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 of bottles of Imperial.

My recovery from this year’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race is nearly complete.

That doesn’t mean I’ve kicked the memories from my 235-mile, four-day trek across Costa Rica to the wayside — quite the opposite actually. Much like last year, I’ve spent the days following Saturday’s final finish line evaluating my own performance, piecing together a laundry list of lessons I learned from La Ruta, the self-proclaimed “Personal Growth Journey.”

2008 La Ruta: Anatomy of pain: The profile for Day 4 highlights nearly 50 kilometers of railroad tracks.

Photo: Courtesy

The big moral from this year’s race: Don’t test Lady Luck.

Luck smiled on yours truly for three straight days. Sure, my back and legs ached from the brutal hike through Carara National Park on stage 1, and the punishing descent of the Irazu Volcano on stage 3 melted my brake pads into oblivion. But I hadn’t suffered so much as a flat tire during stages known to break — not bend — the toughest riders and their gear.

So what went wrong on day four?

Things started off on the wrong foot when I missed the bus from the race hotel to the starting line — a major bonehead move. The situation got worse. A shuttle was scrambled to pick me up, but while zooming to the starting line, the shuttle driver plowed head-on into another vehicle. The battered bus arrived just as the starting gun cracked, meaning I had to take the course at the end of 350 riders.

And while stages 1-3 opened with several kilometers of neutral rollout, stage 4 began with a narrow and steep climb up a loose, sandy road, putting a premium on starting position. Weaving through the throngs of walkers took an extra dose of patience and politeness. Apologies to anyone whose feet I rode over.

2008 La Ruta: Riders amass for the start in Aquiares beneath a large church.

Photo: Don Karle

King Snafu

On the ensuing descent, the day’s king snafu hit. I cracked the rim of my rear wheel.

I had taken a serious gamble in my pre-race wheel selection for La Ruta — I chose a pair of newly released, super-light 1250-gram carbon hoops. The wheel manufacturer was extremely confident in the durability of its product and sent a pair to VeloNews for testing. Tech editor Matt Pacocha and I decided to put them to the ultimate test.

The wheels performed wonderfully on La Ruta’s countless super steep ascents. They held their integrity on the punishing 20-mile descent of the Irazu Volcano, one of the most challenging and rocky downhills I have ever encountered.

2008 La Ruta: The final 10 miles skirt the Caribbean and include numerous sections of deep water and mud.

Photo: Courtesy

But on the fourth stage’s high-speed downhill, which is a minefield of babyhead-sized rocks, the rims failed. As the rocks gave way to pavement, I could feel my rear wheel losing air. I stopped to throw in a tube. Much to my dismay, a wide crack stretched from a spoke eyelet across the rim.

My heart sunk. It looked as though my La Ruta had come to an end. Two thoughts came to mind.

Shit I trained a lot for this stupid race.

How the hell am I going to write a column about quitting?

The latter got me back on my bike. Now, I don’t recommend racing on broken wheels — it’s arguably the sketchiest thing a mountain biker could do. But I figured if I rode the last 100km gingerly, the busted rim just might make it to the finish line. Surviving the 50km of railroad tracks seemed impossible. But the only other option was to walk.

Like a muddy, dirty ballet dancer, I tiptoed my way east, hopping over speed bumps and walking when the railroad tracks became too gnarly. And on a wing and a prayer, the hoop held its integrity to the line, an impressive feat for any broken rim.

2008 La Ruta: Track happy; Some skilled riders prefered to ride across the trestles, while the majority walked.

Photo: Don Karle

I only lost one spot in the GC overall, and finished 22nd in the men’s open, which strangely corresponded with my race number.

Now, my goal for this year’s race was to finish with a smile on my face. The simple objective sprung from my experience last year, when I walked across the final finish line crazed with frustration and generally beaten into a pulp by the journey.

I’m happy to announce that last beneath a baking Caribbean sun, I wobbled my way onto the beach at Puerto Limon, crossed the finish line and then dove into the water.

I was smiling.

Prado's smile

I wasn’t the only one. Perhaps the biggest grin of the day belonged to Manuel Prado, a Costa Rican rider who lives full-time in Orange County and rides for the Sho-Air team. Five years ago, at his first La Ruta, Prado watched the podium celebration for the top-five finishes.

2008 La Ruta: Manny Prado, right, celebrates his top-five finish in the overall with a new friend.

Photo: Courtesy

“I told myself then that someday I would be on the La Ruta podium,” Prado told me. It was an ambitious goal. Prado had just picked up mountain biking after a long career as a freestyle street BMX rider.

But Prado achieved his dream in Limon this year and finishing fifth, just ahead of Roberto Heras. The result capped off a huge year for him, as he finished third behind Dave Wiens and Lance Armstrong at the Leadville 100, and landed in the top-10 in the final NMBS cross-country standings. Prado says the top spot on La Ruta’s podium is now in his crosshairs.

As for yours truly, I don’t hold any illusions of winning the world’s hardest mountain bike race, but improvement is always a possibility. Last year I suffered like a dog and vowed never to return. A year’s worth of contemplating ways I could have gone faster convinced me to come back. Hours of better training and better gear prep helped me show up with a more dialed-in program. And course knowledge added confidence to the mix, which led to a higher placing.

As for the real question: did the race hurt any less this year?

No way. I suffered like a dog. But, like many of you reading today’s column, I have learned that you can occasionally find joy in suffering.

And if it’s suffering you seek, look no further than La Ruta.