La Ruta de Los Conquistadores 2012, Finished 4th
overall on a singlespeed in the 40-49 geared category. http://larutadelosconquistadores.com/ruta2011/
Finished 3rd on the first day. It was extremely hot! Probably the hottest weather I have ever
ridden in. There was a long muddy
section that was very muggy but some sections were ridable. The mud was not deep, just extremely
slick. I typically have not used the
optional spikes bolted onto the front of my shoes but they would have been
really handy. A large part of the climb
was on pavement and the temperature was much more tolerable at the higher elevations. This was the toughest day. They had showers, food and the finish was
very festive! Check out the day 1 stats
here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/248054107
Day 2 I finished 4th. There was a bunch of
climbing but a majority of it was on pavement.
The downhill was pretty rocky and slick because of the constant
rain. I found myself wanting a little
uphill so I could get a break from standing on this section. Visibility was minimal as well toward the
top. After the initial drop off the
volcano the last section was a fast fun downhill on pavement. At times I was spun out with my climbing
gearing on the descent. There was a flat
section toward the very end where I ended up getting passed by numerous geared
racers and that’s where I think I got bumped out of 3rd place. They had great amenities again at the finish
which included some hard earned grub.
Day 3 was much shorter and very flat. It started out with rafting in the morning
which was a blast and totally worth doing!
I got completely blown away on the flats with my gearing. I should have put on a tiny rear cog geared
for flat to slightly descending pavement.
This gearing would have been tougher on the railroad track section but
you can’t pass there anyway. There were also
racers who put in a huge effort on the beginning road sections and were blown
by the railroad track section. They were
holding traffic up. There were
significant waits to cross the rickety old bridges as well. Would have been nice to be ahead of that scenario.
Apparently the end could be sandy but
due to the downpour it was fast as well on race day. It was great to ride straight onto the sandy
beach and drink some cervezas on the beach.
In the end it looks like day 3 only possibly cost me one
spot (a podium spot) since I had such a lead from day 1 and 2. I’m happy with the way the race went. It would have been handy to speak Spanish but
they were accommodating to English speaking racers. Great experience and I met some super people!
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| Prerace meeting |
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| View from the first climb |
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| Day 1 finish |
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| Day 2 section |
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| Finish on the beach |
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| Finish on day 3 |
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| Jeff in the food line at the finish of day 3 |
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| Finish line venue |
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| Jeff on a preride of day 2 |
