La Ruta part 4

Stage 2 had the steepest climbs and stage 3 had one of the longest.I climbed for 3 hrs up to the top of a volcano.There was a hike a bike section that no one could ride and it went from almost 30 degrees to 5 degrees Celsius.Then i descended for 2 hrs down the back side.It was wet,muddy and full of baby heads.My hands were so sore and numb.The descents are where i lost all my time because i am not a great descender but i managed to take my time and rode it all.I passed some bloody people on this decent and one person was in so much pain that they were crying i tried to help but they didn't know what i was saying so a local took over.Stage 4 i was so ready to go it wasn't funny.I was awake most of the night watching my clock.I didn't need the 3:30 am alarm.I was feeling super good and wanted to have a strong ride.It was raining all night and it rained all day and i mean poured.We had a 40km an hr controlled start which was crazy,right threw town.I had lost sight of Don but all of a sudden i came around a corner there he was,he had flatted so i jumped off my bike and offered a hand.He had pretty much every thing under control so i said i would ride ahead because i knew he would ride hard to catch me and he did just before the teresal bridge's.So we rode the rest of the way together and pulled super hard on the flat road section.Then came the tracks wet ,bumpy and long.Saw alot of flat tire's but we made it.Thanks tubeless tires.When we got to the ocean it was still pouring rain but we went for a swim anyways then got cleaned up and had some beers.

La Ruta part 3

I just wanted to give a quick run down of what you did at the end of each stage.When you get in you have to scan in with your id. They then give you a ticket for a meal.Then you have to take your bike over to the mechanic's but before they take it you have to take off things like bike computer and other things you may have strapped to your bike that could interfere with the washing and maintenance of your bike.You then must track down your gear bag.They are all numbered and are piled in a big truck.Sometimes this truck is not easy to find and the bag is not light.After that you must shower if you are shuttleing to the hotel(stage 234).The showers are like tarps and garden hoses in the parking lot.After you get clean you have to lug your gear bag over and find a shuttle,but you can't leave when you find a ride oh no you have to sit and wait for the van to get all the way full and i mean fulll!Then when the van's muffer is touching the gound it is time to leave and it is off to the hotel.When you get there you have to unload you gear bag into the hotel and try to get a key for your room and lug it all the way up to your room.Once in the room you have another shower, wash clothes, shoes etc. Then begin to get everything ready for the next day like race food,fill bottle's etc etc.You then ate supper and then maybe watched a quick bit of tv and went to bed.

La Ruta part 2

The rest of the stage 1 went pretty well but i got to say that if you don't like climbing then you wouldn't like this race.It seems like you are always climbing and most of the down hills are fast and then you are climbing again.The feed zones were good and the people there were very helpful.I went with 3 bottle's on stage 1 and 2 on stage 2 3 4. I wore my back pack with a couple of jacket's in it for stage 3 because the decent of the volcano was cold.The end of stage 1 was at the hotel and you also stayed the night there so you went straight in got your room and showered.You got 2 meals a day breakfast and lunch or supper.Stage 2 was steeper than stage 1 if you can believe it.The grades were as high as 30% By the middle of the stage my toes were burning from all the climbing so i had to stop where ever i could find cool water and soak my feet quickly.I saw a lot of suffering that day but it was alot dryer than day 1.More later.

La ruta part 1

I don't have alot of time so here is a quick overview,i will post more later.We had lost luggage,long waits,trouble speaking the local lingo and a mad man shuttle driver that should have raced nascar who would laugh with hellish glee when he would just about hit pedestrians.It was super hot in Jaco and me and Don got in 2 good prerides before the race.I had the route in my gps so we rode part of stage 1 twice.As for the race Holy Steep Climbs!!!!The first stage was steep,super muddy,hot,long and we were up at 3:30 am to get to the start on time.I had heard about how tuff the first stage was so my game plan was to take it easy so i hung close to the back until we came to the first big climb.Don was in race mode and was in finish the race mode because i new my class was stacked so i let Don take off and didn't try to stay with him at all.I had a great ride but got real dirty.I have never seen mud like that you couldn,t even push your bike threw it so carrying it was your only option.It would get so caked up mud that it would add 20lbs to your bike so you had to scoop it off by hand to lighten to load.I was sure glad i had a lefty fork because i could at least ride the muddy down hills.Alot of the others with normal forks would wipe out because there front tires would not turn.That is it for now more later.

Interview from one of the best

herehttp://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235889-la-ruta-de-los-conquistadores/210723-tinker-post-la-ruta-stage-4

stage 1 interview La Ruta

Here

la ruta story to come soon

had a great ride and will post a race story when i get back to canada.it might be a novel though,lots of stories .it was crazzzzzy.