The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Time Travel to Cuba

January 20th to February 1st

Ride Coordinator: Thomas Rossman
Report by: Mark Hodges

The first  BAC trip to Cuba began as a long held desire of our leader Thomas Rossman, that fortunately included 26 other equally curious BAC members.  After a great deal of planning we all met in the colonial town of Remedios in central Cuba after a short flight from Miami to Santa Clara and a bus to our first hotel. Our group included  BAC veterans and newcomers that all became great friends by the time we finished 12 days later.

The next morning we were fitted for our rental bikes that were well matched to the variety of Cuban roads and highways we traveled. Riding in Cuba is an adventure. Cubans get around in old cars,  but also horses and wagons. By the end of the first three days of riding we were all used to being passed and passing  horses and carts, old bicycles, and a panorama of everything Detroit made until 1958.

Our first five days of riding were in great weather and offered us a wonderful slice of Cuban culture and cuisine. The live music we experienced throughout the trip was unexpected and very appreciated.  We stayed in Sancti Spiritus on day two. The next day’s ride continued south through agricultural lands to Trinidad. We split up into small groups that day and stayed with local families in Casa Particulares  for two nights. The following day we either kayaked a local river or did a ride to the beach. One of Trinidad’s highlights was when our Cuban guide, Jorge, led us to a private restaurant for rooftop salsa lessons and  a great dinner.

We followed the coast to Cienfuegos the next day and had a great private concert by the Choir of Cienfuegos, and then finished our central Cuba riding  at the Bay of Pigs and toured a museum that gives the Cuban side of the failed invasion. We had a  good beach side stay that night in Playa Larga, and then bused to Havana next with a stop at the Korimacao Arts Cooperative.

Two days in Havana gave us a good opportunity to see the city’s main sights and do some typical tourist things. We had lunch at one of Hemingway’s haunts and had a great walking tour of old Havana with Jorge.

The second riding loop of the trip was in western Cuba. We bused out of Havana and had a short but scenic bike ride to an eco Community called Las Terrazas. The tropical forest setting of the Hotel La Moka was great. Next we headed west to the tobacco region of Pinar del Rio and had breakfast and a tour of the tobacco and cigar making operation at a local farm. The final riding days took us through an area of very dramatic rocky cliffs and hills called mogotes. The roads got more rugged as the  scenery  wowed. The La Ermita resort in Vinales provided a great vista of the beautiful western Cuban countryside. We all boarded our bus after the final ride and arrived in Havana that afternoon. Our guides had a great sendoff gift for us that night. We all met in the hotel lobby and Jorge told us that a line of classic old convertibles were outside to take us on a farewell tour of Havana and drop us at our restaurant for dinner. A great ending for a truly satisfying trip that included as much of Cuba, it’s people, culture and landscape as we could have hoped to see. Our Experience guides Lisa, Anais, Landon and Jorge were terrific and Luis and Ariel our drivers did a great job.