Happy New Year’s Eve!

So when we went up to the Poas Volcano, I mentioned that there must have been some sort of bicycle race, and it turns out it was leg 7 in a 12 stage bicycle race that took part over all of Costa Rica.

The Vuelta a Costa Rica (Tour of Costa Rica) took place from Monday 17 December 2012 til Saturday 29 December 2012.  The race is held annually in Costa Rica, carries a UCI rating of 2.2, and is part of the UCI America Tour.  In case you were wondering, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) classifies its races according to a code made  up of two or three parts which indicate both the type or style of race (the first part), and its importance or difficulty (the second and third parts). The first part can be an integer or an abbreviation, and the second part, when present, is usually integers. Both parts are separated by a period or decimal point (.).  'HC' (beyond categorization) is the highest ranking category, followed by '1' and then '2'. So, the Vuelta a Costa Rica, when its ranking is broken down, is a stage race over multiple days (the first “2” in the rating) of a scale similar to the Tour de Normandie (the second “2” in the rating).  It is raced by UCI professional continental teams of the country, UCI continental teams, national teams, regional teams, and club teams.  The race broke down into the following stages:

1 - Dec 17, San Jose - Limon, 155.9 km

2 - Dec 18, Limon - Pococi de Guapiles, 178.75 km

3 - Dec 19, Ticaban - Pococi ITT, 28.8 km

4 - Dec 20, Pococi - Paraiso de Cartago, 138.85 km

5 - Dec 21, San Jose - Canas, 138.85 km

6 - Dec 22, Canas - Grecia, 140.15 km

7 - Dec 23, Volcan Poas ICTT, 18 km

8 - Dec 25, Circuito Presidente CRIT, 188.4 km

9 - Dec 25, Jaco - Prees Zeledon, 143.09 km

10 - Dec 27, Circuito Osa CRIT, 121.4 km

11 - Dec 28, San Ramon Sur - Pejibaye de Pez, 90.21 km

12 - Dec 29, Peres Zeledon - San Jose, 134.8 km

This year’s winner was Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin of Cuba, and the total distance cycled was 1431.21 km, about 890 miles.  Not quite Tour de France, but this darn country is hilly!

Enough of the side notes, time for breakfast soon!