Hi everyone. Apologies for not posting sooner, but I was away from my business for a week at the worst possible time. I'm not caught up here at work yet, but I have a few minutes to post my musing on La Sufferfest.
Day 1: I couldn't fall asleep right away because my mind was over-thinking the upcoming race. By the time I fell a sleep the alarm clock woke me up at 2:30 am. Yup, breakfast was at 3 am and we had to catch a bus to the other hotel for a 5 am start. There was about 15 minutes of fireworks at the start-line, I wonder if all the noise woke up any of the other neighbors in the area.
There was a 12 hour time limit and I wanted to save myself for the other days so I kept a slow and easy pace at the start, it was several kilometers of flats with asphalt and gravel road. As we entered the jungle the gravel road suddenly got steep as we started to climb the first mountain range, the wet conditions made the rocks and mud slippery, it was easier to walk the steep sections. (Mental note: don't wear carbon race shoes to La Ruta, it's better to wear an mtb shoe that's more flexible and easier to walk in).
The only thing I can remember during the first two checkpoints of La Ruta are steep climbs and river crossings... lots walking and pushing my bike up muddy, slippery, steep climbs. Even some of the downhills were difficult to negotiate due to the slippery mud/clay. That red clay has permeated itself into every piece of equipment I had. I'm still find bits of it everywhere and the white portions of my jersey and shorts are stained and will be a permanent reminder of stage 1.
By the time I reached checkpoint two, I had spent more time pushing/waking the bike than I had riding it and had barely made the cut-off time. I had spent too much time waiting for my friend and training partner. I also wasted 20+ minutes cleaning the clay off my several times when the wheels refused to spin. (mental note: carry the bike instead of pushing through the red clay, this saves time and wear and tear on the drive train.)
I noticed that many people were already calling it quits at checkpoint 2. I rested, ate and refilled my Camelbak. I tried to rally the troops and get the people sitting down to resist the temptation to quit, no luck. Just as I was about to leave my friend caught up to me. I asked him if he was going to continue. Yes, but he wanted me to wait for him. 10 minutes later we head to checkpoint 3. This section was the hottest part of the ride and I passed many people that succumbed to the heat. The terrain profile shows that this section doesn't have too many big climbs, but even the little climbs took effort. More waiting as my friend couldn't take the heat and stopped to buy a cold Coke from a sari-sari type store in a small village. Finally he said he wasn't going to finish the stage and would wait for the sweep truck. I immediately took off for the next checkpoint trying to make up lost time. Luckily the weather was changing and clouds kept the heat to a minimum. Unfortunately, I was 30 minutes late for checkpoint 3. I wasn't allowed to go on. I'm not sure if I would have made it to the finish, the biggest climb of the day was coming up. Although, it was asphalt and I might have been able to make up some time if my legs didn't give out. (mental note: in a race like this, you really have to go at your own pace and not wait for your riding buddies. This really cost me and I wasn't able to finish day 1)
I took very few photos during the race. There wasn't enough time and I was always trying to make cut-off times, it was always wet/muddy/raining, I was basically in survival mode much of the time.
I ran into Tinker Juarez at the hotel the day before the ride. Really nice guy and fan friendly. The best thing about Cannondale is Tinker. He came in 5th place overall. Not bad for an old guy.
Registration, the night before. 486=Derek, 363=Ron,144=Sam, 284=Bo. The guy with the mustache and grey shirt is a SSer. He was strong. I ran into a couple of other Pinoys, Robert Myint came in 24th place in Master B riding a SS! Incredible! Oliver Carbonell was also very strong, 42nd place in Master B.
Sam at the registration tent.
Riding my imaginary bike on the Pacific coast. I wanted a similar pic on the Atlantic side, but I finished after dark.
Poseurs...
Orientation meeting...
Bike storage before Stage 1. Lot's of money under that tent!
fireworks at the start of Stage 1.
Hill climb into the clouds. Day 1, before checkpoint 1.
Another of my rare photos. I took this pic of my training buddy while waiting for him to catch up, shortly this point after I bailed on him as he succumbed to the heat. He actually made it to checkpoint 3 about 45 minutes after me.
Thanks to Derek for taking a few pics. Hmmm... we must be on the right trail.
This is what I needed to train for! Pushing!
This isn't even the deep mud! I was walking in some places that was ankle deep and almost pulled off my shoe.
Derek was the only person with an upside-down number plate.
Sam cooling off in the river. All day I thought Derek and Sam were ahead of me. I didn't realize they had stopped to help someone fix a chain... it cost them the stage finish.
Day 2 - to be continued.