Dirt riders join first-ever King of the Hill in Tanay, Rizal

King of the Hill crowned

Uphill climb races are common abroad. These races are pretty straightforward: scale up a mountain pass or track without crashing and you win. In some cases, riders are timed. Whoever is the fastest to reach the top of the hill wins.

Yesterday, about a hundred off-road riders from Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite converged in Tanay, Rizal for the first-ever King of the Hill competition. The event was organized by Throttle Life Events and Advertising, in cooperation with Ride Manila and Eneos Motor Oils.

The hill

For the elimination round, riders simply need to scale a small steep hill with about 100-150 meters of track. Riders were grouped into categories based on their motorcycles. For example, those who are riding dirtbikes that are or were locally available in dealers are grouped into the Local Enduro class, whereas those who are riding dirtbikes specifically designed for off-road use only were further grouped into their own class and subclasses.

Those who qualified for the final round, have to scale an even steeper hill with a longer track for the King of the Hill title.

While the two hills look relatively rideable in photos, we can assure you that both the elimination and the championship hills are like pader (wall) in person and looks pretty impossible to scale.

King of the Hill

For the Local Enduro class, Herbert Gordo from Bulacan emerged as the King of the Hill riding his trusty Kawasaki KMX 125.

“To all the winners and the rest who joined, bear in mind that winning is not the ultimate goal of King of the Hill, it's the passion, sportsmanship, and camaraderie gained from the sport that deserves a Royal salute...

To the Kings, Duke, And Prince, Congratulations! All the winners, riders, and participants, thank you for joining us despite the challenges of the terrain!” said motorcycle riding coach, Mel Aquino, through their official social media page.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Winners of other categories are yet to be published by the event organizers as of this writing.