RACE REPORT: 2nd Place in Costa Rica at 12 Hora de La Ruta Del Sol
May 7, Costa Rica (photos courtesy of Luis de Ezpeleta)

THE SCENE

I love racing in Costa Rica! They really make me feel at home. Super warm people. Everyone is like a family there. So when Rafael Pacheco, the promoter who puts on La Ruta de los Conquistadores asked me to come to their 12 hour race, I didn't hesitate one moment.

It's funny though. They kind of assumed that since I'm 44 that I would want to race masters. No way! I wanted to race like I should be racing-against their best guys for the overall win. And all of their best riders were there, about 300 riders. And they all had good attitudes.

Everything about the race was top-notch. They had good publicity in town, so there were lots of spectators. Local TV was there. And the promoter provided tents, table, chairs, and water for all of the racers. They put me up in a great hotel too until this guy Ramon, a local masters racer, asked me to stay at his house. What better way to really experience the people? His family was real helpful. It was so nice to do that. My mom and I had dinner with his whole family. They spoke no English, but that's okay. Friendly doesn't need a language.

The course there is beautiful. It's all tropical green with big palm trees everywhere. It's not very long, though. Laps were only about 30 minutes. Any mistakes would have made a big difference. And there were plenty of opportunities to make those mistakes. It has a real technical downhill. real greasy and slippery. There had been some showers in the days before so you had to work the trail from one side to the other trying to find the dry patches. Then at the bottom there's a real steep climb out.

Costa Rican races are fun and very competitive. I have to go there prepared for a tough race, 'cause all the riders there are good. They're good climbers and descenders, there's nothing flat around there. It's all big mountains, big hills and all technical.

It's a shame that so few of their riders ever get out to race anywhere else. Most don't have the money to go to NORBAs or World Cups. So the rest of the world doesn't know how tough the Costa Rican's are. It would be nice if one of the magazines did a story on the racing scene there so that more U.S. riders would go there to race. I can tell you, one thing, any Americans who would go would NOT have an easy time! They'd have to earn every position. Those guys are fast and fit!

THE RACE

It was a real three-way battle between me and Henry Raabe, the guy that won, and this kid from Costa Rica who took third. The kid was built like a climber; real small, real lean. The three of us rode together the whole race. None of us bobbled, no flats, just a steady pace that left everyone else behind. They knew the course; they've had other races on it. None of us really attacked, we all knew that the others had plenty in reserve. None of us stopped all day except to get our bottles and food.

When night came I made rookie mistake that basically cost me the win. In a race you get all pumped up and excited and I thought that I had my light systems dialed, but I messed up in connecting my helmet light. It wouldn't come on. I thought it was the battery, tried another one, it didn't work and lost ten minutes in the pits, stressing and fussing. I should have just gone right away with just a handlebar light, but I was refusing to leave without my helmet light working. That's what I eventually did and while I was out on that lap my mom got the light working. I just hadn't connected it right. That's what I get for not taking my time and not testing it before. That's how races are won and lost sometimes, something silly.

During those last laps at night, I gained back some of the time I had lost in the pits. But Raabe still beat me by four minutes. It was close. The top three all did twenty-four laps. So I'm happy with my race. I rode well, felt strong and had no bike problems and no mistakes other than my own bone-head move with the light. Oh well. That's all behind me. On to the next race!