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01-30-08, 03:00 PM
Although I am in Costa Rica—this is not really a ‘vacation’ in the truest sense of the word. We opened Mar y Selva Ecolodge (www.marYselva.com) in December, and the offical innauguration is February 2. I have been working doing all kinds of things getting the place ready for all of that. I have been able to swim quite regularly—having a 25 meter outdoor pool in the middle of the jungle is really something.
Yesterday, we had to take the car to the shop to get the oil changed and the brakes checked. The car had to be in Uvita at 7am, and it would be ready in about 3 to 3 ½ hours. I quickly volunteered to take the car, and threw my road bike in the back. Great opportunity to get a long bike ride in. I decided to go up the coast to Dominical, and then inland towards San Isidro. I figured I’d ride about 2 hours then turn around. The ride along the coast was nice—it was still cool – around 70 degrees :). As the sun got higher, it got hotter-- I think the temperature maxed out at around 88…
The ride from Dominical to San Isisdro goes over a big mountain. I have ridden from San Isidro home, but this was my first time in this direction. I had forgotten how long the hill was, and how STEEP the hill was. The hill is about 10 miles long, and there were stretches where I was in my lowest gear and hoping I could keep going without getting off to walk. It was that tough. And my bike has a compact chain ring—my low gear is a 34x25. At the top of the steepest section there is an overlook with a little restaurant. I got there at just about 2 hours of riding (total ride at that point—24 miles). I stopped and got a 'batido de mora’ (I guess the closest I can come up with as a translation is blackberry smoothie) and a coke. I refilled my bottles and looked down towards the ocean—a long way away, and a long way DOWN.
They are working on the road just above where I stopped, and can hold traffic for a s long as a half hour. There was nothing coming down, and the lanes were blocked going up, so I turned around-- I flew down the hill. I had the road virtually to myself-- with the occasional cow and dog. What had taken an hour to go up was done in 10-12 minutes… I got back down to the coast, and got on the ‘Costanera Sur’, (the Southern Coast Highway) heading back to Uvita and the mechanic. When I got there, the car was ready, so I threw the bike back in and headed home. I was home by 11:20 and back to the grind.
Although the ride was only 48 miles long, I rode for about 3 ½ hours. It was definitely one of the toughest rides I have ever done—and that includes the last 5 miles of “Mountains of Misery”, Swamp Church (on the Nightmare Tour) and Independence Pass in Colorado on the fixie.
Hope all of you penguins aren’t freezing out there :)
train safe
Yesterday, we had to take the car to the shop to get the oil changed and the brakes checked. The car had to be in Uvita at 7am, and it would be ready in about 3 to 3 ½ hours. I quickly volunteered to take the car, and threw my road bike in the back. Great opportunity to get a long bike ride in. I decided to go up the coast to Dominical, and then inland towards San Isidro. I figured I’d ride about 2 hours then turn around. The ride along the coast was nice—it was still cool – around 70 degrees :). As the sun got higher, it got hotter-- I think the temperature maxed out at around 88…
The ride from Dominical to San Isisdro goes over a big mountain. I have ridden from San Isidro home, but this was my first time in this direction. I had forgotten how long the hill was, and how STEEP the hill was. The hill is about 10 miles long, and there were stretches where I was in my lowest gear and hoping I could keep going without getting off to walk. It was that tough. And my bike has a compact chain ring—my low gear is a 34x25. At the top of the steepest section there is an overlook with a little restaurant. I got there at just about 2 hours of riding (total ride at that point—24 miles). I stopped and got a 'batido de mora’ (I guess the closest I can come up with as a translation is blackberry smoothie) and a coke. I refilled my bottles and looked down towards the ocean—a long way away, and a long way DOWN.
They are working on the road just above where I stopped, and can hold traffic for a s long as a half hour. There was nothing coming down, and the lanes were blocked going up, so I turned around-- I flew down the hill. I had the road virtually to myself-- with the occasional cow and dog. What had taken an hour to go up was done in 10-12 minutes… I got back down to the coast, and got on the ‘Costanera Sur’, (the Southern Coast Highway) heading back to Uvita and the mechanic. When I got there, the car was ready, so I threw the bike back in and headed home. I was home by 11:20 and back to the grind.
Although the ride was only 48 miles long, I rode for about 3 ½ hours. It was definitely one of the toughest rides I have ever done—and that includes the last 5 miles of “Mountains of Misery”, Swamp Church (on the Nightmare Tour) and Independence Pass in Colorado on the fixie.
Hope all of you penguins aren’t freezing out there :)
train safe