Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Rural roads in Jamaica - Not for the faint hearted

I need to ride more often than the once per week 25 miles that I do every Saturday.

I live outside of Kingston and can ride from my home to Golden Spring and back which is 5 miles of sloping road or on to Stony Hill which is another 2 miles of hill, but the roads here are so small and busy like heck.

Went riding to Golden Spring this evening about 3:30, best time to do so as people in Kingston are still at work, and the road isnt as busy. 5 miles but it was challenging as I usually ride on the flat for 25 miles. 5 miles of slope is harder.

The drivers up here are used to cyclists tho as there are riders that brave it here on a regular basis. Small road, no for the faint of heart.

It's definitely a narrow road; similar to many of the rural farming roads I do a lot of riding on... except rural farming roads don't have much traffic. The occasional pick up truck or tractor, usually.

How fast do people drive on that road?

It's definitely a narrow road; similar to many of the rural farming roads I do a lot of riding on... except rural farming roads don't have much traffic. The occasional pick up truck or tractor, usually.

How fast do people drive on that road?


Too fast, it's a main thoroughfare that connects Kingston to Port Antonio and Ocho Rios, but it is not the most popular route, all the same it has a lot of traffic - buses, trucks, semi-trailers, taxis, the works, and a lot of them drive very fast on it.

I remember sitting in my living room a couple months ago an hearing a huge crash out by the gate, a speeding car had swerved across the road and had hit a guy on a motorcycle and dragged him for a distance, I didnt see it but I heard it was not pretty, and a couple years ago a well-known cyclist was hit about half a mile from my gate one morning.

We have to be very careful while riding, of late though a lot more people have taken up cycling and I think drivers here are getting used to seeing them on the roads, bicycles have always been a common and proper mode of transportation here, but it is only recently that people have started to realize that they dont own the road because they drive

When I was in Jamaica several years ago all of the highways were all chewed up - I couldn't believe how bumpy they were! Hopefully they've not that way where you are!

Most of the highways have been repaved and are all smooth. If you are on the north coast there is a highway running from Negril all the way to Port Antonio, but our highways are usually 2 lanes. :) Small islands - small roads.

I did 25 miles today in some serious blustery wind, I felt like curling up and crying when my heart started pounding and my started feeling like spaghetti, but I just gritted my teeth and stuck it out