MTB in Mexico

[sarahkonamojo]

I would recommend the Yelapa trip. You will get farther away from PV and see a really unique village.

Longer ride, more expensive, but a much cooler experience.

I have not ridden with the company, but I have spent a lot of time in the region. And I am ocean centric when in the PV area. I'd ride towards the ocean not away.

Have fun whatever you do. And beware the time share sales people. Just say no and walk away very quickly.

Sarah

[Sheesh]

Thanks for all the feedback! I was worried about being bored with "too easy" of a ride, but since it does sound like it will be very different from road riding, I'm sure we'll be okay. Thanks!

[Sheesh]

We didn't make it to the mountains, but we did have a fun ride! We basically rode through the valley and the guide pointed out the mountains and gave us an idea of some of the more technical rides that he does, but since I'm not a mountain biker, we stuck to dirt rodes and basically cow paths.

Our trip took us into a small village and we arrived in the village square just as mass was starting for the festival to celebrate "Our Lady of Guadalupe". The bell ringer was sitting on the curb out front, so our guide struck up a conversation to find out what was going on - lots of women and children in white entering the church - and the bell ringer explained. He then offered to take us up to the very top of the church while he rang the bells. Pictures below!

Our guide was great! His name is Alex from Outdoor Vallarta. He leads hiking, surfing, and mountain biking trips in the area - and he owns a local bike shop. He's making an effort to get locals interested in mountain biking (and they have some GREAT mountains for it!) and slowly but surely it's starting to take off. If anyone else ends up taking a trip to Puerto Vallarta, I highly recommend connecting with Alex for a bike trip.

[Sheesh]

More pics...

[Tri Girl]

Wow, Sheesh!! Those pics are simply breathtaking! How neat that you got to go to the top of the bell tower and see Mass. Mexico is such a beautiful country. Sounds like you had a fantastic ride, and got to see some incredible things. The mountains look gorgeous! If we ever head that way, we'll be sure to look Alex up. Thanks for the tips!
Glad you had fun. I can never get enough Mexico pics- do you have any more?

[Sheesh]

TriGirl - I'm trying to upload all of our pics to photobucket, but it's taking a while. As soon as they're uploaded, I'll post the link. We have a lot of great sunset pictures!

I wanted to make sure and come back and post positive reviews of Alex and Outdoor Vallarta because I found very few forum posts on any of the cycling forums about biking in Puerto Vallarta...a few folks have asked for recommendations but they don't seem to come back to give feedback for anyone who may be looking later.

Edit: OK, pictures are posted.

[xeney]

Oh, you are making me so jealous. I love Puerto Vallarta but we have never done any biking there. We were supposed to go there in January for a long horseback riding trip, but instead we are headed to the Yucatan. We've been to PV three times in three years and feel like maybe we should branch out, but it is one of my favorite places and your pictures made me wish we were going there instead.