Living Car Free - Living Car Free in Costa Rica

My excuse is someone asked if I could start a thread on this. So, blame them... ;)

In many, many places in the world, a car isn't an option - they are too expensive, the maintence is too expensive - and so is the fuel. So, most people get around with Shanks Mare or with a bike.

Often the bikes are awful - poorly maintained. I road one once and couldn't believe the guy had been keeping up with me. I did not offer to switch.

But, you also see people with decent bikes, well maintained.

The people here appreciate me just moving around on a bike as long as it is suitable - short distances are great with a bike. What is really nice is that I get to visit with people. When you are in a car - you can drive by the same person a thousand times, and never make contact. With a bike it is so easy just to exchange greetings - and often just stop and chat. If I look pathetic enough - they will feed me!

Usually when I am riding, I pass a lot of people just walking. Or, stuffed in a cattle truck.

Of course, where we live is very rural - so it is different than in San Jose, but there a lot of cyclist in San Jose.

What really amazes me is the hills that people cycle up - they are brutal.

The LBSs here seem to be pretty well stocked - Cannondale is a popular brand - which was a pleasant surprise since two out of three of our bikes are Cannondales. We have at least 4 in a city of 40,000 - I think at least as many as repair shops for cars.

Costa Rica is nearly a paradise when it comes to riding bikes - as long as you don't expect smooth roads - there are some, but MTBs are much more popular - for good reason. The climate is pretty much all the time - sometimes it is raining, sometimes not. I prefer the rain personally. The tropical sun can roast you pretty fast. Make sure you have a lot of water.

One of the things they have started doing down here on the road is marking with a big yellow heart where anyone has been killed. There are too many of them. But, this is so that the drivers realize that they need to be careful. There are a lot of cyclist and foot traffic here. Usually the drivers are very good - but there are times that they get too close. But, nothing like in the USA.

Speed limits are pretty low here - so vehicles aren't going that fast usually. Stay off the main road - and there aren't many problems. Good rentals of bikes (and very good quality) in most of the tourist areas.

Anything else people want to know?

Very interesting. Thanks, ctreedude. How much do bikes cost there? Is it a major expenditure for most people? Are there a lot of people who can't afford even an "awful" bike?

I know people here who ride on awful bikes too. I had to ride my stepson's old beater one time, and I could barely go 3 miles on it. Yet he keeps up with me for long jaunts all over the city, never complaining.

The average bike here is probably about 100 dollars - which is about two weeks salary for a farm worker.

The better bikes are like Cannondale F400s - I think those are around 600 dollars. So, I would say a lot of poeple can afford bikes - even good ones

Good post - I'm always interested in hearing about international cities. We all pretty much know which US cities are good, bad, tolerable, etc.

I was in the Yucatan Mexico last month and saw a lot of "tricycle" style bikes, with two wheels in the FRONT, and one in the back, and storage/baskets between the two front wheels. Vendors use them, people get their groceries home in them, and put their kids in them. Many old, yellow, and not that visually appealing, but fully functional, which is all that counts.

In some cities I've seen many delivery bikes like this:

http://www.jamesvandellen.com/BA/BASTREET13.JPG

Love to hear more stories -- I love reading about not only Holland style cities, but the poorly designed ones as well (many people think almost ALL foreign cities are great for cycling), but not all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasilia

Yes - they have those three wheelers here. One of the things you can get on a street is ice with some kind of juice - and instant milk dumped into it. I think I need to be hungier first!

In most of Costa Rica - the roads are designed for anyone! Costa Rica is supposed to have the worse roads in Central America - I believe it. However, it keeps the speeds down and lets me work on my MTB technique...

Costa Rica is more well off than most Latin American countries - so the quality of the bikes are often pretty good. I get crushed by the roadies here - man they are fast.

The most brutal MTB race in the world is reputed to be in Costa Rica - something like the Path of the Conquistadors - just finishing is an accomplishment.

One thing that I want to do is loop Lake Arenal - it is supposed to be a great ride.

When I lived in Costa Rica with my fiancee we bought a pair of bicycles. We were living on savings from being social workers so rather than buy the $250 bicycles and worry about them being stolen all the time we bought a pair of those $100 bikes. We put some baskets on them and got locks as well. Within a week my crank fell off during a ride and for the remainder of the time I owned the bike I had to tighten up the crank after every ride. My fiancee's bike need the seat readjusted and both of us squeaked and creaked down the road. I assume they were better than Walmart bikes but not by much!!

We had very different experiences with the traffic in our area. While it was infrequent the people would pass us at extremely high speeds without sharing any of the road. (there was no shoulder where we lived) When we left Costa Rica we handed the bikes over to our favorite bartender who was eternally grateful to have ANYTHING that he could ride to work in. :)

Hi David - where abouts were you? I have heard that around the Pacific beaches and Limon (and San Jose for that matter) is very different from up this way.

crtree,

I lived in Playa Brasilito which is close to Flamingo and a little ways north of Tamarindo. Where are you?

That explains your differences. Areas like that are not really Costa Rica in how it functions - more like a tourist trap. The visitors don't know how to slow down, and the Ticos are always rushing around because they know that the visitors expect them to be on time - no matter what the conditions of the roads.

Lots of theft too - the thieves know (and they are in all societies) that there are a lot of naive people who are on vacation, leaving valuables all over the place. I see older bikes outside stores all the time without locks here - not an issue.

We live in San Carlos - farming country. The only tourist place we really have is La Fortuna - and it is a different world. I am always a bit on my guard when I have to go there. Because of our reforestation projects - we are land owners and employe more than a few people.

By the way - I had the same experience with a crank on a 2,000 dollar bike! It was finally fixed by a repair shop for me.

For me, there are three Costa Ricas - one is the Central Valley which resembles the USA more and more everyday - fast food joints, crime, rudeness, pollution (diesel smoke!) destroyed environment... you can probably tell I don't like it. :-) However, I am happy that I only have to travel to San Jose to get almost anything I need. Flying to Miami could get old. Then there is the tourist areas - the locals and the tourist don't mingle that much. Costa Ricans are friendly, but you don't really get to know them. The people who work there are there to make money.

Then there is the rest of Costa Rica. Very nice people, very helpful, kind considerate - as long as you as respectful and don't act like you are the great white hope or something stupid like that. They laugh a lot, just have tons of wonderful information - almost not a word of English spoken anywhere. They usually are tolerant of your Spanish as long as you try and are patient yourself.

A simple life out this way works really well. We have vehicles because of the business - but we try not to use them unless we need them. Our person life is nearly car free - but business would be impossible. (you can't haul 20,000 seedlings on a bike from 60 miles away)

Actually, we are car free - we have trucks and jeeps!

Most of the Costa Ricans live a simple life - and prefer it - in our neck of the jungle. When in Rome...

But I am not riding a 100 dollar bike!

Costa Rica is nearly a paradise when it comes to riding bikes - as long as you don't expect smooth roads - there are some, but MTBs are much more popular - for good reason.

It maybe a blessing that you have bad roads because that slows down traffic! In fact, if they start widening the roads, shortening the sidewalks and installing timed traffic lights, you'll basically see the motor traffic move a LOT faster that what it is today.

It seems like the only third world country that made use of distributing cheap inexpensive bicycles for the masses was China. Today, they are trying to motorize the population but others like Costa Rica can and should copy from the Chinese.

I do consider it a blessing. I will tell you the truth, when we visit the USA (have family there) it scares me to death to drive at 70+ MPH!

I remember no one willing to slow down when I was on the side of the road - they would just try to squeeze by at 50 MPH.

Usually, unless it is an uphill grade that is steep, I have to wait for the cars. :)