Mountain Bike to Cerro Catedral

For this excursion we can hire the service of Dirty Bikes or any other operator offering cycling outings. We will be given a special bicycle, a helmet and a guide who will tell us about the different alternatives. We leave together from downtown through V.A.O’Connor to the south and take Av. Bustillo to ride 9.5 uneven kilometers skirting lake Nahuel Huapi. During the ride you will pass by several viewpoints. As you ride up, the guide will teach you how to use the different gear for a better outcome and find your own rythm on the bike. When you are climbing, you will have to select a bigger pinion, and if the slope is too steep, reduce the plates. But if you go down, you must do the opposite. It is always advisable to drink some water every 15 minutes so as not to get dehydrated.

In km. 8 you will see Playa Bonita with its singular pebble beach. Kayaking, windsurfing and even diving are practised here in the lake (see outing). After 1.5 km. you must take the route to Mount Catedral on the left. Get ready for a big effort, since there are 6 km. in ascension to the mid point of the circuit. Here it is fundamental to use the gear correctly. Come on! -shouts the guide while the winding road opens up ahead of you. Do not forget to drink water. Suddenly we will be at the base of Cerro Catedral. Triumph will be on our side. By then we will have cycled 18 km. and we can take some time to recover energy and stretch our legs. The guide will offer you a cereal bar, and after a short ride around the facilities in the base, we start our ride down. The best part of every climb is the ride down, when we feel adrenaline flowing in our veins. From the car park in Catedral we ride to Bariloche. After 1 km. we take a mountain trail and start riding down inside the forest. Here the guide will explain to you the posture you must adopt to descend through this winding circuit, with pedals at an even height and hands on the brakes. Speed will say present, and everything will turn into vertigo. We will ride through a small sector where there was a forest fire some years ago. Big tree roots lie on the ground and brooks must be waded. We will get to a waterfall where we will have to carry the bike on our shoulders and cross it on foot. We will go on marching amid beautiful sceneries and soon get to the coast of lake Gutiérrez. There we will take a rest to then go on to Virgen de las Nieves, a place where mountain lovers practice rapel and rock climbing. We will cross a wooden bridge and after some meters see Virgen de las Nieves, then return to the route and in some minutes get into the city through Mitre street. You will be surprised to read the data given by the computer in the bicycle: we have cycled 45 km. in 3hs. 30 minutes at an average speed of 15 km/h and a maximum speed of 55 km/h. Thus concludes this intense ride. After this intense journey, nothing better than a good bath and 30 minutes stretching exercises.

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