Costa Rican Style!

Soul-soothing scenery.

Already back home from Costa Rica and settling back in to "normal" life. The boys and I met up with 'Nama and G'ampa for lunch. It felt great to be back on the bike after my vacation. 

It certainly took some time to get into the vacation mindset. Especially after all the work and stress of getting there. I had already resigned myself to missing a day of biking due to travel but then that one day of travel turned into two, butted up against two full days of conferencing, so my biking pledge was feeling a bit crushed at that point. Luckily, my lovely friend Bekah had reminded me that this year-long challenge isn't about just biking every day, it's about doing the best I can and turning biking into an everyday event. For the five days I was in CR, I was only on a bike once. I'm okay with that. I needed a break and this was perfect. 

I really love my job! The conference is always the perfect balance of work and play and rejuvenation.

There were very few bikes that I saw in Costa Rica. The ones I did see were very utilitarian, no carbon fiber at all. I don't think I even saw dropbars on anything. People rode them as needed, night and day, usually without any lights or helmets. Definitely no spandex or funny shoes. The relied on reflectors and safety vests for visibility. Combine that and the fact that there are NO shoulders on the roads in Costa Rica (that I saw), I wasn't surprised that biking wasn't a more popular form of transportation. 

The drivers seemed comfortable sharing the road with cyclists, however. Maybe because it was common practice to move over for the people walking/riding on the side of the road. There weren't even sidewalks in most places. It's always good to get a new perspective on life. We are so lucky for the infrastructure we have, even though it isn't nearly up to appropriate standards. 

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Big Brother says that this was when I was a cowboy. He likes my hat :)

One of my favorite experiences was horseback riding on the beach. I believe that horses might actually be better suited in Costa Rica than bikes, and especially more than the stinky diesel jeeps. They were able to zoom along the dusty, rutted roads without a problem. Our horses were very responsive and the laid-back nature of the "tour" was amazing! I took my horse, Makenzie, running along the beach, up the banks, galloping along the trails as much as we wished. I have never felt as in-control of my horse as I did here. After the first few minutes getting used to riding, I was as comfortable as ever--incredible since I haven't ridding a horse in 10 years and I can count the number of times I've ridden on one hand. I was almost ready to give up my biking for Makenzie. 

It was also wonderful to get off the resort and see a different side of Costa Rican life. We learned that Flamingo Beach used to be called White Sand Beach and had a huge flock of flamingos. Then, they renamed it Playa Flamingo and built the resort. Now, there are no more flamingos on the beach. 

Wonderful friends to ride with! Thanks, Jeannette and Robert!

I also finally got up the energy to go biking. The hotel rented bikes and I talked them into a 1/2 day rental for $15 since I only had a couple of hours free. They were pretty standard no-name mountain bikes with front suspension. Again, I have to say that my hatred of suspension was misguided on the roads of Guanacaste. Riding along the main roads was a bit more hair-raising than the dirt roads but less dusty. I only had one instance where I was uncomfortable--a city bus was coming up behind me and started honking. There wasn't anywhere I could go since there wasn't a shoulder so I just kept going. It was a quiet road without any traffic so I though it could get around me just fine. Instead, it buzzed right by me, closer than I would have liked but still far enough away to not be dangerous. I was shocked, especially considering the oncoming traffic lane was completely empty. Besides that, everyone was very considerate. 

The most shoulder I got in CR.

These guys are eating the shoulder.

Once I was off the "main" drag, it was even more beautiful. The road was dusty and the cars passing left a cloud of choking debris. Luckily, that was pretty rare. I started up into some rolling hills overlooking the beach below. The view was breathtaking! After about 6 miles or so, the road became too steep. I had one hill that was almost too much for me to go down followed by one that was too much for me to go up. That was when I decided to turn around. We had been planning on zip-lining so I thought I didn't have enough time to ride more. Zip-lining was cancelled but I was still happy to be done with the ride. I was so dirty and tired and sore from the previous day of galloping. It was just the right amount to get a taste of cycling but not so much to be exhausting. The perfect vacation ride! 

Dusty road

I certainly look forward to checking out Costa Rica more in depth. I wouldn't rule out biking around but I know that it wouldn't be my sole means of transportation. I loved that they were so careful about water use, providing signs telling people to use the filtered taps and not bottles. Even the resort made a point to use organic, fresh vegetables from their own garden as much as possible. It was heartbreaking to learn that the baby turtles that were hatching on the beach were being handled by the tourists at the resort without any intervention or protection from officials. I was amazed by the phosphorescent waves crashing after dark. To top it off, I was also with some of my favorite people to spend time with and visit.  

Lovely ladies!

Enjoying my final sunset in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica ended up being my third country to bike in this year, not counting the United States. I am a very lucky lady!