Conquering

La Ruta

I once had a roommate who had done the Ruta several times. I am all for jumping into an adventure, but his stories of the race just made the event seem a bit too crazy. Mud, local knowledge, barely hanging bridge crossings, cold, heat, bad course markings, bad food....

But, even with all the hardships, my roommate had finished the Ruta each time he started it. And it was really the only race he did. Mostly he just rode his bike alot. There was nothing externally about him that would give evidence to the fact that he could quietly complete what had to be the toughest little mountain bike event there is.

I am in complete awe of the people that decide they want to do this. Sure finishing is awesome too. But the strength to say "I want to try that", when failing is such a high possibility...thats brave.

La Ruta Website (which has been overloaded and usually unavailable)
Velonews on La Ruta
Not quite Full Results

Some Ruta Blogs:
Jason Sager
MichiKO!
Mike Cushionbury
Bart Gillespie
MonAvie
Biking Bakke
Carey
Bend Elite
MTBR thread