My first bike tour

I'm officially now obsessed with bike touring. 
Costa Rica was awesome with extremes all the way around.  Extreme weather, extreme hills, extreme wind, extreme tourism, extreme rip-offs- it was all to the max.  I loved it.  Loved the views, loved the rough roads, loved the unpredictability and especially loved the fact that since we were getting everywhere by bike, we breathed it, lived it and felt Costa Rica's soul every second if the trip.

Panniers -even when you have as little as human(e)ly possible- are still heavy.  Bikes -even when only twelve years old or featuring parts from a Mart- still malfunction.  Hills are always hard, but harder with broken bikes and heavy bags.  And yes, locals have the advantage and will make you pay more simply because they can.

The babe was a trooper and we didn't kill each other, not even once.  It was good.  She rode six hours on three separate occasions, one of which was 100% climbing.  It's cool that she was so adventurous and on the limit so often without giving up.  It scares me how well she rides after just starting this past summer.  Yup, watch out!

Either way you shake it, Costa Rica is made for tourism.  Every thing costs money, but everything is cool so it ends up being worth it.  I was under the impression that it was a cheap place, but this is not the case.  Besides avocados and mangoes- and in both stores and restaurants- food is expensive and ends up being more in US dollars than here at home.  Public transportation is cheap, but taxis will rip you off.  Hotels costs about as much as one in the states (even in the less traveled areas) and hostels, which we used, were usually more.  It still ended up being a relatively cheap vacation since we were bike touring, but more than expected.  We sold our bikes before we left for 225$, and they thought it was a screaming deal.  I am under the impression that good (or kinda good) stuff costs much more in Costa Rica, relatively.

If you can deal with bugs, sun, beaches, hills, shady people, rain forests, dust, being charged for everything, cold showers, great people and some of the best views you could imagine, go tour Costa Rica on your bike.  I would highly recommend it.