Great photo - I haven't seen that in my various travels thru Cuba. I've seen the occasional local riding a modern road bike, but they're very rare. Following are a few cycling related photos that I have from Cuba.

Just like their cars, old bikes never die.



This is the most common type of "tandem" bike you'll see in Cuba.



Then there's the typical chinese bike that you'll see thousands of throughout the country.



And the local bike "parking" lot & repair shop.



I never tire of visiting Cuba - it's a wonderful country with wonderful people.

Seems like it would be a wonderful place to tour by bike. But it will be a bit of a wait for me to do it legally.

Yah, and some folks'll still call you a communist. Great photo, jdon!

At the '99 Pan Am games, the kilo on the track was won by a Cuban riding an old Colnago track bike. He defeated an opponent who had the latest in carbon fiber wind-tunnel-tested technology. It brought a smile to the faces of the commissaires.

My daughter has been to Cuba twice as part of a Christian outreach (long story how they pulled it off) and I'm pretty sure she's not a Communist.

Cuba is a great place to bike, black smoke belching from badly maintained trucks notwithstanding. The truck drivers are probably bike riders too, so they do give you a very respectable distance, and there is for the most part very, very little traffic. I learned to take a deep breath when I heard a truck coming up behind, and hope I didn't have to breathe until it was well past me.

Ever read "The Handsomest Man in Cuba"?

https://www.amazon.com/Handsomest-Man.../dp/0762743905

Lynette Chiang is as quirky as the rest of us ... and I say that in a nice way.

I can't see the OP's photo so I'm going to assume that Cuban hydration involves rum and mint with ice...

A friend was there earlier this year, she works for a travel agency so she goes everywhere in the world. Brought me back a nice cigar too!

I visited Cuba and saw 2 road bikes (with full kit riders,) unfortunately from a bus window. I so wanted to know their stories.
I also wanted to find a cycling store, or club, but wasn't there long enough to locate one. I'd have bought a local club or team jersey (if there is such a thing) for almost any amount.

I did see tons of bikes, mostly clunkers that will never die.

bike cuba 2 by ccorlew, on Flickr

I'd love to get to go again, but it seems unlikely.


bicycle flower vendor by ccorlew, on Flickr

The forum members should be treated to my favorite photo of yours Curtis. Your associate in Cuba with the smoke swirling.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to post this again!


Tony has an offer for you by ccorlew, on Flickr

In my various travels I've yet to find a "bike shop" as we know it. I've found bikes for sale in general merchandise stores, usually very cheap quality bikes from China. A $100 Walmart bike equivalent was $200 Convertible Pesos ($220 US). I don't know who's buying them when the average labourer earns $15/month.

Check out the seat on the bike above - and we sometimes complain about our seats being uncomfortable.

Thanks for sharing the photos!

Thanks for the link. I have not read it but I have spent a lot of time in Cuba over the years and now visit both staying at resorts and with locals who are friends of the family. Beautiful people once you get through the tourist pitch.

I've never been to the parts of Cuba where the real people hang out. Only been to the tourist resort at Cayo Largo.
Enough to pass judgement on the booze, not bad, and the beer, pretty good, and the food, yech!

It's absurd that Cuba is still off-limits to most Americans after all these years.

As I understand it US citizens are not prohibited from traveling to Cuba - it's that they aren't permitted to spend money there. So in effect, difficult to travel there without spending money. It's a paradoxical situation when you consider that the US is, again in my understanding, the largest source of imported food into Cuba.

I don't want this to become banned as a policial thread ... so back to the OP's original post ... the bottle of wine is likely from Spain or Chile, although I have had locally produced wine despite not having actually seen any vineyards in my travels.

+1

If the talk turns political this will get moved to P&R.

I'm wondering if the rider in the OP's photo has a corkscrew on their mini-tool.

No need for a corkscrew. It was actually a bottle of dark rum.

Rather than move it to P&R, just delete the political posts. I haven't seen any yet.

Viva Cuba , visited the country, going back . Bikes for Cuba sends bikes to high school clubs in Cuba from Canada. Cubans practice bike hacks to a extraordinary degree . crazyguyonabike.com has some good advice