Official Rules of Reto de los Volcanes

1. Every competitor must know the competition rules

2. Every competitor must be 18 years or older and be in optimum health condition and have excellent physical capacity.

3. The Reto de los Volcanes will be carried on in 3 stages during April 09th, 10th, and 11th of 2010.

4. This is an individual race with the following official categories:
• Open Male Category: 18 years and older
• Open Female Category: 18 years and older
• Master A Category: 30 to 39 years old
• Master B Category: 40 to 49 years old
• Master C Category: 50 years and older
• Mixed, one rider of each sex

Age is determined the year of birth irrespective of birth day and month.

5. El Reto de los Volcanes is a FECOCI (Costa Rican Cycling Federation) approved event. This is the official authority in charge of the competition’s judging. Every competitor must have a valid FECOCI or UCI-issued license and be ready to show it to FECOCI before the start of the race.

6. Sanctions:
There are 2 types of sanctions:
a. Time Sanction: A competitor found guilty will be sanctioned by adding time to his/her overall race time. The added time may vary between 1 to 60 minutes, depending on the criteria of the directors and commissioners of the competition. There will be NO claims or appeals about the time sanction imposed by FECOCI.
b. Disqualification: This sanction will automatically disqualify the competitor and force him/her to withdraw from the race.

7. Abusive language and unsportsmanlike actions may be sanctioned with disqualification or time penalty (addition) depending on the judge’s criteria.

8. Every competitor must wear the following basic equipment: adequate mountain bike clothing (cycling short and jersey), helmet, cycling gloves and a race number completely visible and attached to the handlebar of the bike. If a competitor doesn’t wear this basic equipment, the race organization will prohibit the rider to continue participating in the race until the violation is corrected. If a competitor participates without helmet or race number attached to its bike handlebar he or she will be disqualified.

9. Any competitors seen littering along the racecourse will be disqualified.

10. Drugs, toxic substances, alcohol or any illegal substances are not allowed during the race.

11. To insure safety, race management reserves the right to cancel or reschedule the race.

12. If a competitor suffers mechanical problems during the race, he/she can receive assistance from any external person or from another competitor. The affected competitor can change the rims or any part that has to be changed in order to allow the optimum operation of the bicycle.
In case of a mechanical problem that can’t be solved, the affected competitor can continue the race walking to a control point (CP), to the finish line or wait for the official sweep vehicle ("carro escoba").

13. Feeding/Hydration assistance is allowed from previously registered vehicles. No vehicles will be allowed to follow racers along the race’s course. Feeding assistance zones will be posted by the organization at all stages with water, fruits, carbs and isotonic beverages.

14. If a competitor manipulates or alters a competition sign, he or she will be disqualified.

15. This competition has a high level of adventure and so should be the competitor’s capacity for orientation. Each competitor is responsible for his orientation in the race and must follow and respect the official signs of the event. Arrows will indicate the competitors which way to follow. It is possible for signs to be vandalized and changed. This external situation surpasses the race organization’s control, so no appeals will be accepted due to the competitor’s disorientation along the race. The course of each stage will be marked with different signs and paint. In case of any doubts, you ALWAYS must follow the painted arrow.

16. Every cyclist must yield to the fastest competitor when being requested in the correct way, by indicating which side (right or left) he or she is passing through. This rule will only be used when the road conditions allow the competitor to yield the space, not being the obligation of a slow rider to stop on a narrow or dangerously descending road, or getting off the road for being surpassed by the other. The competitor that pushes or carries the bicycle must take a side for the competitor that rides the bicycle.

17. Cutoff time will be defined and communicated to all the racers.

18. At the beginning of each stage category leaders will be announced and they will receive an official leader’s jersey. The event competitors must wear their sponsored jersey. The leaders of each category must wear their official category leader jersey over the sponsored. Every leader must wear the category leader jersey assigned by the race organization. If a competitor does not wear it, he or she will be disqualified and cannot receive his award.

19. Every competitor must sign-in before the start of every stage. If the competitor does not sign-in, he/she will have a time sanction.

20. In case of unexpected situations not explicitly established or resolved in this rules, the race organization and the Costa Rican Cycling Federation (FECOCI), with the help of the race official and the judges, will resolve the situation based on this rules and the rules of the International Cycling Union (Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI).

21. Below you will find the prizes for each category in El Reto de los Volcanes. Categories Master B, Mixed and Master C will be opened if there is a minimum of 15 riders in it, if there are not enough riders to open a category, they will be registered in the previous category or race officials will proportionally adjust pricing for each category.

22. For the Mixed pairs category is mandatory to arrive together each check point. The utilization of ropes or to push the partner is not allowed.