Rincon de la Vieja Challenge becomes first international ultra endurance race

Called by pro mountain bikers the “most extreme 100-miler in the world,” the Rincon de la Vieja Challenge 100-mile mountain bike race at Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, Costa Rica recently upped its status to become the first international chapter of the National Ultra Endurance Series (NUE).

The NUE is a series of twelve 100-mile mountain bike races across the United States. Winner of the 2014 NUE series, Brenda Simril of Tennessee, also took first place in the Open Category for Women in the Rincon de la Vieja Challenge 2014.

“I'm really excited about making the Rincon de la Vieja Challenge part of the NUE series,” commented JuanCarlos Villa, founder and organizer of the Rincon de la Vieja Challenge. “There are no 100-mile races south of the United States. We are the first 100-mile race in Latin America.”

The Rincon de la Vieja Challenge started in 2013 with 140 racers, and nearly doubled to 270 in 2014. Most were Costa Rican competitors. Villa says they are projecting up to 400 or 500 participants for 2015, with many more international racers.

“We’re a tough race and we’re really well organized,” said Villa. “Costa Rica ranks high for mountain biking in Latin America because of the well-developed tourism infrastructure, good security and excellent topography.”

The race circumnavigates the massive active Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in the Rincon de la Vieja National Park, taking riders through five microclimates from the dry plains of Guanacaste up over the Continental Divide to lush cloud forests and back again. Racers are pushed to the limits physically and mentally climbing 12,000 feet over the 100-miles on rugged and difficult terrain.

Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin will again be the headquarters for the thrilling Rincon de la Vieja Challenge 2015 on Aug. 22. The adventure and ecotourism lodge hosted the Costa Rica adventure race for the past two years. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin also staged the international North Face Endurance Challenge in 2013 and 2014.

To stay at Rincon de la Vieja hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, you can make reservations online. The Guanacaste hotel is located 15.5 miles (25 km) northeast of Guanacaste’s principal city of Liberia.

Article by Shannon Farley

Costa Rica Rincón de la Vieja Challenge mountain bike race 2014

The thrilling Rincón de la Vieja Challenge 2014 100-mile mountain bike race is again on track for August in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Set for Aug. 23, 2014, the competition is a unique adventure race – the only 100-mile mountain bike race in Latin America, and the only race in the world to circumnavigate an active volcano, according to press information.

Rincon de la Vieja hotel Hacienda Guachipelin will again serve as headquarters for the arduous competition. Located in Costa Rica’s northwestern Guanacaste province, Rincón de la Vieja is the largest volcano in the region at 6,286 feet tall. Both the Rincón de la Vieja National Park and Volcano have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mountain bikers from all over will race 100 miles (160 km) clockwise around the volcano through five microclimates up over Costa Rica’s Continental Divide to lush cloud forests, around the smoldering Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, and back to the finish line. Competitors have 12 hours to ride gravel roads, red clay tracks, river and volcanic rock trails, smooth white ash roads and “dog’s teeth” calcite rock trails – with close to 11,000 feet of elevation gain.

Costa Rica and the Rincón de la Vieja area have become highly popular for endurance sports. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin hosted the international North Face Endurance Challenge two years in a row in 2013 and 2014 at Rincón de la Vieja. The XTERRA triathlon was held at the Guanacaste beach of Playa Conchal in March 2014. The Adventure Racing World Championships 2013 were held in Costa Rica at the end of last year. And for the past 22 years, the premier mountain bike race La Ruta de los Conquistadores (The Route of the Conquistadors) crosses Costa Rica from west to east in three days. This year’s event will be staged from Nov. 6 to 8.

To stay at Guanacaste hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, you can make reservations online. Race entrance information can be found at Rincon de la Vieja Challenge.

Article by Shannon Farley

 

Related articles

• Cultural history of Guanacaste explored in new tour at Rincon de la Vieja National Park
• Costa Rica is popular endurance race capital in Latin America
• Hacienda Guachipelin has best Guanacaste, Costa Rica Adventure Tours
• 100-Mile Mountain Bike Race Circles Volcano in Costa Rica
• Mountain Bike Race to Circle CR Volcano
• Experience the Guanacaste cowboy life at Hacienda Guachipelin

Costa Rica is popular endurance race capital in Latin America

Costa Rica over the past decade has become a magnet for high-endurance extreme sports, adventure racing and triathlons. Elite international athletes travel to the small Central American nation several times a year for sport competitions.

One of the most popular zones for extreme endurance events is the north Pacific Guanacaste region. In early March 2014, the International Triathlon Union (ITU) will hold the 2014 Pan American Cup at Playa Hermosa in Guanacaste. Also in March, the XTERRA off-road triathlon race comes to Costa Rica, staging their major international competition March 29 and 30 at Playa Conchal in Guanacaste. Costa Rica’s top triathlete Leonardo Chacon took first place at the XTERRA USA competition last year in Hawaii.

Last year was a big year for endurance adventure races in Costa Rica – among them the 2013 Adventure Racing World Championships, the North Face Endurance Challenge at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, and the Rincón de la Vieja Challenge mountain biking endurance race.

The second annual Rincón de la Vieja Challenge will happen on Aug. 23. Held last year for the first time, the 100-mile (160 km) adventure race was the first of its kind in Costa Rica and Latin America to circumnavigate an active volcano.

The North Face Endurance Challenge and the Rincón de la Vieja Challenge were both staged out of leading Rincón de la Vieja eco-lodge, Hacienda Guachipelin. Owner Jose TomasBatalla says it is the region’s diverse terrain and microclimates that attract such high-profile sports competitions.

“There is savannah, tropical forest, desert, and cloud forest, and the weather changes as you go up in elevation,” commented Batalla.

Have your own adventure at Rincón de la Vieja at Hacienda Guachipelin eco-lodge. 

The first-class lodge, right next to the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano National Park, offers guests and visitors a complete adventure center with canopy ziplines, canyoning, waterfall rappelling, river tubing, horseback riding, mountain biking, nature trails, and natural volcanic hot springs. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín is located 15.5 miles (25 km) northeast of Guanacaste’s principal city of Liberia.

Article by Shannon Farley

Related articles

World's best endurance athletes to compete Nov 29 - Dec 12

Imagine this Costa Rica vacation: Traverse the entire country from coast to coast and north to south, but only using mountain bikes, kayaks, rafts, zipline cables, and your feet. Sleep under the stars wherever you may be – mud, sand, grass field, rocky stream bed – but only for a few hours at a time. 

Brave the thrills of mosquitoes, venomous snakes, crocodiles, rain, boiling sun, and sweltering rainforest. Do that for about six days straight with three of your friends, but with the added adrenaline surge of trying to outrace 64 other groups like you all trying to get to the same final destination first.

Sound like fun? Maybe not for the average person, but if you are one of the world's best endurance athletes, it's right up your alley … or trail, as it were.

This unforgettable Costa Rica "vacation" is actually the 2013 Adventure Race World Championships (ARWC), happening in the country from Nov. 29 to Dec. 12. Sixty-five teams from 26 countries will compete for more or less 140 hours non-stop on adventure challenges, covering over 700 km from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and across Costa Rica border-to-border from Nicaragua to Panama. Teams of four competitors will raft, kayak (ocean and river), mountain bike, trek, climb and rappel, and cross canopy ziplines over a wide variety of terrain.

 Race organizers estimate that it will take the winning team approximately 120 hours in five to six days to finish. The race will be open a total of nine days (216 hours).

The epic adventure is the fourth Adventure Race Costa Rica (ARCR), which joined the Adventure Race World Series (ARWS) in 2010. The AR World Series is an international circuit of premier adventure races that since 2001 culminate every year in the AR World Championships. To get to the ARWC, teams have competed all year long in eight adventure races in different countries, leading up to the finals in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is known for its beautiful beaches and rainforests, and is also gaining international fame for extreme sports. Hundreds of the world's best mountain bikers and endurance racers recently crossed 192 miles (310 km) from Costa Rica's Pacific Coast to the Caribbean in three days in the "La Ruta de los Conquistadores" (The Route of the Conquistadors) endurance mountain bike race. Held Oct. 24-26, the race just celebrated its 20^th anniversary.

In June of this year, Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín, at the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica's northern Guanacaste region, hosted the international North Face Endurance Challenge. Competitors ran 80k, 50k, 21k and 10k races over rugged ground at the volcano. The eco-hotel then staged the 100-mile (160 km) Rincón de la Vieja Challenge mountain bike race in August. The adventure race was the first of its kind in Costa Rica and Latin America to circumnavigate an active volcano.

Not an endurance athlete, but still looking for an adventure vacation in Costa Rica? Hacienda Guachipelín, a first-class eco-lodge, is a prime destination for adventure and nature lovers – offering canopy ziplines, canyoning, waterfall rappelling, river tubing, horseback riding, mountain biking, nature trails, and thermal springs – all on a working horse and cattle ranch. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín is located 15.5 miles (25 km) northeast of Guanacaste's principal city of Liberia.

Article by Shannon Farley

100-mile mountain bike challenge set for Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica

Mountain bikers around the world: There's a new adventure race happening in August in Costa Rica – the 100-mile Rincón de la Vieja Challenge.

The mountain bike endurance race is set for Aug. 24, 2013, starting off from Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste. The 100-mile race is the first of its kind in Costa Rica and Latin America, and according to race promoters, is the only race in the world to circumnavigate an active volcano.

Located in Costa Rica's northern Pacific province of Guanacaste, Rincón de la Vieja is the largest volcano in the country's northwest region. Standing 6,286 feet tall, its caldera is 9 miles (15 km) wide. The active Rincón de la Vieja Volcano is considered a mystical and sacred place by the ancient Curubandé tribe; the volcano and its national park were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999.

Riders from around the world will test their skill and stamina riding 100 miles (160 km) through five microclimates – from Guanacaste's arid plains up over the Continental Divide to lush cloud forests, across rivers, around smoldering cinder ash of the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano to where it meets the Miravalles Volcano.

The unique mountain bike race will cover varied terrain – gravel roads, red clay roads, river and volcanic rock trails, single track, and smooth white calcium rock road – with a total elevation gain of 10,862 feet (3,311 meters).

Costa Rica is gaining international popularity for endurance sports and competitions. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin at Rincón de la Vieja recently hosted the international North Face Endurance Challenge on June 22, involving 80k, 50k, 21k and 10k rugged adventure runs near the volcano.

Costa Rica also has been chosen to host this year's Adventure Racing World Championships 2013, where teams from around the world will compete non-stop for 140 hours on adventure challenges. The race, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 12, will run coast-to-coast from the Pacific to the Caribbean and border-to-border across Costa Rica from Nicaragua to Panama. Adventure sports include: trekking/running, mountain biking, abseiling, canyoning, ocean and river kayaking, rafting, and coasteering.

Of course, you can't talk about mountain biking in Costa Rica without mentioning the "grandfather" of all Costa Rican mountain biking races -- "La Ruta de los Conquistadores" (The Route of the Conquistadors). Costa Rica's premier mountain bike race is also one of the most challenging adventure races on Earth. Hundreds of top mountain bikers and endurance racers from around the world travel yearly to Costa Rica to cross the country's most rugged terrain. The route crosses from the Pacific to the Caribbean in only three days. This year's event from Oct. 24 to 26 celebrates the race's 20-year anniversary.

Organizers of the Rincón de la Vieja Challenge chose the location for its diverse terrain and varied climate. Adventure ecotourism Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin will host the event's headquarters. Reservations and booking for the event can be arranged by contacting the hotel at 506-2666-8075 or emailing reservations@guachipelin.com.

Where to stay at Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica

Hacienda Guachipelín Hotel is the place to stay at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano for an active vacation. Located 15.5 miles (25 km) northeast of Guanacaste's capital city of Liberia, the first-class ecotourism lodge is ideal for adventure and nature lovers. Activities include canopy zip lines, canyoning, waterfall rappelling, river tubing, horseback riding, mountain biking, nature trails, and thermal springs – all on a working horse and cattle ranch.

By Shannon Farley