The scabby blisters on my hands are all-but healed, and only a few bits of red clay remain buried in my fingernails. The dull soreness that, just days ago, throbbed in my calves and quads is long gone. After all, I’ve enjoyed four days of rest and downed an uncountable number ...

A grim reality sets in at the midpoint of any multi-day mountain bike stage race. The anxious buzz of the event’s first half has all-but petered out, and riders no longer speak only in the tone of optimism. Legs are drained and bodies are exhausted, perhaps injured. Bikes ...

The most dominant feature on Stage 2 of La Ruta de los Conquistadores is the 25km paved climb from San Ignacio Acosta to Copalchi, which accounts for roughly one-third of the 76km trip from west to east San Jose. In La Ruta’s trusty race guide, the climb’s profile appears a ...

What’s the best way to quantify pain? This question popped into my head countless times during today’s opening stage of La Ruta de los Conquistadores, a hellacious 68.7-mile slog from Jaco Beach to the outskirts of San Jose. During the journey I carried my bike up ...

A buzz of nervous anticipation hangs thick in the air at Jaco Beach today, as the 400 or so participants in Costa Rica’s 2008 La Ruta de los Conquistadores are picking up race packets, packing bags and preparing for tomorrow’s opening stage. The first of four days packs a ...

Which of the four riders currently leading America’s two premier cyclocross series have you not heard of: Georgia Gould, Ryan Trebon, Jesse Anthony or Amy Dombroski? If your answer was Dombroski, you’re probably not alone. Dombroski, who is leading the North ...

Fellow Boulderite Brandon Dwight greeted me at the final finish line of last year’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores with a chilled bottle of Imperial in one hand and a digital camera in the other. The cold booze momentarily soothed the numerous aches and pains I had accrued ...

The Iceman Cometh seems likely to live up to its moniker on Saturday, when some 2000 mountain bikers will start the 19th annual race along the northwestern bank of Lake Michigan. The 27-mile race from Kalkaska to Traverse City has gained a reputation for chilly temperatures ...

It was no day at the beach for the hundreds of professional and amateur ’crossers who competed in the opening round of the Boulder Cup, held Saturday on a sand-laden course at the Boulder Reservoir in Colorado. Todd Wells (GT) and Georgia Gould (Luna) took wins in the elite ...

Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen) and Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) won the National Mountain Bike Oktoberfest in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday. The eight-hour cross-country race was the final event of USA Cycling’s National Ultra Endurance calendar.The elite event ...

Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) slapped high-fives and jubilantly raised his arms skyward as he coasted alone across the finish line to win Sunday’s Derby City Cup No. 2, the second round of the 2008 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. The ...

Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Katerina Nash (Luna) took impressive solo victories at the opening day of the 2008 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, at Champion’s Park in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday.