Colorado Springs, Colo. (November 10, 2011) – The final stage of La Ruta de los Conquistadores, a four day, 240 mile mountain bike race across Costa Rica, took place on Saturday November 5th. The course was inspired by the route travelled by Spanish Conquistadores several hundred years ago, winding through jungles, across rivers, and over volcanoes, with 39,000 feet of climbing. La Ruta is known as the “hardest mountain bike race in the world” and is the original “multi-day
fat-tire stage race.”

Todd Wells, a USA rider on the Specialized MTB Team, was the overall winner completing the four stages in 17:18:06, more than ten minutes ahead of second place rider, Rom Akerson. Roughly 85% of the athletes entered in the extreme pursuit crossed the finish line on Saturday, including several dedicated SRM riders.

Chris Carmichael, owner and founder of Carmichael Training Systems (CTS), finished in 30:44:48, along with his fellow CTS coaches Adam Pulford and Jane Rynbrandt (4th overall female), all on the SRM 2×10 MTB PowerMeter. In addition to the CTS squad, two elite Cannondale Factory Racing members also completed with the SRM MTB PowerMeter. Alex Grant and Ben Sonntag (7th and 8th overall) recorded their journey from the Pacific to the Caribbean with SRM files mapping power, cadence, speed, heart rate, elevation gain, and caloric requirements of the race.

The SRM 2×10 MTB PowerMeter is currently available in both SRAM and Cannondale models. The PowerMeter allows for a detailed analysis of racing and training, providing objective metrics to analyze and train for the demands of race courses and elevation profiles including XC, Short Track, Super-D, Downhill, BMX, marathon events, and XTERRA Triathlons. Professional athletes have rigorously tested SRM 2×10 MTB PowerMeter across the globe. La Ruta exemplifies SRM‘s durability, weatherproofness, and reliability in the worlds toughest conditions.

“You can use an SRM power meter to help you train specifically for events like La Ruta, road races, or criteriums where not only the power, but the specificity of the power and cadence generated, really matters.” Adam Pulford, CTS Senior Coach

See www.SRM.de for more information on the SRM 2×10 MTB PowerMeter.

Please visit trainright.com/tag/laruta-2011/ for a detailed race analysis and SRM files by CTS coach, Adam Pulford.

SRM, based in Jülich, Germany, with offices in Colorado Springs, USA; Christchurch, New Zealand and Lucca, Italy invented the mobile bicycle PowerMeter in 1986. In professional cycling SRM is an official supplier of Team RadioShack, Team HTC Highroad, Team Astana, Team Saxo Bank – Sungard, Team Liquigas Cannondale, Team Leopard Trek, Team Sky, Team BMC, Team Omega Pharma-Lotto and USA Cycling. In triathlon SRM is an official supplier of Team Commerzbank and Team Abu Dhabi and numerous other triathletes. They all trust SRM Training Systems including Craig Alexander, Andreas Raelert, Michael Weiss, Catriona Morrison, and Rachel Joyce.

Source: Rachel Weiss