On January 29, 2016, I participated in “La Vuelta” held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. La Vuelta supports the Ricky Martin Foundation’s fight against Human Trafficking. La Vuelta is advertised as the ultimate cycling adventure for serious endurance athletes interested in a unique pro-like experience. Cyclists circumnavigate the entire island as part of a fast-paced international Peloton on this fully supported, three-day, 375-mile event.

3 days – 375 miles – 1 island – La Vuelta, Puerto Rico

With over 550 cyclists (goodwill ambassadors) from over 30 countries from around the world, I traveled through over 50% of all the towns in the island while La Vuelta celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The first day was 155 miles from San Juan to Ponce, the second day was 80 miles (light day) of rolling hills from Ponce to Mayaguez and the third day was 135 miles from Mayaguez to San Juan. I was only able to complete 285 miles of this event because of a previous back injury that was exacerbated on the first day and caused me to execute a controlled fall. The Epson salt baths and Tiger Balm worked its magic and allowed me to continue past the first day. I took it one rest stop at a time to make sure I could complete it in grand style.

Things that also were not going my way were: my Garmin went on the fritz, my heart/power monitor stopped working (had a new battery), and my Fitbit wasn’t recording properly. This was not a good event for my electronics.

This was my first time for this event. The ride was very interesting and difficult. It wasn’t the distance, mountain elevation, 1 – 6-inch deep manhole covers (Tapas), 6 to 12 inch deep/wide potholes (Hoyo) that affected my performance as much as the rubber-band (Yo-yo) effect of such a big crowd of riders. The slowing at the bottom and in the middle of a hill with the jackrabbit starts is what made it extremely difficult. I’m used to pushing uphill and speeding downhill, using the momentum to go up the next hill for less effort. This is how I trained, which within the first 70 miles of this event was out the window. The breaks were short, very structured and the timing of the stops was followed very closely.

What made the event so much fun and will have me returning is how friendly the support staff was, rider camaraderie, the warm reception from the Puerto Rican People (mi Gente) along the route, and the sheer fun to ride around the island with a pack of new friends. I would return earlier however I need to take care of my back issues. Another honorable mention was that they run this event with volunteers … the police motorcycle escorts, SAGs, the rest stops, bike mechanics and the list goes on. They were all very helpful, friendly and professional. The bike mechanics were awesome! At end of the ride, the bike mechanics were at the hotel ready to clean, lube, check, adjust the shifting and brakes if needed for no change! They worked for whatever you felt like donating. I couldn’t have thanked them enough.

Enter as a Stranger, Leave as a Friend! – La Vuelta Mantra

I completed the last 55+ miles on sheer will and being in a great paceline (which we called the “The Dorado Train”) with some new friends like Alvin, Horacio, Jessica, Edward, Victor and 4 others who names escapes me at the moment. Alvin was a “B group” rider, riding with a bad right wrist and pulled for us “C” group riders for the last 55+ miles into some serious headwind while we all chanted every once in a while … “Jessica, are you still with us?”

One of the highlights of the ride was that even though I was experiencing lower back pain while I rode in the van, I spent the time joking with a good group of injured riders (Alvin, Sharon, Carlos, Jessica, Edward, Victor, and 4 others) who needed a break. The van driver (affectionately called Flaca) and copilot (Aracelly) where very friendly, funny and great company which added to the party in the van.

The second highlight was that Aracelly (van copilot) was a woman of her word … she said she would be at the finish line to place the medals over our heads and guess what, she was true to her word. Priceless.

The cherry on top of this wonderful sundae was walking into work, seeing and feeling the pride my training partners had in me, and the “La Vuelta Banner” they made to commemorate my participation!

This event wouldn’t have been made possible without the help and support of my training partners (Chet, Diana, Jodel, Kelley), friends who were my SAG (Dee & Emma), the good energy I felt during the entire event from all my friends (new and old) and especially the ones who couldn’t make it. They are why I kept pushing forward regardless of the pain. My friends who traveled an hour for training rides, on too many 5 am morning were awake and ready to ride just to help me train. This was my motivation. Thank you, very, very much!

In the cycling community if your ride is not recorded in Strava, MapMyRide, RideWithGPS and/or Garmin it is not counted as if you rode. I will have to return to La Vuelta in 2021 with fully functioning electronic devices so I can record the ride for the record and gain credit among my fellow cyclist (smile).

Music

This is one of the many mixes which was playing on the ride. Feel free to share and/or download, this was created by TeamOne’s dear friend Mr. World Traveler “The Shadow – El Salvaje de la Jungla”.

Photos

Ciao
ZO | TeamOne