August 21, 2019
My new favorite place and time is: these rocking chairs outside of Pura Vida Ride between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Pura Vida opens at 7:00 with their most excellent coffees - my case mocha. These chairs are the natural place to gather before or after a ride, run, hike, swim, boat, snorkel, or whatever your preferred morning activity is. Interesting people are guaranteed to be coming by. Kibitzing and commentary will be exchanged. New friends are made.
For the last few weeks we've had an extra topic of conversation: the Reto (Challenge) Las Catalinas, a mountain bike competition wherein our friend and 2013 USA national champion Xterra triathlete Leonardo Chacon and his sponsors have put up prizes for the top times recorded on an 11-mile loop through our mountain biking trails. Times are recorded on Strava. The competition has been brutal! And fun! Though it would be even more fun if I could somehow get ahead of Will Hoeg and Martyn Hoffman in the standings... For current results click here.
We have made great progress with the trail at Las Catalinas over the past few months. We now have 20.5 kilometers of truly world-class mountain biking/hiking trails plus another 3.6 kilometers of hiking only trails plus another 7 kilometers of old trails and internal roads. PLUS, we now have a recently installed set of signage and new maps which make the whole experience much more comfortable and accessible for newcomers. The trails really are the best seaside biking and hiking trails in the tropics. They are a very important part of making Las Catalinas what it is supposed to be: a compact walkable gem of a town surrounded by beautiful nature on land and at sea.
The trails will be seeing plenty of action tomorrow, as it is the day for the Las Catalinas Triathlon. This is easily my favorite day of the year at Las Catalinas. We will have 150 or so triathletes plus 200 open water swimmers plus families and supporters all in a happy, healthy, beautiful scene - to me it is humanity at its best. I hope you will be here!
Cheers,
Charles