am I ready for La Ruta? rather... is La Ruta ready for us singlespeeders?
La Ruta is coming up very quickly! 6 days to be exact.
I am fairly sure I'm ready even though nothing is packed. Been going back and forth between super excited and nervous. I'm more nervous about the first day than anything else. 60miles in length and 14kft of total elevation gain. Throw in lots of mud too!
I've heard everything from "hero status" to "ludicrous" in regards to me doing La Ruta this year. I think I'll gravitate to 'ludicrous' but in some strange, twisted way I actually enjoy these types of events. Riding/racing anything less than 2 or 3 hours lately doesn't feel right. Something seems amiss in those situations.
As Dicky has so graciously pointed out (here and here), we have quite an ensemble of US singlespeeders going to the party. Nevertheless, it will be a grand 'ol time! I'm looking forward.
I've collected some maps, charts and diagrams from the La Ruta website to help illustrate the pain and suffering we've paid good money for. Here it is. We start at Jaco Beach on the Pacific side and four days later we arrive at Limon on the Carribean side.
Day 1: Jaco Beach to El Rodeo
length: 95km (59miles)
total elevation gain: 4,420m (14,501ft)
Day 2: El Rodeo to Terramall
length: 75.2km (46miles)
total elevation gain: 3,624m (11,887ft)
Day 3: Terramall to Aquiares
length: 66.7km (41.4miles)
total elevation gain: 2,654m (8,707ft)
Day 4: Aquiares to Playa Bonita
length: 120km (75miles)
total elevation gain: 1,720m (5,650ft)
Oh yeah. Can't forget about the big wheels.
Leaving the computer at home and packing light for this one. Updates will be coming upon my return..
I am fairly sure I'm ready even though nothing is packed. Been going back and forth between super excited and nervous. I'm more nervous about the first day than anything else. 60miles in length and 14kft of total elevation gain. Throw in lots of mud too!
I've heard everything from "hero status" to "ludicrous" in regards to me doing La Ruta this year. I think I'll gravitate to 'ludicrous' but in some strange, twisted way I actually enjoy these types of events. Riding/racing anything less than 2 or 3 hours lately doesn't feel right. Something seems amiss in those situations.
As Dicky has so graciously pointed out (here and here), we have quite an ensemble of US singlespeeders going to the party. Nevertheless, it will be a grand 'ol time! I'm looking forward.
I've collected some maps, charts and diagrams from the La Ruta website to help illustrate the pain and suffering we've paid good money for. Here it is. We start at Jaco Beach on the Pacific side and four days later we arrive at Limon on the Carribean side.
Day 1: Jaco Beach to El Rodeo
length: 95km (59miles)
total elevation gain: 4,420m (14,501ft)
Day 2: El Rodeo to Terramall
length: 75.2km (46miles)
total elevation gain: 3,624m (11,887ft)
Day 3: Terramall to Aquiares
length: 66.7km (41.4miles)
total elevation gain: 2,654m (8,707ft)
Day 4: Aquiares to Playa Bonita
length: 120km (75miles)
total elevation gain: 1,720m (5,650ft)
Oh yeah. Can't forget about the big wheels.
Leaving the computer at home and packing light for this one. Updates will be coming upon my return..
posted by dougyfresh at 11:32 PM
5 Comments:
good luck. hope all goes well...
Ludicrous? More like "Do you smoke crack!?!?!" Have fun dude...if that's what you consider this to be :)
Which a/c length Vicious fork is that? It looks like there's not a lot of clearance left from the tire, like its the 438mm one with a big wheel stuffed into it.
Reason I ask is your setup "looks" like what I've been looking for in a 29'er.
thx
Thad
ps. Good luck to you and Rich down in the Ruta!
The fork is a 438mm A/C length with 38mm rake.
http://viciouscycles.com/forks.php3
My measurement shows around 18-20mm of radial clearance with the 29" Maxxis Crossmark in there.
the mud actually doesn't look like it will take up as much mileage as i was fearing. as long as those maps aren't understating it. see ya down there.
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