This post is courtesy of XPO#147 Mark Jaramilla
(follow him on twitter).

Mark Jaramilla is from Beta Chapter and is an avid cyclist. He, along with other brothers, is at the forefront of organizing bike-riding events entitled Tour de XPO Tour ng XPO to promote "non-competitive and socially engaging" activities. Currently held within the San Francisco Bay Area, they hope to expand these events to other chapters across California.

The next ride is September 20th! For more information please contact him via twitter, or e-mail at jaramilla @ yahoo dot com (written out to avoid spam).

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Tour De XPO - A Brief History:

In June, #121 Elmer Dispo, #136 Noel Cayago, #148 Hervey Herrera, #274 Kevin Bernadino, and I trekked out on bicycles to Golden Gate Park to enjoy a sunny day in San Francisco. We tossed around some ideas about making this an annual event and eventually came to the conclusion that an event like this should not be limited to just XPOs. So after some deliberation, we recently held the inaugural Tour De XPO on July 13th, 2009. #178 Larry Guinto, along with a friend, and my sister Gen, joined us to a trip to the Golden Gate Bridge. Invites went out via Facebook and Twitter, but for some reason I failed to get the word out on the XPO mass email. My apologies and I meant no offense. Tomorrow [August 23, 2009], we'll be hosting Tour De XPO again and out destination will be City Hall.

Why Tour De XPO

With the recent interest in cycling and cycling events, a title was needed to coin a simple, yet appealing, name for the event. Tour of California and Tour De France are both popular events that everyone is familiar with. With the title "Tour De XPO", I felt that this event could be held and applied to any active chapter. Imagine a Tour De XPO: San Diego or Tour De XPO: Sacramento! The idea was not to keep this event securely for Beta but to share the format with all chapters. So if you wish to "borrow" the idea, by all means do so. Since it's XPO, it's technically yours!

There has also been some concerns about health and lack of activities within our brotherhood. It was our hope to engage this issue head on with a non-competitive and socially engaging program: Cycling has proven to be a healthy form of recreation and creates a form of comradery, while allowing an individual to accomplish personal goals. By no means is this a race. Nobody gets left behind, just like our brotherhood. All we ask from participants is that you don't give up and we ride out on time!

How is Cycling related to XPO?

Ever heard of Tour of Luzon?? How about the Marlboro Tour?? Its most current title is Padyak Pinoy (aka Tour of the Philippines or Tour ng Pilipinas), which is a competitive race held annually in the Philippines. Pilipinos has had interest in cycling since the 1950's and even today remain competitive in the cycling world, i.e. Nino Surban - 1st Place Winner of the ASEAN Mountain Bike Championship 2009, Padyak Pinoy 2009 champion Joel Calderon, Liquigaz-LPGMA Tour of Luzon winner Mark Guevarra, and Lloyd Lucien Reynante, the overall individual runner-up in the Padyak Pinoy and Tour Luzon. These riders are representing the Philippines at this very moment! XPO has the opportunity to be at the forefront and foster a bicycle community within our already existing FilAm community! The real question is, why not??

Who can join Tour De XPO

Anybody can join Tour de XPO! Though it would be possible to arrange XPO-Only rides, I believe this is our chance to show everyone our support for a greener, healthier society. To limit ourselves from exposure to an already established cycling community would only deter our learning and network capacity. So brothers, potential brothers, friends, and family are all welcome! *Currently pending is the Tour De XPO Event Waiver Form.

If there are any questions or concerns, I would love to hear them. XPO Beta has been a staunch supporter and it has been my pleasure to coordinate this event. On behalf of the Tour De XPO Committee, we look forward to seeing you join us in the future!

All the Best,

XPO#147 Mark Jaramilla

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Enjoy the rest of your summer!