Mountain Biking around Grampa Ninja's B & B

Paraglider pilots coming to Grampa Ninja's Bed & Breakfast place to fly Costa Rica's faboulous sites with Fred (aka Grampa Ninja) and Thomas can now indulge in an additional sporting activity: There are two reasonably decent mountain bikes at the house. Jim Cummings and Rudi Lemp (in alphabetical order, not by age or their equally stunning good looks) left them behind after exploring the terrain around San Miguel on bike almost every morning before breakfast during their extended stay at Fred's place earlier this year (2010). For those interested in following in their fat tire tracks here are several options of what you can do:

1. La Suiza
This is a fairly easy ride of just over one hour. From Fred's place, take the San Miguel road down until it gets quite steep and veers to the left at La Blanchita restaurant. There, you turn right into the (initially) paved road marked "La Suiza" or "Barrio de Suiza". This road, with some ups and downs, more or less follows the conture line along the western flank of San Miguel mountain. You will see its top antenna quite often from below, and the scenic orientation you get might be useful in case you take off from San Miguel Tower with your paraglider and do not make it to the official LZ... Follow the dirt road to its highest point just after it passes under the high voltage line for the second time. It is possible to continue a bit more downhill, but you will soon reach the end of this dirt road, marked by a rather grandiose entrance gate to one of the larger "fincas" in the area. Ride back the same way.

2. San Miguel Tower
At least towards the top, marked by its widely visible (also from Fred's house) antenna, this is one of the rougher rides, lasting about 100 minutes.

Take the San Miguel road uphill and turn left when you reach the village at the top (big soccer field). You will soon lose some of your hard-won altitude in the rather steep downhill section that follows. Shortly thereafter it will be uphill again, and when the road flattens out and even goes moderately down once more, look for a locked gate on your left (at a right hand turn of the road) that has stylized paragliders for a decoration. Pull your bike through under the gate and let the fun begin: a severely eroded and initially very steep dirt road leading all the way up to the tower.

Enjoy the sweeping views from the top (if you have not already done so when launching your paraglider from here) and trace your steps (in case you had to push your bike part of the road) back all the way to Grampa Ninja's. (Note: It is not advisable to ride down the very steep paved ICE service road west of the tower unles you don't mind climbing across a locked gate secured by plenty of barbed wire at the bottom end. If you somehow manage to overcome this obstacle, you will get onto the La Suiza road described above (1).)

3. San Miguel Ridge
If you don't mind going uphill for about three quarters of an hour, this ride is again fairly easy and offers impressive vistas. Go uphill to San Miguel village like on the previous ride, but then bear right at the soccer field and continue on this ridge road that will soon lose its asphalt cover. The highest point is marked by a very big white metal gate on your right. Continue moderately downhill as far as you like, but not much further than the point where you, after passing over to the other side of the ridge, suddenly have very good views of the mountainous terrain towards the east.

Return the way you came without getting too fast on the long downhill.

4. El Roble Sugar Cane Fields
This triangular area between El Roble and the Panamerican Highway is entirely flat and has a web of agricultural roads and trails that offer endless possiblities for riding a bike. If needed, cruising around here can be combined with a visit to Mike's Bike repair shop in downtown El Roble (not open before 7.30 or so). Avoid riding on the Panamerican Highway to get there. You can do that by turning left into the San Jose' highway when you come down to the bottom of San Miguel road. This way, you are very soon able to turn right again at the Croze de Barranca bus stop and let it roll down towards El Roble on the old road along the river . A possible variant is following the river on a parallel dirt road that soon will branch off on the left. If you continue here there is even a quite enjoyable single track path for a while before you should decide - unless you like the looks and smell of burning garbage - to leave the river's flood plain towards El Roble and the area north of it as described above.

5. Esparza Loop
An easy and pleasant morning excursion of slightly over an hour. Ride down the San Miguel road, turn briefly left on the PanAm Highway and then leave it again by taking the old road down towards El Roble on the right. Watch out for the old railroad bridge on your left across the Barranca river and cross there on the rickety footpath next to the rotting sleepers. (You're safer pushing your bike across rather than riding it.) On the other side, leave the old railroad bed by riding down the left embankment towards a moderately climbing wide dirt road. Follow it all the way up to the outskirts of the hilltop town of Esparza. The upper section has recently been paved over, but there will be hardly any traffic. When you join the road coming up on the right, turn right into it and enjoy a long, gentle and gradual downhill ride using the abandoned railroad bed and leading back to the old bridge across the Barranca described above. Cross it and climb back up to Fred's the same way you came down.

(As an offshoot of this ride, you can also visit Esparza with its rather pleasant central square by turning left instead of right at the top of this ride. A rather ambitious and much longer ride can be had by then using the black top road leading from Esparza to Mata de Lemon / Puerto Caldera; ask the locals.)

6. "Monkey Ridge"
For lack of a better established name, this is what Jim & Rudi came to call this forest trail when they encountered a large tribe of howler monkeys on their first of many rides up there. Monkey Ridge probably offers the most rewarding MB trail in the area - at a price: There are some very steep uphill sections, and fallen branches of the extremely thorny pochote tree can mean bad news for your tires.

From Fred's place, ride down to the old railroad bridge as for the Esparza loop above (5). After crossing the bridge, go straight and stay on the gently climbing old railroad bed for close to half a mile, then take the first possible (sharp) right turn into a pleasantly open terrain with a few scattered houses and vistas of El Roble. Continue mostly downhill into a more wooded area until fording a small brook. The often steep climb up into the forested ridge starts here. Try to stay in the saddle all the way up as Jim once was able to do (doped by Thomas' potent morning coffee brew known to stir even the dead back into life). When you reach the top you will have been on your bike for over half an hour. You now have several options: a) return home the same way; b) continue beyond the highest point and then bear left at the next fork, where you can stay on a newly bulldozed path that eventually gets you back up on the same trail you rode up through the woods, or c) turn right at the next fork, leave the wooded area and, after crossing lovely open grass land, reach a small village with a light-green church and school house.

If you have an extra hour to spare, take the right fork shortly after the church. This pleasant little dirt road will lead you steeply downhill after a while (go slow, the surface is rather stony and bumpy!) After buttoming out at a small bridge, this by now rather smooth but unpaved road will lead you uphill again to the Esparza - Caldera blacktop road. Turn right into it and enjoy the scenic and effortless downhill ride with distant ocean views until you come to a schoolhouse where the old railroad used to cross. Turn right here onto the railroad bed, which has recently been turned into a wide and smooth dirt road, entirely flat until you reach the Puerto Caldera road at Mar Azul restaurant. Turn right and take the bicycle path on the ocean side parallel to the heavily travelled highway underneath the Caldera cliff with its Nemaclys launch site.

After crossing the Barranca road bridge near the river mouth, you are free to either stay on the "cyclovia" next to the hiiighway or to weave your way through the sprawling town of El Roble to get back to the San Miguel road leadoing up to Grampa Ninja's. (This Monkey Ridge - Caldera loop will take close to three hours, provided you have no puncture or other mishap.)

To Remember: Wear a helmet! Always carry a repair kit, spare inner tube and bicycle pump with you, all available at Fred's. Tell people at the house where you intend to go. Keep Fred's phone number and some change ready in your pocket. Don't forget your water bottle. Keep the bikes and accessories in good working order so that others may enjoy them, too. And lastly: Take a shower before you hop into the pool!

(Special note from webmaster: Thanks to Rudi for writing up these trails for visitors to Grampa Ninja's!)