Mountain Bike Trip to Guatemala with Brice

Today will showcase local trails in the Panchoy valley with big descents and even bigger volcano views! After a quick shuttle ride out of Antigua to a nearby ridge, we’ll begin our first descent from Hobbitenango. This ride has big views back over the valley as the trail winds its way through a couple cool ravines and old growth forests and traverses above town. A fun rowdy descent flows its way all the way back down to the valley floor. The next ride starts with a few kms of climbing on horse trail which then turns to ridgeline trail with big views back to Antigua and the valley’s 3 volcanoes. The trail will drop us back in Antigua with an evening to enjoy the town. 

On our third day of riding, we drive from Antigua to the Mayan ruins of Iximche near Tecpan to start the day’s ride.  This is a backcountry epic ride with a little bit of everything. A nice gradual dirt road climb out of Tecpan quickly turns to trail and winds its way through the pine clad mountains. There are various technical trail drops as well as a couple tough steep climbs. The ride takes us through a backcountry Mayan settlement before dropping the famous “sendero de las vacas” or the trail of the cows (a steep chute-like descent). There is a 4 km climb up to the viewpoint above Lake Atitlan where we have lunch and take in the views. After lunch we hit the famous Santa Cat trail that and drops on amazing contouring trail to the Santa Catarina village staircase run. We’ll finish off the day in Panajachel and you’ll have the night free to enjoy town.

Today we have two options for the group. For those that want to keep pedaling we have plenty more trails ready to go! If you prefer to stay back to relax on Lake Atitlan and visit a local women’s weaving co-op, that works too. We will all enjoy breakfast at the hotel and then the riding group will meet the shuttle to ride back up the mountain to Las Trampas. For those that decide to take a break from the bikes, the hotel has pool access which you can enjoy and then in the afternoon go for a visit to the weaving co-op and then finish up at Hotel Casa del Mundo.

Riding: We will arrive to the trailhead of Slickrock, a wicked point-to-point ride that will take us to a picnic lunch rest stop. This is one of our favorite rides out at Lake Atitlan! It is a technical beast but well worth the effort. We’ll start with a few kms of climbing on a mix of singletrack, jeep track and dirt road to the highspot at about 3000 mts. From there the trail starts to drop fast and steep to the upper madre vieja river valley. Working our way along the lush river valley bottom we get to our next long climb. This one is a rough jeep track climb up and out of the river valley to our awaiting support vehicle and lunch. After a delicious, healthy and fresh lunch we’ll hop back on the bikes and finish up the descent down into town on a stretch of tight steep trail that switch backs its way to the road just above Panajachel. This is a unique ride with lots of variation to keep you happy! Then we hop in a boat and transfer to our lakeside hotel which is accessed by boat only, Hotel Casa Del Mundo. Enjoy sunset while relaxing in the wood fired hot tub right next to the lake. 

We will enjoy breakfast and a relaxing morning at Casa del Mundo with plenty of time for a swim or hammock time. Around 11AM, we’ll catch the boat back to Panjachel. From here will jump in the the private shuttle back to Antigua. Once arriving to Antigua, we’ll meet up with a local farm from De La Gente coffee for an insider look into local production and a full tasting.

We’ll finish up in Antigua for a farewell dinner and drinks to cap off a great week!

Enjoy breakfast at the hotel and then your departure shuttle to the airport will depend your flight time. We will leave Antigua approximately 3 hours prior to your departure to allow for travel and check-in.