Settled and Ready

Morning,

We are racing today, but I thought I would fill you in on what  I have been doing down here leading up to now. This place is awesome by the way, and if you can travel to Ecuador do it! Basic race facts for Vuelta al Cotopaxi:  2 day stage race that circumnavigates Cotopaxi Volcano.  It is the most popular and best known mountain bike race in Ecuador that sells out in less than one hour.  Teams of two with a maximum of 200 teams allowed in the race. (mixed/coed, male and female race divisions).  Each day is about 65 km of double track and single track racing.  All the racers camp together after the first stage and re-start again on day two.

The entire race takes place between 3000 meters (9800 ft) and 4300 meters (14,100 ft).   Last year, Greg and I placed 3rd in the mixed category.  We had a rough race that included getting off course on the first day with many other teams and losing time.  We were also hit hard by the altitude and Greg got pretty sick from it.  Despite all of that, we still won the stage on day 2 and finished on the podium.  This year, there are some really good mixed teams including the fastest guy and girl in the whole country!  It will be competitive for sure, but now we know the race and have prepared a little better for the altitude.

Cikla bike shop hosted a women’s riding clinic that I taught at the Parque Metropolitano.  Local athletes Amanda Purtschert and Diana Marrgraff were there to help with the clinic.  Amanda is a well known endurance mountain bike racer and Diana is a world cup downhill specialist.  They were able to be the tour guides, translators and also help with spotting and technical skills.  The clinic started at 6:30 AM, so I was sure no one was going to show up that early.  I was wrong and we had about 15 women of all different levels and even a TV camera crew and reporter showed up.  After the riding there was an extension of the women’s clinic at Cikla where I showed some pictures and also spoke about equipment, bike maintenance, training and nutrition.  There are a ton of cyclists here in Ecuador and the women’s group is growing.  It’s great to be helping get more women out on bikes.  I will also be doing another women’s riding clinic in the town of Cuenca after the race.

Greg and I took the tram up Pinchincha volcano yesterday to about 4000 meters and hiked around in the clouds.  The tram normally gives you great views of Quito, but we were essentially hiking in the clouds.  I could definitely feel more difficulty breathing, but it was a great hike.  Hopefully getting up high will accelerate the acclimatization process.  The race is still going to hurt, but we are trying to do what we can to be a little better prepared for the elevation than last year.

I will be posting some more photos to my Flickr account from the trip. So feel free to cruise around over there and check them out.

Cheers

Reba