La Ruta de Los Conquistadores is a multiple stage mountain bike race held for the past 21 years in the country of Costa Rica. It starts on the Pacific west coast of the country, in the town of Jaco, and over a three day period of time, crosses the entire country to finish on the Caribbean coast in the town of Port of Limon. During this three day journey, the race goes through a variety of terrains and climbs over many long, steep hills. Racers travel over dirt roads, paved roads, trails, railroad tracks, and river crossings, but practically see no single track. This lack of single track does make the race less technical than some of the US mountain bike stage races, but the lack of it doesn't make La Ruta any easier.
Make no mistake, La Ruta is one tough race. I personally think this is due to the large amount of climbing and elevation gain found on the course and the variety of conditions encountered over the three days. Of course, since I did the race on a rigid singlespeed bike the 23,000 + feet of climbing done over the 182 or so miles we rode made things even a bit tougher for me. I was initially torn between using my full suspension Specialized Epic with a 1x11 drivetrain or using my Specialized Carve singlespeed for La Ruta. But, in the end, I picked the singlespeed because I thought the course was going to be really muddy after watching the weather forecast the couple of weeks leading up to the race and seeing previous videos of the race. Unfortunately, the course was actually pretty fast and had very little mud, which made my singlespeed a much slower choice than I thought it would be. This wouldn't have been a problem if there was an actual singlespeed class, but there wasn't and I had to make do with my one gear while competing against the other geared riders in my UCI 40-49 age category.
Overall, though, I really didn't mind riding my singlespeed. It is my bike of choice for training at home and it is usually what I use for racing anyway. There is a lot to be said about being comfortable on a race bike and I was certainly comfortable on my Specialized Carve. About the only place I really missed having my Specialized Epic was on the long rocky descent on day #2 and the long fast and flat last 50 miles on day three. Using the Epic on these sections of the course would have been a huge advantage and probably would have subtracted at least 15 minutes from my overall time. But, I'm not going to look back or question the use of my singlespeed because it worked perfectly for me and still put me on the podium for my age group. I'm not sure if another singlespeed rider has ever cracked a podium finish at La Ruta, but it now has been done if it has not been done earlier.
Even though the race starts on Thursday, I decided to arrive in Costa Rica on Tuesday morning. Arriving a few days early was a nice way to get used to the area, build my bike and just relax after making the trip. I stayed with my CF Teammate Cheryl Sornson at the race hotel in San Jose on Tuesday and throughout the trip. It was nice staying with someone I knew and have raced with in the past rather than being roomed with an unknown person. On Wednesday, all the racers travel to Jaco for registration, a riders meeting and to prepare for the early Thursday morning start of the race. Jaco is a small, but beautiful, beach town and seemed to be a perfect place to send off the riders for their journey across Costa Rica. As I rode out of the beach town, I wondered what craziness would be encountered.
Day 1 - After discussing the course with riders who have done La Ruta previously and seeing the race
course elevation profile, I knew the first day would be difficult. This day includes the infamous long and steep first climb, the jungle section and big road climb in the middle of the course. Mixed in with all this climbing were some very fast descents and some very warm temperatures to add to the difficulty of the day. Even though I wanted some nasty mud to make my singlespeed faster than the geared bikes I was racing against, I was very happy to go through the somewhat dry jungle conditions. I can't imagine how hard the the jungle section would be if it was wet because the trails were certainly tricky enough without having the serious mud issues this year. All in all, my singlespeed bike worked very well for all the climbing on day 1 and took me to a third place finish.
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| This large Boa was found on the course on day #1. |
Day 2 - Riders are bused back to San Jose after completing day #1 for the night and then were transported by bus again in the morning to a starting location at Terramall. Yes, it actually is a shopping mall, if you're wondering. The race ended up starting 45 minutes late because of the insane traffic on the streets surrounding the mall. I was happy about the later start because I needed to go over my bike before racing on it again and was also having some stomach issues that seemed to be coming from what I was eating and drinking. Fortunately, after the race started, my stomach would come around and I would feel well enough to put the hammer down. These issues would return again for the last day of racing. The climbing on day two is ridiculous. The entire stage is only about fifty miles long, but the first 28 miles of the race go straight up and took me about three hours to ride. From that point, the course heads down on some very rocky jeep roads about halfway down the mountain, before becoming very fast on twisty paved roads. Having a suspension fork on the rocky section of the downhill would have been so nice and even I questioned my sanity for not having one part way down the hill (or should I say volcano).
Day 3 - Out of all the days, I thought day 3 was going to be the most difficult to do on a singlespeed. The course climbs over 4000 feet in the first twenty five miles and then gradually descends towards the finish at the Caribbean coast. I knew if I had any chance of doing well, I would need to use a big gear to keep up with the other riders after the climbing was over. My decision to use a big gear hurt me pretty bad over the climbs, but it seemed just about right for the fast fifty miles leading to the finish. The best part about day three is the multiple bridge crossings that seem to be synonymous with doing La Ruta. I think everyone who does La Ruta for the first time has a bit of fear about going over these bridges before arriving at them. But, as sketchy as they were to cross, I've got to say they were not that bad and I actually learned to cross them pretty quickly. Probably the hardest part of day three for me was the heat of the afternoon. I think by the end of the race, I felt hotter than I ever have on a bike and definitely was close to having heat stroke. But, even with having my trouble with the heat, I still had my best finish of all three days and took the stage win for my category. I would never have guessed a singlespeed could win day three when I viewed the elevation profile.
Overall, doing La Ruta was an incredible experience. The race promoter, Roman Urbina, told me it's better to treat La Ruta like an adventure rather than a race because it is so tough. I did my best to follow his advice and concentrate on how I was riding rather than on how others around me were riding. I think using this strategy helped me stay out of trouble and kept my body from being pushed past its limit. Before the race started, I told myself that my goal was to finish on the podium in my class. I'm so happy to report that I did accomplish this goal on an unfamiliar course against many unfamiliar, but friendly faces. Receiving a La Ruta Conquistador Trophy was definitely a highlight of the trip, as was making many new friends and seeing many new sights.
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| My new Toucan friend at La Paz! |
Rather than leaving the very next day after the race for home, I thought it would be best to stay another day in Costa Rica to properly pack all my belongings and also see more of the country. I traveled with a group of friends to the high rain forest at the La Paz Waterfalls. Here, I was able to see many of the wild animals native to Costa Rica up and close as well as take a leisurely stroll through the jungle. Coupled with the stop at a coffee plantation, it was a perfect way to end my trip to Costa Rica.
I cannot end this post without thanking the National Ultra Endurance Series and Roman Urbina for giving me the opportunity to do La Ruta. It was an awesome adventure that I will not soon forget. I will look forward to the day that I might once again be lucky enough to hear, "Vamanos, Vamanos!" as I race up one of the steep hillsides in Costa Rica.
Happy Trails... Gerry
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