2023-07-02 00:58:37
Sunday, July 2, 2023, 00:58
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“I climb ports on a 40’s bike”
At the Toyota dealership where he works, he exhibits 21 authentic collector’s items
«The other day Joseba Beloki came and he was amazed». It is not for less. In the heart, in the motor of the Toyota dealership in Armentia, David Corral has placed an exhibition of historical bicycles that he has been collecting and fine-tuning over the years. It is a jewel worth visiting. Twenty-one pieces that go back to the march until the forties. «Taking advantage of the fact that the Tour is coming, I decided to share it with people. I consulted with the bosses and they encouraged me to do so », comments this car mechanic who hides a passion for two wheels under his hood.« An injury forced me to give up athletics. They recommended me to bike and I was hooked. And as I have always liked the old…». Gathering them has its merit, in some cases even curious anecdotes. “They gave me one that was going to go directly to the scrapyard.” And if they think that she has them facing the gallery, they are wrong. «Every week I hit the road with a different one. I go up ports even with this one, from the forties ».
The best coffee with pedals
The jerseys of Oier Lazkano and Ivan Ruiz that preside over one of the walls reveal the cycling atmosphere
Cycling and coffee maintain a historic relationship. But beyond helping to improve performance, it is also the best ingredient to enjoy with the croup. And with that idea Iker Testa opened the Amatter cafeteria four years ago. “We are passionate about the bike. And everyone who works in this world knows the union that exists with coffee. It is our specialty; and it’s better for us because cyclists have very fine noses », he jokes, while at one of the tables a group piles up their helmets.
Cycling is breathed in the environment, but it is also recorded on the walls. Like that mural in which two monkeys fight side by side. Or the jerseys dedicated by Oier Lazkano and Iván Ruiz who preside over a corner of this establishment that they usually frequent. But there is more. Because there is also the bike with which Testa himself took to the road as a boy or the panel of tools typical of a cycling team on which work utensils hang. And the name is no coincidence. «Amatter comes for the fans to both worlds».
«I went to the Tour to hunt for a photo of Indurain»
«I was born on top of the KAS factory». The passion for two wheels comes from childhood
Eduardo Argote has managed to close the circle of life, as perfect as the wheels of his bike. Once retired, he has been able to resume the cycling march that he was forced to put on hold because of his work as a photojournalist. But that his life would be linked to the bike was known since he came into the world. «I was born on top of the KAS factory. As a child I saw them through the window and I became fond of it, until I got on the bike and I was completely hooked ».
Although the job also gave him a gift: «They sent me to a stage of the Tour to hunt for a photo of Indurain. It was a wonderful experience and then it was on the front page », he recalls. Now it is he who takes to the road with routes of 60 to 80 kilometers. Although the record was set in 2004. “He did the Camino de Santiago from Vitoria by bike.” It is clear that the fans push him hard. “I love freedom, contact with nature, the moment of disconnection…”, he shares, at 65 years old. But also go with his friends. “The good thing about this sport is the good atmosphere.”
Fixed gear in the fight against cancer
He has completed six challenges with which he has raised funds for charitable purposes. Next up, ALS
His pedal strokes are directed in another direction, to advance cancer research. «For work, I met the Aspanafoa association and it touched my heart. I have always been very sensitive to cancer, but seeing them from such a young age…”, confesses Raúl Pérez, a lawyer by profession and truly aware of wanting to do justice. In his legs he already has six solidarity challenges. The most recent, the triathlon that he completed just one year ago today and with which he raised funds for ‘La cuadri del hospi’. «When you see that you are running out of strength, you feel a special push that encourages you not to give up. I am excited”.
The next challenge is already on the horizon, giving a boost to research against ALS. His road book is infinite. To the solidarity challenges he adds participation in competitions and trips to the Pyrenees with friends. «With the family I used to leave as a child. I resumed this hobby after leaving football, to which I added running and swimming. But in triathlons the part that I like the most is the bike », he affirms without hesitation.
From Egypt to boost Orbea Monegros
An accident in the Alps brought him closer to the world of bikes. He is considered the organizational head
Year 1986. Juan Carlos Nájera suffers an accident while climbing the Alps. The days that he spent in the hospital changed not only his life, but also that of many cyclists. «I read that some Englishmen had climbed Kilimanjaro by bike. The idea piqued me and the following year I was encouraged to do it ». He liked that experience so much that he became fond of the world of two wheels. And soon he organized the first Euskadi Mountainbike championship. “If I find the tests interesting, I like to share them with more people.
His evidence reel is infinite. Even with a foreign accent. «Initially my relationship was with BH and then with Orbea. I have prepared events in Egypt, Senegal, Canada…». The organization carries it in the blood, but always under two premises: “For whom and why”. From there he began to shape events as internationally recognized as the Orbea Monegros. “More than 100,000 people have already participated in this test alone. So the total I have already lost count.
«I always go on two wheels, even at work»
He travels 20 kilometers every day to go to work and plans his vacations with bicycle routes
His idyll with two wheels is unbreakable. She spends practically 24 hours a day on the bike. «I am not fed up, it is a way of life. Since I was a child ». Even at work. Juan Latorre created the bike delivery company Eraman, along with three other friends, four years ago. “It represents another cycling culture, beyond sport.” A business idea that he imported from Denmark, where he went precisely to finish his design engineering studies and whose final project was based on the design of a bicycle.
His bond with bikes is so close that he always goes to work by bike, “come sunny, rainy or terribly cold. Always”. More than ten kilometers from Aramayo to which he adds the “at least sixty” that he does in the pit. It is clear that his legs must be made of solid steel. And if just thinking about it makes one feel stiff, his vacations also revolve around cycling. “We plan routes and you make friends wherever you go,” he remarks.
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