Update: Friday, Nov. 6, 9:45 p.m.
Mark Lyons, the Colorado man who disappeared Thursday during the first leg of the grueling Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race had signs of hypothermia and minor wounds when Red Cross rescuers found him Friday evening. He was taken to a clinic in Orotina, the Costa Rican Red Cross posted on its Facebook page.
Several Spanish language news sites reported that Lyons had been swept down a river and slept in the forest on Thursday night. He is reportedly in good condition.
Update: Friday, Nov. 6, 5:45 p.m.
Organizers of Costa Rica’s grueling cross-country bike race Ruta de los Conquistadores are reporting that a Red Cross patrol has located U.S. cyclist Mark Lyons of Denver, Colorado. He reportedly is in good condition. The race’s Facebook page stated in all-caps: “MARK IS ALIVE AND WELL!!! THANK GOD!!!”
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Original post continues here:
A 53-year-old man from the United States has gone missing while participating in the three-day mountain bike race Ruta de los Conquistadores that traverses Costa Rica, according to authorities from the Red Cross. The rider was identified as Mark Lyons of Denver, Colorado.
Red Cross spokesman Gerald Jiménez told The Tico Times Friday that Lyons came to Costa Rica to participate in the grueling, world-renowned event with five friends, but that he failed to check in after first stage of the race on Thursday. Jiménez said Red Cross search teams have been working all of Friday to find the man, who they believe may have gone missing somewhere in Carara National Park in Puntarenas.
“Since the race is known for being very difficult and requiring a certain level of expertise from riders, they are required to check in at the end of the stages,” he said. “The race organizers said that no one had been informed of the rider making it to the end of stage one last night.”
The opening stage of Ruta de los Conquistadores was more than 100 kilometers of mostly jungle and mountain terrain that began in Playa Herradura, near Jacó, on the Pacific coast, and ended in Atenas, in the Central Valley.
