Keeping a tradition of 17 years, Birchwood Elementary School, Meigs County, Tennessee, welcomed the community and wildlife enthusiasts to the annual Cherokee Heritage and Sandhill Crane Viewing festival this past Saturday (Nov 15). This year An article by Evelyn Briceno published today in the newspaper La Tercera the first winner of the Vuelta to the Center of the Republic in 1963, Isaiah Macaya. Macaya Isaiah 82 and runs daily at least 10 blocks to board your tracker. In 1963 he was the first winner of the Tour of the Center of the Republic, home of the Tour of Chile. On Monday January 15 ended the Tour Chile. That afternoon, Isaiah Macaya was glued to the TV watching a television broadcast of the final stage. Sitting in front of the device, celebrated as the triumph of Peter himself Almonacid and recalled proudly that time that he was the one who won. In 1963, Macaya was the first winner of the Tour of Chile, which at that time was called Back to the Center of the Republic, which until now has over 30 versions, always with the goal in Santiago. But the bike is not only part of his past: his nearly 82 years, if you have to go buy bread or grocery shopping, take your "bike". Each day runs at least 10 blocks through the streets of Quinta Normal, the neighborhood of a lifetime. Isaiah celebrates the existence of more bike lanes in the capital today, because at the time he took this means of transport as the "only" to get from one point to another, did not exist. "Although it was safer to ride a bike at that time because there were so many cars and no one threw it up," he says. But anyway, has managed to use what is now offered by the city in their neighborhood. "Every Sunday closing Carrascal a wide path and there I take out for a walk with my grandchildren," he says. The former champion said that none of his contemporaries keep pedaling. "I fail the legs, unfortunately. I'm fine and I can walk without problems. " So every day to enjoy this advantage of outdoor activity, which has been his passion. At age 10 he had his first encounter with bicycles. His father gave him money to rent one at a local San Pablo with Neptune. "At that time, the 30 – almost nobody had the means to buy a pig," he says. He loved cycling and at 16 began to give more intensive use, when he went to work at night, the company Yarur. Note that the gondola-like locomotion known small "micro" in those years was terrible, "and much worse at 11 pm, at which time I started my shift. That's when the bike became my best friend. With my first salary, at age 17, I bought the first. " He did it in Cic, when the electric bicycle batteries offered one of the best brands in the market. While he befriended an amateur cyclist who convinced him to begin to train to compete. He began to go to San Cristobal and the Barriga to practice. "The mountain trails were bare earth. Climbed by Pio Nono, which was cobbled, and we walked down the area of ​​El Salto, without taking rest. " Macaya A year passed and I was able to face their first competitions, racing neighborhood to "pajaronas" as they were called to beginners. Soon moved to the category "a competitor" and at that time he was recruited Centennial Club Cic, not just as a cyclist, but also as an employee of the company, where he was assembling bicycles and tricycles. On Tuesdays and Thursdays were sacred to train, thanks to special permission from the company. "Therefore, our team stood out above the others: we had better preparation," he says, and reveals his other secret: a pot filled with oatmeal, mixed with honey and marmalade for energy. He says that until now the key to its strength is in the cereal. The best time of Isaiah as a sportsman Macaya was between 1958 and 1964. In the early 60's was triple champion of Chile in individual and team pursuit, and 50 kilometers. The 61 was chosen as the best athlete of his discipline by the Association of Sports Journalists. Won in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, and was two Pan American Games without much luck, in 1959 and 1963. XHTML: