Isla Margarita, a name which not only sounds like Caribbean, where images of Sailing Boats, Dive cruises, Bikini Girls snorkeling in clear waters (just before they dry their mostly very short swim suites by walking along the Beaches and at the thousands of Beach Bars) surfers ripping on blue waves and Wind and Kitesurfers using the constant Tradewinds, easily come into mind. Most tourists certainly have seen most of exactly those images over and over again, taking part at one of the common Island Tours, but no one has seen the Island as the Islands Mountain Bikers do. Yes, there is Mountain Biking at the Island of Margarita just that still it has not really been noticed even with quite some local Bike Clubs using the narrow tracks along the Lagoons and through the tropical forests around the Cerro de Copey for long time. Already in the early beginnings of the Windsurfing Clubs in Playa El Yaque those clubs brought some Bikes to the Island as a try out but without really pushing the Sport.

Regarding El Yaque it have been Al and Nora, the Canadian couple with their "No Wind no Cry" Company who started again with daily Bike Tours at the Island, while in the City of Porlamar new Bike Stores opened their doors. Al and Nora also discovered the so called "Killer Mountain" between El Yaque and Porlamar Airport where they organized the Killer Mountain Challenge. International Bike Pro´s were invited and a great Fun Event realized. One of the favourites for the last Killer Mountain title was swiss Bike Guide Beat Schmid, better known as Bidu, who came to El Yaque in 2009 to start the Planet Bike Center, a part of the new created Sun and Fun Sportsclub in the Surf Paradise Hotel.

Arriving from a summer in Greece and his Bike home Dolomites and swiss Alpes, the well trained swiss started to explore all possible (and partly impossible) ways over the Island of Margarita and the Island of Coche just to find some nice trails for his clients and for his own pleasure of course.

What he found was not only interesting (and exhausting sometimes, depending on humidity)  for all Bikers or those who tried their first Mountainbike Rides during their caribbean holidays, even the german BIKE Magazine got attracted by this new Destination for all two wheelers and so at his return to Margarita Bidu not only had his Bike and plans for the next seasons in his Bag, he arrived  in company of Ralf Glaser, Photographer and journalist for the BIKE Mag to report about the beauty of Margarita also as Bike Destination, another great Step for the Sport.

Besides the daily training at some small ramps in the back of El Yaque and competing at the local Bike Competitions at Macanao of the Killer Mountain, in the end Bidu found some different trails for his clients with quite different Levels.

The shortest is just in El Yaque´s Backyard, along the big Lagoon between El Yaque and Porlamar, a mostly andy track, so short but not too easy, than two a bit longer trails also close to El Yaque, a long one along the shoreline of the Laguna La Restinga all the way to Macanao, the Uphill Trip to the Cerro de Copey with 800 meters difference in altitude, Day Trips discovering the beauty of Macanao´s nature and caribbean Beaches and a beautiful Trip all around Coche Island. Surely they are much more ways still to be discovered, but with the Bike Sport growing at the Island this will be only a matter of time. The full magazine report will be available at mid January in the February 2011 edition of BIKE.       TB

Fotos by Ralf Glaser / BIKE / Planet Bike