Sep 12

Honduras Mountain Bike Tours

DAY 1: You will fly into San Pedro Sula, Honduras where we will meet you at the airport and bring you to Villa Rhina, our jungle lodge base outside of La Ceiba on the Caribbean.

DAY 2: Today we’ll mountain bike singletrack out to Cuero Salado Reserve. After lunch we’ll take small boats up jungle rivers where we can view crocodiles, manatees, howler monkeys, turtles, birds and much more. After exploring the reserve by boat we’re back on the mountain bikes and we’ll ride singletrack out to our waiting van.

DAY 3: Today we’ll ride trails into Pico Bonito Park and visit 1200 year old Mayan Ruins. This site is unexcavated and we stumbled upon it while mapping out the tour. After visiting the ruins we’ll ride along the Rio Cangregal to some sweet singletrack that will take us out to the best swimming hole ever! Tonight we’ll have fresh seafood in Sambo Creek, a Caribbean Garifuna village. Continue reading

Aug 26

Siloinak Surf Resorts

Siloinak Surf Camp stands among the most acclaimed resorts in the Mentawais. It is also the most affordable, at 140 USD per day. Discounted to 120 USD for any booking before 15 February or for groups booking.

Playgrounds area offers 21 top performance waves, 12 of them world-class, in a radius of 20 minutes by speed-boat around Siloinak Surf Camp. The next surf spot is always less than 10 minutes away.

At Siloinak Surf Camp you get one large bungalow with verandah for two guests. Bungalows for singles are available. And satellite internet, satellite phone, DVD and large screen TV.

All that, with lots of space, privacy and comfort unthinkable onboard surf charter boats! Continue reading

Aug 02

Madison to Lexington and back

The argument for doing today’s ride was that there can’t be many opportunities remaining for our Sunday morning Lexington Loop. So we wanted to bag at least one more full lap. This required an early (5:30) start, which in turn required headlights for the first hour or so. Actually, we left our lights on all the way to Lexington, although it wasn’t truly necessary for the last several miles.

I started from Lytle Park. David Stucker met me on Hanover Hill. We were both feeling the effects of seventy-six fairly hard miles yesterday. For me, the day after a demanding ride brings mixed results. I’m okay on the flats, but have little reserve on the climbs. That was the case this morning. David appeared to be in good form, but he said his legs were a bit wooden. Still, we were sitting in Leroy’s eating by 6:45, despite a sluggish average while navigating by lights.

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Jul 23

Mountain bike ride at Brown County State Park

We’ve raved about the trails at Brown County before, about how well they’re designed, about their rhythm and flow, about the way they’re nearly impervious to rain, even heavy rain. In keeping with that theme, we’ll rave again. These trails look like they’ve been part of the landscape forever. The beginner trail has been open only about six months, and the intermediate loop for just a couple of months. But they’re packed down, bedded in, and look like they’ve been in place for years, not months.
That’s due in part to the traffic volume. These trails get gobs of use. Lots of use equals lots of packing. It’s also due to intelligent design. When trails are designed properly, they fit their surroundings and become one with those surroundings. It’s the Zen of trails.

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Jul 21

Things to do in Chiapas, Mexico

Fascinated by Mexico, but tired of the tourist hordes on the beaches of Acapulco, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta? Spend your next Mexico vacation in Chiapas, Mexico’s best kept travel secret!

Beautiful Chiapas Mexico Get “off the beaten path,” to experience the real Mexican culture without the tourist trappings and distracting crowds of fellow U.S. and European travelers.
Chiapas is a place rich with Mexican and Native American cultures, alluring mountains, ancient pre-Columbian cities, beautiful lakes, and spectacular waterfalls in bird filled tropical forests that rival the best of Costa Rica. Continue reading