Conquering La Ruta 2012 - Day 3

Day 3 – Rafting Adventures, Siquirres to Playa Bonita, Limon - 55 KMs

 

This day had the biggest variation from years before as it included an optional rafting trip down the Pacuare river from Turrialba to Siquirres. This was a non-competitive portion and most of the Elite riders decided to skip it. 

Shawn and I enjoying a cooler than usual day in Siquirres

I personally knew that I would be too cold after being in the water for over 3 hours and it would impact my performance during the race, so I skipped it too. We spend the night at the house of my relatives and had a great family dinner. Since we opted out of the rafting we got a chance to sleep in a little more and drive to Siquirres later for the noon start.

At the start chute chatting with some Belgian riders

 The competitive part of the stage was supposed to be a hot and fast ride to Limon on the flat gravel and railroad track course, however rain started to shower the area since early in the morning so the heat was unusually low. 

Narrow road for the start

The start was even more chaotic than day 1. This is the last day and all of the riders wanted to do well and being a Saturday more family and friends came out to see us.  It was a controlled start for 3 KMs and although I arrived early on to the start chute and ended just a few rows back from the leaders by the time we hit the pavement the front of the peloton had swelled so much I was among the top 100. Wet pavement caused a lot of close calls, lots of noise from tires rubbing and handlebard getting crossed but I made off the pavement safely, however once off the pavement the pace went from 20 to 45+ KPH in just a few seconds. I knew I had to get on the lead train to maintain my overall position and not get delayed on the railroad bridge crossings, so I started to work my way to the front going on the side and the rougher portions of the gravel road which was full of potholes filled with water from the morning rain and slippery baby head sized rocks. I was doing a great job of getting to the front and had made it to the top 30s when my front tire flipped a rock and sent it straight into my rear wheel. It got picked up by the spokes before bouncing off the back of my heel and onto the side of the road, then a clicking sound came from my rear wheel. I didn’t want to stop but the noise grew louder, so I pulled to the side of the road to investigate the problem and found out a spoke had been broken by the rock. My wheel was so out of true it barely turned without touching the sides of the chain stay. I tried pulling the spoke off but it was the cassette side so I decided to just wrap it around another spoke and ride it to the aid station where I could change my wheel. It didn’t take me more than 2 minutes to do that, however in that time more than half of the racers had passed me. 

On your right! doesn't really work here. Photo from Bici Aventura

Feeling pretty fresh and focused I jumped back on the bike and drilled it for the next 10 minutes and passed probably 100 riders in the process then as I bunny hopped across a railroad track my chain got stuck and I had to stop pedaling. The guy I was passing said a piece had flown off my rear derailleur, so I had to stop again to check the damage. Unfortunately this time it was a big problem. During the first two days my lower derailleur pulley had been giving me trouble and the chain would jump off teeth of the pulley and get wedged between the side of the pulley and the arm of the derailleur. This arm is made of carbon fiber and it had held on until that point. 

Broken spoke and broken rear derailleur

So I could still pedal my bike; but I had to keep the chain on the 19^th cog or higher to keep enough tension on the chain. That, in addition to the fact that I was riding a single 34 ring up front meant I had to spin a pretty high cadence to maintain a decent speed on the flat roads. The next section was pavement, so I jumped on the back of a group until before the first aid station. About a kilometer from the check point I went to the front and rode off the group then came into the aid station pretty fast to find out my support crew had had problems leaving the start area as the other cars and were not there yet, so I chose to keep going, however the next section was a bumpy gravel road and that’s where I realized it would be a long way home. I had try to keep tension on the chain, however if I went over a bump, a rock or anything else that could cause the chain to jump as it traveled from the bottom of the chain ring to the rear derailleur then it would jump off forcing me to stop, jump off the bike and remount the chain.

Frustration face starts to show. Photo from Bici Aventura

I got this drill figured out pretty well as I had to do it a few hundred times. Then we got to the first and longest railroad bridge. The line just to get on the bridge were long and once on the bridge I was stepping over one trestle at the time and stopping every two steps. Some people started to pass on the sides but with the rain and the fact this rail way has recently been re-activated the trestles were covered with oil and dangerous to walk on cycling shoes. It took me 22 minutes to cross the first bridge, which took me 5 minutes last year. Once off the bridge my troubles with the chain would continue as we alternated between rocky, bumpy roads or sections following the railroad tracks and my chain would jump off every few pedal strokes. I even tried running but it didn’t help much on the tracks and with lots of other riders trying to get by me.

Another group I couldn't hang on. Photo by Bici Aventura

Eventually we made it to the sandy road along the beach and I managed to keep the chain on for longer periods of time and tried jumping on the wheel of groups going by but I could spin at 120+RPMs for just so long before I had to let off or stop to put the chain back on. Finally after getting off the sand and onto the last pavement I drilled it just to save the honor and to try and make up even a few seconds. 

Sandy finish line in Playa Bonita

As I made the left turn onto the stairs that lead you to the finish line on the sandy beach of Playa Bonita contrasting feelings invaded me. I was happy to have finished after nursing a damaged bike for over 50 KMs but I was a little disappointed of knowing that if it hadn’t been for mechanical issues I could have had much better result at this event. 

There is a smile...sort of

Many members of my family, including my grandmother were waiting for me at the finish and were very supporting. Although the weather was still cloudy, I took a quick dip in the ocean and savored a beer before loading the car and heading home after a long race that took many months to prepare for and wouldn’t have been possible without the support from so many people. Once the final results were posted, I finished day 3 in the 184^th position, however after all the time lost, I only dropped two spots in the overall standings for a 16^th place finish at La Ruta 2012.

Final Elite Results. La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2012

Thanks to all for the support and hope you enjoyed reading about this 3 day experience. Thanks to Norma, the love of my life for being a key part on this and all events I participate, my family and frieds for offering the moral and economic support and to my sponsors for providing the financial and logistical support to make it happen.

Keep the rubber side down!

Jeff