Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino has started combing the region to secure track bikes as he turned to aggressive mode to complete what’s needed for the Tagaytay City Velodrome -- the country’s first indoor track cycling facility of International Cycling Union (UCI) standard.

“If you build, they will come,” said the Integrated Cycling Federation chief, borrowing a famous line from the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” starred by Kevin Costner where a cornfield was transformed into a baseball field fit for the players in the majors to play on.

Tagaytay City isn’t close to resembling a cornfield but the top tourist destination known for its cool weather and majestic view of the Taal Volcano has become the cycling hub of the Philippines.

“Road cycling? We got technical and treacherous climbs. BMX? We got the UCI-homologated BMX Racing track, the only one in the country. Freestyle? We got the park right beside the BMX track,” said Tolentino, also the mayor of Tagaytay City.

Tolentino is currently in Bangkok for the Southeast Asian Games Federation meeting for this December’s 33rd edition of the regional games and while there, he connected with his counterpart, Thai cycling federation president General Decha Hemkasri, on the purchase of track bikes for the velodrome that will be inaugurated later this month as part of the Tagaytay City Foundation Anniversary celebrations.

“It’s a dream, not only to make Tagaytay City as a cycling and sports hub, but to help bring back the glory the Philippines enjoyed in the past,” said Tolentino, adding that the national federation for the sport, PhilCycling, will be fielding a woman and two men cyclists for the Thailand Southeast Asian Games omnium event.

“Pardon the pun, but we are on track,” he added.

With the new velodrome, the Philippines now ranks alongside Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, South Korea and India as Asian countries with such facility.

The velodrome was built by the Canadian company Junek Velodrome, whose owner, Peter Junek, is one of only three designers in the world recognized by the UCI.

The 250-meter wooden track had a 7.1-meter width and is designed to provide optimal conditions for high-speed cycling with steep embankments on each end.