Day 117 – Cartago, CR to Santa Clara, CR
December 17, 2010 5 Comments
Day 117 – Cartago, CR to Santa Clara, CR 12/16/10 Mileage: 197
After weeks of being in the tropical heat, the cool mountain air of central Costa Rica feels awesome! Dare I say it was even cold last night, as the hotel was at a little over 5000 ft above sea level, or about the same height as Denver, CO.
GPS elevation data from todays route.
So I bid farewell to my love-shack and hit the road headed over the mountains back towards the coast and the surf town of Dominical where I’m going to stop in and say hi to the brother-in-law of my friend Danielle. The road was socked in with fog which was too bad as the views would have been great!
But as the road climbed it broke through the clouds into glorious sunshine all the way to the top of the mountain pass at just over 10,000 ft!
The view was awesome back over the clouds with distant mountain peaks poking through.
That #$%$@# saggy rear shock. I stopped to take a photo and the damn bike toppled over again. Of course I have nobody to blame but myself, I just didn’t get it on enough of a downward slope…knowing full well the rear shock is toast. Bollix! This guy stopped to help me pick it up which was nice of him…
Ahhhh…this is good stuff!
Once over the pass the road descended into the town of San Isidro before climbing back up and over one last small mountain range before the coast.
Looking down at the town of San Isidro
This jet was just sitting on the side of the road like it fell out of the sky intact….becasue there is no runway anywhere to be found!
Josh is Danielle’s brother-in-law and he owns a restaurant in Dominical called Maracatu. Unfortunately (for me, not him!) he was out surfing, so all I got was a picture of my bike with his restaurant.
That will have to do as the road south beckons along with my desire to reach South America! My goal now was to reach the small town of Santa Clara which is only a few kilometers from the small Panama border crossing of Rio Sereno, well off the beaten track and the Pan American Highway.
Here is yet another reminder why you can’t (shouldn’t) ride fast down here. Here is a shot of an obscured corner where….surprise! Half the road is gone…your side of the road! It was a good 10 vertical feet down into the ravine. Yep…no cones or warning either.
Once in Santa Clara I found a reasonable hotel and then wandered out to find dinner and some wifi.
All the nicest hotels have piles of debris like this one… 😛
Dinner proved much easier to track down, as the only places that seemed to have internet were computer shops that were now closed. Oh well, the blog will have to wait.
From Deadhorse Down 
OMG!!!!!! WHAT GREAT PICTURES AND GREAT COMMENTS AND GENERAL WRITING. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WRITE A TRAVEL GUIDE WITH WARNINGS AND AN ADVISE COLUMN. I WILL WRITE ONE FOR MOTHER’S. LIKE MYSEL.F WHO WORRY ALL THE TIME AND GIVE THEM ASSURANCE. HOW DOES THAT SOUND????
YOU SURE ARE HAVING GREAT EXPERIENCES. SO SORRY ABOUT THE SHOCKS BUT I KNOW THAT IT WILL ALL WORK OUT AND I AM KEEPING CALM.
WAS GREAT CATCHING UP THIS MORNING AND WE KNOW THAT YOU WILL MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.LOVE YA, MOM AND DAD
What an incredible journey!
Awesome pix and comments. You keep me glued to the computer anticipating your next post. Have you ever thought of being a Moto-journalist?
Something that might help your saggy rear end (the bike’s actually) is to carry an easily accessible small board with you that you can toss onto the ground and ride your tire up onto it. I do this in case I get a flat tire.
God bless you Lenny.
Kurt -Christian Motorcyclists Assn., southern NY
Hey Kurt! That’s a great idea about carrying a board. I think I may have a solution though..or a solution found me more specifically! More details to follow soon…
ok . . . so the elevation thing? Of course I’m thinking about that from the point of view of someone who rides a road bike, but . . . s*(t!!!!! That is insane!
Living vicariously from you . . . let me know when you are 5 days from Ushuaia . . . I’m there!
Hey Linda! Well if you think that’s nuts, get this…I heard through another motorcyclist in South America that he came across a bicyclist doing the same trip as me…from Alaska all the way down! He’s been on the road 2 years now and has made it to Peru….says it might take him another 18 months! Makes what I’m doing seem like a walk around the block. Now that’s a ballsy trip!