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Schneider

Roman Urbina, race promoter, formed a course today that was once again brutal and rewarding. Roman's ears were burning from expletives expressed by participants as we picked our way through the incredibly challenging course. We climbed through slippery, wet, hike-a-bike, singletrack, barely tire width, fire roads — so steep you could reach in front of your face and touch the dirt, and then relentlessly long and unforgiving pavement. All in all, a 6000 foot ascent up a 10,000 foot volcano. All in all, 8600 feet of climbing for the day in about 65 miles. (Note: our first day we did 12,500 feet of climbing in about 70 miles).

"And then everything started to fall apart. I laid my bike down on a rocky section, started to cry and got attacked by a dog all at the same time..."

Then we descended into muddy rock gardens — big rocks, ankle-deep mud, dry, loose rock gardens and shale and finally pavement to Turrialba and the finish — about 60 miles. Distances are still unclear and always are during the race as well — we never quite know exactly how far we have to go, nor do the volunteers — a true adventure that way.

Costa Rica has many different microclimates and today we saw several change ups. The views of the valleys and mountains here have a feel of soft, gentle, magnificence. We have been racing through the remote parts of this country and get a strong feel for how the people live here and why. My pace on this day allowed me to see much of what we passed through. I saw a sloth, alligators, snakes and iguanas.

Once again I got my money's worth today just getting in under the cutoff time at sunset. What should have been an eight hour ride turned into 10 for me. My back spasmed 30 minutes into the ride and that was my existence for 10 hours. I laughed, cried, zoned out and walked my way through the ride. I was reduced to Plan Z — just finishing. Somehow I was going to drag my butt to the finish or they would have to get the hook and pull me off the course. As Dan Post from Contentlab had a major mechanical on day one (he lost a pulley wheel on his rear derailleur and finished the last 50 miles in one gear — he gets the stud of day one award). I had a body mechanical on day two and was reduced to just inching my way forward.

The climbs were the worst for my back, but the top was anticlimactic because by the time I got to the downhill I was so frazzled that I couldn't focus and had to keep stopping to regroup mentally. The downhill was mind numbing. And then everything started to fall apart. I laid my bike down on a rocky section, started to cry and got attacked by a dog all at the same time. My left hand had a difficult time gripping the brakes due to wrist problems from a bike crash several weeks ago, and my feet were hamburger from all the hike-a-biking. It was a humbling and painful experience. But I made it, I would do it all over again. We can not always get Plan A in our racing. If things go sour we have to come up with another option to get to the ultimate goal — to finish. I once again proved to myself that I knew quitting was never an option and tomorrow is another day.

The bus is here and I'm going to wash the stench off my body and prepare for tomorrow — no time to lick my wounds. More to come.

— Terry Schneider, MountainZone.com Correspondent