Cycling in Guatemala

To Cesar Augusto del Cid Sequeira (don Tito), one of the founders of competitive cycling in Guatemala, this is a mass sport, very flashy and, for that reason, it's strange to find someone that doesn't practice it, even if only from time to time.

When, 44 years ago, Don Tito founded Talleres Sequeira, he also became a founder of the Vuelta Ciclista a Guatemala (Tour of Guatemala), maybe the largest yearly sports event in the country. But two years earlier, in 1949, he had founded the cyclist club "Gloria", which will latter be joined by teams "Teresa de Avila" and "Sequeira", this last one specialized in children cycling.

Don Cesar tells that in 1951 he started the Interschool Tour, in whose first edition 600 competitors took part, from a large number of public and private schools of all the zones that formed Guatemala City by the time.

Cycling in Guatemala keeps a good competitive level, though without as many figures as before. With this agrees a cycling passionate, José Luis Bran Cabrera, member of the "Piñas" club and one of the few guatemalans who attended recently the world cycling championships in Colombia.

Bran and Del Cid agree that cycling has become one of the more expensive sports, due to the high price of the machines. A national racing bicycle costs about $800, while the imported ones cost between $2,500 and $3,500. A way to reduce costs might be to b uy a low priced bicycle, and improve it slowly until you get an ideal machine at a lower cost than acquiring it overseas.