Logan Watts

Listed below is what I had on my 5-month tour of Mexico and Central America. This is hardly a minimalist kit, but it carried me through some cold nights in the high altitudes of Mexico and Guatemala as well as some ridiculously hot days in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

It seems like a fairly common ritual for mountain bikers to crack open a round of cold brews to wet the grins inspired by the last downhill of the day…

During my reintegration into American society, I thought I’d spend a few days hopping around North Carolina to visit family and friends… and while at it, take in five of my favorite mountain bike loops…

As I was patting myself on the back for making it across the canal and to my destination, I wasn’t really expecting much from Panama City itself. But while rolling through and catching a glimpse, I knew that it required further exploring… plus trip stats.

Mike has contributed a time or two on the blog and here is the Surly Cross Check he built in the spring of 2013 for a summer road tour across western Europe.

After our Nicoya bike adventure we tore through the remainder of Costa Rica and most of Panama in 13 days with merely 2 rest days in between…

A 208 mile (335 km) off-pavement adventure over some of the most challenging and rewarding terrain of our trip…

We recently heard rumblings about a must-ride ‘extra’ to the typical southward bound pan-american cycling route: an eighty-some-odd mile figure-eight around the double-volcano island of Ometepe in the southern freshwater sea of Lago de Nicaragua.

A short post about our rides through Nicaragua… so far. Now, we’re off to Isla de Omotepe… more to come.

It’s not the destination… it’s the journey. Sometimes it’s hard to appreciate that aspect of travel, but I have made a point to try and keep that in mind on my first bike tour. And that ideal kind of manifested itself on the last leg of our trip…

Out of Petén and into Alta Verepaz. Have I already mentioned the Guatemalan roads? We heard there were big climbs, complete with smog-belching, fast-rolling chicken buses (like Fernandita, pictured here). The buses aren’t bad at all, but the roads are definitely steep…

A few of my favorite things that are on and off my bike…