Stages 3 and 4... and no more!

Hi all, the race is now done! We had no internet on the evening of Day 3 so I wasnt able to update the blog.

So day 3 started with a crazy climb up to 3000 meters. It seemed to go on forever and ever! Once we got to the top (the high point of the race), we started this wicked downhill... for a few minutes anyways, then guess what!? You guessed it! More climbing! After that was the most gruelling downhill that I{ve ever done. We must have been descending down steep rocky roads for close to an hour and a half or so. I couldn{t believe the speed of which some of these people would descend! Absolutely crazy! Day 3 was the shortest day for me at a solid 6:13 minutes or so, but Im sure that it must have taken a good 6 years off of my life expectancy. That downhill shook every muscle and bone in my body! We finished off the day in this coffee plantation. Ive never been so happy to see the bottom of a downhill. I was almost missing the climbing! At least I could rest my wrists and forearms.

After another night of going to bed at about 730 or so, we arose at the normal time of 430 to get some breakfast then catch the shuttle back to the race start for day 4.

The day started by climbing for about 5 km back out of the coffee plantation. It was so cooking hot that I was absolutely pouring sweat, and this was only at 730 in the morning! Once we got out of the coffee plantation, I had a pretty good spot in the middle of the pack. But the first descent that we hit, I managed to get myself another flat tire. Luckily I had the right tubes this time! I was able to get the tire changed in 5 minutes or so then start riding again, and managed to get my self back in the riders that I was used to riding with. But about a half an hour later, one of the next descents gifted me another flat. Once again, I had the right tube! But this was my last one! I was able to grunt my way back to the same pack of riders again, and by this time it was getting super hot. The hottest of the race at a balmy 40.5 celsius. We then had one more good climb before we started the gradual ride to Limon. Halfway up this climb, another flippin flat! So I pushed up a little bit of the hill and managed to convey my need for an extra tube to one of the random cars on the side of the road. They were so helpful and totally set me up! After getting to the top of this hill, we had a super speedy descent down some paved roads where we must have been hitting speeds at 60 or 70km per hour.

We then were riding back and forth on rough gravel roads, riding on the train tracks, tip toeing across these crazy train bridges! At one point, there was this old guy that had a set up where his bike was on one train track, and he had a platform beside him witha wheel on the side that would ride on the other track. Me and one of the Costa Rican riders were lucky enough to catch a lift across one of the bridges! It was so cool!

At about the 100 km mark or so, we then arrived at the Caribean! But oh no, the race wasn{t over, it was just a teaser! We then had another 20 km to ride, slopping through mud puddles that were as hot as bath water. The ocean was about 100 feet beside us, just tempting us to give up and hop in.

I{ve never been so glad to see the big giant blue Cristal balloons signifying the end of this crazy race. Beer has never tasted that good.


PS. For those of you who were wondering who the shirtless racer is. Check this out. http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s1-6-12-16008-1,00.html

Stage 2. The hill that never ends.

Well today was not the most difficult day I've ever had. That was yesterday. Today was the second.

After we had some breaky at 500 this morning, we hopped on a shuttle to the race start. I went to pick up my bike and noticed that my old wheel and some spare parts were hanging off the handlebars, and a note scratched in some ancient language ( I think it was spanish). I noticed that they had put a new wheel on and it spun like a dream!

At 700 am, we started the ride, and we started climbing, and climbing, and climbing. We rode up some of the steepest grade stuff that I had ever seen. We were riding up roads so steep that I had to switchback up with my mountain bike in granny gear (that being my easiest gear).

There were some absolutely killer views along the way (when you climb over 4000 meters of elevation in 76km you end up seeing some nice views)... I wish I had brought my camera instead of what ended up being a 2 pound wet bagel.

The trail took us through little villages, through farmers towns, through main urban centers, through coffee plantations. I remember one point riding along this little gravel road and I actually hear "Eye of the Tiger" blaring out from one of the houses! It was so great! There are all sorts of people on the trail screaming Vamos! Vamos! or Eso! Eso! (still not sure what that means. Maybe "Give up,"?). Kids at schools screaming cheers, and singing songs. So amazing.

So I came in at 641, so I was super happy with that. The only mechanical malfunctions that I had were the new wheel that they put on only takes presta tubes and I only had shraders. So when I got my flat, I had to borrow a tube. The second is that when my brakes heat up, they stopped working. That was kind of bad. So today, I got them to bleed my brakes and change the pads. Tomorrow we climb to the top of a volcano and ride down the other side, so I'm thinking that I'm going to need some decent brakes. My wrists and forearms feel like they are about to fall off right now, so I can just imagine what they are going to feel like tomorrow....

La Ruta Stage 1 - Finito... barely...

So at 2:45 this morning, my alarm went off. By 3:00 I was riding to the hotel where the race starts to get set up and have breakfast, by 4:30 I was in line with 400 other riders getting ready to embark upon this crazy race.

At 5:00 am, we rode in 400 person mountain bike peleton for about 5 km following a police escort, after about 5km, the police let us loose and the pack quickly split up into the packs that rode about the same pace. After another 10km on the highway or so riding some decently steep hills, we turned off on the first big gravel assent. I was riding in the middle of the pack and making decent headway, little by little making my way a little closer to the front. All of a sudden, my bike comes to a grinding halt and the wheel won't turn. With my mechaninal knowledge, I kick the tire. Still nothing. Luckily a mechanic was riding in the race just for fun (I know...) and stopped to help me out. He then called over 3 of his mechanic buddies to help free up my hub. After about 30 minutes of working on it, they got it back in fairly good condition, except that my wheel moved about half an inch in either direction to the side. No biggie.

When I started to ride again, it took me about 10 minutes to catch up to the second last person (I was the last), and thus began the real race. The rest is a blur of incredibly long climbs and the worst mud that I've ever cycled/pushed/hike a bike through. Everyone that I've talked to has said that that was the toughest day of racing that they have ever had, so I don't feel so bad.

I managed to finish up the 117km with a time of 11hours 30 minutes or something like that, and the cutoff was 12hours 30 minutes, so I'm still good!

I'm off to bed, as tomorrow sounds like another big day where 20% of the people don't make the 10 hour cutoff.

tomorrow... du du du duuuuuu

I picked up my race package today with all of my ¨La Ruta¨shwag... Teeshirts, jerseys, shorts... I was hoping a little Costa Rican was going to jump out of the bag that was going to help push me up these hills, but apparently he escaped.

At the race pickup place at 9:00 this morning they were pumping rave music and there were hundreds of other cyclists there. Man what a feeling! The adrenaline totally started pumping! They give you the official race bag that is the only thing that they will transport from stage to stage. No idea how I´m going to fit all my gear, food, and clothes into it.

It´s flippin´hot here today boy! And it´s only 10:00! So I´m pounding back a ton of water in hopes that some of the liquid will stay inside of me. Today, I´m thinking that I will have to abstain from my Costa Rican fluid diet and stick to water (well. maybe one beer).

La Luggage

It arrived today!! Man, I was starting to freak out! So the first thing I did (after I put on some deodorant, clean clothes, brushed my teeth, washed my hair) was put the bad boy together and take it out for a rip. I took it out just in time to get absolutely poured on!! I´ve never before in my life, seen rain like they get down here in the ¨rain¨ forest. ¿Who´d a thunk it?

Before the bike showed up, I decided to do some crosstraining by renting a bodyboard and show all the locals my skills in the ocean.... I think they must have thought that I was wrestling one of those crocs I saw yesterday... So embarrasing. My wave pool training at West Ed did not prepare me for this.

So I´ve got one more day of relaxation before I start ¨not relaxing¨. A couple of the other Calgarians have come down with the stomach flu here, so I´m going to stick to my diet of beer and rice. It seems to be working so far.

I´m now in Jaco, which is the town where the race starts from, and just trying to aclimatize myself to the humidity down here...

Man what a place this is! The beaches are so sweet, and the people are so nice. The weather is amazing.... I highly recommend this as a vacation spot for anyone!

I still don´t have my luggage or bike, but apparently, they are enroute and going to get here to the hotel before noon today, so I´m crossing my fingers! I´ve been freakng out a little, thinking about what I would do if the bike didn´t show up... I´m not really too sure what I´d do....

I took a crocodile tour yesterday, and man these things were amazing!! They were like 12 feet long, and our tour guide would get out and pull these things by their tails, and feed chickens to it!


Anyways, here´s to hoping that the stuff shows today!!

Later Skaters

Day1

I got into San Jose, Costa Rica last night after a couple of great flights with one connection through Houston, and after waiting around for an hour or so, I realized that my bike and luggage had left me somewhere along the line. After talking to the customer service agent, I realized that my luggage was a little bit nervous to come to Costa Rica, so it decided to stay behing in Houston. The airline is going to be sending my equipment directly to Jaco (the start of the race) today, so that's going to make things a little easier as I won't have to worry about lugging my equipment with me as I make the trip.

I've run into about 10 other Canadian cyclists and surfers in the few hours that I"ve been out and about here at the Best Western Irazu, and all of the local Costa Ricans have been so polite!

I've rented a little 4x4 SUV this morning, and I'm going to head down to Jaco to do some chilling on the beach, with maybe a touch of surfing.

Talk soon.

La Preps

Just doing the last minute bike preps, and after days of buggering around with a leaking caliper, I decided to replace the entire brake system. New Juicy 7 brakes are getting installed today! I've read good things about them, it just might take a while to get used to them. Good thing the first 2 days of the race are uphill!I think I've got all my ducks in a row now (crossing my fingers). Foods packed, clothes are organized, hotels booked, cars are reserved, hair's cut, fingernails filed... Am I forgetting anything? I'm sure of it.Tomorrow morning, bright and early, Cathy's going to be coming to pick me up and drop me off at the airport.... Jeez, I'm shaking just thinking about it....