Zoren Legaspi. Image from Armin Adina
MANILA, Philippines — Between acting jobs, actor-director Zoren Legaspi has been keeping himself busy doing physical activities to keep himself active, saying doing so keeps him grounded.
Mostly, his downtime is now devoted to cycling after a strenuous tennis match six years ago left him with a knee injury.
Legaspi said that riding his trusty bike in the city allowed him to interact with other people outside of the entertainment industry, an experience that he finds immensely enjoyable far beyond the physical benefits of the activity.
“It changed my life because I see people. Iyon ang isang nagpaganda sa bisikleta, I see them, I see these ‘masa,’ tao na nasa kalye. Sometimes kapag nandito ako sa C5 o sa C6 Road, iyong mga eskinitang iyan papasukin ko by myself, kasi solo rider ako most of the time,” he told the Inquirer in an interview on the sidelines of a launch program for an annual professional road bicycle racing in Taguig recently.
(It changed my life because I see people. That’s what makes cycling beautiful. I see them, I see the masses, people on the streets. Sometimes when I take C5 or C6 Road, I pass through the alleyways by myself, because I ride solo most of the time.)
He said that while initially, he was not impressed with biking, he later on learned to love it as it turned out to be an ideal sports for him. He said that he had also thought of going into swimming, but he didn’t know how to swim.
“I was thinking of swimming, kaso mabilis akong umitim, doon sa chlorine pa lang umiitim na ako, plus hindi ako magaling lumangoy. Sabi ng friend ko, cycling. Triny ko ang cycling. Hindi ko siya nagustuhan. Dahil wala akong choice, I have to force myself to like cycling.
(I was thinking of swimming, but I get dark easily, the chlorine alone gets me dark. A friend suggested cycling. I tried it, and didn’t like it. Because I had no choice, I have to force myself to like cycling.)
When he goes biking, Legaspi said that he is discovering different perspective in life because it allowed him to to immerse with society, something that other sports like tennis could not offer. He said he was able to interact with people from different walks of life, especially those who are not as privileged.
“Makikita mo kung anong klaseng buhay meron sila. Makikita mo iyong mga anak nila, anong kinakain nila. It opens your mind, your heart, sa mga reality. Sometimes kapag hindi mo nakikita, it doesn’t exist eh. Once na makita mo na ganito kalalapit, talagang may ganito talagang buhay,” he said.
(You get to see what kind of life they are living. You’ll see their children, what they eat. It opens your mind, your heart, to reality. Sometimes when you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist. Once you see it up close, there is this kind of life.)
Soon, he grew into the sport, and decided to lose some weight to make cycling easier for him. “Medyo overweight pa ako no’n, hirap na hirap akong umahon,” he quipped. (I was a bit overweight back then, I had a really hard time pedaling uphill.)
Another challenge for him was to make sure that he would not be cycling while under direct sunlight, though he was quick to explain that it was not mere vanity that compelled him to seek protection from the sun. This drove him to get himself all covered up.
“Eh ampuputi nina Carmina. Kapag nag-commercial kami ako lang pinakamaitim doon, so hindi maganda visually kasi tatlo silang mapuputi, ako lang maitim doon,” Legaspi explained, his directorial eyes kicking in. “I invented these, mga mask, inimbento ko talaga. Bago mag-pandemic naka-mask na ako, naka-cover na. Doon lumakas na unti-unti, dahil long ride kaya ko na. Kahit 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. it doesn’t bother me kasi naka-cover na ako.”
(Carmina and the kids are all fair-skinned. If we shoot a commercial, I will be the darkest one, it will not look good visually with the three of them light-skinned and I’m the only one dark there… I invented these, masks, I really had to improvise. Even before the [COVID-19] pandemic I already had my mask, I’m covered already. I also improved gradually, because I could take longer rides. Even if it’s 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. it doesn’t bother me because I’m all covered up.)
This became his signature look — all bundled up from head to foot that he had been called the “mascot of cycling”.
“Kahit saan ako mag-ride, dito lang banda sa amin sa Taktak, o Sumulong, marami nang bumabati sa akin. Kahit out of town, kahit naka-kotse nagpapa-picture na. Parang they can recognize iyong style ng pananamit ko sa cycling, very known na sa kanila,” he said.
(Whenever I ride, in nearby Taktak or Sumulong [in Rizal], many would greet me. Even out of town, those in cars take pictures with me. It’s as if they can recognize my cycling clothing style, they know it very well.) EDV