Also, STEVE was pretty miffed I have yet to drop his name on this here blog! Steve at one point brewed all of our coffee at Stell....now he tightens my cables and all the other things I am incapable of doing on my bike, while wrenching at Cyclery USA...Then he heads over to the Salon to cut bangs and pick what design to my hair should become. The experience is totally rad...I would highly suggest it.
OK, where were we...OH YES!
Day Two in Costa Rica was the closest I have come to emotional implosion since about two years ago. Serious. Waking up was horrible. I felt wrecked. I looked at my homies and was like, um, can we tap out NOW?!?
VITAL STATS:
22.61 miles
3:28 Ride time.
10,079 Elevation gain. Serious?!
Check it all here!
Racing that day was like nothing I have ever experienced. It was so draining and mentally difficult, that now in races I tell myself to "Go back to that Costa Rica Place" and remember what it feels like to suffer. What its like to have no idea where the top is but yet to continue riding harder and stronger than you have ever forced yourself to go. This experience makes a 100 foot climb look exponentially small.
After the mud and other dark earlthy products caked my bottles and bike on day one, I opted to go with ONE bottle on the bike and two in my jersey. This forced me to wear the ONLY medium jersey I had each day because with all the junk i had in my pockets, the smalls looked like belly-shirts, and nobody wants to look like a hooch in the jungle.
Wash everything at once...cool. Besides being the most painful day on a bike, ever, this day was the BEST EVER! Getting my mind to calm down enough to focus SOLELY on the task at hand was epic. Being able to look beyond pain and fatigue and just keep pedalling was rad. Each half hour I felt stronger and stronger. My mind was settled all else was unimportant. Finally, I felt like a bike racer.
Riding the Jungle BABY!
Do NOT crash on this stuff...we all avoided it...but were well aware of the carnage it could create in an instant!This stage popped out on the top of a volcano where we could look out over the valley to other volcanoes and villages. We also go a splendid taste of local single track through the jungle. I ran super fast sand tires due to the high amount of road/dirt road we would be riding, so you could amagine the cluster I created in the sticky, guey, clay-like mud in the jungle. A national named Erik, who I rode with stage 2/3, asked me in broken English as I scuttled up from yet another yard-sale endo: "You like the land?" jejejeje. UM NO!
Erik and I nearing the finish of Stage two...
Glasses zipped safely in my jersey...humidity plus sweat plus granny gear climbing: zero vizibility.
Erik and I nearing the finish of Stage two...Glasses zipped safely in my jersey...humidity plus sweat plus granny gear climbing: zero vizibility. 
Water for two, please! Maureen and I opted for purchased local water...That and bananas was all I bought down there. Super cool option with the race was to purchase, for $20 US a CD with like 100 photos on it! Woohoo! Otherwise I would have never gotten some of the cool shots of the terrain!!
FOCUS! But walking....optional....Maureen did everything in her power to never walk. RAD.
SWOOPY!
Super smart idea to take brand new white shoes to the jungle. Then hit up a ton of hike-a-bikes. Blisters are yummy.
In the land of Strawberries and Coffee, Maureen did a bang-up job of assimilating.
The crew refualing - awesome local fare!
Endorphine high...Heading back to the hotel!
We sent the bikes back to the shop for TLC...the guy on the right rode about 1/3 of the day with me. He spoke no English but knew the trails, which he was poaching, so was an excellent guide. I gave him my USCUP water bottle and he loved it.
I cried Uncle around 7:45pm. I can't remember EVER sleeping that hard. Serious.
Pimping Coach Gareth in Santa Barbara Costa Rica. I so do not fit in. Anywhere.
3 comments:
Sweet! Love the new header shot!
LOVE the new photo!
Can't believe your out there! what an awesome experience! Live it up girl!!
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