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Costa Rica – Playa Flamingo Cycling – Monkey Trail

Posted: September 30, 2009 at 11:19 pm | Tags: Costa Rica, Monkey Trail, Playa Flamingo, Playa Potrero

Finally, a new entry! I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of traveling recently, but that has also meant no time for ride reports. Back now for the moment, I will attempt to catch up on the backlog! First, a very unique cycling adventure…Costa Rica!

I did not travel to Costa Rica for cycling. As such, I did not bring any cycling clothes or equipment along. I was not expecting to get on a bike at all during the time there. However, the pervasiveness of mountain biking in the country piqued my interest. Towards the end of our stay in Playa Flamingo (along the western coast..Liberia being the nearest big city) I found a nearby resort that rented mountain bikes. The bikes were even Marin mountain bikes – pretty funny to travel thousands of miles from California to Costa Rica and end up renting a California bike. Anyway, the bikes were relatively low end but just fine for our purposes.

So, our chosen ride was to head up from Playa Flamingo to Playa Potrero and then head inland on the Monkey Trail. This trail eventually leads to a monkey preserve over bumpy, steep, dirt roads. The first part, heading out from Potrero, however, is quite pleasant:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

A nicely maintained dirt road that meanders past picturesque farmland. My brother (aka Brendan) seemed to be enjoying it…or was at least was willing to be expressive…

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Heading out beyond the town into more rural countryside:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Action shot of mom:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

And an action shot of me to round things out:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Shortly after heading out of Potrero, the road started to meander up and down a bit more:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

At this point, mom decided to head back and spend time with dad (also, thunderstorms were threatening..):

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Brendan, being the awesome sport that he is, continued along with me. Not two minutes later and it starts pouring on us. I suppose we could have turned back…but that wouldn’t be very fun! As the rain is beating down, we hit the first of many truly steep sections:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

A video of the first steep section (click to view the video):

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

These steep rollers continue and continue…and the rain continues and continues…we are heading up stuff like this while being poured on:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Mind you, I took these photos on the way back after the rain stopped. Imagine riding up that with buckets of rain falling on you and rivers of water running down the road. So yes, fun times (actually, it was awfully fun!). This photo is a fair representation of the road surface shortly after the rain subsided:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

As we head back, a fun descent:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Further along, a wet and rocky section:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Brendan, happy and soaked:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Me, happy and soaked:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Nice shirt Bren:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Soaked:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Jungle, no?

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Cows on the way back:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

On the outskirts of Playa Potrero there is a plaza with a gelato shop…we were quite happy to find it (on the parents’ recommendation) after finishing the ride!

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

And, finally, dinner!

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

Fish and chips and beer on the water! In Playa Potrero there is an excellent restaurant right on the beach (forget the name, but easy enough to find…just head to the beach!) with great seafood and a casual atmosphere. To say that plate of food hit the spot would be an understatement.

After devouring our food and relaxing a bit we headed back to Playa Flamingo:

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

…and enjoyed the sunset (along with a few other people):

From 2009-09-05 – Costa Rica – 2 – Playa Flamingo – Monkey Trail Bike Ride

An awesome day of cycling (even without my own bike, proper clothes, etc). I really want to get a mountain bike now!

Here is the overall route:

Here is the Monkey Trail portion we rode (and the road continues at least a few kilometers beyond where we turned around despite google maps thinking otherwise):

So yeah, I know..not road cycling. But, if you happen to be in Costa Rica, I would highly recommend renting a mountain bike. So many great dirt roads to ride on! Just watch out for the rain 😉