Question: What do you get when you combine three days, 300 miles, 24,000+ vertical feet of climbing, over 100-degree temperatures, over 90% humidity, nine ecosystems, two oceans, and one continent?

Answer: Arguably, the toughest mountain bike race on the planet.

This is La Ruta de los Conquistadores. Over 300 professional and amateur endurance mountain bike racers have traveled to Costa Rica to compete in the race, celebrating its 10th anniversary.

What is La Ruta? It is the smell of brake pads melting during a four-hour technical descent down the side of a volcano, it's wading through waist-deep creeks and thigh-high mud in tsunami rains, wondering how fast crocodiles can tear through a riding jersey if the dilapidated suspension bridge snaps, all the while riding through some of the most stunning scenery in the world- while it tries to crush you.

La Ruta is the only race to traverse a continent, from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. La Ruta climbs roughly the same cumulative vertical feet as Mt. Everest, over volcanoes, rainforests and banana plantations.

For the last nine years, La Ruta has drawn competitors from around the world, yet only local riders have won it. This year, top riders will look to change that, with top U.S. riders Tinker Juarez and Rishi Grewal among those to watch.

— Courtesy, Back to the Earth Group