La Ruta de los Conquistadores Day 1

We left on 11/8 for the race and encountered our first setback early on. We left for the airport around 4:00 am and had to turn around after about 20 minutes after Ruth relieved she forgot her driver license. When we reached the turn around for the second time is when we realized that our 8:30 flights were really 6:15 flight. Somehow we managed to get to the airport in time and get on our flights but were scared that our luggage might not make it. I don't fly much and don't like to either. There's lots of reasons why the biggest is I don't like the idea of other people being in charge of my schedule among of things. Finally after four stops, three transfers and ten plus hours of traveling we arrived at the San Jose airport. We got lucky and only one piece of luggage didn't make it. After about 2 hours of trying to talk to someone about it that spoke very little English we were ready to get on our shuttle to Jaco.
It's didn't take me to long into the ride to realize a few things. First everyone drives like a freaking asshole and is constantly blowing there horn Second the hills were long and steep. After a long drive we finally made it to the hotel got checked in and went to bed. The next day we rented a car got lost but did manage to find our final destination which was a suspension bridge tour. It was OK but it's really hard to see anything when it's pouring. We did see two tree frogs and a toucan bird sorry but no pictures because of the rain. After that we drove down to a river crossing and were lucky enough to see two crocodiles.
The next morning at breakfast I seen Roberto Heras, Manny Prado, the Monavie-Cannondale team and lots of other fast looking people. The rest of our luggage finally showed up so we decided to try and ride some of the first stage. When we got to the first climb and I seen how steep it was like holy shit is that steep. I rarely use my granny gear but couldn't seem to get out of it on this climb. After about 5 miles it got flat but that didn't last to long then it was back to more climbing then finally after another 3 miles I reached the top. I was thinking to myself that wasn't to bad. So I turned around and headed back down. Not knowing the terrain or want the aid stations would be like. I decided to pack a little heavier than usual for the first day just to be safe. I was taking two water bottles, water in my camelback, enough food for all day, two tubes. I would find out later that I had plenty of everything but forgot one very important thing. I went to bed early for the stupid 5:00 start but it didn't go to well. I've been sick for what seems like forever and was coughing and hacking all night long and to make it worse someone kept yelling at me about it.

Wow does 3:30 come early after dragging myself out of bed it was time to try and eat and get ready. With about 30 minutes to it seemed like everyone was already lined up and ready to go. So with about 3 minutes to go I lined up at what seemed like the very back but I guess there was maybe 20 people behind me. Then it was on after about 60 seconds it cleared out enough for me to get on my bike and start riding. After a little bit of flat road we started into the climb and I thought everything was going good. I was passing people and nobody was passing me about a 1/4 mile up the first climb there were a ton of people already off and pushing there bikes. I made it the top in about an hour and was feeling great then we went down a gravel road for a bit. We turned of off it into some mud which wasn't to bad then we hit a steep rocky downhill and I passed allot of people that were walking. Then we were riding in a muddy trench like canal that was about 8 feet wide that had allot of drop-offs in it,. Then I came to checkpoint #1 and didn't even bother stopping.
Shortly after that is was my day took a turn for the worse. Up the next climb I started getting chain suck it wasn't too bad and I keep riding. Then it kept getting worse so I stopped and looked at it and seen I had a kink in my chain. I tried to straighten it out and it seemed a little better, but then it got worse. I decided the best thing to do would be try and take a link out. This is when I found what I forgot, I have a Topeak mutlitool that has the 2 black pieces on the side that can be used for tire levers. But side that has an allen wrench that is used for the chain tool was missing. After a frantic search through my camelback with no luck I continued on walking and riding when I could. Some times it's hard to get help from someone during a race but it's almost impossible when they speak a different language. Don't know how long it took but finally someone gave me a chain tool to use. But for some reason it didn't seem to work WTF, I couldn't get the pin in the tool to line up with the pin in the chain and it would just bend the chainlink more. I finally forced the chain apart and put in my spare quick link and was off. But the chain suck was still happening and upon further inspection I found another twisted link. I took it out but couldn't get the chain back together correctly because of the tool kept bending the links. But after a few more miles it really didn't matter much if your bike was useable or not. Because that's when I got to he mud that you see in the photos and hear so much about. Something I learned quickly is that don't put your bike down or try to ride it. It's only makes it heavier to carry. This section was about 5 or 6 miles long and I finally made it to the next aid station. After wasting serval minutes trying to get a chain tool from them with no luck I decided leave. My chain was skipping around allot and would only stay in the big gear in the back but I figured it was better than walking. Then I started up the big climb of the day. From what I remember it was all pavement and a little over 20 miles long and very steep at times. Finally after reaching the top we went down for a little bit then started back up a gravel road. That's when my chain finally broke and I started walking not sure how far I went but someone that spoke English asked if I needed help. I was so happy he let me use his chain tool and gave me a quick link and I was back in business. I knew the ending was getting close by looking at the mileage. There were still allot of hills but they were in short only about 1 or 2 miles long. Then finally after 8:38 of riding I could see the end.
The end of the first day was the best because the hotel was right at the finish which means not shuttle. After taking a shower and eating I looked at the results and was very disappointed. I didn't plan on winning but almost 3 hours back from the winners was a pretty bad feeling. I had some bad mechanicals but until they have a class for people that have mechanicals it really doesn't help much in the standings. Some good news was that Ruth finished too in 10:53 and everyone says the first day is the hardest. Funny thing is that is it was hard but it wasn't what I excepted it to be. I went to bed hoping to tomorrow would be a little better.

J

Marilla WVCXS #3

(See attached file: marilla.bmp)

This was the second year for the Marilla cyclocross race Carrera de los Muertos (the race of the dead) in a way the name was very fitting. We go to Morgantown Friday afternoon around 5:00. The weather was a pleasant surprise it was like 70 and Halloween was the next day. So we did a few laps on the Red Sled and the biggest change from last was the barrier placement and the spiral that was added. It took a few times but we finally found a line through it, but had no such luck trying to ride the "Hill of Death". We headed over to Gina and JR's place and got cleaned up and were just hanging out waiting to head out for dinner. After what seemed like a long wait we finally got confirmation from Gunnar that they decided not to go. We headed to Black Bear for some great food and a few beers.
The nice thing about staying close to the race the night before is you get some extra snooze time. It was nice waking up at 8:00 and only having a 5 minute drive the race thanks JR and Gina. When we arrived to Marilla Park the weather was nice almost 60 and a little overcast. The single speed, vets and women were the first group to go at 9:30. I was able to catch some of the race before having to get ready for the Tandumb rematch. It was pretty fun cheering people on and ringing the bell. Ruth had a good race and finished fourth in what we found out later to be the biggest women's field ever at a WVCX race.
It was perfect timing for the weather to change for the worse. As soon as the first race was over the rain started coming down. Racing in the mud used to ready bother me allot until I learned to relax and try and be more patient. The worst things about racing in the rain and mud are getting ready and the clean up. But it was time for the second race of the day was the B race it also included the clydesdales and the tandumds. We go off to a bad start and got caught behind allot of traffic. By the time we got to the spiral we didn't even have a chance to ride it because of all the traffic. Maybe we should have practiced that last night? But to late now then onto the next obstacle the gravelpit. Same problem here too we rode it last night and before the race with no problem but didn't even come close. The worst part about not riding the gravelpit is the rocks that get in your shoes and trying to get clipped in after you get out. Then it was onto the next dismount the Hill of Death. Of all the obstacles the Hill of Death seemed to be my favorite because it had all the people cheering. I couldn't believe how much worse the conditions of the course got after each lap. We tried to chase the Gunnar and Betsy but didn't seem to be having any luck. Not sure which lap it was but we started getting chain suck and chewing through the brake pads pretty fast. I would have loved to seen the look on Ruth's face when we were headed down to the Hill of Death and I said shit no brakes. But even with very little brake left I was able to slow down enough to get to the bottom safely. Finally we came through and the sign said one more lap. Somehow we managed not to get lapped and finally finished the our last lap.
Now it was time to get ready for the A race I kept asking myself why am I doing this? I just finished racing for almost an hour and I was changing and getting ready to do it again. The worst part was I only brought one pair of shoes and they were trashed from the first race. When it was time to line up there looked to be a descent sized field of about 25 people and plenty of fast people. I had an OK start but it got tight quick and it was hard to follow because of the rain and mud. On the first lap I was maybe 7th or 8th and then I picked a few people off and was in 5th. I was trying to catch up to Gunnar and Jason Cyr but wasn't having much luck. Then after about 30 minutes the race changed for me I went from being on the attack and trying to move up to not trying to be caught. Funny thing about the cool spiral was when you were in it was hard to tell how close you were to other riders. I wasn't sure either if it was faster to run it or ride it. I knew that Chris Mayhew was on my tail and it was hard to tell how close he was. As the race went on the Hill of Death could have been easily renamed to the Descent of Death. Every lap it was getting harder and harder trying to find a safe route down it. By the end I managed to stay in 5th I was happy to be down but wasn't looking forward to the aftermath of two muddy races. Thanks to Marc Glass, Gary Rodosta, the great sponsors and everyone else for the great time.

J