Blog | Lava Tours in Costa Rica

CTS La Ruta 2010 - TRAINing RIGHT!

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:42:31 -0600

La Ruta de los Conquistadores, the world's most challenging mtb stage race, was help in Costa Rica this past November 17-20. Lava Tours was honored to have been chosen by Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) to provide logistics and race support to its team of 15 racers, including founder Chris Carmichael.

We are proud to have helped place three racers in the podium:

- Jim Lehman, first in the 40-49 category

- Jason Tullous, third in the 30-39 category

- Chris Carmichael, third in the 50+ category

In addition to podium results, it is also extremely gratifying to have had 14 out of 15 racers finish all four stages of La Ruta. In a race where a large percentage of participants quit, 93% success rate shows that training right is definitely the way to go!

In addition to our own team of three mechanics, two drivers and three operations coordinators CTS had the benefit of having in Costa Rica Jason Koop, Director of Coaching, as well as three other staff based in Colorado Springs. Between Lava Tours and CTS staff we had the racers well covered with three aid stations during each stage. Each station was crewed with an experienced mechanic and at least two people, one of them bilingual and with former La Ruta experience. Excellent hydration and nutrition was courtesy of GU and ProBar. Evenings, riders fueled from a menu specially prepared for them.

Stage 1, from Jacó to Santa Ana, is La Ruta's characteristic stage as racers battle the hot weather from the coast, the mud of Carara and the substantial elevation gain as they climb to the Central Valley. It is truly a test of mental and physical determination. Only those riders with the greatest wherewithal and preparation were able to complete the entire stage.

Stage 2, with a new route this year, took riders from Santa Ana to Tres Ríos. Although this stage is normally challenging enough, this year´s recent landslides in the area added an additional degree of difficulty as even some of the rides on pavement where technical due to the mud and rocks on the course. Even the driving to the aid stations was treacherous due to the road conditions. We opted to plan ahead and take a longer route to the third aid station in order to make it on time for our top placing riders.

Stage 3 starts in Tres Rios and has riders climb Irazú Volcano. Since on this stage the cold weather can sometimes decimate even experienced riders, we placed spotters to let us know what riders would be reaching the station so that we could have jackets and hydration ready for a quick transition for the descent to Turrialba.

This year's fourth and final stage from Turrialba to Limón was very fast and with only two open aid stations we chose to strategically devote most of our resources to the last PC before racers rode the flats to the coast. Since at this time we had four podium contenders, quick feet and hands were key to have riders rolling again as soon as possible after reaching the station.

At the finish line, celebrations and libations marked the end of many months of preparations by CTS staff along with Lava Tours in Costa Rica. But the final kudos go to the 15 racers who devoted an incredible amount of effort to finish such a grueling race. We are very proud of them!

Final thanks go to the following people that helped us achieve our goals:

Benjamín Ramirez, our always enthusiastic staff mechanic

Eric Blanco, our long-time driver who handles the van and bike trailer as if it were a Mini Cooper.

Luis Carlos Araya, excellent pro mechanic at Ciclo Paraiso in Paraiso

Luis Gutierrez, tireless driver and always ready to lend a hand

Melvin Brenes, another devoted wrench and owner of Ciclo Brenes in Paraiso

Dax Jaikel, Heiner Perez and Eddy Perez for their disinterested support doing route recon before the race.

Paula, Beth, Paige and Annie who with their help and smiles made sure that our work was up to CTS standards.

Jason Koop, Director of Coaching, for trusting us and providing timely and pointed advice.

CTS athletes Rick, Pavel, April, John, John, Dave, Mark, Francois, Ben and Van whose dedication and courage provided constant inspiration and admiration.

For more information about CTS' results oriented TRAINing RIGHT programs please visit trainright.com.

CTS Training Camp, by Lava Tours

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:38:56 -0600

This past September and then again last week Lava Tours organized a race recon camp for Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) out of Colorado Spring, CO. All together 10 brave athletes and coaches including Chris Carmichael spent close to a week in Costa Rica getting to know the La Ruta de los Conquistadores route in preparation for their participation in the race November 17-20 2010.

Racers got to pre-ride all of Stage 1 including the infamous Carara crossing, Stage 3 and Stage 4. Stage 2 is new for 2010 and the exact route is yet to be published by the race organization.

Camp participants were treated to several surprises during the camps including landslides, riding on railroad tracks and Costa Rica's well known changing climate that meant riding one day in very hot conditions and the other in 60-degree weather.

The group will be back a few days prior to the race and Lava Tours is proud to be the chosen outfitter to provide race support and logistics.

Leadville MTB 2010

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:28:54 -0600

For the second year in a row Lava Tours participated in the epic Leadville 100 MTB race. This year we took part with a team of 5 racers and one support staff.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation to Ken and Merilee who as usual welcomed our participation with open arms as well as all the volunteers who make this race possible every year.

Some of us arrived in Colorado 10 days before the event in order to acclimate and do some work as well visiting bike shops and friends of the company.

On Tuesday before the race we did some route marking on Half Moon Rd. and also on the paved section between Hagerman’s and Carter Summit. It was easy work and we were glad to help out a bit.

By Thursday before the event the entire Lava Tours team was in Leadville assembling bikes and getting the final preparations ready for the race. We were all very excited and looking forward to a great start Saturday at 6:30 a.m.

Friday morning we all attended the packed pre-race meeting where Ken usually delivers his motivational speech. This year, however, Lifetime Fitness’ own Bahram Akradi also took part of the conference as his company recently purchased the event and will be running it from 2011 onwards. Needless to say, it was a great preface to such an awesome race.

Our group also had the pleasure to have lunch with John Hill, LT100´s Medical Director. He is both an LT100 biker AND runner and offered a lot of insight and advice that ended up helping us immensely during the race.

We also got to chill with California-based pro Pua Sawicki. She was not going to race Leadville but was there hanging out with the crowd and crewing for Grace Jones, a buddy of ours from last year's race.

Later on Friday we opted to skip the official LT100 pasta dinner and instead attended Carmichael Training System’s (CTS) LT100 dinner out in a picnic field not far from downtown Leadville. CTS had over 120 people at Leadville between athletes and staff and it was great hanging out with them all, including our good friends Koop, Adam and the big guy himself. They will soon be in Costa Rica for a training camp organized by yours truly.

On race day we all woke up at 3:30 a.m., by 4:15 a.m. had had a delicious breakfast at the Leadville Hostel and by 5:15 a.m. had our bikes at the start in downtown Leadville. One member of the group (yours truly) was lucky enough to be allowed to start in front of the starting line in the pen for VIPs, Pros and top 100 finisher in last year’s event. This meant no pushing and shoving and riding in front of the pack while the race rode controlled through Leadville and towards St. Kevin’s.

Once Ken fired that shotgun we all sprinted downhill feeling the cold mountain air chill our fingers and toes. This year, however, it did not rain on us and pretty much the entire field was able to make it up and down Columbine Mine in full sunshine and without a drop of rain. This, in part, accounted for Levi’s new course record.

Our team had mixed results. While all of us enjoyed the experience and would do it all over again, only three our of five finished under 12 hours, one finished under 13 hours and one DNF’d. Next year, however, we are going for under 9 hours!

See you there!