Sipping my delightfully full bodied Costa Rican coffee at Denny's while staring out the window at the surrounding mountains, I reflected on how emotional leaving Costa Rica makes me feel. For a northern climate, euro gene pool based gringo, in theory I shouldn't have much connection to the tropical landscape of a small central American country, but it's become significant to me.
The country is so diverse in geograpy, so inviting, the people are so nice, the challenge of La Ruta so draining, different and epic, and the coffee so good. I thoroughly enjoy crossing the country self powered on my bike, savoring the highs and lows of the experience. I also enjoy watching my friends, both old and new each time, making the same journey. It's such a hard and rewarding test, that each year I have managed to pass, although this year I'd consider my grade nearer to the pass line and further from the "excellence" line. This isn't a test where poor preparation can be hidden. Working and eating too much while training to little don't cut it for this race.
It's a tough vacation, but I think it's one of the best vacation's I've discovered so far. Nothing takes me further from my normal existence in Calgary than here - my blackberry doesn't work, so I'm cut off from my usual daily connections. Replacing that is the La Ruta community that moves from coast to coast, focusing not on the outside world, but only on making it through the difficult days we're facing. It's a complete escape.
Tori got me a souvenir La Ruta de los Conquistadores hat this year, I really appreciate having a momento of the times spent down here.
Dude, thanks for all the great posts - it really is awesome to follow your ups and downs (literally and figuratively) across Costa Rica. I have to admit that reading your posts makes me very tempted to shelve the whole Ironman thing for a year and give mountain biking a serious go...
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