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

Conquistando La Ruta - Day 2

Day 2 - Terra Mall, Tres Rios to CATIE, Turrialba - 85 KMs

Sleeping on your own bed before a race it’s always a bonus. My wife would join my support crew today so we got to the start of day 2 feeling pretty good, fresh and motivated. This day would consist of a long climb up to the Irazu Volcano, a rocky traverse to the Turrialba Volcano and a long downhill to the town of Turrialba. That donwhill and a pretty bruised left hand from the early crash the day before meant the rigid fork wasn’t a good choice and we decided to change it along with the broken chain for the day before. 

Colorful hand before starting Day 2

I had dropped the bike off at PuroMTB so they could make the chances and bring the bike to the start. Unfortunately, it wasn't until 15 minutes before the start that my bike made it to the start venue, so by the time I hopped on the bike and went to the start I was more than 200 riders behind the leaders. 

This is what starting mid pack looks like. Photo Fabio Chavarria

Some confusion took place during the start as the leaders were given their corresponding jerseys then we heard 3 minutes to go and a moment later the lead motos took off and the race started. Bikes were still un-manned on the side as we started to roll. The lead motos set a fast pace with a group of 20 or so riders and while I chased hard trying to get on their wheel once the road pointed up I was in no-man’s land between the lead group and the rest of the race. With such a long, hard race ahead I decided to settle into my own pace. Slowly I started to pick off the riders that had fallen off the pace amongst them Roberto Heras.  

Catching up to my Brazilian companion for the day.

On the steep gravel climb to Llano Grande I caught up to the Brazilian rider that I had seen the day before and had finished a few minutes behind me and he jumped on my wheel. We traded pulls early on and made it to the first aid station. Unfortunately my support crew was running a little bit behind so I got neutral support and sped off to catch up with my new companion from Brazil that had flown by the check point. 

Steady pavement climb towards a volcano

After getting back to him I got on the front and set the pace for the first few kilometers up towards de volcano, he took another long pull before San Juan de Chicua however the next time I asked him to help me he refused, so I kept the pace steady assuming he would soon drop off my wheel but he stayed on even after a few accelerations I did to test how strong he was. I just didn’t want to give the guy a free ride to the top.

Photo Fabian Loaiza

Eventually he did a couple more pulls near the top and we made it to the intersection to the Turrialba volcano about 7 minutes faster than my last year’s time. Once at the top I got some layers for the downhill and some food.

Lots of people at the intersection to the Turrialba Volcano

My amazonic friend took off down the hill ahead of me and I thought I wouldn’t see him again until the finish. It turns out he was as bad of downhiller as me and ended up riding together over the next hour taking turns at showing how slow we could make it down some of the slippery, rocky downhill sections. As the downhill continued our battle was decided not by who had the strongest legs but who had stronger arms. He started to slow down even more to give his arms a break and I just left off the brakes a little more and slowly pulled away from him and never saw him until the finish. Once on the pavement, I got into an aero position to get the most speed on the downhill while pedaling at cadences above 120 RPMs when the road leveled off a bit. Soon I was near Turrialba and a transit cop on his motorcycle was waiting to escort me thru town. Although he stayed ahead enough for me not to get a good draft I just buried myself on those last 4 Kilometers knowing that the finish was just at the end of that flat section.Turns out Roman had a surprise for us and less than a kilometer from the finish I saw a course marshall indicating me to turn right onto this coffee and sugar cane plantation.

Surprise section near the end looked like this

At first I thought, OK this is not bad, it’s pretty flat and we would soon turn left and head straight into the finish, however I was proven wrong when some arrows pointed me to go right up this three little humps. It took all my energy storage to get up these and my legs were twitching in pain then we made a long traverse down the hill, back tracked our way almost to the point we started and it seemed like we zig-zagged this plantation a couple of times before finally coming onto the pavement and going across onto the school campus where the finish was. All I could think was that this section was mean and pointless and a cruel way to finish, however it was an interesting addition that made us earn our lunch. I ended up crossing the line in 14^th place after 4 hours and 16 minutes of racing. This also moved me up one spot in the general standings for a 14^th overall but it also improved my time on this stage by over 20 minutes, even with the new surprise section. 

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!