La Ruta de los Conquistadores Summary

Thoughts about this trip, why I went, what I learned, what I am thankful for, how we did it, & my afterthoughts:
-what is it?
-Mountain Bike Stage Race from the Pacific Coast to the Caribbean, crossing Costa Rica in (4) days & covering ~250 miles, 43,000ft of climbing.
Day 1: 108km, 14,000ft, (max alt:1170m) Pacific Jaco Beach to San Jose
Day 2: 75km, xxxm, (max alt:1856m) San Jose to Tres Rios
Day 3: 85km, xxxxxm, (max alt:3025m) Tres Rios to Turrialba
Day 4: 121km, xxxxm, (max alt:840m) Turrialba to Limon Carribean Beach

-frequently rumored by below sources + others to be one of the hardest annual MTB stage races in the world with a few scary tidbits thrown in, and also an awesome life experience:

event website: http://larutadelosconquistadores.com/info/
top endurance listings: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1869820,00.html
other articles:
http://www.adventureworldmagazineonline.com/cycling/the-17th-edition-of-la-ruta-de-los-conquistadores-is-two-weeks-away/
http://www.epic-mountain-bike.com/laruta.html http://www.naturelandings.com/articles.php?article=164
http://www.dirtragmag.com/print/article.php?ID=1172&category=features
Mountain Bike Magazine, 11/09
Velo News Race & Ride Guide 2009

This is one exerpt I really liked:
"They keep it real in Costa Rica. For how long this will continue I don't know. Probably not too long. But as of today, in La Ruta you can get really lost, dehydrated, break all your teeth, and get run over by a train. No bright orange sign with block letters will warn you of this and no lawsuit will make your heirs rich. Thank God for la Ruta and those who keep it wild, cruel and wonderful."

-photos?
there are not many, part of the challenge is that it's held during the RAINY season in the RAINFOREST, hence the cameras didn't get pulled out too often & the event only had one photographer which didn't provide numerous photo ops. What photos I do have are posted on Facebook at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=176746&id=621536207&l=95e99d3321
-why?
1-if you know me you know the rainforest is one of my few dream trips. Along with all the inherent dangers that might be lurking, I wanted to get as deep in it as I could but yet feel somewhat safe with the structure of an event that had at least had some support in place, at a cost that didn't totally break my savings. This did That.
2-again if you know me, you know I laugh when something is described as hard. Multiple definitive sources say this race is hard. Hard means you might actually DIE trying to do it, basically if 1,000+ peeps have finished the event & no one has DIED it can't possibly be all THAT hard to at least finish!! Plus it might be fun to be really scared.
3-again if you know me, you know I am terrified of getting older & having a second midlife crisis I fear if I don't do a few things now my body is not going to hold out much longer & I will lose my chance! I decided last year a few Stage Races were something to do to combat my aging self!
-some things I proved are true/what I learned:
1-real fear IS completely in your head. No moment is ever really as bad as you think it is at that given moment. I had a few really scary and BAD moments on this trip, but now they are over and I can have some more!!
2-bikers are not necessarily your friends, they are other people that ride bikes. Period. Along with all the genuine and maybe not so genuine "good lucks" there were some 'why would you do THAT, it's something only pros would do'. Coming from people I have encouraged, cheered for, and even took to initial races, I feel bad for these ones because they have a lot of eye opening to occur yet in their own life! In addition, this is right on the event website:
Are most of the riders experts? NO! most are regular folks that train very hard and have the willpower to finish. It is not an easy race, but anyone who knows their body and listens to what it tells them can finish. If you go out too fast, you may not make it, so pace yourself. Plan on being on your bike for 10 or 11 hours with very few stops.
3-unfortunately, it proved that a bike event is something I will never be able to do 100% independantly, this of course is not a stunning revelation, but one that will affect some future goals.
-what I am thankful for:
1-JP offering to help me go when no one else wanted to go. Even though, at times, he probably didn't want to go!
2-good advice from racers who had done the event before.
3-being allowed to tag along at a stage race earlier in the year with the SVBC for practice.
4-lots of last minute help from the following:
-Tim Carson (pro bikes)-for getting in some last minute orders & super quick bike work.
-TJ Platt (top)-for home delivery service with a smile in our hectic last minute's of packing.
-Richie Rich/Bill Alcorn-Bikeflights.com-for getting their first ever international shipping quote for us in only a few days! Ship your bikes with Bikeflights!!
-how we did it:
1-of course the pro crowd has expected support the entire way, and amateurs wanting to finish follow suit and typically place heavy emphasis on having a support crew. (as we soon learned about every 10 feet on the course!) We knew this and knew we were not having, nor did we want, support people other than the checkpoint basics & ourselves. This was going to be a disadvantage, but we were willing to risk it. We made sure parts were new on bikes, packed as many of the common spare parts as we could and the things that didn't get packed we crossed our fingers were the right decision to make! That's how we did it.
-my afterthoughts:
-I did not expect to place well, and with all that went on, that part came true! I finished far at the back but am ok with it. I got to do what I wanted to do & the trip was worth it.
-I thought this before and I still think it now, I think it's more charactor to not have a constant support crew. It might mean you actually don't finish which would bite because it's expensive, but I think it ruins the self fulfillment portion of the challenge. I mean pro riding is different, they are guts out to get a good time against each other, but for the rest I would not feel as if I accomplished something if a carful of food and cheering was along my side the whole way? Not to mention the extra traffic was quite bothersome to the rider field. Most of the event I was riding more/less alone, lots of time to focus on myself & really challenge myself on every obstacle that came up and make it by myself. That was sweet.
-Would I do this event again? It is a great event, but hhmm, for a few reasons, probably not.
I was disappointed in the amount of road.
The RR bridge crossings were a little much for me to cope with.
I would rather do this again as a buddy system, as I will write about later on why.
-Would I do another stage race again? hhhmmm, for a few reasons, yeah most likely.
The constant go-go-go day after day is like a different time zone. Nothing matters except sleep-eat-ride-mechanics-eat-sleep-eat-ride, repeat.

So now you know all that, on to the gory details!