March 13th, 2012 10:56am
We arrived in Guatemala on Tuesday morning. We flew from Phoenix to LA then the red eye to Guatemala City. We arrived a couple of hours early at the airport which was good since it took an hour at the counter for US Airways to figure out how much to charge for our bags and bikes. In the end, luck was on our side and we payed only $155 versus the $225 that US Airways would have charged us.
We arrived in Guatemala City early and the race had arranged a shuttle to get us to Antigua. An old colonial city that used to be the capital of Guatemala until it flooded during a volcano eruption. The town was rebuilt and it's beautiful. There are few paved streets, instead they are all rock lined, so riding a hard tail in town is rougher than being on dirt.
We checked in to the hotel Soleil Antigua. They were nice enough to let us check in at 9 am. Put the bikes together and headed out for ride. Decided to try to find the prologue course and try to preride it. We eventually found it. The prologue is a 13 km loop with a 2000 ft.climb and then a single track descent back to the start/finish.
Wednesday morning we were a bit more adventurous and tried to find the single track descent. We found a descent but not the right one. Looking back we should have skipped this preride. A little too much walking and riding the day before.
Yesterday was check, we got race number plates that could be used as stretchers - they're huge. We might be able to use as sails. Let's just hope we have a tailwind and not a head wind.
Prologue
The race today went ok. We were 3rd to start and got passed by one team and one solo rider. Our time was around 55-56 minutes. Winning time (we think) is around 46 minutes. We'll find out this afternoon. Chris (Groves) and I are racing in the masters B category which means our combined age is over 90 years. We are both in our 50's so winning the category would be a great achievement. There are some strong teams here although not many.
More to come tomorrow - hoping we have Wi Fi where ever we finish tomorrow.
The Prologue Climb - Chris Groves and Art MacFarland (Team Arizona) attacking the climb. The will be seeing a lot more of this over the next three days.
Wow. What a day. Yesterday we were 2.5 minutes behind the leaders in our category so if we had a decent day today we could take the lead. Little did we know how our luck would turn in a blink of an eye.
We started from downtown Antigua with a neutral start and police escort. Kind of cool. We rode about 6 km through large and small streets to the "other" start (although time had already started). We stopped for 1 minute which was used by about half the group to pee against a wall. Pee was running down the street to where the police were standing. Too funny. They didn't give a shit.
We took off with "get ready, GO". Fast guys took off like the police was chasing them. Chris and I had a plan - steady tempo pace for the entire day. Pass the guys as they implode. About 4-5 km after the "start" we got on a double track with some local traffic. That means people walking horses, cows, sheep. Some were riding horses. I was in the front about 20 yards when I heard a thump. I turn around and don't see Chris. Shit!!
I get to Chris and he's getting off the ground all dusty. One of the horses kicked him right on his sternum. It wasn't a direct blow which was lucky. At least did didn't get kicked in the head. He dusted off. Seat and handlebars were out of wack. Then I noticed a huge hole in his elbow, lots of blood. And then he says it's his hip that hurts.
We fixed everything then decided to keep going. I could see him struggle. Rugged terrain bothered his arm and steep hike-a-bikes bothered his hip. He was having a hard time getting on and off his bike. Medical was at the second checkpoint. We finally made it there and as soon as they saw him the called for an ambulance. 
I stayed there for a while until the ambulance arrived. Talked to the race staff about his bike. Gave them my number in case they needed to get a hold of me. Finally decided to keep going by myself. The next 25 miles were brutal. Steep and long climb. I had just under 8000 ft of climbing in 54 miles. Doesn't sound like much but the steepness made up for it.
On one of the hike-a-bikes there were a bunch of kids offering to push my bike. They helped most people for bars, gels, anything you had. I actually tipped them. They were even trying to help me up the hill. Great experience.
The last downhill into the finish was death defying with a full exposure and steep drop off on one side not only on the single track but also some steep steps as we got closer to town. One more climb then a police escort through town. Finished in just under 6 hours. Winning team in our category was just under 5.5 hours. And I stopped over 30 minutes to help Chris deal with his injuries. So I think we would have done well had we had a little better luck.
That's the beauty of these races. You just never know what can happen.
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Rolling out at the start of Day 3
First, Chris went in for X-rays this morning and was happy to hear there was no fracture. That's good news.
Today stage was short on distance. About 40 miles but based on the profile it was mostly uphill. Since we're out of the competition my plan was to ride at a nice comfortable pace, take some pictures and be social.
Well, when the terrain is so steep that you can barely pedal, there is no comfortable pace. The climbs were so steep that I think I spent more time in my granny gear today than ever before. At checkpoint 2 I was told I had another 15 km to reach checkpoint 3 and then mostly downhill after that. Little did I know that those 15 km would take me so long. There was a hike a bike section at over 9000 ft of elevation that did me in. Took me almost 45 minutes to cover 1 - 1.5 miles. Had to stop every hundred yards or so.
By the time I made to checkpoint 3, I was exhausted. I was told 1.5 km to the top and then all downhill. After climbing for another 4 km I finally made to the top. I looked at my computer and it showed 30 miles and 8900 ft of climbing. Holly crap!! WTF!! The hardest 30 miles I have ever ridden (or walked).
The downhills are also painful. Steep and technical. Had to use 2 fingers to brake with and finally had to stop. I had no strength in my hands. I was so tired that I walked some section that were rideable. I was so happy to see the flat section. 5 miles of flat dirt roads with a tailwind at times made me very happy. I finished the stage in just over 5 hours. Winning time was 3:39. Unbelievable!! I would love to see my friend Jeff Herrera come out and do this race. Perfect terrain for mighty mouse!!
Tomorrow should be easier on the legs but hard on the hands and arms. Lots of technical descents. At least is "mostly" downhill.
Based on the profile, the day was mostly downhill. A welcomed relief after a brutal day 3. We started the day with a climb out of town a short singletrack descent followed by another climb. I decided to take all my power bars and gels and give them to the kids yelling "animo" - which kind of translates into "you can do it". Some of the non-Spanish speaking riders though they were being called "animal". Almost missed a turn for paying more attention to the kids.
After reaching the high point of the stage, we descended through single track, a 7 ft deep mini canyon with switchbacks, a river bed and a long rock lined road. The river bed was technical and dangerous in places. Big advantage having a 29er for sure.
I felt relatively good considering how hard the previous day was. I was able to climb well as long as I stayed seated. Out of the saddle climbing was painful. My goal for the day was to stay with the two teams leading the masters categories.
I was in the middle, ahead of the leaders in our class but behind the leaders of the 80+ category. I think the team in our class had a substantial lead and didn't have anything to worry about. The 80+ category was not a sure thing yet. I think my technical skills were better because I caught these guys in the technical river bed. Stayed with them over a short road downhill and then dropped them over the rock/cobbled downhill that lasted for a few miles.
Probably doing 30-40 mph over some sections with a few rollers. It was so much FUN!! Finally at the bottom, when I was having a hard time braking, we got to the bottom. Riding a suspension bridge was freaky to say the least. We had a second suspension bridge to cross but it was a mandatory walk. The bridge was about 200 meters long and about 30 meters high. Have to admit it but I had to hold on to the hand cable. SPOOKY!!
Once over the bridge we had a hike-a-bike over the worst sauna section ever. Even the locals carrying wood,were asking for water. I was almost at the finish so I gave the mom and her two kids about half of my only bottle. Once at the top it was a 7 minute downhill run to the finish. Finished the day just under 3:30. About 5 minutes ahead of one leader team and 20 minutes ahead of the other one. Fun day!!!
Getting ready for the start of the Final day. Roling out on the stone streets for last time.
Overall WINNERS - Open Division - Costa Rican riders
Deiber Esquivel & Paolo Montoya
Riding for - SCOTIABANK-DOS PINOS-DHL
These guys put the hammer down on Day 3 and Day 4 to take the overall win by 16 minutes.
All of the results can be viewed here. RESULTS -
Post race
The awards Ceremony was short and sweet. The finish line, awards ceremony, and hotel was at a place called Hostel IRTRA. I was nervous about a hostel and expecting bunk beds but it turned out to be a beautiful place. Parrots all over the place. Peacocks walking around freely. Several large pools. Great food. Miniature golf. Awesome guest rooms.
Overall I think this was a great race. Very challenging course. Great hotels except for one which wasn't horrible. Food wasgood. Promoter was helpful, friendly, attentive to detail, and flexible. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Overall definitely worth the experience.
Reading Arts descriptions of each stage speaks volumes about the difficulty of the race's climbs. Art is an accomplished endurance racer having multiple La Ruta's, A Cape Epic, Trans Rockies and other big race experience under his belt. When Art says a stage is tough, it is tough. When there is a hike-a-bike - it is legit. I think it is great that countries like Quatemala and others have these races. Each country is unique and should be approached with an open mind as it offers racers a chance to see the world and race their bike. MTB Bike racers are typically excellent embassadors and good people in general.
If you are up to the challenge of El Reto Del Quetzal - and want to find out more about how be a part of it for next year, you can visit their website at http://elretodelquetzal.com/
Location: News >> El Reto Del Quetzal - Dos Gringos and Four days of racing in a Far Away land
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