Mountain Biking in Puerto Rico: Tortuguero
One of my greatest regrets in life will not be getting more into cycling as a kid. Cycling as a sport was super niche in Puerto Rico in the '90s, especially road cycling. Nowadays, road cycling is getting increasingly popular. That is a trend that makes me incredibly happy. Mountain biking though, is another story.
Mountain biking has been big in Puerto Rico for a very long time. In PR, we have mountain bike trails that in tropical forests (east), desert-y forests (south), limestone forests (north), and coastal areas (all around!). Puerto Rico is also home to the Salinas Gravity Park, the first mountain bike park built in the Caribbean.
So now that I am spending winter at home with Emma (and I am very fortunate to be able to do so), it's time for me to finally ride mountain in PR. Getting a bike wasn't easy though, as all of the local inventory is sold out – so a necessary and thankful shout out to Alef Colón, Christian "Sacapecho" (the owner of this awesome MTB machine) and the guys at Cicla Bici Shop.
So on an early Friday morning, Emma and I packed her cyclocross bike and the MTB on the car and drove out to Tortuguero for some pre-work riding.
Laguna Tortuguero is one of the only two natural reservoirs in PR. It's a beautiful place – and it has some very fun, flowy, and sometimes sandy mountain bike trails.
Gracias por el alquiler, Sacapecho
This was the easy sandy bit
Once we were tired enough, one last surprise: one of my mom’s friends had given me the directions to the local Vega Baja Spring (which I'd never been to). So Emma and I took a kit dip and enjoyed some aprés-MTB before heading back to start the workday.
If you want to see what cycling in Puerto Rico is like, check out Alef’s Youtube “El Ciclista Común" – it’s an awesome channel with videos about riding, racing, and cycling culture in PR. If you’re ever on the island, I recommend Cicla Bike Shop.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, I race road for To Be Determined and work in technology in NYC.
