Thursday, May 12, 2016

Guatemalan Mountain Bike Adventure with Hans Rey and Tom Oehler


Check out this sweet video on Pink Bike of our Guatemalan backcounty mountain bike adventure touring at its best!  When Old Town Outfitters got the call from world reknown mountain bike legend Hans Rey to help he and fellow Red Bull rider Thomas Oehler put together an epic multi-day mountain bike tour we dug deep to find the sweetest remtote single-track Guatemala has to offer. The riding did not disappoint!



We of course started off by highlighting the great trails that the Antigua Valley has to offer as well as the famous purpose built mountain bike park out at El Zur.  The real riding however started once we got to the Cuchumantan mountains in Western Guatemala.  There's a gold mine of single-track out in them hills if you just know how to find it and link them together.  This is something that Old Town Outfitters has been doing for nearly 20 years.  We know how to find the best of the best terrain and pull the logisitics together so you only need to show up and ride.  We pack the cars, buy all the food, make all the reservations, guide and of course, keep the beers cold!

The trip was one for the books ful of huge epic days, monster descents and super rocky technical trail.  We pushed further and deeper into the mountains than any other biker before being sure that the treads we left on the ground were first tracks.  If you want to retrace this epic mountain bike tour of Guatemala or plot your own be sure to get in touch with us.

It was not all smiles for miles and cold beers at the end of a long day of riding as the true purpose of the trip to Guatemala was to support Hans Rey's NGO "Wheels for Life"  whose mission is to provide transportation to folks in need in developing countries.  The idea that something as simply as a donated bicycle which provides someone the necessary transportation to get to school or work can be life changing to those individuals.  Wheels for Life donated over 25 bicycles to school kids in a village outside of Antigua, Guatemala.