Adventuring to Guatemala, Antigua and The Mayan Highlands
Most of the biking starts and finishes in the UNESCO heritage town of Antigua, and there is a sweet shop - Old Town Outfitters ready to get you on the trails and fix whatever the local airlines broke on your bike during the flight over.
The culture in Guatemala is incredibly diverse and colourful. There seemed to be countless traditional Mayan cultures and languages making up each region. Every town I arrived in brought with it a new and unique cultural experience.
The farm land high on the ancient volcanic slopes above Antigua, offered easy access singletrack to warm up the legs - just keep your eyes open for the multi use traffic.
The landscape and trails will not disappoint...
It's not uncommon to meet several armed locals along the way who can help with directions.
Up in the Mayan Highlands the terrain transforms from lush volcanic slopes into a high elevation labyrinth of prehistoric rock formations.
The local kids and farmers in the Mayan Highlands are always excited to see bikers!
The mellow and winding 1000m vertical descent from the highland plateau to the lower farming village of Todos Santos was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the trip.
Todos Santos offers a Mayan culture largely unchanged for generations.
A long climb back out of Todos Santos to regain the highlands brings you back to an ancient surreal landscape and the fast singletrack that flows through it.
At this point I was almost expecting a triceratops to amiably wander across the trail ahead of me... sadly there were only sheep.
Our local guide ripping it up.
Trail side accommodations in the highlands - With an elevation over 3000m and nights dropping below freezing the Unicorn Ranch offers warm meals and a greats night rest. They did not however have any unicorns which was disappointing...
And I thought lugging around all my camera gear was heavy...
Sharing the trails with the local farmers...
You run into the odd traffic jam...
Semuc Champey Park is one of the most beautiful places in the world, a remote jungle site where the river forms spectacular green pools and waterfalls.
Can you hold your bike up with one hand?
Story and Photo's by Todd Weselake - Raven Eye Photography
Member since May 7, 2011 41995 views
(More articles like this is not a bad thing Pinkbike.)
I'm still planning to go to Madeira and crazy riding pictures from the Antarctica pop out...and now this aaaaaaaaaah.
Did you ever get to do Siete Altares or anything on the east coast of the country? That river would make for some sweet slick rock if the locals would allow it during dry season.
I have so much I want to do once I get to return. There is actually a co-op in Antigua that makes machines out of recycled bicycles for families and farmers as well, really interesting to see what they are making of it.
Beautiful feature!
If any of you are interested in this trip, check out sacredrid.es/1irqWTP.
We also have a less strenuous version called the Ruta de Maya, for those of you that aren't into 5,000-vertical-foot climbs: sacredrid.es/1irrdGk
I love Guatemala, what a fantastic country.