Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eO OD FF·R A e • Moto Aventura Motorcycle Tours ("I") 0\ 0\ T"""1 ... ~ t) ::l CO ::l .A4 ""-l.., Husqvarna to use. After taking in to account the almost non-stop ab use that the machines would be subjected to, Pazo and Larry op ted for the reliability of four-strokes, and chose 6105 over 350s for the same reason: th e big-bores require less frequent maintenance than the higher-revving 3505. The bikes - all '92 models - were obviously well-used, but were in fairly good condition overall. Moto Aventura plans to use a twoyear replacement schedule, so they should have a new batch of '94 models before too long. . . At Moto Pazos, Fra nck and I met Konrad, who Larry had drafted to replace the absent Germans. Konrad is a close friend of Larry's and a mechanical engineer in San Jose. While ou r group was small, this actually worked to our advantage in that we were left with a spare b ike. Later, this would prove to come in very handy. Larry ' s assistant Alvaro drove the shop 's truck - tra n sp o r ti n g our ga s, tools, and spare bike - and met us at d ifferent p oints along the tour. Alvaro was quite a character, constantly chatterin g away in so me bizarre dialect of Spanish an d hooting at an y girl wh o was unfortu n a te e n o ug h to w ander wi thi n earshot. We were nev er at a sho rtage for ent er tainment d uring our gas stops . Jungle warfare (Right) The terra in we covered va ried wi dely. After hours of twisting through dark rain forests, w e w oul d suddenly emerge on ridge-top trails, with endless view s of the ~spoiled cou ntryside. months, though you should be prepared for wet conditions no matter when you plan your trip. A lightweight shell is preferable to a trick Gore-Tex end uro jacket, as the temperature normally rema ins warm even while the rain is falling. Our tour took place during the first week of May, just before the heavy rains were about to start, but the skies opened up as we met th e chase truck for our firs t gas stop. Alvaro was stopped at a small awning beside the road, and while he refueled the bikes out in the rain , we sat under the shelter eating banana s and cookies a nd drinking Gatorade. Throughout the tour, the locati ons for our gas stops ranged from private houses, to small cafes, to wide spo ts in the road, but they were always welcome . The rain stopped after approxima tely 45 m inutes, just in ti m e for u s to rem ount and continue east towards the Pacific Ocean, w hich started to beco me visible from som e of the h igher ridges. The a fternoon tra il started off fa irly As we ma de the final adjus tments to 2 our bikes, Larry asked us what kind of trails we wanted to ride. Before the trip, I had sought out the advice of frie nd and photographer Kinney Jones, who had been on the tour a year earlier w ith an editor from another Am erican publi- . cation. Kinney warned me that no matter how awesome I felt, never to as k for d ifficu lt trails. Though you wou ld n ' t guess it from talki ng with him, Larry is a ve ry talen ted ride r, so riders won ' t hav e to worry about leaving their gu ide behind. Larry has competed in the Incas Rally and served as a chase rider at the ISDE, and he kn ows the trails of Cos ta Rica like th e back of h is h and . Moto Aventura can custom ize their tours for rid er s o f any s kill le ve l, but d on't let yo ur pride ge t th e better of yo u when Larry asks how good you are. On past to urs, he has h ad to carry "mac ho types" out of the jungle on horseback, then hike back to retrieve the bikes. I reme mbered Kinney's warning, but bit my tongue and let Franck answer for us. Fortuna tely for me , the Frenchman said he wanted to start off eas y for day one, then try th e h ard stuff. Unfor tu n a te ly fo r me, Larry had th e abs urd id ea th at s imply becau s e we were mot o-journalists, th is meant w e pos s essed a mod ic um of ta le n t o n mo torcycles. "The re is no easy way for the first day," lied Larry. "You 'll like the trail, thoug h . Th er e a re a couple spots that are n't too tou gh." With those words to inspire ou r confidence, we fired up our bikes and headed west out of Sa n Jose to the mounta ins . Aft er a few miles of b u sy ci ty s treets , we arrived at the ou tski rts of town and jumped off the pavement on to a roc ky d irt ro ad . The villages we passed throug h got smaller and small er, and the grad e s tee pened p ro gr essively un til before we kn ew it, we we re getting a fai rl y stren uou s workout. Soon we were hig h above San Jose, overlooking the city from a tree-lined ridge top . Bei ng fro m sco rc hed-dry southe rn California, I was particu larly amazed a t h ow green everything wa s in Cos ta Rica. The hillsides are completely covered with trees , and the only open areas were the fa rme rs' fields, which w ere also green . Of course, the reason for all this lush plant life is the country 's high precip itation level s. Cos ta Rica receives the most rain during the summer (Left) This dry waterfall section was not all that difficult to n egotiate, though doing so with any modicum of style w as a different st ory. The coun try h as a wealt h of trails fro m which to choos e, and Mo to Aventu ra can cus tomize its tours to the skill level of the rid ers involved. eas y, but after an hour or so we popped onto a n arrow cow tr ail th a t headed straigh t down a mountain. The singletra ck was only a few inches wi de, with grass towe ring above ou r heads on both sides. In addition, we were forced to . descend large ste ps that had been created by cows ' hoov es. The cha llenge lay in tryi ng to ne gotiate the trail with any thing resembling smoothness, especially on the bulky 610s. I am a big fan of four strokes, but the tam er 350 would have definitely been les s o f a ha ndful on Co sta Rica 's tighter single-track trails . That said , the big Huskys we re certainly welcome when the tra ils began to open up. . I was com pletely win ded by the time we reache d the bottom, an d wa s co nvinced that I had forgotten how to ride a motorcycle. The final few miles we re on p aved and d irt roads, though, and it was beginning to get dark just as we arrived at [aco Beach, our final destina- tion for the day. After a day in the jungle, it was quite a feeling to pull in to the Jaco Beach Hotel, the sou nd waves from the big thumpers setting off th e car alarm s in the parking lot full of BMWs. The bik es u se the s toc k exhausts and aren't overly loud , but they attra ct plenty of attention, no net heless. [aco Beach is a po pular tourist town straight west of San Jose, and the hot el fea tured be ach access and an ou tdoor bar. The waves an d w a rm water a re grea t and surfboard rental s are available, bu t our grou p opted to jum p in the pool, shower an d ea t, then head straight to bed to rest our bod ies for another day of riding. Wake-up call for us an d the rest o f th e ho tel guests was prov id ed by the so u n d of o u r ow n b ik e s, as Al v a r o " ough tfu lly w armed u" the engines. th My muscles were alr eady sor e, but we we re faced 'wi th what would be one of the longest days of the trip, so after a quick breakfast, we stumbled into our gear and headed north on a paved road. Before lon g, approac hing cars began to flash thei r headligh ts, warning us that a p o li ce ca r was s to p p ing peop le up ahead. Sure enoug h, af ter a few mo re cu rv es, we were pulled over by a pair of cops. It was a t this point that 1 was glad I had ca r ri e d my p a ssp ort and Californ ia driver 's license , and that Larry had taped the bikes' paperwork under the bikes' seats. After a few min utes of discussion , we were allowed to continue on our way. Soon we arrived at the to w n of Puntarenas, which wa s once Costa Rica's major Pacific port, but is now .more of a fishing village. Puntarenas (w hich in Sp anish means " p oin t of sand") is only a few blocks wide, but is se veral miles long. As w e id led down the town's paved road, we could see the ocea n on bo th sides. We arrived at the end of the point and boarded the ferry that carried us and our bikes across the Gull of N icoya to the Nicoya Pen insula. We parked th e muddy Huskys alongside the work trucks, buses and passenger ca rs, and sa t back for the pleasa nt hour-lon g rid e. On the way to the fer ry's destina tion of Naran jo Beach, we passed San Lucas Island, w hic h was forme rly the site of a penit en tiary. According to a local man who wa s on the boat wi th us, officials closed the jail when they decided the pleasant atmos phere of the island wa s too nice for the prison ers. After the ferry ride we continued on more paved roads, and jus t when I was beg inning to wonder if Larry th ou ght we were wimps, we hopped onto on e of the be st tra ils I ha ve eve r ridden. The tra il.wa s e xtr em el y s li p pery du e to recent rains, but had plen ty of soft grass on both sid es to cu shi on flyin g bod ies and bikes. The trail took us d eep into the jungle, then opene d up on to a di rt road. . We continued tow ards the west coast of the peninsula, passing through small

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