From our place it's about a 20 minute ride to a place called Alta Cebadilla - (not sure what the hell that is in English - maybe "tall onion" or something crazy like that) and a 1.5-hour pretty fun loop ride. Alta Cebadilla is really just a cluster of cattle ranches that sits on the edge of a giant area of deforestation that stretches from Monteverde on the east to the Pacific Ocean. From Monteverde, the ride is actually below Alta Cebadilla so it's another one of those "descend first and climb later" deals. It's a sad place to ride through because you can still see pockets of what the area used to look like before the American fast food industry threw down fat subsidies and paid these land owners to clear cut the area so it could instead be used for growing Big Macs and Whoppers. However, one nice thing about this area, and the fact that there are no more trees - there are now great views of the Pacific and with all the erosion taking place, it's makes for a much more fun and technical ride - something I'm diggin' - but I'd still rather see it the way it was. There's also the added "fun" of dodging all the cow shit..........nothin' like reaching for your water bottle and seeing the mouth piece covered in shit!
Lots of steep climbs, stream crossings, technical descents and riding through top-tube-high grass (hoping not to come across a Fer-de-Lance [a seriously deadly snake in these parts]), still makes this a decent mountain bike ride.........you just gotta pretend that you are riding in coastal California and not through a "tropical rainforest".
Afterwards, back in Santa Elena, you can hit Amigos Bar in Santa Elena for a beer and a burger.....or maybe make that a veggie burger. Salut!
