A True "pura vida" experince

When you race, sometimes misery and pleasure are transcendent. This is the story of La Ruta. La Ruta de los Conquistadors combined 300 km with 30, 000 vertical feet of climbing, 40 degree weather with 90 % humidity, traverse 1 continent and numerous eco- systems and throw into the mix Tropical storm which has been setting record mud slides and tsunami rain conditions in the country side.

Arguably the toughest mountain bike race in the world, With torrential rain coming down, I have a funny feeling that we will be wading through waist deep mud and wondering “ why in the world any human would want to race in these conditions?”

La Ruta will climb from sea levels on the Pacific side up and over volcanoes, cross many different eco systems. This brutal three-day race will test the best riders in the world. 582 riders will start and only 260 riders will see the finish line this year.


Day One: The Total Mud Pit, 119 km, 15, 000 of climbing

A Waken at 3 am, for the 5 am start of La Ruta. The early morning air was humid, thick, heavy and lethargic. Great day for race, as we lined up for the start.
Marla Streb gave myself some last minute guidance, “ Drink lots of water and Don’t go out to hard! It’s a three-day race, Munny!”
Today we would confront relentless challenges, double track sections of thick red mud clay that would add 20 lbs to your bike, knee deep river crossings. One local rider wearing nothing but a jean cut offs with no shirt and spd’s screwed into his sandals. Looked like the late great “Rabbit”, with his gray flowing beard. Lots of hike a bike, crashes and even more clay mud. Riding 15, 000 ft total climbing and 11 hours in the saddle, many of riders were forced out of the race after finishing first day suffering from exhaustion, heat stoke, dehydration and some not making the cut off time. Can it get worse?

Day two: The Day of Attrition, 80 km, 9, 000 feet of climbing

Starting from downtown San Jose and if rush hour traffic wasn’t hard to contented with, we would have to avoid one major crash and potholes the size of a cars. As we made our slow and ever so painful climb up to the top of Volcano Irazu, which sits just under
12,000 feet.
On one of the few little descents, I managed to loose my chain, and cable housing on one of many grapefruit size rocks that littered the coarse. Forcing me to run the last 12 km up hill with my bike on my back, before the long and rock-strewn 2000-meter descent, before a couple small hills before the Finish line in Turriabla. Many broken bones on this day and lost gear, attrition was high today. One rider end up not only breaking his wrist, but add insult to his injury would have his bike stolen by the first aid crew.

Day three: The “Easy “ day? 124km 6, 000 feet of climbing

The race finally started 45 minute late, in the morning heat (32 degrees) after we were told a train derailment had taken out one of the bridges we were supposed to cross. The coarse had to be rerouted and add 45 km extra on the road to go around the broken bridge. Charlotte Klien, a naturally talented mountain biker, was excited to learn of change in the route. “I never thought I would be happy to hear that we would spent more time on the road.”

We started the climbing as soon as we left the start line. After many sheer steep hot gravel roads, the route changed downhill quickly for only 2 km, before climbing repeatedly for hours. It was very curling, with 20 km to go we rode on the bumpy railroad tracks, over rotted out railway bridges and then the Caribbean beach. The race end right on the beach. What a great race.
A true test of the human spirit and a true adventure by its definition, not only for the racers, but also for the volunteer and fans.
We are all the better for having participated in the La Ruta, Pura Vida my friends!!!

Local riders gear up for La Ruta

Local riders gear up for La Ruta

By Andrew Mitchell

While most mountain bikers are getting ready to put their gear away for the winter, four local riders are preparing for a three-day race through the jungles of Costa Rica, from the Pacific to the Caribbean.

The race is considered among the toughest in the world. While La Ruta de los Conquistadores is only three days and mainly follows dirt roads and doubletrack, it’s also 318.4 kilometres long with 9,040 metres (29,700 feet) of climbing and descending. The first day has been described as pure hell with 4,526 metres of climbing over 114.1 km.

Factor in the heat, the humidity, and the fact that some roads turn to sticky clay in the rain (it’s hurricane season and it’s been raining the past seven weeks) and you can see why La Ruta is in the same league as the Trans Alp Challenge and TransRockies.

The four locals taking part in this year’s race, from Nov. 11 to 13, are Duncan Munro from Whistler, Hillary Harrison and Ryan Watts from Pemberton, and Charlotte Klein of Squamish.

Harrison is the only rider who has done the route before, growing up in Costa Rica with her parents. She won the women’s open category one year, and placed second to a friend the next.

She was hoping to be competitive again this year, but reigned in her expectations after being hit by a car while biking a few weeks ago. "After that I mellowed out, and my goal now is just to have fun with it," said Harrison, who also raced in the TransRockies this past August.

"It’s just a cool idea for a race, going from coast to coast like that, and you get to see so much. I saw more of the country than I did when I was living there," she said.

"The first day is the hardest day by far, there’s a lot of hike-a-bike and the climbs go on forever. The second day is a lot shorter, but still has a lot of climbing, but the last day is great, you actually finish right on the beach, on the Caribbean and there are people out there surfing and everyone is in such a great mood."

This year she’s taking her boyfriend Ryan Watts, who has done the Trans Alp Challenge a few times already. He has no idea what to expect, but he’s been told that the first day is pretty tough and to be afraid of the mud.

"I figured I was going to be down there so I might as well do it – it’s not every day you get an opportunity to ride from coast to coast in Coast Rica supported along the way," he said.

In the last month or so Watts has been in all of the big local races, including the Samurai of Singletrack and Cheakamus Challenge, and he still gets a lot of riding in out in Pemberton. Otherwise he thinks he’s about as ready as he can be.

"We’re going a week early, hopefully that helps me to get used to the humidity. Hopefully the rain stops… and I won’t have to carry the bike too much," he said. "I’d just really like to finish, I have no real expectations of placing anywhere – it’s a really strong field of competitors and teams, and Columbians and Costa Ricans who live at altitude and have the home field advantage."

Munro is the only sponsored rider heading to Costa Rica, with support from Gerber Knives and Tools, and his running sponsor Salomon.

He’s been training hard for almost two months, and has even taken a stationary bike into the sauna, wearing a down jacket and touque to get used to riding in the heat.

"It gets pretty gross, I’m not going to lie to you," he said.

Munro did a 20 km beach run in Rio de Janeiro as part of a Red Bull Giants of Rio relay team last year, and wasn’t prepared for the heat. He fell ill with dehydration and heat stroke, and was sick several times on his way to the finish line. "I’m not doing that again," he added.

In addition to the sauna, he’s also been putting in a lot of miles on a road bike recently to get used to distances involved.

But for all his preparation, Munro is just hoping to finish.

"This is my third mountain bike race ever, not including the Loonie races. Part of me is worried that I bit off more than I could chew, but I’ve been training well and I’m not expecting much. I just want to enjoy myself out there, ride at the back of the pack and have a good laugh."

Klein, who competed in the Cycling B.C. Marathon Series this year and the Nelson triple crown, is looking at La Ruta as an opportunity to train for the TransRockies next season.

Her goal is to "feel good" on the course, and she’s been going for a lot of long rides to get ready for the challenge.

"I don’t know if you can prepare for something like this without living there, so I’m just going to go out there and do it and have fun with it" she said, joking that she’s not going to follow Munro’s lead "and do something weird like biking in a sauna – nothing good can happen doing that."

The La Ruta race is attracting some of the world’s top riders this year, including NORBA champion Walker Ferguson. Harrison believes he will be the first non-Costa Rican to win the race.

You can follow La Ruta online at www.adventurerace.com.