La Ruta, 2016 edition

Click here for 2013 edition and more detailed description with videos

Summary:

Stage 1: 25th out of 93 in 40-49 age group

Stage 2: 10th 

Stage 3: 3rd (seconds out of first, despite crashing bigly 2km from finish)

Overall - 17th

Stage 1 - Jaco>Athens, 100km, 12,000+ feet elev.  7hr 43mins

100 degree heat, 1000% humidity.  Lots of climbing and hiking.  

Highlight:  The locals treat this like Tour de France.  So much cheering and support.  

I was in trouble an hour into this.  I was dehydrated, having gone through both bottles before the first aid stop, I couldn't keep any solid food down, and generally felt bad.  

Luckily the crowds lining the sides of the roads helped in extra water, coke, water showers.  One guy even was following me and a few others along the roads, helping here and there.  Best thing about this race is the people. 

I've recovered a bit towards the 5th hour, and was able to make up some spots, but it was too late. 

I have now consistently underperformed in Stage 1 of every stage race I have done including here 3 years ago.  Time to re-examine training leading up to this.  Or arrive earlier.  Although I haven't trained for this, as focus was on cyclocross season.

Stage 2 - Athens > Santa Ana, 64km, 11,000+ elev, 6h 22m

The hardest thing I ever did.  It was sadistic by design.  3 years ago was also painful but in a different way.

Highlight:  7 km, 1.5hr hike-a-bike in the heat up 30 degree wet clay slopes, and then an even steeper descend down rutted fire roads.  Rather an unnecessary feature in many people's minds, but there it was.  Total hiking time for the stage was over 2 hours.

 I felt MUCH stronger than day 1, and 10th place was pretty good here, considering the amount of climbing.

Stage 3 - Siquirres > Limon, 54km, 500ft+ elev, 1hr 52m

On the third day, we got to do white water rafting on the Pascuare river, grade 3/4 rapids.  Fantastic.

* the man on the front left is Ty Hall, who was the "Tomorrow Chaser" in Leadville 100 MTB race.  For charity, he started in the back of 3000 people, and passed ~1500, raising a ton of money for a worthy cause.  The Leadville 100 mtb race is near and dear to him and his wife Roxanne, as locals who support, participate and embrace the spirit of the Leadville Race series.  Small world!

Rafting took us right to the starting line, saving a long and boring bus transfer.  

This was a shorter flat stage, and the pack took off with insane speed, dodging oncoming traffic, and being marked with occasional pavement surfing by tangled up participants.  

I was able to avoid all skirmeshes, and worked my way steadily to the top 20 or so, including pros.  In my group there were 3 category leaders.  The legs felt great.  

I did a ton of work in front, given that these guys just didn't want to be out in the wind that much.  I think at one point they were trying to get me to dial it back. No way!

The famous and precarious railroad bridge crossings were in this stage.  

With about 2 km to go, we were sensing the finish.  I was putting out major watts, attempting to drift off the front of the pack with another guy.  It was a flat dirt road, pock marked with rain filled puddles of varying sizes.

On one such large puddle, I chose to go right through the middle.  Big mistake, as I felt a jarring impact with something lurking beneath the muddy water, my bike decelerating from 25mph to 0 in a split second, rear wheel lifting off the ground, throwing me into the puddle, left shoulder taking the brunt of the impact, and my head slamming into the ground.  The pack passed me, as I was for a minute on all fours trying to figure out what was broken and whether I could get up.

The bike seemed ok, but my shoulder was tweaked, though collarbone intact.  Shakily I remounted, but couldn't hold the hbar with both hands.  I got back up to speed, limping along, with a couple more people passing.

The finish happily was a few minutes away.  I rode one handed through the sand under the arch, feeling bitter sweet, happy to finish the race in a great position (didn't yet know I was on the podium, and that I could have been first easily), but in a great amount of pain and concern.

The Bike

I built this 20lb hardtail for Leadville, where it helped me get to sub-9 hrs.  The bike was absolutely bulletproof here, and what an incredible climber.  And in many cases a walking aid.  

Open frame

Lefty carbon

1x Di2

30t oval front, 9-45 cassette
29er enves
Continental Race King 2.2s 

Conclusion

17th place in a pretty tough 40-49 group with a podium spot and a top 10 in a brutal stage.   That's fine and I have to figure out training to simulate the rigors of day 1 for these stage races.  Maybe do a stage before the actual first stage!

The crowds at this race are incredible.  The nature is awesome.  The racing is highly competitive.  I will be back, but only if they don't put that much hiking in this.  People were saying it's why this wasn't a federated race this year.  

The shoulder turned out to be a 2nd degree AC tear, should heal in 4-6 weeks.  I have pretty good mobility already, but it takes me out of the CX scene for a bit.  Which is ok, I need the rest.  

La Ruta, 2013 edition

What is La Ruta?  Cribbed from Velonews:

What is La Ruta? A soul-sappingly hard, exotically wild, singular journey across laughably steep inclines, hysterically steeper descents, through jungles, plantations, villages, across ecosystems and temperate zones, over volcanoes and beaches and terrain that you never quite imagined you could ride on a bike.

As the locals screamed, it’s pura vida. What’s that mean? Just look around. Everything is great, and green, and growing, even if you don´t have much in your pockets, or on your bike. Regardless, you’re very alive. When you wake up in the morning, for three straight days, you get to ride your bike through rain forests and over volcanoes. That’s pura vida.

From the start on the beach in Jacó, you’ll soon learn just how alive you are, even if moments later you feel like you might die. Ever climbed a 30-percent gradient for 30 minutes? How about an hour? Try riding four miles per hour, up a slip-and-slide. Ever slithered your way down a trough of mud, your bike angled onto one side, your feet onto the other, cantilevered above a four-foot-deep crevasse of muck? Get your self to La Ruta if that sounds like being alive.

The first two hours of La Ruta will kindly introduce you to a new way of racing your bike. Your forehead alone will generate a showerhead’s worth of sweat; your brain could very well throb with the venom of unfamiliar heat; your legs may revolt and convulse as you thrash your way up a ladder of slick steps in the sludge. But scan the jungle you’re coursing through and gasp at the mysterious foliage that envelopes you. It may get dark.

The rest of the article here

That's about right.  This is a 3-day, 310 km mountain bike stage race from Pacific coast to Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

Why did I do it?  I've done all the "normal" stuff.  I've done (and continue to do) almost every discipline of cycling.  Mountain bike races, Criteriums, Cyclocross, Circuit, Road races, stage races, Battenkill-type races, time trials, triathlons, and probably a few others I'm forgetting.

I want to do more than normal, and I want to do something epic, every year.

La Ruta satisfied the criteria.  It was EPIC x2.  It was also fun, in a painful way.  

One of my attributes is that I am ok with suffering.  I don’t love to suffer, but I’m very much ok with endurance related suffering and pain that comes with it.  I may not have the strongest legs in every event, and I may not be the best technical rider, runner, or swimmer, but I can suffer with the best of them.

The 1st day of La Ruta was just painful.  There was very little fun.  The second day was the most fun because they let this be an actual MTB race with technical descents, both rocks and road.  The 3rd day was fun because my legs were for some reason had a boundless supply of energy.

To boil it down, probably 2/3 of this is a climbing competition.  About 1/3 is descending, and 1/3 is time trial.  The math might not work, but in reality, it does.

To cut to the chase,

-      My time was 17 hours, 38 minutes

-      I finished 12^th out of 180 people in the non-Federales category, which is a non-UCI cat.   Consider non-Federales to be kind of like the Open class in this competition. 

-      In 40+ UCI, my time is 8th out of 50.  

-      They also had 40 pro riders, including Todd Wells, Alex Grant, Paolo Montoya, and Marconi Duran.  My time was 23^rd if I were competing in the Pro race. 

-      I’m happy with these results, considering I had a terrible start in 1^st Stage

LINKS:
Pre-stage pics 

Stage 1 pics 

Stage 2 pics

Stage 3 pics

Full results 

Stage 1, Jaco Beach to El Rodeo, 90 km

    Starting point: Best Western Jacó Beach.
    Finish point:  Hacienda El Rodeo, San José (capital of Costa Rica).
    Distance: 110 km (aprox.)
    Elevation Gain: 12,000+ feet/3,400mts. (aprox.)
    Altitude change: 12 meters (sea level) to 650 m to 1201m to 490m to 855m
    Climate: Tropical Dry 30°C to 35°C.

LA RUTA's legendary Day 1 starts at 6:00 AM and gives competitors until 5:30 PM — 11.5 hours—to complete the 110km route before being disqualified. It won't be easy. From sea level, riders climb numerous hills that hit riders with a total elevation gain of approximately 12,000+ feet. That's why Day 1 is known by competitors as the "make it or break it day".

Expect all kinds of riding conditions this day: mud, gravel, asphalt, and loose rocks. Temperatures will be very high in the lowlands, as high as 105 degrees F and cooler in the mountains.

This was a shock to the system.  And probably the hardest thing I've ever done

The climb in the beginning was steep and brutal.  I started out fast, trying to stay with the front group, HR through the roof, and then faded a bit to ride with the 2nd 50 guys.

After the initial climb, there was an long stretch through the jungle, where you basically hike forever (or it feels like it).  There were these red slick clay eroded canyons where you have to carry the bike most of the time.  Up and downhill.   The heat was oppressive.

After the canyons of red mud, you never get a break.  Then we go into the second huge climb for another 4200 meters straight up, mostly road.  I rode with a costa rican and a columbian.  The costa rican had a chase car, and they would give him bottles and such.  They helped me a few times a s well.  The climb went on forever.  There were random markings on the road like 5km to go, but that was for something else. Neverending, and painful.  Not much fun here.

Preparedness.

The aid stations were perfectly stocked, and spaced logically.  On reflection, the right strategy would be to go as light as possible and use the aid stations. I think I was overprepared.  I wore a 100oz Camelbak.  I also packed a bunch  of bars, gels, tubes, CO2 etc.  The thing weighed a ton.

Costa Ricans. 

They are really friendly, supporting people.  They also smoke a lot of pot.  Those things could be related.

This was not a good stage for me.  7.5 hours put me about an hour behind where I thought I should be.

The finish was in Hacienda El Rodeo, about an hour from San Jose.  I dropped my bike with the mechanics, took a cold shower, got a great massage, and had some food before getting on a bus to San Jose where we stayed overnight.

LINKS:
Stage 1 pics
Garmin

La Ruta de los Conquistadores, Stage 1 from Ilya C. on Vimeo.

Stage 2, Terramall, San Jose to Catie, 80 km, two volcanos – Irazu and Terrialbo

• Starting point: Tres Ríos, Cartago.

• Finish point: Turrialba, Cartago.

• Distance: 80 km (aprox)

• Elevation Gain: About 8000+ feet / 2500+ mts (aprox)

• Altitude change: 1291m to 3025m to 607m

• Climate: 5°C-8°C expect wind and rain. Be prepared for drastic climatic changes this day, is very cold and hypothermia might be a problem.

• Terrain: Pavement 20%, volcano, rocks, and ash 20%, very steep uphills 30%, and very technical downhill 30%.

Day 2 also starts at the crack of dawn and you have until 5pm to finish. The 80 km features a fearsome climb of about 6,000 feet from Tres Ríos straight up the Irazú Volcano, with the high probability of bitterly cold weather much of the day. Starting at 1291 meters above sea level, the ride is a never-ending ascent until you reach 3025m (about 10,000 feet). Then it levels off, passes the Turrialba Volcano, and starts one of the fastest and longest downhills in Costa Rica, finishing in the town of Turrialba at an elevation of 607m (about 2,000) feet. On this day, it is very important to have well-functioning brakes and be prepared for cold weather riding. At 10,000 feet with wind and rain, hypothermia is a risk, as it can get near freezing. 

This was the most fun I had on a bike in a long time.  They gave MTBers a chance with long technical downhills on both dirt / rocks, and pavement.  There was an incredibly long climb, of course.  I finished strong, 5 hrs 09 mins. 

I did not use a camelbak, decided to go light.  That paid off, I think.  There were 4 rest stops, super-efficient helpful people. 

Potatoes and salt are insanely good.

Concept of local support:

The locals are helped by their own chase crew, who may or may not help you if are riding with them.  They follow the riders in their own cars, change bottles, pour cold water on them, give them pushes after refueling, etc.  It’s a pretty good benefit, as they don’t have to stop ever.  A neat thing they do is ice cold Coke in a like plastic baggy, you tear it open with your teeth, and it’s like heaven.  Also some kind of mystery juice, but when you’re craving ice cold liquids, you don’t care what it is. 

I had good climbing legs today, and it helped that a local guy pulled me up the hills.  Sad I had to drop him on the downhills, as he was very nice. 

It’s amazing how tentative these guys are on anything not involving climbing.  I made up a ridiculous amount of time just blasting through, having a great time. 

Evening – at a very remote Guyabo Lodge, on side of the volcano.  Very beautiful.  Buffet dinner, I sit at a table with a pro MTB rider, Alex Grant and his support staff.  Very friendly guy, so this year will be 5^th year he takes 2^nd at La Ruta.  We talked about other Epic events.  My next one (shhh don’t tell Inna) is the Cape Epic, a 7 day MTB race in South Africa.  Or maybe something in the US.  

LINKS
Stage 2 pics
Garmin 

La Ruta de los Conquistadores, Stage 2 from Ilya C. on Vimeo.

Stage 3, Catie to Playa Bonita, 120km

   Starting point: CATIE in Turrialba, Cartago

    Finish point: Playa Bonita, Limón

    Distance: 120 km

    Elevation gain: 800 meters (2700 feet)

    Altitude change: 618m to 845m to 0 meters above the sea level

    Climate: Tropical wet, is very hot and humid

    Terrain: Paved 35% and gravel roads 65%

Stage 3 goes through a series of climbs and down hills for a total elevation gain of about 2700 feet, mostly during the first half of the ride. The last half is mainly flat. Despite the relatively small amount of climbing, this is a hard, long 120 km, frequently with hot coastal temperatures, scattered showers, tropical vegetation and very long, flat straightaways.

This was long, hot and did I say long?

At the beginning, there were these painful rollers, with some very steep but not long climbs.  I started again with the lead group, which quickly went off, and was with the 3^rd chase.  On the climbs I'd lose spots, and catch back up on the descents.  This went on until a nasty last punchy climb where I lost contact, and went into the flat stretch essentially by myself. 

Which is unfortunate as the strategy is road tactics for the flat part.

But that was ok, as holy crap, my legs were good today.  Just seemingly an unending supply of energy.  I time trialed pulling people along, and then leaving them for dead.  It went on like this till last 10k when I caught up to a fellow triathlon guy, who actually did work at the same level, we finished together. 

My time was under 5 hours, in the mix of the faster guys.

We went through some ghetto neighborhoods.  There were police with semiautomatic weapons posted by the bridges as some robberies happen there apparently. 

At one a stray dog (they are all stray) ran out suicidally right into my front wheel.  Nothing I can do, so I went down, at 20mph, hard.   Bruised hand, abrasions on knees and elbows.  Broke my garmin mount., so I had to put that in my pocket, so the whole rest of the ride I had no idea how long to the finish.  Could've been worse I suppose.  

This route also had 5-6 bridges, which you have to run across shouldering your bike, as you can fall through and die in alligator infested waters 100 meters below.  Looking at the pics after, I had to laugh.  Some of the guys behind me were actually being helped by people to cross the bridge.  I trotted at an easy pace, cradling my bike.  It got to be somewhat comfortable after some time, the cadence of the steps, the balance of the bike, the clack of my shoes on the wood.  Almost hypnotizing.  My hand hurt from the suicidal dog though.  

Then there were the train tracks on regular ground.  Long, hot, and bumpy as most of the ties are exposed to some degree, but you can’t go around.  Annoying and did I say bumpy?

Then there were just open stretches of flat bumpy rocky road with baby head sized rocks everywhere.  Hot, long, dusty.   The kind of conditions that make you question your sanity.   I thought I hallucinated at one point, when I saw ocean, and then didn’t.  But then I did again, so all good.

And then it was done.  You hop a couple big stair steps onto a beach.  They put a big medal around everyone who finishes.  I usually don't like getting something for just finishing.  I don't keep those medals.  In this case, however, I'm keeping this one.

For the last time, I dropped my bike off with the mechanics, took a cold shower, got a last great massage, had food, talked with some people, saw the medal ceremony for the winners, and waited for the bus for the 3.5 hour ride back to San Jose.  

LINKS:
Stage 3 pics
Garmin

La Ruta de los Conquistadores, Stage 3 from Ilya C. on Vimeo.