La Ruta de los Conquistadores
From Coast to Coast
13.11.2007
This year’s La Ruta will be practically a new race. One more day in the journey changes everything: the racers have to prepare themselves better, their competition strategy has to be different; the organization faces new challenges, and the spectators will get even more excitement.
All these factors will turn this 2007’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores into a new adventure for all the people involved in it, as it will be for the people who will follow it as spectators.
With 72 more kilometres added to its course, La Ruta now truly crosses the breadth of Costa Rica, beginning at Playa Jacó on the Pacific and finishing up on the Caribbean coast at Playa Bonita in Limón.
"We designed the new stage taking into account the historic route taken by the Spanish conquistadors to respect the historic balance that holds the key", La Ruta's founder, Román Urbina, explained.
If you take a map of the country and superimpose the line La Ruta follows, you can see a sort of "scar" that crosses the entire nation.
For many participants, especially local cyclists who already know the terrain, the course on the new day may even turn into the most demanding of the whole race. It’s not just because of the distance nor the 3,600 meters of total climbing, but you also have to take into account that such rough terrain in this stage will cause the cyclists’ rhythm to falter, a factor that in this sport is a “hard knock� to the competitors’ performance.
“We know it will be tough, that’s why we made some adjustments to the first day’s route to make it a little easier, even though there’s always the big obstacle of the jungle in the Carara National Park. Besides, the new day has a very high percentage of paved roads, which helps with pedalling better. Practically, the whole course is ‘rideable’â€?, Race Director, Luis VÃquez, explained.
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