With her dainty smile and bright energy, she greets her followers “Eloi, everyone!” After the iconic greeting, it’s usually followed by her charming laugh that’s very infectious.
With Eloiza Regaliza, what you see is what you get. The same ball of energy that you watch on her Youtube vlogs and Instagram posts is similar when you get to interact with her in person. For example, like what others have pointed out, she loves to talk and tell stories — even when climbing steep slopes.
“Innate sa akin ang storytelling kasi madaldal ako, kaya na-eenjoy ko talaga ang vlogging,” Eloi told First Bike Ride. “Ume-effort din ako sa mga vlogs. In terms of my perspective, gusto ko quality pa rin ang content. Before ko ilabas ‘yung vlog, gusto ko may something na kakaiba. Well-produced kahit papaano, kahit ako lang mag-isa ‘yung gumawa.”
As of this writing, Eloi has garnered more than 120,000 subscribers on Youtube — that’s on top of her growing followers on Facebook and Instagram. She credits consistency for managing to quickly grow a following on this video-streaming platform, an incredible six-digit subs after eleven months of constant uploads.
However, according to this vlogger, she was late in the game of doing cycling content on Youtube unlike other cyclists who did it pre-pandemic. Eloiza’s first vlog upload was November 2020. She said that her original plan was to make travel vlogs, a way to promote her travel agency, but it shifted to cycling because of the health crisis and the lockdowns.
“Pero travel pa rin, ‘yun ‘yung hindi nawala sa vlog ko, na nagba-bike ako kasi cycling is traveling,” she said. “Sinasamahan ko ‘yung vlogs ko ng cycling tourism kasi iba ‘yung perspective ng cycling as a tourist compared kapag nasa loob ka ng sasakyan.”
So far, she’s been to various local destinations in the country like Zamboanga, Mindoro, Batangas, Tarlac, Puerto Galera, Rizal and Nueva Ecija, among others.
Besides promoting local tourism, Eloiza also advocates women empowerment and cycling as transport. She’s been using her platform to make people aware of the pressing issues encountered by women and cyclists.
“Kung alam mo namang nasa tamang side ka at wala ka namang ginagawang masama, hindi ka naman dapat matakot magsalita,” Eloiza said.
She added, “Kapag nagpo-post ako about certain issues, ang dami ring comment na women who share their experiences doon sa thread. At some point, napag-uusapan ang mga issues at may mga nagho-hold back na at napapaisip every time they do something wrong. May mga taong nag-iiba na ang views regarding bad actions like catcalling kasi dati akala nila okay lang ‘yun.”
Even before her first Youtube upload, Eloiza went viral on Facebook during the early days of the pandemic for uploading a story about getting catcalled while wearing a polo shirt. She was also vocal on calling out netizens who cross borders and those who are outright disrespectful towards women online. Aside from that, she sheds information about people who commute via bicycles.
“May mga type din ako ng content about awareness on video kagaya noong about why cyclists leave the bike lane. Other people appreciated din ‘yung ganoong upload kasi iba kapag you show it on video side. ‘Yung ibang tao kasi hindi sila naniniwala kapag hindi nila nakikita,” she said.
Advocacy and vlogging aside, Eloiza simply enjoys riding her bike. She’s been cycling for six years now and this has been a fitness activity that stuck to her for a long time. The vlogger recalled that before biking, she got into other fitness activities like going to the gym but she didn’t have much motivation to push through.
In 2016, she was enticed by some friends to try cycling. After buying her first road bike, she instantly found the activity delightful.
“Nagtagal ako sa cycling, first, is because of the community. ‘Yun ang important eh, kapag ‘yung mga kasama mo encourage you to improve tapos tinuturuan ka ng mga proper ways, hindi siya nakaka-discourage,” she said. “Tapos nakikita mo ‘yung development mo in terms of physical strength and endurance. Overall, ‘yung physical and mental health mo are okay.”
From doing long rides with friends and laps around Mall of Asia, Eloiza became part of cycling club Team Franzia. Being part of that group drove her into competing races. In 2017, after just one year of riding a bicycle, she found herself entering the three-day competition Tour of Matabungkay. Even as a newbie racer, she was able to win a time trial award.
The next year, she competed again in the Tour of Matabungkay. This time, she became more competitive and was able to reach a higher standing compared to her first competition. Interestingly, she got viral during this race after getting an onscreen interview with a reporter.
“Ang kulit ko pa magkwento na nasemplang ako doon. After ma-upload ‘yung video na ‘yun, gumawa ako ng Facebook page tapos doon ko shine-share ‘yung photos ko. It started from there, nagkaroon ako ng platform,” Eloiza recalled.
Now, Eloiza is busy with doing content and she disclosed that she’s back on the saddle doing training regularly. She now has a coach and a therapist who look after her performance and recovery.
“Noong 2021, medyo na-down ‘yung fitness ko. That’s a year after vlogging and because hindi na consistent ‘yung training. ‘Yun ‘yung struggle ko talaga with myself, kaya nag-gain din talaga ako ng weight.” she said. “Pero iba ‘yung nabibigay na adrenaline sa akin ng racing, lalo na at very challenging ‘yung sport. So continuously training ako ngayon. Slowly but surely. Nakikita ko naman ‘yung improvement ko.”
