It was time for family vacation again over Christmas, this
time to visit family in Puerto Rico. This year I happily obliged as I saw an
opportunity to get in some high volume training under the sun, so I decided to
bring my bike with me on the trip. Actually, I brought my wife’s bike. Even
though the frame is a little bit too small for me, I figured out that the Scott
Addict XS should work fine for two weeks. On top of that, my wife had nice Di2
shifters and most importantly disc brakes and sturdier wheels compared to my
road bike. This was good to have on the steep and often wet descents from the
mountain regions, and the sturdier wheels were great to have on the rough patches
of pavement to minimize the risk of punctures. Not to much problems getting the
bike on the plane, had to argue a little to not pay extra fee as United has
bike “FoC”, but ended up paying one way fee due to the overweight - the bag was
stuffed with all training gear on the way back as we needed space for Christmas
presents received…
Biking by the beach. Hot...
I did some minimal research ahead of the trip on the web to
find suitable routes to bike. Main focus was to get in as much hill/climbs as
possible, taking advantage of the central mountain range. I did find some rides
logged as well as a Facebook group called “Capo Heart” and “Ruta 187” where I
could read and look at some loops, so considering that our home base would be
in Carolina the focus was to be the hills around El Yunque and to the west. The
approach to this area would be along the coast from Isla Verde through Loiza,
and then turning south to access the cordillera. After each day I reviewed the
Strava segments I had ridden, and that way I could see routes that other people
had taken, giving me some ideas and inputs on new roads. In the end I ended up
doing all my rides around El Yunque – not only was the environment very
beautiful, but it was also the easiest area to access without having to cross
through any of the San Juan metropolitan area with its heavy traffic, traffic
lights and winding roads requiring navigation.
Sunrise along the way to Loiza.
With the warm climate and strong sun, plus the fact that I could
not spend the whole day on the bike as it was a family trip, an early morning
start was needed. This would also have as an add-on benefit of less traffic on
the roads, good especially considering that the first 5km would be along the
highway past the airport. With sun rise at 7am, a 6am start was the plan - and
being jet lagged from the trip from Europe this should not be a big problem at
least the first days. In the end I found myself starting later and later though
as the motivation for a 5am rise everyday was not there... I made sure to pack
down bike lights to cover for the first hour of dawn and as a security measure
for traffic from behind. The only concern I really had was to get from the Carolina
area to Isla Verde as the only accessible road was the highway past the airport
with some 3-4km to ride. It did have a strip of 2m on the side almost all the
way (I had 20-30m with no curb at all where I had to ride on the side of the
lane), but it was also with very rough asphalt and full of debris. But with traffic
fairly intense already at 6am, despite it being Christmas week, I had no choice
but to ride on the curb, and thankfully all went well. Heart rate was fairly
high this first stretch, but once in Isla Verde I could relax a little and get
going.
The bridge over to Loiza with El Yunque mountains in the background
First ride planned was along Ruta 186, a road that stretched
along the west flank of El Yunque. I got out at 6am, navigated the highway
stretch in the dark and then started the coastal run along Isla Verde through
Loiza to Rio Grande. This morning there was no wind, and with clear skies the
sunrise was pure magic. I had borrowed a GoPro camera, and I was constantly
taking pictures the first half of the ride. From home to Rio Grande and Ruta 3
was a stretch of 36km flat roads with the road to Loiza hugging the coast and
most of the first 15km along the Pinones beach. The road surface was a mix of
patched/rough and smooth asphalt, and this was to be the theme for all rides: never
to be able to relax or drift off, but always keep an eye on the road for
cracks, pot holes or just patches of rough asphalt. It was especially tiresome
at the end of the rides when after a few hours on the saddle and the heat
increasing, fatigue started to creep on to you and all the bumps and vibrations
really got you tired – frustration was high at the end of a few of the rides. But
with fresh air (24C) in the morning with the sunrise in the face, the sound of
waves and early morning birds chirping, it was pure pleasure to enjoy the
tropical humidity at the beginning of the ride, and the bumps and vibrations were
manageable. I was also pleasantly surprised by the respect shown by the cars coming
from behind. In almost all cases the cars patiently waited until there was a
clear stretch of road to overtake, and they kept a nice distance as they passed.
Never any close passes or honks, people seemed to be relaxed and didn’t mind
waiting a minute or two until the road cleared up to give them a clear pass –
quiet the contrary to home in Sweden.
Refueling stop. I found that the visor I normaly use didn't work well in the humidity, it tended to fog up on the climb when there was no wind.
After the first stretch of flat roads I headed up on Ruta
186 to get up in the mountains. I was not so sure how this stretch of road was
going to be, but the climbing started immediately, and I found myself directly
pushing FTP+ efforts on the lowest gear available. The incline was normally
around 6-10%, and although the sun was almost always in cover from the trees
sheltering from direct exposure, with the 70-80% humidity the sweat started pouring
down. As the road dwindled down to a narrow pathway, all overgrown with tropical
vegetation, I started to wonder if I had made a wrong turn, but I figured I
could always turn back. The constant road distance markers (every 0.2km)
informed me I was on the right track, and every major intersection was clearly
marked with road numbers so in the end making the navigation was fairly
straight forward. I only needed to use Google maps extensively the first day as
I was a little nervous on the routing, but the rest of the days I felt more
confidence in the road numbers and that they would be clearly marked. The climb
up along the side of El Yunque was really something spectacular – lush green
vegetation, birds singing, the sound of waterfalls in the distance and the
constant climbing on the serpentine roads. After about 4km of climbing it eased
up and after a short downhill ride on very bad road surface, the 2nd
part of the climb started. In all the total climb was about 10km with 600m
height increase until I reach the point where I decided to turn downhill and
head back home. Average grade on the ascent portions was 8%, varying from 6-15%.
Up the winding portions of road 187
The down hill portion was also an adventure. Here I got onto
more normal roads with overall better surface, but even here there was the
occasional pot hole to navigate, so there was no way to relax from the brakes
and the control. By now (around 8-9am) morning traffic had started as well, and
the local dog chase packs had awakened, every once in a while chasing me
barking and making me nervous they would run into the bike and make me crash.
When I eventually made it back to the flats, temperature had now risen to 30C,
and it was a tough slog home with the added “benefit” to have the wind in the
back for some additional heating effect. This was the same theme everyday – the
first half of the ride up and down the mountain was OK, and the last hour and a
half in the heat became a struggle. The first day I also made the mistake to
not fill up with enough fluids, so the 1.2 liters of drink I had with me for
the four hour ride was not optimal and I was kind of in panic once I got home.
The rest of the days I brought with me another bottle from the start and made sure
to fill up during the ride at a gas station. I normally survive on around 1.5
liters for a 3 hour ride at home, but here I drank at least twice as much due
to the heat and sweating. I drank mainly Gatorade in order to get in some
energy as well and topped up with an energy bar or two and a banana during a short
break.
At the top of road 187
Road 988, nice smooth asphalt on the way up
Just plainly beautiful
I continued the rest of the rides either on or around El
Yunque for the climbs. I was eying some other routes as well, but found the
beauty of the tropical rain forest and the low traffic access routes a good
combination to stick with. Overall I did five climbing days: the first
Typical height profile of a climing day - dead flat along the coast and then a steep climb (6-15%) up the mountain side.
Traverse of El Yunque (153km total)
Apart from the climbs I used the coastal flats around Loiza
for intervals. There where a few stretches with nice flat asphalt suitable for
harder riding to push up the speed and effort, split into nice 5km stretches:
the 5km stretch west of Playa Vacia Telaga, the 5km between Loiza and Canovanas
- both on road 951 and 188, and then the 10km stretch from Loiza to Rio Grande
along 187.
Road 187 - the start and end of it all
In total I did seven rides ranging from 80km to 153km
distance with average speed of around 25km/hr (30km/hr on the flats, 10 km/hr
on the climbs), total distance covered 720km. With more time available you can
off course squeeze in longer rides, but I personally felt that riding after noon
was too hot, limiting the time available. I started between 6am and 9am, and
apart from the longest ride I was normally back home between 10 and 11am before
the heat became too unbearable. Two days I got rain during the ride, but apart
from getting very dirty it was actually pleasant to get wet and cool off. It
was noticeable how the heart rate came down when it was slightly cooler on
overcast/rainy days and as I got accustomed to the heat. It was also good to
start the ride heading east as you then had the trade wind in your face on the
way out and a nice tail wind the last hour or so back home. I did see other
bikers every day, but they were fairly few and most of them seemed to go fairly
slow. You can find organized group rides, and there the groups are always
accompanied by a tail car (or two) for security and they make regular stops for
drinks and rests. I got the impression that pace and effort here is fairly
light, but since I didn’t join any of them it is just based on my overall
feeling.
Time to pack up the bike again and go home
Overall extremely happy with my rides. The highlights was
riding in the tropical forest with its sounds and smells, the early mornings
with its sunrise and magic light and the pleasure of sweating profusely
climbing the mountain. Low lights would be the sometimes rough roads with
treacherous pot holes, the riding along the highways with its traffic, packs of
chasing dogs giving me the scare and the stretch of road where I had to pass
through overflowing sewers. Will I take my bike again next time I go to Puerto
Rico? You bet!
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