La Ruta de los Conquistadores - Stage I

I’m now getting around to blogging some of my experiences from La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica, considered to be one of the most challenging adventures in mountain biking.

Prior to the race, I didn't quite grasp the breadth of what making a crossing from the Pacific Ocean over to the beaches of the Caribbean Sea really meant; trust me, there's a lot of serious mountainous jungle between the two coasts. To give you an idea of the intensity – over 150 riders dropped out (or were pulled from the course for missing time cutoffs) on day one!

I've come back from Costa Rica with an immense appreciation of the people; amazingly focussed and a beautiful culture. I’ve come back from La Ruta with mass-memories of climbing through jungle in a land of amazing volcanoes, hillside coffee plantations, crocodile infested rivers, and howler monkeys. I also came back with a stomach bug.

There were some amazing riders at this year's event. Among them were Thomas Frischnekcht (Team Swisspower), Alejandro Diaz de la Pena (Spanish Champion), and many more. I enjoyed meeting people from around the world that shared a similar interest.

This year has been a very wet season in Costa Rica. It was clear that no course records were going to be set in 2005 due to trail conditions. Put it this way, on Stage I, the hike/run-a-bike was about 20km in and of itself – and this included plenty of river crossing and canyoneering (hiking down/up a river with your bike until you find the continuation of the trail). There were sections of the race course that, literally, 4x4 vehicles and motorcycles couldn’t even cross. Hiking a bike through these sections can make you a little loco!

The race began at 5:30am on the morning of 11/11/2005. 400+ riders were behind the start at Punta Leona, Costa Rica. It had rained the entire night prior to the race, so the ground was wet and slick. As the race began, we were escorted by police for 3Km down a private road from the Punta Leona Resort to public road. During the 3km stretch I witnessed four bike crashes! When we arrived to the public road we took a left...all traffic was stopped in both directions for miles! People were sitting on their vehicles cheering, waving, taking photos, singing, blowing kisses, and giving us positive energy. I didn't know that so many people would be up and driving that early in the morning - lol. However, the sun did rise very early down there.

Eventually, as we headed North up the coast on paved road, we were escorted right on a dirt road...leaving the pacific ocean behind us as we began our journey east. The road was still passable by 4x4 vehicle. A highlight for me was a pickup truck packed with students in uniforms in the back. As I passed them the kids stuck their hands out for high-fives...smiles...

The total ascent for the days ride was going to be around 15,000ft, so I paced myself so I could keep going while making the time cutoffs. Eventually, we veered off the dirt road onto bright red mud/clay. At this point we started the hike-a-bike. The mud, at times, would go up to my knees. Most of the time, it just enveloped my ankles. I had to carry my bike for miles...up...down...up...down...through a river (where I'd wash the mud off my bike and re-lube)...up...down...up...down...another river...and this went on and on. The howler monkeys would start going apes moments before it would start to rain. Awesome. It was a sobering realization to know that I was surrounded by poison dart frogs, cougars, insects, vipers, and whatever-else.

To make a long story short, I biked countless hills and went through tropical rain forest, sub-tropical rain forest, and tropical dry forest. Highlights included getting sprayed by hose water from little Costa Rican kids out in remote villages -- loved it -- was given homemade cake ... ate lots of fruit ... got rained on ... biked endless hills ... and eventually ended up in Santa Ana in the Central Valley (basically, San Jose, Costa Rica). Yeah!

La Ruta consists of three day-long stages to reach the Caribbean from the Pacific. At the end of Stage I we now found ourselves in the middle of Costa Rica.

Red Trousers

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I watched Red Trousers, a documentary and short film about the life of Hong Kong stunt-men. Robin Shou, star of Mortal Combat, hosted this death-defying film. I’m sitting here laughing while eating lunch as I think back to some of the incredibly insane stunts that were shown on the film. Seriously, the stunt-men take pride jumping off of three story buildings and landing on their backs…and doing dead-falls onto slabs of cement. I don’t know if my body hurts laughing about it…or thinking about how it would feel to hit the ground at near terminal velocity!

The film gets its name from the red pants worn traditionally by the highly disciplined acrobats at the Opera School in Beijing. The typical training of these highly skilled acrobats makes my training for ultrarunning and mountain biking seem virtually insignificant.

I learned that many of the successful stuntmen within Chinese films started their careers as dancers, stage fighters, and acrobats. In Kung Fu films, when it looks like they’re getting hit … they really are! They’re literally thrown from roofs, thrown through glass, falls from bridges onto moving vehicles, and intentionally get hit cars while riding a motorcycle — ahh in the name of making a quality film.

Hidden Treasures in Buddha

A life of adventure and uncovering hidden secrets was a dream of mine when I was younger. When I recetnly ran across the following article in Wired, I smiled:

“Why is this Buddha smiling? He's loaded. X-rays of the Enlightened One reveal secrets about his inner tranquility: treasures for the next life. French artist Rodolphe Gombergh and his team, armed with the same technology used in CAT scanning, took pics of Korean Buddhas from the 11th to 18th centuries and found hidden pearls, sacred texts, covert messages, and precious stones. Rendering software sharpened the 3-D dharma. So while a thousand-year-old gilded statue may appear to be just a solid block of wood, under the influence of techniques Gombergh calls "virtual life art," a strand of gems becomes visible inside its head. The works were on display in Paris this summer as Hidden Treasures: The Inner Life of the Buddhas. If all goes as planned, the exhibit will travel to San Francisco and New York.”

* Wired Issue 13.11 - "The God of Small, Hidden Things"

I look forward to the exhibit coming to SF!

Holiday Tree

Today, my family and I did our annual pilgrimage to Johnson Farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains to pick out the “right” tree for our home. I enjoyed the bright blue and refreshingly clear skies, vibrant green pine trees, and simply walking around the farm through the rolling hills.

At Johnson Farm, each tree has a name. Last year, our tree’s name was Ziggy. This year, our tree’s name was Tofu … not a particularly festive name, but cute in a strange way.

After we brought the tree home we placed it into a stand, balanced it, trimmed the branches, and began placing lights, ornaments, and other decorations on it; including glass icicles, small red apples, red and silver glass bulbs, and mini white lights.

Happy Holidays… -steve

Back to Reality

I finally feel like I’m getting back to reality since I arrived back in the States from Costa Rica and doing La Ruta. I’m actually looking forward to getting back on my bike and riding hills…though I’m not overly fond of thinking about the chilly and wet weather that’s just around the corner.

I was amazed at how bike-friendly Costa Rica is. Hoards of people could be found biking all over the place – cars keeping a safe distance from them. The steeper the hill…the higher the elevation and thinner the air…the more people you’d see riding. As well, they don’t seem to ride like must folks I see around here with facial looks of intensity. Rather, smiles could be found just about anywhere – 12,000ft above sea level after biking uphill for 20km+, they’re still smiling. I love it…there’s much I have to learn from the Costa Rican people.

Happy Thanksgiving

When I sit back and think about 2005, I’m amazed at how fast the years appear to have flown by. Right now it’s late morning on Thanksgiving and I’m contemplating on what I’m going to make for breakfast. Last night, I made a large quantity of salsa … yes, I still have the Costa Rican vibe going through me. For this morning, I think I’m going to make eggs with salsa, rye toast with butter, soymilk, and I’ll figure out whatever else. Happy Thanksgiving!

Costa Rican Idol

In the beginning, there was American Idol. Move over boring…move over habit…it’s time for Costa Rican Idol! At almost 10k feet above sea level this stone idol kept wake as we slept under the fiery breath of volcano Irazu.

Look the idol in the eyes…what do you see?

Ready to travel to Costa Rica!!

La Ruta is just around the corner. There isn't much more I can do with training...I'm either ready for the expedition ride, or I'm not...and I'll find out very soon.

I'm currently breaking down my mountain bike and boxing it up so that I can take it on the plane with me to Costa Rica. As far as gear...I'll pack it all in a couple of days; bike shorts, bike shirts, water bottles, bike socks, helmet, gloves, bike shoes, spare tubes, portable pump, vitamins, sport drinks, recovery drinks, waste pack, disposable cameras to take with me through the jungle, electrolytes, oral replacement salts for the end of each day, and the rest of my 'normal' stuff, like everyday clothes In the end, I'm going to pack light and take the bare essentials with me through the jungle and over the mountains.

As far as Malaria, I've opted to not take any shots now. If I have any problems down there, I'll probably feel it after the race and will deal with it then. However, I'll take that chance that I'll be fine.

This race will definitely be a fun and interesting journey. I believe that it'll be very introspective while I'm out in the bush, and I'm excited to see how I come out as a person at the end of the race. When I push my boundaries this hard, I often learn new things about myself ... a high energy buzz that is also extremely peaceful and tranquil.

I'll be sure to get plenty of pictures and will post some of my experiences.

Ride On!
-steve