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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127589
villages along the way. Soccer is hu ge in Costa Rica, and nearl y every town has its own team and playing field. As ou r bi kes a p p roached, the ga mes would stop and children rush ed to the side of the road, w here they yelled and clapped as w e ro de b y . The H u s k ys are equipped wi th cool "buzzer" ho rns, and the townspeop le would chee r tw ice as lou d when we waved or b eeped the horns. Konrad and I were dicing along one fast, rolling fire road near the end of the day, when we approached a cr u de wooden bridge at the bottom of a dip. Konrad crossed first, and to my dismay, his bike catapulted sev eral of the wooden planks off the side of the road and into the river. Traveling too quickly to stop, I was forced to aim for on e of the two na rrow supporting timbers, which I "tight-roped" my way across at hi gh spee d, screaming at the top of my lungs the whole way. Soon we arrived at Junquilla Beach, a beautiful long s tretch .of sa nd on the Pacific coast. We hopped onto the sand and opened up the big H uskys, imi tating Eric Geb oe r s in the Le Touquet Beach Race. We parked our bikes at the An tumalal Hotel, which was simple an d tranquil - a perfect pla ce to spend the nigh t af te r a long d ay of riding. Each sm all, clean cab in had a hammock on the front porch, and ou rs we re soon de cora te d w ith a n a rray o f fil thy ridin g gear. Wha t seemed like jus t m inutes after falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach, I was awakened by the din of howling monkeys . The critters awoke even earlier than Alvaro, and were not shy abo ut reminding us to hit the trail. My now-bright-red backside was faced with another long day in the saddle, as we were to return to [aco Beach by that evening. We rode ou t of town on dirt roads, dodging cat-sized iguanas as we headed east. We followed several tough trails in the morning, including one awesome winding, uphill fire road that was littered wit h wet rocks. The hu mid air was mis ty and my gogg les fogged up imme- . diately, but the trail was so much fun I d idn't even mind. . The afternoon was easier, as we were running late an d ha d to take dirt roads to make up time. Still, the day did not pass without incident, as Konrad took a trip over the bar s in a river and I had a close encounter with a ho rse. The horse was standing in the mid dle of a downhill di rt roa d, so I slowed to a creep, then sped back up after I thought I was safely by. A few seconds later, I caugh t a glim pse of someone pa ssing me on the left, and assum ed tha t Larry wanted to race. I was aw estruck when I saw that it was no t Larry w ith wh om I was d icing, but the ho rse, and we both re alized a t the same moment tha t ou r speed was too great for the following turn. I locked up the brakes and laid the bike into the be rm at the edge of th e road, as the ho rse d id the sam e just inches in fron t of me. I have become accus tomed to close encounters w ith other d irt bikes, but it was quite an un usu al feeling to eat roost thro w n fr om th e h oo ves of a horse. After tha t incident, I wa s more careful around the m an y animals we encountered. We crossed the north end of the Gulf o f Nic oya on the Te m p isqu e fe r ry, which wa s only a 2D-min ut e jau nt , and hop ped on to a pa ved road so that-we could make it to thehotel before dark. I as s u med ou r ad ve n tu res for the day were o ver, but as the road h ead ed through a cut in a hill, th e so und from Larry's bike shook loose a couple of precariously pla ced boul ders. I was at the end of the line, and the rocks re ached (Left) To access an d leave th e Nicoya . Penins ula, we loaded ou r bikes on ferry boats and rode across with the local residents and workers. The peninsula protrudes like a thumb from the country's Pacific coast. the street just as I was passing through the cut, but I ma de it throu gh after a few ' ten se momen ts d od ging shrapnel. Ko nra d's tour was ove r when w e arrived at [aco Beach, as he had to be at work the next da y , so d es p ite o u r exhaustion, we decided to take him out for a night on the town. I won't go into detail, b u t suffice it to say that [aco Beach is no t hurting for night life. We all enjoyed ourselves greatly, but I d idn't envy Konrad the next morn ing wh en I awoke wi th a throbbing headache, and knew he was at that moment sitting on a crowded bus back to San Jose, where he would work all day long . Day four consis ted of a clockw ise loop to the north of [aco Beach, but our day was cu t short when Fran ck's bike decided to call it quits. We were well in to the rid e w,hen th e b ott om e n d locked up, lea vin g us stra nd ed in the jungle. We decided to tow the bike out, w i th me pullin g Larry, and Franck pushing the wo u nded m achine when we arrived at particularly steep ascents. It was around 90 degrees and extremely ' humid, a nd th e sweat was li te r a lly strea ming off ou r bodies. Whenever we stoppe d I wo uld park th e 'b ike in a shady spot and sit a few s tep s away from the heat of the engine, in a feeble effo rt to stay coo l. The bikes sported crossbar-mounted canteens and I also carried one of my ow n, but both were usually dry by the time we were able to refill them. We had planned for an abbreviated . d ay after the p revious night's shenanigans, bu t it was da rk before we even got out ofthe moun tains, and we negotiated the paved roads back to [aco Beach with the aid of our headlights. Needless to say, we op ted not to party that night, instead h itting the bed s early and resting up for our final d ay of riding. Fran ck grabbed the spare bik e, and day five was just as awesome as the rest of the trip, with one final bit of adventu re thrown in fo r good mea sure. Ha lfway back to San Jose, we arrived at a narro w foot brid ge over a river, and I knew I was in tro uble when a group of child ren sprinted out of a nearby house to wa tch us make the attempt. Just getting on the brid ge required riding u p several large, concr ete steps, and once we were up, the br id ge began to sway back and forth. To the d isappoin tment of th e child ren, we all m ad e it across w ithout incid ent, though whee lying acros s an open space wh ere a plank was Larry was taking me to the airport the next day . Moto Aventura no rm ally schedules one day for sightseeing after the tou r, bu t customers can do othe rwise if they desire. If you have the time, I reco mme nd trying to sched ule a few days before an d/ or after the ri d e to make like a tourist. Unfortuna tely, I had to be back a t the office as soon as possible, to try and convince everyone that I ha d been hard a t work all week. They didn't fall for it. Larry can cater to groups ot an y skill level, and is eager to do wh at it takes to make you happy. The pri ce of the tour $1970 for a five-d ay ride, $1385 for three days , or $285 fo r one day - inclu des b ik es, gas, acc ommod a ti on and all meals. Th e only other exp en se you'll have is the air fare, which a verages a ro u n d $6 75, but ca n vary g reatl y d ep ending upon when you travel and where you d epart from. eN (Right) Ma ny miles b efo re we arrived at the coast, and long after we left if, the ocean was visible from some of the higher peaks. Both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea are visible fro m some of th e country's mou ntains, tho ugh we didn't cross any such points. (Left) Cross ing thi s river near the end of ou r first day was fun, but a little nervewracking. The water was flowing fairly fast , so w e started upstream and crossed at an angle, with no choice but to "go with the flow." m is si n g made for a fe w a nx io us moments. When we a rr ived a t th e shop and dropped off ou r bikes at the end of the d a y, it felt stra nge to rea li ze we wouldn't be saddling up aga in the next d ay. It d idn' t take long before I star ted feeling sad about leaving. Lim y, Franck and Kon rad had all b ee n co m ple te strangers five d ays earlier, but we had become quite close after a week togethe r in the jun g le. I can hon es tly say. th at Costa Rica offers some of the best riding I have ever encountered, and I was all bu t kicking and scratchin g to stay while 23