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I’m looking for a few REAL men that might be interested in a “gravity-assisted†bike ride in CR on July 4th (or 5th). What is, you say, “gravity-assisted� Read on…
Okay, maybe I don’t mean REAL men, since if we were really real we’d be talking about a REAL mountain bike ride with all its ups and downs. This offer is definitely NOT for those guys who go to CR and prefer to spend ALL their time in the Gulch. It IS for anyone who likes to explore new areas and activities, especially those who after multiple trips to CR THINK that they’ve seen and done it all.
But, before I continue with what I’m proposing for the 4th, I probably should explain more precisely what I’m talking about. A “gravity-assisted†bike ride is one that runs all (or at least mostly) downhill and thus gravity “assists†you by doing virtually all the hard work. Not only is this type of ride much much easier than what you probably normally think of as mountain biking, it can be an extreme gas to glide down those hills at breakneck speeds. I don’t know how many of you have ever done a “gravity-assisted†bike ride in CR or anywhere else (and not just short little downhill stretches). My guess is rather few. However, if you have, please back me up and post here letting everyone know how much fun you had and what the rest of us have been missing.
Frankly, I’ve always been very surprised why it has not become more popular and well-known in CR. I suspect it is because of a few popular misconceptions. These include:
1) “Bicycling in CR is a very dangerous activity†– WRONG This idea probably comes from seeing the traffic on the streets of San Jose, the highways in and out of town, or the winding and very busy road down to Jaco on the coast. Nobody here is talking about going out and “playing in trafficâ€. CR is actually an excellent place for biking if you stay off the busier roads. There are actually a lot of good places for excellent off-road biking (aka single track) as well as many rural roads (dirt, gravel and even paved) that get VERY little traffic (I passed only 2-3 cars all day when I went last)
2) “Bicycling is physically very demanding†– NOT QUITE Many people think of bicycling as hot sweaty work, especially when they think of the heat of CR or consider the prospect of pedaling up and down its many steep hills and mountainsides. I’ll admit that the last time I went on a bike ride in CR I was huffing and puffing (and even had to get off and walk) going up many of the hills, and I always considered myself to be in pretty good shape for a 50 year old. It was probably because of the thin air at the altitude we were biking in as much as anything else. HOWEVER, that is NOT AT ALL what we’re talking about here. GRAVITY-ASSISTED bike rides are nearly all or even completely downhill with GRAVITY nearly all the work. One barely even has to pedal and the exercise comes mainly from squeezing your brake levers. I won’t tell you that it will be completely easy or that you won’t be tired afterward, but I will tell you if you’re in even halfway decent shape you should definitely be able to handle this.
3) “Bicycling is very uncomfortable†– NOT QUITE This idea is again probably due to the heat and, of course, that little seat and the bad roads don’t help either. This is Central America and parts of the ride, particular at lower elevations, will get pretty warm, however it actually can get pretty cold during a lot of the ride, particularly while you’re at higher elevations, you’re traveling very fast (at speeds up to 40mph) and not doing much physical activity that would increase your body temperature (see above). I actually wished I had gloves as my knuckles practically froze on the handlebar (from the wind and cold fog, not a fearful death-grip). The “road/track†crossing over from Irazu to Turrialba was dirt, rock and gravel, got pretty bumpy in placesand did a pretty good number on my heinie. Standing up on the downhill sections and letting my legs absorb the shock helped considerably. However, the route I’m about to propose doesn't include that section. The downhill stretch from the top of Turrialba was nearly completely smooth and paved, with some potholes that were easily avoided on a bike. I’ll admit I felt some pain afterwards in my butt (though not nearly as much as when I’ve gone horseback riding) but much of that was probably just due to the first part of the ride off-road and not the downhill part.
Bottom line, IMHO gravity assisted biking is not much more dangerous, difficult or uncomfortable (if at all) than many other popular activities that tourists routinely do in CR such as horseback riding, ATVs, zip-lining or white-water rafting. At the same time, it delivers equal or even greater thrills than all of those other activities.
Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the outfitter I went with before and the only other “gravity-assisted†bike tour I was able to find on the web was with cradventures. And their rate was very pricey for one individual (the last bike tour I did I was the only one signed up). However, they do have rates of $100/pp for groups of 4 or more which prices it not much more than the whitewater raft trips that you guys have already probably done to death. Not only that, how many of you can say you’ve ever seen the crater at the top of Turrialba. This tour also includes a short hike (optional) up to that before you start your bicycle descent. Since this will be a private group maybe, if we finish early enough, we can tip the driver to take us back up to the top for a second run or else a stopover on the way back at the Guayabo Indian Ruins, which I’m guessing a lot of you haven’t seen before. Although I’d also guess, with you guys, more of you would be interested in getting back to SJ early so that some MP chica can help work out the kinks from those sore “musclesâ€.
Post here if you plan to be in CR around the 4th of July weekend and think you might be up for this kind of activity or if you have any questions. If I can't get a crew together on this then I'll probably just do the Pacuare again and if any of you want to join me on that then the more the merrier.
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