Conquering La Ruta - Day 0 and Day 1

Day 0 – San Jose to Herradura - Driving

The day before the race it’s always busy. You plan to have everything ready but there are always things to get ready at last minute. Our friend Shawn Gregory had arrived a couple of nights before and was traveling to Jaco with us. He would too be participating in La Ruta, however he was doing it on a singlespeed. We had to leave San Jose pretty early because due to the capital’s vehicle restriction rules our support car couldn’t circulate in the metro area after 6 am. We made it out of the restriction area just 7 minutes after that and even passed by a transit cop in the last kilometer but he didn’t stop us, however it added some adrenaline early on to our day. After a breakfast stop in Orotina we continued onto Jaco where we hopped off the truck and onto the bike to ride the first few kilometers of stage 1 which included on big climb. 

45 minutes later I was covered in sweat and at the top of the initial climb after giving my legs a good warm up of what would come next day. The rest of the day I tried to stay off my feet and speed up the recovery process. We then drove the truck to the 1^st aid station to see if it was feasible to drive there on race day to get assistance but given how long it took us, we decided to skip that and I would just get neutral support at that spot. Later in the day we stopped by the race hotel and picked up my race bag, checked in and listened to the pre-race meeting. From there my dad and I grabbed some Italian dinner in Jaco, where our hotel was. Once everything was ready all I had left was to go to bed and get some rest.

Day 1 – Playa Herradura to Universidad para La Paz, El Rodeo – 100 KMs

3:45 AM came way too soon, however I got my race day breakfast consisting of granola and yougurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwich and coffee. My uncle Greivin had arrived later the night before but he would join my dad as my support crew for this day. We drove to the start in Herradura and the time just flew by, before we knew it was time to head over to the start on the beach. 

Photo by Bici Aventura

The buzzing of a helicopter got our nerves on alert but that was the preview of the next several minutes after the start as a group of more than 500 races navigates on semi-controlled format from Herradura all the way to Jaco. Those 6-7 KMs were crazy, I tried moving as far forward as possible but as the lead car would slow down the group would swell and you could hear tires rubbing and screeching on the pavement. Once on the dirt the pace went up and the peloton slimmed down a bit then on the first climb of the day the selection would be made and there were about 20 of us already ahead. A group of 16 riders went up the road while I stayed back on a smaller chase group of 6 but we wouldn’t stay together for long, by the time we reach Bijagual it was just me and on other rider from Mexico chasing. We worked together until the downhill to El Sur where I had to take a more cautious approach riding a fully rigid bike. I ran down a couple of technical sections then made it to the first aid station at El Sur. I refilled my bottles there to get me through the next section, the famous Carara National Park crossing.  I had all the intention of breaking the spell of bad luck that I’ve had on this section, whether during races or just pre-riding, so with my mind completely focused on getting through without problems I rode my bike off the check point and down the rocky banks of the first water crossing, I motorcycle ahead of me crossed the creek on the right side so I notice it was possible to ride through it as it was just a few inches deep and I saw what it looked like a clear path down the middle and went for it full speed. Turned out what looked like a clear path was a huge white rock in the water which I hit with such a force that it launched me forward, making me perform a superman like flying routine that landed me near the edge of the water where my left hand was stopped by another big rock. I collected myself, picked up my bike and confirmed that everything was working OK then instinctively continue to race. The next river crossing was just a few yards away so I opted to run that one and remounted afterwards but pain started shortly after to pulsate from the muscle below my left hand thumb. I figured it wasn’t broken because I could move it, so I figured I would just ride on and check it later.  That’s not the way I wanted to get into Carara but once again I reminded myself to stay positive and so I did. I rode what I could, dismounted and ran the sketchy parts without over exerting myself and soon I would catch the Mexican rider I had been riding with before. Up until that point I hadn’t talk to him, so on one of the hiking section I asked where he was and mentioned that my wife’s family was from Baja California and the guy opened up. We chatted along as we trudged through the jungle as the mud started to ease off, indicating that we were near the end of Carara. On the next river crossing I stopped to remove some of the mud off my bike and so did my companion but as I started pedaling up the river’s bank my chain snapped. I couldn’t believe it. I had never broken a chain on a race before and didn’t even have a chain tool to fix it, but as Miguel, that was the name of my Mexican savior, went by he asked if I had a tool and threw me his when I said I didn’t. So I went onto work to try and mend my chain. I figured it took me at least 10 minutes to fix it, however it felt like an eternity but only 5 riders passed me during that time. I got back on my bike and tried to recover the lost ground while being cautious not to cross chain too much to avoid breaking the chain again. What I hadn’t mentioned was that I was riding a single chain ring up front, so I had fewer options and in a nut shell ended up spending a lot of energy and working harder than planned until the aid station in San Pedro but I passed all 4 of the 5 riders that had gotten by me during the mechanical. 

Photo by Fabio Chavarria

My dad and my uncle got me refueled there and Miguel and I started the hour long climb towards Grifo Alto. On the early slopes I felt Miguel was having problems and I was doing most of the work then about halfway up and Swiss rider went by and I jumped on his wheel leaving my DF friend behind. The Swiss rider had suffered on the heat of the jungle but as we climbed the weather got cooler and he keep a steady pace. Steady and a little too high for me but I hung on until about 1 KM from Grifo Alto where I realized I had been in the red for the last 20 minutes and the wheels of the bus were coming off. I back off the pace and tried to recover until the aid station, unfortunately my support crew didn’t make it on time so I had to stop and get neutral support. While I was doing that Miguel caught up to me and we both rode off the aid station together. Less than a kilometer from there we heard the rumbling of knobby tires on the pavement and as I looked back I saw Monique “Pua” Mata, the female leader going by me like a freight train. Miguel jumped on her wheel I while I tried to keep them in sight they both rode away. At that point and with 3KMs to the top of the climb and more that 30 to the finish I figured I was not only getting beat by a “Chilango” but I was also getting “Chick’d” that day. The next three KMs were hard but I kept a steady pace and did my best to recover. The following 10 KMs would be mostly downhill or flat so that help then I had some rolling terrain and the climb to El Rodeo where the finish was. I was surprised no other riders passed me but by the time I got to the bottom of the downhill I felt stronger and picked up the pace.

Photo by Diego Solis

Shortly I started to see Pua up in the distance. Not knowing exactly how long it was to the finish I started hear anywhere from 3-8 KMs from the people on the side, so I rode hard but without going into the red and caught Pua about halfway up the climb then the number of people on the side got bigger so I knew I was getting close until I finally saw the flags and banners of the finish line which I crossed in 16^th place after almost 6 hours of hard riding.

Photo from Bici Aventura

Later in the day we would find out that one of the riders ahead of me had been DQ’d for taking assistance outside the permitted areas, so that put me in 15^th overall.

Conquering La Ruta 2012 - Thanks to...

So La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2012 is now over and I have finally put together a recap of what I experienced every day of this event, so over the next couple of days I’ll be posting recaps of the event; however I’d like to start with the most important one, the one that thanks all the people that made it possible for me to participate on this event.

First and foremost thanks to my wife, not only during race week but for all her unconditional support always, to my mom and dad for ensuring that I had everything I needed for the event and my uncle for taking several days off his busy life to come and drive all over the country following me from aid station to aid station. My aunt Guiselle and her family; for welcoming us to their house in Turrialba and taking great care of us. My sisters Erika, Jessika and Viviana and my bothers in-law Hansel  and Alfredo for offering us their help on anything we needed and their continued support. Don’t want to forget my friend Roberto, who is one of my most loyal followers and the person that’s always just a phone call away and always willing to help when needed. To my family that has helped us in many different ways but most importantly for being on top of our happenings on training and racing. To all my friends near and far for sending us their words of encouragement via facebook, e-mail, text, phone calls and in person. Those sincere words meant a lot to us.

Thanks also go out to our sponsors, without their support it wouldn’t have been possible to participate on this event.

Robert and Marie-Danielle at Palmex Costa Rica, whose commitment to cycling goes beyond racing through campaigns such as the Cuidenos to promote cyclist awereness for the communities in the southern region.

Anthony Alvarado and our friends at PuroMTB Bike Shop, for their work to ensure our Niner bike was always ready for the race regardless of the any mechanical problems from the day before. Special thanks for allowing us to borrow the rigid Niner fork that we used on Day 1 and provided a significant advantage on such a grueling day.

Dean Henthorn at BicycleWorldTV.com, without your continued support to ensure I have the equipment, hydration and nutrition that I need to participate on races year around.

Wayner Barrantes and friends at Almacen El Colono La Jungla in Uvita de Puntarenas, for his support and for planting the seed about getting this project of competing in La Ruta off the ground as well as for being one of my training partners as I prepared for the event.

Bob Swanson at the Roadhouse 169 Restaurant in Playa Ballena, Puntarenas. His love for cycling is contagious and when I asked him to support me on this adventure he didn’t hesitate. We’ll stop by soon by the Roadhouse to share to race stories with you and plan more adventures.

Ron McDonald at Osa Mountain Village Water Adventures. Ron runs one of the coolest tubing tours in the Costa Rican southern region and he’ll soon be offering rafting adventures on some great rivers in the area such as the Coto Brus river and he too was willing to help us without asking questions or asking anything in return.

Lastly I want to thank all my fans and strangers that offered support even on the side of the road, on messages via Facebook, by phone, e-mail or just by sending good vibes our way. I really appreciate your support and hope to have made you all proud.

Thanks,

Jeff Herrera

The Easy Way and the Right Way

It's said that life it's a constant struggle between the easy way and the right way. This morning I chose the right way when it came to decide what kind of workout I would do for the day.It was already a dark, cloudy morning; so I could have stayed in bed and do nothing, however my wife brewed some coffee and made pancakes which got me off the bed quickly.
Slowly I gathered my things and got ready for the day's workout. I decided I would go for a mountain bike ride as most other Wednesdays, yet again, the easy way would have been to go for a easy road ride along the coast.
A few weeks back I had discovered this off road heading East from Uvita and away from the coast. The road gradually climbs out of town. There are a couple of shallow creek crossings then after crossing the third creek there is nowhere else to go but up. When I say up, picture your toughest local climb then make it a few degrees steeper and a little longer. Add tropical humidity and you have what I consider one of the toughest sustained climbs in the area if not in Costa Rica, and I chose to ride that today.
The cloudy day seemed like a good day to try and ride that climb all the way. Last time I attempted it, I failed about 2/3 of the way then I ran out of water and had to turn around. Today, prepared with a Camelbak full and an additional bottle just in case and the total absence of direct sun I thought I would conquer it, however less than a kilometer into the gravel I saw bulldozer tracks. With the recent rains, I figured they would be doing some minor repair work on the road. A couple of kilometers up the road I came up to the bulldozer already on it's way back. Just the amount of dirt displaced by its tracks was making the road muddy and the sticky mud was adhering to my Geax AKA summer tires, but this was only the tracks, no sight of earth moved until I reached that third creek.

The once considered my toughest climb was upgraded to my toughest hike a bike. Mud ankle deep and the steep grade made the slow walk up the hill an all out effort. I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath. At one point, I couldn't believe I had ridden this a few weeks ago. Granted the ground was hard and dry but the grade was the same and now I could barely walk up it. 45 minutes later I reached the spot where I had turned around before. The whole climb had been redone by the bulldozer so it was impossible to ride, however that's as far as it got, from this point on the road was in its normal condition. A little wet and still really steep but not too muddy, so I rode all of it, including sections near or above 30 degree incline until I got to this.

This was unrideable, in fact even hiking up it was difficult. As always, the pictures don't do the justice for the climb but this should help:

Little upper right corner of the Garmin says the gradient was 31 at this point. The climb continued for another kilometer or so before reaching a huge quarry with an spectacular view of the Whale's Tail in Uvita.

This view made all the struggle to get up the hill well worth it.
After refueling and taking in the scenery I continued on to a town called El Socorro where I met an old guy that was pretty sure I was crazy for riding my bike. I asked him some directions to close the loop and continued on. After a little more climbing I reached a town called Aguas Buenas sitting on a ridge line about 1100 meters about sea level. From there it only took 30 minutes of brakes squealing, behind the saddle downhilling to loose all the vertical gain and get back down to near sea level.
Cruising home, I took a look at the mountains in the distance where I had ridden and knowing that perhaps that wasn't the easy way to do a workout, but it felt like the right way!