Bike Costa Rica, January 14-22, 2006
A Photo essay.

No one in our group chickened out when it came to the tarzan swing stage of the San Lorenzo
Canopy Tour. This and gliding from platform to platform through the lush cloud forest on the steel cables was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

Here I am coming in for a landing on a stage of the San Lorenzo canopy tour. Notice that you cannot see from one platform to the next even though it is a straight line. Go figure!

I honestly didn't know a photographer was taking my picture, this is a genuine smile!

An awesome waterfall we visited on our first layover day. The hike to the falls
was so beautiful I would like to go there again and take more pictures along the trail.

During a 2 hour rafting trip down a class 1 river we saw monkeys,
crocodiles, bats and many other birds & animals.

What a crock! Actually, this one was only 4-6 feet, max.
Rest assured, I wasn't about to lay a measuring tape on it.

What do you do when the bridge is closed unexpectedly, the shortest detour is 45 miles
and no bus is available to carry 18 cyclists with bikes to the destination?

All but one of the cyclists opted to cross the river walking on one of the exposed wet steel beams
and continue the ride. One rider with a fear of heights (who had amazingly completed the canopy
tour and tarzan swing in the jungle) chose to not risk it, and rode in the SAG wagon to the finish.
That is Paul, one of the Bi. Costa Rica staff, carrying a client's bike across. 

All the hotels were nice but this one was superb, and we stayed here 2 days/nights.

The "Kodak moments" were endless.

There was always time to monkey around.

Many of the roads were in such bad shape that you could easily pedal the miles
as fast as the bus or van could carry us.

All of our Bi. Costa Rica staff were fun and very helpful, taking care of the bikes,
picking up our luggage at our hotel rooms, providing SAG on the roads, carrying tired cyclists,
and Francesco even taught a 45-minute sunriseYoga class.

This picture was taken after 1 hour of boating further and further from shore, in a 14' boat
with a 25 hp outboard motor, as we searched the Pacific's blue waters for marine life.
We saw tuna, manta rays and dolphins jumping out of the water, but never close
enough for us to get a good look or photos.

With such a great beach just a short stroll away, very few guests were seen in the pool.

All total, the group only biked about 85 miles, as we got rained out on the first day of biking.
Pam (shown with canopy gear on in photo below) and I rode our bikes on the beach on one
of our layover days and ended up with almost 100 miles for the tour. We logged many
slow, bumpy miles in the vans/buses that Kevin hired to get us to all the wonderful
locations we visited.

The best part of the trip was getting to make new friends and ride with old ones. The next two pics were sent to me by Doctors Nancy and Bill Norton from Metter whose company I thoroughly enjoyed:

Costa Rica is mountainous. Not like Colorado, but still, lots of climbs.

I highly recommend this tour and Kevin Hill of Bi. Costa Rica who also offers several other tours, including very challenging Mountain Bike adventures in Costa Rica. I have created an 8-minute long slideshow with more photos from this beautiful ride, complete with music to enjoy while your watch. Click here to check out the SLIDESHOW.

Thank you for checking out this photo essay. You are visitor number since February 14, 2006.