Traversing Costa Rica's Off-Road Bikepacking Route [EP.15]

With hundreds of kilometres of dirt roads, isolated beaches, tropical rainforests and wildlife galore, the Nicoya Peninsula is Costa Rica's crown jewel for adventure cyclists. I spent a week cycling, camping and wading the waters of this tropical paradise, despite it being in the middle of the wet season. So, in about 10 kilometres, I've got two river crossings to contend with. The thing is that these river crossings are tidal. So, at high tide, the seawater rushes upstream and causes the rivers to swell. I've just been told by a local that I've got about one hour to get to the river crossing because after that it might be too deep. So, what I need to do now is let my tyre pressure down. I'm doing a big beach section and, fingers crossed, I'll be able to get across those two rivers. The lower tyre pressure creates a larger tyre footprint, which means that you don't get bogged in the sand as much. I'm letting out about 20 psi. One thing I forgot to mention is that at the Bongo River, a crocodile was recently seen snatching a bird from the water. So, let's hope it doesn't snatch an alley. I like the Costa Rican roads though. They're so steep. I've been chatting to a few people that have also cycled the Americas and a lot of people agree that Costa Rica has the steepest roads. These guys here are carrying all my bags for me. Legends. So, well, I was hoping to cross at this river crossing but there is a zero percent chance that I'm going to be able to cross this. It's probably two, three, four meters deep. This is the downside of cycling here in the wet season. Sometimes you have to do big rerouting trips. We are a little bit further north and I think this is as good as it's going to get. So, let's go for a dip and see how deep it is. All right, she's got some power but I think we got this. I wouldn't want to be too short. I don't want to give you guys the illusion that I camp in incredible places all the time. So, this is actually quite a typical campsite for me. I'm hidden behind a tall wall behind a mobile phone tower and it's quite ideal because almost nobody would think to come behind here. I had a giant bird walk through this gap last night and it almost frightened me as much as I frightened it. This is the kind of view you get in my very glamorous lifestyle. It feels like you're hidden behind a jail but it's kind of cool watching the clouds past the mobile phone tower. I'm doing a bit of exploring here in Costa Rica without my bag which is quite a smart decision because the road I thought I would be riding is, it's just a river. There's quite a few deep muddy bog holes along here but somebody has constructed a nice trail along the side so that's what I'm gonna do. Come, come, come. Don't despise my pain. If you're here singing, singing your best for the soul to tell you that I'm here today. Don't despise my pain. To dance, go away. Go away from here. Keep going, keep going. Come, come, come. Don't despise my pain. It is a damn fine evening. I should really go and set up my tent but I don't want to stop so I'm gonna ride into the night. It may be high tide which means it's quite difficult riding a bicycle on the beach but you know what? I'd rather be nowhere else. Gonna watch the sunset. Well, I probably should have camped earlier because now it's pouring rain and I'm going up the hill and it's gonna be really hard to find a place to set up my tent. I've just found a little hike off the road I was cycling. It's about 2km long. I don't think it's very popular because there are spider webs covering the trail everywhere. I've got this stick in front of me to stop spiders landing in my face. The best thing about being in nature is that it's scientifically proven to reduce stress, improve your cognitive functioning, improve your mood. So I think a lot of people would do a great service to themselves by just going out, going for a walk, trying to find some animals. The number one reason why you should visit Costa Rica could actually be the midday swims where you get to cool off under road bridges. It's delightful. This one looks kind of deep. I wonder if my panniers will be taking a dip. Pretty stoked on waterproof panniers right now. Look at that. It'll be 100% dry when I stop tonight. I've really enjoyed my time on the Nocoya Peninsula. A lot of it has been a mix of jungle riding as well as riding past farms. The road conditions are really good. They're quite smooth, even though they're unpaved. Apparently in the dry season it gets really, really dusty and the corrugations really build up with the extra traffic. So I think September might actually be the perfect time of year to cycle here.