La Ruta
La Ruta de los Conquistadores
La Ruta is an annual moutain bike race held in Costa Rica in November. This is a four day event which many consider to be one of the toughest mountain bike racing events in the world. The organizers actually bill it as the toughest bike race in the world. These days there are many mtb races which claim to be the toughest or most difficult on the planet. Deciding which, is probably a matter of opinion, but La Ruta de los Conquistadores has to be one of them
La Ruta is one race where competitors get to race across an entire country. The race starts on the Pacific Coast and ends at Carribbean Coast on the otherr isde of the continent. The four day race is named La Ruta de los Conquistadores because it follows the route of the Spanish Conquistadors who first colonised the area in the 1500's.
The 2011 La Ruta was the 19th to be held. The race is usually around 380 kilometres or 240 miles. The riders race over mixed terrain of ashpalt, gravel, four wheel drive roads and singletrack. The route takes competitors through areas of jungle, farms, near active volcanoes, forests and coffee farms. In 2011 the highest point of this fantastic adventure race was the Irazu Volcaon whose peak is at 3,432m of 11,259 feet.
