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Destinations

Photo Journal: Pura Vida Yoga and Mountain Bike Retreat, Costa Rica

January 3, 2015

Sun Salu­ta­tions on a trop­i­cal beach.  White warm sand nes­tled between your toes.  Thoughts of the days ride induce a smile ear to ear.  The crack­le of a beach­side bon­fire off in the distance. 

Novem­ber 29 to Decem­ber 6, 2014 marked the launch of our inau­gur­al Pura Vida Yoga and Moun­tain Bike Retreat in the stun­ning Gua­nacaste Province of Cos­ta Rica.

This par­tic­u­lar trip was unique in the sense of its rid­ers.  The care­ful­ly select­ed group of diverse, super cool moun­tain bik­ing women were made up of clients (new and repeat), media and Sacred Rides staff.  Each days itin­er­ary was expe­ri­enced, reviewed, and dis­sect­ed, deter­min­ing what was awe­some, what would be awe­some, and what may nev­er be awe­some.  With a few itin­er­ary tweaks here and there, this trip has mor­phed into a dream moun­tain bike vaca­tion for the Mom who just needs some solo time, the work­ing pro­fes­sion­al that needs to break the office desk chain, and the adven­ture seek­ing dirt diva alike.

A spe­cial shout out to Oak­ley Active for pro­vid­ing yoga mats and yoga wear for all par­tic­pants in the 2014 and 2015 sea­son, as well to  Mar­ti­na Halik, of Raven Eye Pho­tog­ra­phy, for mak­ing our mem­o­ries last a life­time with these incred­i­ble photographs! 

Take a few min­utes to dream, gawk and ogle this pho­to journal. 

Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Annick. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Gabo, Car­ole, Mea­gan, Johan­na, Danielle and Annick. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Mea­gan, Annick, Car­ole, Johan­na, and Danielle. 
Bike Main­te­nance Clin­ic.  Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Danielle, Johan­na, Gabo, Patrick, unknown and Annick. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Danielle, Mea­gan, Jessie, Annick and Johanna. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Mea­gan. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Danielle and Jessie. 
Loca­tion:  Pura Vida Bike Park, Las Catali­nas, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Johan­na, Danielle, Annick and Meagan. 
Loca­tion:  New­ly craft­ed sin­gle­track on the out­skirts of Rincón de la Vie­ja Vol­cano Nation­al Park, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Annick. 
Loca­tion:  The foot of the Rincón de la Vie­ja Vol­cano, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Annick.
Loca­tion:  Nat­ur­al vol­canic hot springs and mud pools, Gua­nacaste, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Annick and Danielle.
Loca­tion:  El Bosque Nue­vo But­ter­fly Farm, San­ta Cecil­ia, Cos­ta Rica. The site is in the north­west­ern part of Cos­ta Rica, about 7.5 miles south of Lake Nicaragua and about 37 miles east of the Pacif­ic Coast.
Loca­tion:  El Bosque Nue­vo But­ter­fly Farm, San­ta Cecil­ia, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Meagan.
Loca­tion:  El Bosque Nue­vo But­ter­fly Farm, San­ta Cecil­ia, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Annick.
Loca­tion:  El Bosque Nue­vo But­ter­fly Farm, San­ta Cecil­ia, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Danielle.
Loca­tion:  Dos Rios, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Johan­na, Annick and Meagan.
Loca­tion:  Dos Rios, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Danielle and Meagan.
Loca­tion:  Que­bra­da Grande, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Danielle.
Loca­tion:  Cab­i­nas Marie­los, Tamarindo, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Johanna.
First course of break­fast, fol­lowed by eggs, beans and rice.  Loca­tion:  Tamarindo, Cos­ta Rica.
Loca­tion:  Tamarindo Beach.  Rid­ers:  Mea­gan and Danielle.
Stand Up Pad­dle­board­ing off the Cata­ma­ran.  Loca­tion:  Tamarindo, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­ers:  Johan­na and Danielle.
Snorkelling off the Cata­ma­ran.  Loca­tion:  Tamarindo, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Meagan.
Cata­ma­ran sun­set.  Loca­tion:  Tamarindo, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Danielle.
Cata­ma­ran sun­set.  Loca­tion:  Tamarindo, Cos­ta Rica.  Rid­er:  Meagan.

After expe­ri­enc­ing the rid­ing first hand, I can con­firm the north­west coastal province of Gua­nacaste, Cos­ta Rica is an endurance ath­letes mec­ca.  What it lacks in tech­ni­cal rid­ing, is made up for with its end­less kilo­me­ters of back roads and ver­ti­cal, climb­ing high over vol­cano passess and through remote back­coun­try vil­lages.  Although the local rid­ing com­mu­ni­ty is still quite small, it is mighty.  Sacred Rides, local Guide’s, Car­ole and Gabo, are head­ing up the build of mul­ti­ple new trails of sin­gle­track, many of which we shred in the Pura Vida Yoga and Moun­tain Bike Retreat itinerary.

Have ques­tions about this trip? 

Feel free to con­tact me direct­ly at meagan.broughton@sacredrides.com or leave your com­ments or ques­tions below.  I would love to hear from you!

Guides:

Car­ole Beaupre, Ride Direc­tor and Lead Guide

Gabo Cruz, Guide

Rid­ers:

Danielle Kin­sie, Two Wheel Rac­ing, Ontario, Canada

Annick Aumont, cool Mom of 3 and long time val­ued client of Sacred Rides (ask her about Chile, BC and Cos­ta Rica!).

Sacred Rides Staff Riders:

Mea­gan Broughton, Sacred Rides Busi­ness Devel­op­ment Director

Johan­na Wein­trager, Sacred Rides Lead Women’s Guide

Jessie, morn­ing dynam­ic stretch leader

Media:

Mar­ti­na Halik, Pro­fes­sion­al Pho­tog­ra­ph­er and Jour­nal­ist with Raven Eye Photography

Spon­sors:

Oak­ley Active