Costa Rica, the breathtaking setting for the toughest mountain bike race on the planet, LA RUTA DE LOS CONQUISTADORES. Are you ready to take on the biggest challenge of your life? You must be, if you’ve come this far! Over the next three days, you will compete with some of the most hard-core mountain bike adventure racers and experience the same grueling terrain and extreme tropical climates that the original Spanish conquistadors endured during the first expedition ever to cross the continent from coast to coast.

13 years ago, the Race Organizer, Roman Urbina, explored then retraced the cross country route of the Spanish conquistador, Juan de Caballón, on his mountain bike. The route starts on the Pacific Coast in the beach town of Jacó.
The first fifteen minutes or so is a pleasurable ride along the coastal highway before commencing the first of many grueling climbs. Upon reaching the town of Bijagual, the journey takes a sharp left and heads into the back end of the nature reserve, Carara which is populated by poison dart frogs and scarlet macaws.

The route descends into the Valley of Turrubares and continues on towards the central highlands, taking you through numerous spectacular microclimates. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Central Valley is cooler with more rain at higher elevations. On average, Costa Rica receives 3,300 mm (130 inches) of rain per year. The highest point in the expedition is Irazú Volcano, which towers over San José at the eastern edge of the Central Valley and reaches 3,432m (11,259 feet). Irazú and its neighbor, Turrialba Volcano, border the old capital city and religious center of Costa Rica, Cartago. Another conquistador, Perafán de Rivera, explored the region with its rich volcanic soils that today contribute to the prosperous agricultural industries surrounding Cartago and the town of Turrialba.

After an in depth exploration around the Turrialba Volcano, Rivera continued towards the Atlantic flatlands, traversing some of Costa Rica´s biggest rivers and most dense jungle, which have today been replaced by immense banana plantations that take advantage of the wet marshes bordering the Caribbean coast.
As such, La Ruta was born – a grueling, coast to coast, three day mountain bike stage race that will challenge not only your physical strength, but quite likely your sanity as well. Costa Rica has experienced tremendous changes over the last decade, and therefore the course of the race has also changed. Because of the heightened rate of development, we ask competitors to take a good look around when deep within the forest or high up in the mountains and consider what the world was like when the Spanish Conquistadors journeyed through here. No doubt, you will think the race course is tough, but imagine the natural obstacles the Conquistadors had to overcome! What have we done with our natural environment since then? What can we do today so that future generations (of all species) can experience the awe and wonder of our natural surroundings? Throughout the race, meditate, appreciate, communicate, and do something positive in the light of competition and camaraderie. Experience personal growth and help others to achieve their own as well. It is difficult to tread lightly while biking frantically from coast to coast, but please consider some way to leave Costa Rica a better place than you found it. Carry out what you carry in and remind others to do the same.