A Costa Rica Beach Town
This is a very big weekend at Las Catalinas. Our first ever triathlon is tomorrow. The event is sold out, in fact a little bit oversold with 160 people entered. Preparations on site have been underway the last few days. We are thrilled! I am so wishing I were there. Here are some pictures of the preparations:
We will have a major off-road triathlon at Las Catalinas on February 17, with a kids event preceding it the day before. The Las Catalinas Triathlon will occur almost entirely within the boundaries of Las Catalinas, utilizing the great swimming conditions at Playa Danta and our world-class trail system. The swim is 1,200 meters, the mountain bike is 30 kilometers (standard) or 15 kilometers (sprint), and the trail run is 7.5 kilometers. There are divisions for relay teams, as well as age group divisions.
The race is being organized by the same organization that puts on the famous Guanaride each May. The primary website for the event is here, and the Facebook page is here.
We are very excited about this event and are expecting a great turnout. If you are interested in registering, you’ll find a form at the event website. If you need some help with the Spanish, or anything else, please contact the Las Catalinas office at info@lascatalinascr.com, 2654-4600 from Costa Rica, or 866.357.3872 from the USA.
Note that the event date is on President’s Day weekend in the US – a perfect time for a winter getaway.
Here is a preliminary flier:
Paolo with Las Catalinas cycling enthusiast Luis Diego.
Paolo Montoya with members of the Las Catalinas trail building crew.
Last week I had the pleasure of making a 5 day mountain bike trip out of Las Catalinas with some of my friends. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it even more emphatically now – this is such a great area for exploring! We rode one day in Las Catalinas on our singletrack; one day a big backcountry loop out towards Tempate, Sardinal, and Nuevo Colon; and three great days up and around the Guanacaste volcanoes. The climate and scenery changes so dratically and quickly up and around the continental divide it is just hard to believe! Here is a video. I hope you enjoy! (PS – I have been unable to conquer a couple of technical quirks in the video – the sound gets a bit out of synch with the video image. Sorry. I need technical support!)
Here is a new video of riders on the Las Catalinas trail system. Very nice! Mountain Biking has really been coming into its own at Las Catalinas over the last couple of months. Our first 10 kilometer bike route was completed late last year. Over the Christmas break we were “discovered” by the San Jose mountain bike community, and our trail use is way up. Mountain biking is a very popular sport in Costa Rica, but it nearly all done one back roads and jeep tracks. There is no single track of real world class quality like ours anywhere else in the country, so what we have is quite a draw. For experienced mountain bikers it is wicked fun. I love seeing all the riders around town – seeing people on bikes makes me happy!
In our next segment of trail development we are creating an easier, more beginner friendly route over to the Zapotal Valley on the back side of Las Catalinas. There we have more gentle terrain, lots of wildlife and fun exploration down to some beautiful deserted beaches. This new trail should open up cycling fun for even more people at Las Catalinas.
Enjoy the video!
Here is a great article on PVR at Barefoot Fitness. My favorite quote, “I would carve through dense jungle, past hanging orchids and a rushing creek and then pop around a corner and see the Pacific Ocean glistening below me. The only sounds were the slight breeze, birds calling and my own breathing. How this place is not on the cover of some mountain biking magazine, I have no idea.”
- Charles
{This post was provided by a Las Catalinas resident who had the pleasure of meeting the famous Costa Rican mountain biker, who was in our community for a ride.}
We were pleased to welcome Federico “Lico” Ramirez Mendez, a Costa Rican mountain biker, to Las Catalinas this past weekend. The five-time La Ruta Champion is a celebrity among locals. La Ruta Conquistadores, held annually over a four day period in Costa Rica, is one of the most difficult mountain biking races in the world. This past August, Lico won the Breck Epic race, which takes place in Colorado.
Saturday, Lico led a group of local friends and fellow mountain biking enthusiasts on a less arduous ride beginning at Plaza Danta in Las Catalinas through Potrero, along the monkey trail and Zapotal valley. The group finished the ride along the 10 Km of trails through the mountains of Las Catalinas.
Currently, Lico holds the Las Catalinas trail record: 30 minutes 3 seconds (going clockwise on the trails). And if that wasn’t fast enough, he returned to ride the route again, counter clockwise with a time of 30 minutes and 30 seconds. Our second fastest time to date is avid Las Catalinas biker John Zepeda, with a time of 43 minutes.
{For those of you in the US experiencing near-freezing December temps: Doesn’t that make you wish you were in balmy Costa Rica on a bike? Hope to see you in Las Catalinas soon.}
Las Catalinas made a tremendous impression on a theater full of charitable Atlantans this week: Actress Jane Fonda was hosting a premiere for her new movie, Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, as a benefit for the organization she champions, G-CAPP (Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention).
Town founders Charles & Ginny Brewer donated their home for 7 nights (complete with some of our favorite Las Catalinas experiences, including stand up paddleboarding, yoga, kayaking and mountain biking) as a live auction item. As photos of Las Catalinas scrolled on the big screen, the audience “oohed” and “aahed” at aerial views of the hilltown and sea, and one of our famous sunsets. The group was obviously inspired — the item was a top bid winner for the evening, bringing in $18,000. We’re thrilled over the enthusiasm to visit Las Catalinas. And to support a great organization making a difference in the lives of young people. To find out more about G-CAPP, visit their website: http://gcapp.org/
- Tucker Berta
Pura Vida ride opened for business last week and is doing great! Stand-up Paddleboarding, kayaking, mountain biking, snorkelling, and other adventures await. Here is a list of group activities that are currently underway:
And of course, the big Robert August Stand-up Paddle Challenge is coming up on June 18. For more details go to www.puravidaride.com. See you there!
