We can be heroes, just for one day. Ruta del Quetzal.

My friends David, Robert, Javier, Ignacio, Dersu, and I had the most-intense adventure on the famous “Ruta del Quetzal,” going from Piedades Sur towards Miramar. I had tons of fun, but the route is extremely BRUTAL! Hahaha!

After breakfast at Paraíso Restaurant on Route 1, we went headed towards Piedades Sur. We had no idea of what was to come. 🙂 We rode through Chassoul, then San Antonio and on to Zapotal. As I mentioned last year, this is the rockiest road in the world! Hahaha! Worse than one can image, though, as I have said many times, one can never stop for photos of the worst parts on such roads. Impossible. Pure Rock and Roll!!

This is a route which needs be done with riding buddies. We sure made a great team.

We made it past the curve which had made us turn around last year when it was pure wet clay. It was extremely rocky.

With the exception of Dersu and Ignacio, I think we all fell or got stuck at least twice. Hahaha! I am not even sure we did the complete Ruta del Quetzal, but at least half. (The part from Piedades Sur to San Antonio is not part of it.)

For me, the most challenging part of the route was this little hill past this stream. Three of us would not risk it, and fortunately Dersu and Ignacio were willing to take our motorcycles up. Yay!

I don’t think Robert, Dave, and I would have been able to continue on this route without Dersu and Ignacio. They saved the day several times. They are extremely skilled bikers. I applaud them!!

Here is a video of Dersu bringing Dave’s bike up the hill/curve after the stream.

Glad we all made it past that “little hill after the stream.” Though the road got a bit better, there were still some quite difficult parts. I was relieved to make it through without falling, though I had a few scary close calls.

Soon, I did take another spill on a loose-gravel curve (surprise!), where Dave had stopped, and thus I lost my momentum. I know to stay farther behind others while riding on gravel. Dave is such a gentleman that he apologized for stopping. Poor Sahara did get some bad war wounds. Again, all part of the adventure.

When we finally reached pavement at Palmital, Dave said, “Seeing pavement was like seeing an oasis in the middle of the desert.” Hahaha! We had lunch at Oro Verde restaurant, with bad Karaoke country singing. The cool drinks were sorely needed and oh so refreshing!

I am sure we all enjoyed being back on pavement on the curvy road down to Miramar.

Nearing home, the moon was gorgeous and FAT coming down from the Aguacate.

Yes, we were all heroes making it through that — I will say it again — BRUTAL (Hahaha!) Route. But the greatest heroes were Dersu and Ignacio. What a blessing that they joined us on this adventure. Wow. We would have never made it without them.

I had TONS of FUN despite the challenging parts of the road. But, as Dave says, “Never again!” Hahahaha!

RIDING IN COSTA RICA: KNOW THE LOVE. LIVE THE POWER.

Sunday, March 28th, 2021