place Finisher Cross Country
"That's the reason why I am out here. The cross country is the big one, if you don't win a cross country in Belize, you're like second to last."
It's the same for 21 year old Josh Fuller - an emerging cyclist who was coming into his prime when COVID struck.
Joshua Fuller
"I got off the bike for a while, because I didn't have anything to motivate me, nothing to train for, nothing to get prepared seeing that Covid knock-off everything. For me as a young cyclist coming up I look forward to the cross country, I look forward to the new year. Seeing that there is no cross country 2 years I hope that there is not going to be a third year, because at this age at 21 so far I have ridden 4 cross country and I finish 1, so I was looking forward to these 2 that I have missed that I have molded into a better cyclist I have gotten better in condition, I have gotten mental strength. So to see it just go like that I see it as a offset."
For a veteran like 54 year old Fitzgerald "Palas" Joseph - trying to stay competitive during COVID has been a profound challenge:
Fitzgerald "Palas" Joseph, First Cross Country 1984,
"Last year cross country 2020 I was in great shape and was preparing for the cross country and it really came down bad on us. It really messed up us mentally and then we went into lockdown and then we weren't allowed to train and then they free us up and then we began training."
For Coast Guardsman Giovanni Lovell - he stays in shape by riding to work regularly - all the way from Belmopan to the Coast Guard base.
Giovanni Lovell, 5th Place, 2019 Cross Country
"It's; kinda really disappointing this is history that they actually missed 2 years cross country. I think we should open back racing, because it put us way back in terms of level and it put me back in terms of my age, because this is my prime time and I missed 2 years of riding cross country. I believe that last year 2020 would have been my year to have won and it's so sad that Covid came around and we missed it."
For these cyclists, COVID has been like putting them in jail:
Byron Pope, Former 4th Place Finisher Cross Country
"I haven't been to jail before, but the lockdown felt like jail to me, can't come out here and ride the road and you know that you're healthy, it was rough mean. It's really frustrating so I am grateful to be out here right now riding."
Oscar Quiroz - who's best in the Cross Country was a 7th place finish in 2017 - he fears that COVID may have taken away two years of his prime:
Oscar Quiroz, Winner - 2020. New Year's Day Race
"If we had a whole year lost where does that put us when it comes to the bigger level. We can't just go out there now and expect to do wonders again."
But, cycling is more than sport, it is a passion, and as long as the sun rises over Belize's roadways at dawn, you will find men and women out there on their bikes chasing the same dream that Elston Kerr and his cohorts did 93 years ago:
Fitzgerald "Palas" Joseph, First Cross Country 1984,
"The cross country is the greatest race Belize has ever had and I believe having lost it last year 2020, I never thought in my mind that 2021 we would have lost it again and so it's a big downfall to the cycling population, the fans and everybody, the oldest race in this hemisphere and so it hurts not having a cross country to lose a country for another year."
And for all those who want some of that Holy Saturday sweetness, even as a memory, on Saturday, Channel 7 will be presenting a flashback of the news reports we have done on the cross country, from 1994 to 2019.
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