crtreedude 

Well, in the cities the air quality can be horrible - LOTS of diesel smoke - but where we are, you are correct, unless you get behind a cow of course.

By the way, nearly wiped out today on the way in. I have been feeling really good and getting lighter and stronger so some sections I am going faster. I was going down a section today and thankfully saw the obstical in time.

Imagine a toad the size of a dinner plate! Sure didn't what to hit that at speed. Not bunny hopping today, but toad hopping...

A couple of weeks ago, Silky, our 4 month old Cocker Spaniel was pretty upset, normally he is quiet, but he was whining and barking - I figured a Jaquar was nearby or some kind of jungle cat. (for real) Nope, Silky was backed into a corner by on of thise huge toads.

Silky isn't the only one afraid of the toads - I was called in to remove a toad from the living room of a house once. It is incredible how big they are. I think people assume they are dangerous because they are so ugly.

crtreedude 

Yesterday was a great ride. You go along riding at a level, feeling good and then something causes you to push it higher. Sometimes more than a few things do.

On the ride home, I noticed that the storm clouds were forming and if I hurried - I would beat the storm. Then, while riding, I passed a bunch of high school students and one said "Que Rapido!" (How fast!) which was encouraging to say the least.

Kept pushing trying to stay ahead of the storm, with some lightning flashes to encourage me to not let up. Going up the hills I definitely was feeling the burn, but kept going and was recovering fine. Finally got over the last big hill and was heading down.

I heard a car behind me (not a lot of traffic usually - and I am going nearly as fast as them on the rock road on the flats) and it was my wife. She had left about 10 minutes after me. So, I sprinted the last 100 meters or so to beat her home.

Best time ever - when I first started about 2 1/2 months ago out here, that route took about 45 minutes, I did it in 28 yesterday. The workers were impressed and I was greeted by a big tall cold glass of spring water.

You just can't get these experiences inside a car.

ken cummings

In your climate 5 to 10 years?

crtreedude 

Nope, the answer is above (35 years) - thing grow fast here - but not THAT fast...

maximan1

I love this thread, and where is Costa Rica?

dauphin

I thought you were going to say you were president of Costa Rica...

crtreedude 

Well, being the president of Costa Rica doesn't pay as well...

Costa Rica is in Central America South of Nicarauga, North of Panama.

No, it isn't a Caribean Island (that is Puerto Rico) - though it is often thought.

crtreedude 

I had a book, clothes, lunch (lots of weight), and some other stuff to haul to the office this morning, I figure it was about 12 kilos, which is how much I have lost. Boy, you notice it when it comes back! It was mainly downhill - which helped.

One of our workers found a fragment of Mayan pottery on our property. Very cool to see a piece of ancient pottery retrieved like that. It makes you realize that you aren't in Kansas anymore. Because we live here and do business here, at times you can forget that you aren't in the States. Then something like this happens. You would think people speaking in Spanish would be enough be we are fairly adapted to speaking Spanish, so at times we don't remember which language we are speaking - this is truly weird.

I had been in Ciudad Quesada a few days earlier and picked up new tires since I didn't like mine. They were good for the States, maybe, but not for a combination of rock and mud. They were not worn down, just nicely broken in, but I laid the bike down a couple of times so I wanted a solution.

Anyway, our worker had been admiring my old tires - the one who found the pottery - so, as a reward for turning in the pottery to us (and because he is a good worker too) I gave him my old tires. The tires are worth more than the pottery I suppose - but it was good to see them being used. Our worker's tires were nearly thread bear.

The new tires are wonderful. Incredible grip on the mud section. They are a little slower on pavement it seems - but that isn't a problem, I don't have much of that and if I want to just ride on pavement, I have slicks too.

The workers wanted to know how much the new tires were. Well, honestly, I don't know. I bought two tubes of lube, two tires, and two preston tubes and it was about 60 dollars. Just as a reference (and why I am avoiding the question), that is the salary of a peon (general farm laborer) for a week.

However, I figure I save a lot more than that in a month on fuel by not driving.

crtreedude 

By the way, if you are curious, the tires are Maxxis Larsen MiMo, seem to do very well in wet and loose stone

crtreedude 

Running the Gauntlet:

I am sure most of you realize that if you change the time of your commute, conditions change remarkably. Normally, I see almost no traffic when I come into the office about 8:00 am but recently I have been coming in an hour earlier to get some stuff done.

This has changed everything on my ride. First of all, usually, the sun hasn't worked its wonders on the wet rocks and mud so it is definitely slicker. Secondly, this is milking time. Along my route, there is a dairy farm with a barn on one side, and pastures on the other - and they use the road to stage the cows. Imagine bombing down a dirt road and in front of you filling the road is about 40 cows!

Now, these cows have horns and rather full bladders. They are about to be subjected to someone yanking on their udders, so they aren't exactly in a good mood. This is what I am riding toward. No doubt, I get more than a few looks of suspicion if not downright hostility from the bovines.

Well, I am not going to wait until they finish milking. Got to pick a line. First of all, look for cows with calfs - avoid them. You do not want to get between a cow and its calf. Secondly, look for cows with their heads down. A horn hooked into the spokes can ruin your day. Then of course, I don't understand it, but it is true - when a cow is waiting, it thinks it is time for a bathroom break.

You know you are about to enter the gauntlet when you start seeing the tails raised... I rather doubt there is a tire made that will help in that situation. Definitely gives a new meaning to "Acid Rain".

jamesdenver

CR just a note I enjoy reading this thread - - is this stickied? It should be...

All the best --

crtreedude 

Thanks for the compliment! I don't think it is stickied - but it keeps toward the top because of my reports so I suspect this achieves a similar result.

Tomorrow we start a vacation up to New Hampshire for our daughters wedding. Switching biking shoes for hiking shoes for a bit - but hopefully I still will be able to write some while up there - but then again, I might be pretty busy.

crtreedude 

Time to give a well deserved plug for my favorite bike store. It is HighGear Cyclery in Sterling NJ. One of the things that we do when we come to the States (I am in NJ now) is shop! Not a lot of stuff available where we live, so we bring 4 pretty much empty suitcases and shop till we drop (or so it feels)

My shopping was for bike stuff - my wife wanted hybrid clipless pedals for the tandem. I need new shoes, new pedals, light system, pads for the brakes, and various other stuff.

What was great was Craig who took care of me had actually been on a vacation riding in Costa Rica with a MTB so he KNEW what it was like. Life is good. Now, how often can you expect to have expert advice from 2,000 miles away...?

One of the big scores was a fender that just might keep the mud off my back.

I ended up spending about $600+ but that was expected - lights, shoes, pedals all added up. Given we just repaired the front in the the Montero for 1,000 dollars (suspension destroyed from rocky roads) I figure this is actually a savings.

Besides, I don't expect to save money commuting - just enjoy it and be in better shape. All savings are used to buy toys... I mean tools.

Caspar_s

I have it the other way around - when I ride in later it gets busier. No cows though. Well, some of the drivers get called that...

crtreedude 

Back in the land of perpetual late spring. Nice to be back. I just am not used to the extreme weather shifts up in the USA anymore.

I ate WAY too much - but that was part of the plan. I probably gained a couple of lbs but I suspect that will drop pretty quick now that I am back commuting. So many interesting things to eat up there - but it sure was nice to have a Batido this morning (fresh fruit, milk, ice)

I let my bike pretty dirty because of lack of time leaving - when I returned yesterday - it was spotless. Seems that the farm manager cleaned the whole thing for me. They even waxed it! Life is good - very good. We picked up some neat stuff from him and his wife (and kids) so it goes both ways.

Looking forward to some good rides. We are into our new offices too - much, much nicer. Before we were all crammed into one room - now I have my own private office. I also have a shower for cleaning up after the ride, refrigerator, etc, etc. I know you all understand how much I suffer down here...

crtreedude 

Was an interesting ride yesterday - rode back home straight up the hills. It wasn't easy, but I made it. Once I arrived, my wife arrived at the same time in a car saying I had an appointment with a Doctor to check me out to renew my license (a Doctor's approval is necessary) - so, back down the hill in a car this time.

Since the time is so small down from where we live, the Doctor just asked me two questions - do you smoke, do you drink, and then checked everything saying I have perfect health. Since the whole town sees me commute on a bike - I assume they figure if I can do that, I am healthy enough to drive a car...

tsl

We should be so advanced here in the States.

crtreedude 

I tend to agree - wouldn't it be good to know that the person driving a potentially lethal weapon was physically capable of driving it. I think one of the differences is that here, a car is not considered a right or even expected. Sure, a lot of people want them, but not after they have one. Maintence costs are rarely factored in.

Another interesting thing here which is different is that having a gun isn't too hard - as long as you submit to a pyschological review. Checking your present state of mind seems to me to be a good idea.

crtreedude 

As I get back in the saddle it is pretty interesting. Due to my trip to the North, I broke training for a bit and so when I started back, well, I was a tad heavier...

What is interesting is that I had finally managed to make it all the way up to top of the hills without walking just a couple of weeks before we left so I figured that I wouldn't be able to do it when I got back. Didn't work that way, I can still make it. It is like once you learn how (and that you aren't going to die) you can keep doing it.

Lots of mud recently which is normal for October - after my ride I brushed my hair and found a big glob of junk. Yech!

I passed someone walking up a hill and not a big one today. Since he is a construction helper, I was curious why he was walking that section (obviously very fit). He showed me that his bike only works for coasting! So, he walks to the top of the hill, and coasts home. I think it is time to fix his bike.

The condition of most bikes here is pretty bad - they look about 20+ years old and on their last legs. But, people ride them. The nanny for our office manager arrives with a bike that is pretty good. Her husband is a woodworker (and a good one) and made a seat for the bar so that the son of our office manager can ride home with her on the bike after school.

Seeing two, three or an entire family on a bike is pretty common.

crtreedude 

Oh - my bike is going to the shop tomorrow. The bearings on the head are in need of replacing which were actually in stock - and it is time for a major tuneup.

Price for replacing the bearings (including bearings) 24 dollars
Price for tuneup - 5 dollars

The fact I don't have to fool with it - priceless. I am not even going to take the bike!

crtreedude 

Well - like usual, there were more things wrong than I expected with the bike. Thankfully, I wasn't called on to figure out what in the world they were talking about.

Not only was above an issue, but the brake fluid was yechy (I am sure this is a technical term), OTHER bearings were dead (I sort of knew this ) - looks like the brake pads were changed (I am sure it was needed) and lots of other stuff.

All I know is the bike is like new, everything works wonderfully and I nearly killed myself going down the first hill because normally I don't need brakes on it - well today I sure did!

They also cleaned up the rapid shifters and made them very fast - etc, etc. and still got all of this done in half a day.

Total cost - including parts - 100 dollars.

The only thing they didn't fix was the pedals which they said are a bit beatup and bearings going. That is fine, I have a new pair from the states.

Let's see how long it takes for the rock roads to beat up my bike again... I am thinking 6 months if I am lucky.

crtreedude 

I took the long way to the office today. We have been here for 4 months now and there was a road that I had never taken - so today, I took it. It headed out to El Silencio. Nice road, sort of rolling hills. Rock road of course but I am getting better with that.

I really like rolling hills. You power up the rise and then get rewarded on the otherside. I kept playing on the hills for a while until I figured I had to turn around and head to the office. My legs felt the workout.

It was interesting to see the area since one of our workers has a small farm out that way and cycles in everyday.

nebben123

Hey crtreedude, what part of Costa Rica do you live in? Sorry if you covered that already, this has been a long thread. I've been to CR twice in the last year to study so I'm familiar with a lot of the towns and areas down there. Beautiful place, and the ticos are awesome.

Ben

crtreedude 

Hi - no problem. San Rafael de Guatuso is the nearest town of size - and we are on the road between that and Nuevo Arenal. We are before Cabanga.

This is all in the Northern Zone.

crtreedude 

Taking the long way to the office...

I am currently agressively dropping the last few kilos I have left. The route around Betania is about 10 kilometers but often it is muddy and the rains have come back pretty regular now. I don't mind the rain, but the mud can get pretty bad.

I have always been interested in the route out to Silencio, so I have started going that way. If I turn I can be at the office in about a kilometer - if I go through Silencio, it adds about 12 kilometers. Now a days it seems that I often take the long way just for fun. The roads are still rock, but not really that bad and of course, new scenary.

Along the way is a turn off for Maleku Ecologist Center which I have been meaning to visit - it will only add another 10 kilometers round trip to the 15 kilometers...

What is really nice is that hills are just rolling, not anything like the way home which rises for about 3 kilometers pretty steady.

I guess since I am the President, no one minds if I am late (I am almost never late, usually too early) so I tend to stretch out the commute in the morning when it is cooler as well.

It occurred to me that a person could have a great touring vacation here if they knew Spanish. Just take a topo map and head off. If you get hungry - it is very easy to ask someone to make you some food and 1,000 colones (2 dollars) would be a good price. Lots of fruit hanging from trees along the road at times. Coconuts cut open while green can give you something called pipa - coconut milk. Sometimes people have them chilling by the side of the road.

If you have a tent, most farmers wouldn't mind (if you ask) you pitching in a field or their front lawn. You could cruise around the Northern Zone like this for ever...

It had better be a mountain bike though. As far as exploring the real Costa Rica, I couldn't imagine anything better than a MTB and just bumming it. The people are great, the scenary is incredible and fresh fruit is everywhere all the time. You can also get Queso Blanco (farmer cheese) at a lot of farms as well. I think it is 1 dollar a lb.

The dry season is only a few months away now and I am planning some long treks - I should be in shape by then. This is the big tourist time too. We also have every weekend a lot of bike rides sponsered by the bike shops. I haven't done one yet, but it is only a matter of time...