There has always been a certain mystique surrounding the first day of the race. It isn't the longest and doesn't have the most vertical climb of the three days, but, as one racer said, "It is just f&$#@*!% relentless..." Today, the start of La Ruta 2001, once again showed almost 250 racers why La Ruta is simply the toughest mountain bike race in the world.

Wake up call comes early at La Ruta — 3am. Riders leave the comfort of their bungalows to enter into the dark of the morning. One noticeable problem — the heat and humidity. It is the middle of the night and yet stepping into the air is like walking into a spider's web. Sticky. Hot. Heavy. Wet.

Yahoo! Sports banners hang across the start of the race, where at 5am. race director Roman Urbina fired the starter's pistol. Pace cars held the entire anxious pack at a steady pace for the first few miles. Then once the route turned right to the rocky dirt road, the front of the pack broke out in a sprint... La Ruta 2001 was officially underway.

The star of the day was none other than the US's Tinker Juarez, racing in his first La Ruta. Juarez, and fellow top American rider Rishi Grewal came to Costa Rica hoping to be the first foreigners to win here. In fact, no foreigner has ever won the first stage of the race.

A Moment with Tinker Juarez
"My plan is to keep up with some of the locals who've raced here before and follow their lead...I am just hoping to finish," Tinker said on the eve of the race.

Through the first several rest areas, Tinker trailed the leaders, all Costa Rican riders, though he remained close. It was at this point Tinker changed his strategy, realizing that in keeping up with leaders he wouldn't be able to stop at food and water stations. And this began to pay off... and the buzz of Tinker began to build.

The race route is extreme, as one racer explained, "Extreme climbs. Extreme descents. Extreme temperatures. Extreme humidity. Extreme mud. There are no rewards for all your work. You climb for a half hour thinking you'll get to some flats, but your reward is a wicked downhill over boulders. And at the bottom, you stare back up at yet another climb... and this lasts for the entire day." Midway through the day, the conditions began to take their toll. Dehydration and cramping was widespread, as racers were picked off one by one.

Back at the front of the pack, Tinker's strategy was paying off. Not only did Tinker catch up to the front of the group; he began to dictate the pace. Blowing by each rest stop, while the strain of the heat and humidity was visible on the faces of others, Tinker got stronger. And the Tinker "buzz" was on.

Early in the race, fans clearly hoped for yet another race dominated by locals. But as the day wore on, in each town Tinker passed through, spectators would call ahead to the next village providing updates and gossip. Any foreigner here in Costa Rica at La Ruta is an underdog, and the Costa Rican fans began to embrace Tinker, wildly cheering him as he rode through each small town. And Tinker just kept pushing the pace. Journalists and photographers on ATV's couldn't even keep up with him as he effortlessly cranked up rutted mountain paths in near 100-degree temperatures.

He fought in an incredibly tight race, the lead passing back and forth over the final five miles. Then in a final burst, Tinker pulled ahead and never relinquished the lead. He finished in record time, reaching San Jose and the finish line before noon for the first time in race history...

"I've raced all over the world and this was one of the most organized well-run races I've ever participated in," Tinker said. "It was also one of the most grueling. I had heard it would be tough, but I never expected it to be this hard."

"There are some amazing athletes here," Race Director Roman Urbina said. The race was actually led at one point by the U.S. tandem team of Bob Kimber, a world class triathlete from Colorado, and Shannon Warburg, from Connecticut. Shannon, who was the first woman ever to complete La Ruta, returned after having her first child, not having been on a bike in three years. Race organizers were awestruck when, after Kimber was struck by severe cramps and needed to stop on a steep climb, Shannon pushed their bikes on her own at a sprinter's pace.

As darkness approached, weary racers continued to cross the finish line, their faces gaunt with hollow expression. They'd faced relentless challenges that were further complicated by a mid-afternoon two-hour torrential downpour that turned the steep slopes into mudslides and left them all wading through ankle-deep mud. Today had proven that the challenge of La Ruta could cause even the fittest rider to break down, both physically and mentally.

— Courtesy, Back to the Earth Group