Thread: Biking Around Puerto Vallarta?

Kind of a long shot, but has anybody done any mountain biking around Puerto Vallarta?

My wife and I will be heading down for the last week of June and staying north of Puerto Vallarta near a little town called Sayulita. Lonely Planet and some other guidebooks have suggested that the mountain biking in the general area is quite good, but, considering the source, I'm not sure how good it really is. Is it worth a day or more? Or is our time better spent surfing, diving, and/or chilling out?

Naturally, the weather forecast for our trip looks awesome:

I stayed just outside of Sayulita in a town called San Pedro. There were a ton of rough roads that would have been fun to mtn bike on. But I didn't see a single mountain biker while we were there. With 90 degree rainy weather I would either be in ocean or the bar, definitely not on the bike. Good luck.

I spent a couple weeks in Sayulita this spring. Had an amazing time. Didn't see any bikes or anything that looked like singletrack anywhere. I do remember finding a mountain bike guiding place online for somewhere in the area but when I looked into it, it looked like you were just riding dirt road.

I'd say your time is better spent surfing and eating fish tacos.

^^^Thanks, fellas. That's kind of my concern. Jungly singletrack sounds fun, even if it's stupid hot and humid and on a crappy Mexican rental bike. But I don't really care about dirt roads. Looking forward to the fish tacos and Mexican boat drinks in any case.

Call Eco-Ride Mexico in Puerto Vallarta. They know of some ACTUAL singletrack outside of PV if you want it. It's pretty narrow, twisty, unimproved, and awesome. That said, they also have a LOT of tamer rides, mostly dirt road and touristy, in case that's what you're looking for as well. The owner (at the time) was named Rogelio, and one or two of the guides there also guide up in Whistler during the summer, and down in PV in the winter.

http://www.ecoridemex.com/



Here's a trip report from the ride I went on with them in 2007. Yeah yeah, I know it's been a while, but it was dope.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f11...mexico-176171/

Originally Posted by Full Trucker

Call Eco-Ride Mexico in Puerto Vallarta. They know of some ACTUAL singletrack outside of PV if you want it. It's pretty narrow, twisty, unimproved, and awesome. That said, they also have a LOT of tamer rides, mostly dirt road and touristy, in case that's what you're looking for as well. The owner (at the time) was named Rogelio, and one or two of the guides there also guide up in Whistler during the summer, and down in PV in the winter.

http://www.ecoridemex.com/



Here's a trip report from the ride I went on with them in 2007. Yeah yeah, I know it's been a while, but it was dope.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f11...mexico-176171/

I thoroughly enjoyed your TR. And thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by AKbruin

I thoroughly enjoyed your TR. And thanks for the info!

De nada.

Take a boat about an hour south to Yelapa. Cool little village in the middle of nowhere. Some interesting exploring east of town, into the jungle.

I did some riding in Sayulita a year or so ago. Wasn't the best, but I borrowed some hardtail and a shitty nasty old helmet and went for it.

Basically went North out of town out to the beach/forested area and found some old roads/trails/footpaths... It wasn't what I would really have considered mountain biking if we were here, but it was super fun over there. Stopped on a high point where there was probably some structure a long time ago and was able to spot some whales out where the water gets deep. Got out to some highway areas that led to San Pedro and considered heading out there, but they don't exactly expect bike traffic on the highways there, so no dice. Not that the highways are super busy, but still...

On the other side of town South of Sayulita on the back roads down the coast (shit loads of yoga retreats back there it seemed), there were some sections of singletrack here and there that popped on and off the road. Some were fun, some just footpath style. Did happen upon some cool schwoopy singletrack sections with some jumps/berms/etc. Certainly not the best built stuff, but better than the dirt piles I made when I was 10! I accessed that by going along the coast South from the beach in Sayulita proper and going on the road through the swank hotel, out to the cemetery, and turned left instead of right (which is where a lot of people go for la playa de muertos - a common walk/hangout). Explore from there. If you see the kids there riding that area, you'll certainly feel fortunate to have the first-world-problems we have finding bikes/parts/bitching about suspension/frame design (and I'm about the worst offender ever on the last part)...

Have low expectations and have fun! What Evan posted above sounds rad. Sounds lightyears different from what I ended up doing, but I had a great time. Plus this was a nice redemption because I'm just about the worst surfer ever.

Check out Burrito Revolution in Sayulita. Kinda gringo style, which isn't a bad thing per say, but go by there and have the smoked marlin burrito!

Not much to add here, but I went to Puerto Vallarta a few years ago for a wedding and thought to myself how awesome it would be to ride there. It's gorgeous with the beaches and mountains mixed together. Have fun down there.

Also, just out of curiosity, would you bring your own bike or try to find something down there?

Thanks, brettf! Smoked marlin burrito sounds incredible.

Originally Posted by Lev

Also, just out of curiosity, would you bring your own bike or try to find something down there?

Definitely not bringing my bike. We're celebrating our 10th anniversary, and this is the first resort-ish vacation in which I haven't dragged my poor wife on some kind of biking, camping, or skiing expedition. So the focus will be on taking it easy. That said, as long as I'm down there . . . .