Costa Rica Dirt....err Mud

Adrian (our conserje supremo) took me on a few rides while we were there. This one to El Mirador was the only one I remebered to bring the camera on. It's maybe a 12 mile ride (roundtrip) from the house and climbs a high spot on the Cordillera de Tilaran - the main mountain range in the north part of the country. It's called El Mirador because from the top you can see the area on the east side of the range down to Lake Arenal and Volcan Arenal. Right now the volcano is continuously erupting so I was psyched to see some action - except on this day there were too many clouds and you couldn't see jack. The ride is a pretty much one big climb and one big decent. It had been raining some so it got a tad muddy towards the top. Adrian is a stong rider (his mountain bike is pretty much his main mode of transport) so we got up there pretty quick. The area is a mix of native cloud forest, coffee farms and areas cleared for dairy cows.




Adrian the "Tractor" plowing through the slop












Vacas malo













Nearing the top on the rutted out "trail"














Adrian hammerin' the last stretch













At the top con mucho nubes















Cafe













A dry stretch













In the tropics, it's very important to rehydrate after a hard ride