La Vuelta is one of the coolest cycling events ever and I've been lucky enough to be able to see it firsthand for a couple of years now. As I make my way home, each year, I have plenty of time to sort through the thousand or so photos I've shot and relive the experience while the memories are still fresh. As an observer, I can only imagine what it must be like to actually participate in the event, but I'm pretty sure my many of the things I love about it would rank pretty highly on the riders' lists as well. So here goes:
1) The effortlessness -- I've logged enough miles on a bike to understand how hard endurance riding can be. So when you see a bunch of serious athletes making a ride this challenging look easy, it's awesome (and a tad annoying).
2) The suffering -- Part of what makes endurance cycling so compelling is the fact that it sometimes seriously sucks. Overcoming the challenges, working through the pain and pushing yourself a little beyond the limits of what you thought you could handle are are all part of the price that must be paid for the overwhelming sense of accomplishment that lies at the finish line. Bearing witness to the suffering the road somehow allows me share the joy with the riders when I see them finish.
3) Day One -- The excitement, the anticipation, the uncertainty and the challenge of the climb.
4) Day Two -- Unspoiled beauty, two of the most scenic rest stops, and the strong rum drinks in Rincon. The riders can't really get their drink on, so I sacrifice myself and do it for them.
5) Day Three -- Suffering, tapping of the energy reserves and the raw emotion at the finish.
6) The stories -- The semi-pro racers, the Manhattan bike messenger, the cancer survivors, the folks who dropped massive amounts of weight to make the ride, the doctor who adds an extra 50 miles to Day One and Day Three so he can ride with the group the whole time and the guy who did the whole ride on a single speed are just a few of the great stories of La Vuelta. Learning about them either directly or through La Vuelta folklore is a gas.
7) The ladies -- La Vuelta is a magnet for really, really strong female riders. This year the four-woman team that set the world record for the Race Across America (the Raw Milk Cats) was in the house and watching team member Anna Catharina Berge break away from group A on Day Two was quite a sight. Some of the guys say they could have caught her but I'm not so sure.
Every year, there are several female stand-outs in each group to help keep the gents in check and everyone's better for it -- particularly for those of us with cameras in our hands.
8) The peloton -- Individual cyclists can be fun to watch. A pace line can be funner. But a living, breathing cluster of several hundred riders working in unison is something else entirely. The view from the front shows how hard the leaders need to work to keep the train moving. The view from the rear shows how the group can literally pull the folks in the rear along. And the view from the side -- up close and personal -- shows the intense concentration and communication required to keep the whole thing rolling safely. It's electric.
9) The precision -- At times, La Vuelta can look like controlled chaos (and at times it probably is). But there's something incredible about being able to tell EXACTLY what time each group will arrive at the end of a 150 mile day. That doesn't happen by accident.
10) Puerto Rico -- There's so much to like about this island, it is absurd -- frankly it is a little unfair to all the other islands of the Caribbean. The history, architecture, culture, food, the natural beauty, the hospitality and everything else make this a place I want to visit again and again.