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ACCORDING TO SEVERAL TRAVELLERS, BIKING AROUND CUBA IS NOT ONLY A VERY VIABLE OPTION.

INSTEAD IS THE MOST INTERESTING AND FASTER WAY FOR KNOWING CUBA

The cyclists that have traveled Cuba from an end to others have had different motivations for their trips that go from political reasons to echo-tourism.

They have made their journeys in a different way, beginning some for where the other has finish etc, but their reports are characterized to be the most objective, detailed and exact from most of the travelers that visit Cuba can make.

Since the own way that they travel the Island it allows them to observe in detail things that before others they happen to be inadvertent, and the fact of having more lingering stays at "Casas Particulares" where they have made friendships, and they have had a first hand knowledge of the realities of the country, it allows them to analyze and to decant what had been perceived by them.

For that reason we invite you to read each one of these reports in the security that it will be the most interesting and faster way of knowing Cuba and helping you to plan your trip.

BIKING REPORTS

1.-A couple of American cyclists named Wally & Barbara Smith make a report about bicycling Cuba 2000., they rode bicycles from Santiago de Cuba in the east to Pinar del Rio in the west.

They made many side trips as well, bicycling nearly 2000 miles in all. They did many of the usual tourist things, like hitching a ride with trained dolphins at an open-water aquarium near Guardalavaca. As you can see, they are neither young nor terrifically athletic.

Any experienced cyclist can have the adventure of a lifetime bicycling in Cuba.
BICYCLING WESTERN CUBA 2001 by Wally Smith
BICYCLING HAVANA 2001 |


2.-An English cyclist named Stephen Psallidas did around 1550 km in 15 days:
"I took my bike to Cuba for a 7-week trip. This article is a summary of what life and travelling are like in Cuba, rather than an 'account' of my trip..." www.cyberbub.freeserve.co.uk/steve/cuba.htm#transport >




3.-"In March Douglas Bening and I travelled to Cuba to ride our bicycles from Havana to Santiago, a 600-mile stretch across the island. Enter this site and read my journal, see photographs from the trip and explore an interactive map of Cuba..."
www.michaeldigioia.com/


4.-"We arrived in Cuba. What an amazing place. The airport looked very modern and clean. It could have been Koeln, Germany. We had an amazing dinner. Our hosts are wonderful. There is even a sag truck for us. We took a late night walk in Habana till midnight. The group is a really nice bunch of 10 people plus a leader. 80 degrees Farenheit is as cool as it gets in the evening. It is very safe and clean to walk around at night.........So that's it, that was Cuba and it was great!"
www.seattlebike.org/clubhouse/trip_reports/cuba1998.html


5.-The scoop on biking around Santiago de Cuba: A brief report of Brian Hedney's week-long cycling trip throughout the Santiago de Cuba region of the country!
www.hedney.com/cuba97.htm


.6.-"My plan was to do the longest bicycle tour in that country's history.Zigzagging my way through all 13 Provinces. The Tour was to promote peace and friendship between our two countries. The State Department threatened to arrest me, because as they said, “By you doing a tour of this magnitude with the kind of press coverage it'll receive, you'll open the flood gates for other Americans to head South.” Good, that's what I wanted....!"
www.kevin-foster.com/cuba.htm


7.-"Cuba made headlines in the early 90’s by implementing an aggressive bike transport policy. Between 1991 and 1997 they increased their bike supply by over 2 million." Cuba has not historically had a bicycle culture. In fact, at one point Havana had more cars per capita than any other city in the western hemisphere. So the question is, "Is Cuba’s bike binge permanent or ephemeral...?"
www.ibike.org/cubapolicy.htm


8.-"Global Exchange is a licensed Cuba Travel Service Provider. In addition, specific educational travel licenses are obtained from the U.S. Treasury Department for each session. For more information, read our Cuba Travel Information."
www.globalexchange.org/tours/cuba/BicycleAdventures.html


9.-"CSC BIKE RIDE THE BICYCLE REVOLUTION CSC member and cycle activist reports back on a 2-week guided group tour of the island."
www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/bikeride.htm


10.-"DISCOVER REAL CUBA ON BIKECYCLE WEST CUBA"
www.cuba.tc/Cubamar_Cycle%20West.html


11.-CAUTION TO BRING BIKES TO CUBA BY PLANE.BIKES RENTAL IN CUBA

www.classictours.co.uk/countries.cfm?ID=3


12.-MacQueen's Adventure Bicycle Tours of Cuba 430 Queen Street, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada - C1A 4E8 Phone: (902) 368-2453 - Fax: (902) 894-4547 E-mail: biketour@macqueens.com Toll Free Booking: 1 800 WOW-CUBA (969-2822)

www.macqueens.com/photos.html





13.-NOTE TO PASSENGERS HOLDING U.S. PASSPORTS: Cuba does not prohibit U.S. citizens from entering Cuba. Canadian tour operators frequently provide Americans with inclusive tour packages, allowing them to avoid direct purchases in Cuban territory. When passing through Cuban immigration, we recommend that any passenger holding a U.S. passport remind immigration officials to stamp tourist cards rather than passports. For more information on U.S. travellers to Cuba, please contact: The Center for Constitutional Rights 666 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 U.S.A. Tel: 212-614-6494 Fax: 212-614-6499
www.culturecuba.com/E/cuba/biking.html


14.-"Day 1-3: orientation and exploration in and around Havana. Day 4-10: join our Cuban hosts to cycle through Pinar del Rio province, stopping at schools, farms, museums, caves, and other points of interest. Some of the towns are Vinalles, Guane, Mantua, Santa Lucia, La Palma and Soroa. Day 11-13: return to and explore Havana."

www.cerbernet.co.uk/re-cycle/Bike_Tours/Bike_Cuba/bike_cuba.html
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15.-Cuba People-to-People Program International Bicycle Fund / Atenas de Cuba Cicloturismo BIKE TOURS (approx USD$1,000., some fully-hosted):
www.ibike.org/bikecuba/cuba.htm


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THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE
Biking in Cuba

It's a common holiday dilemma - how do you soak up as many sights as possible while making sure your wallet maintains a healthy weight? One of the best ways to keep travel costs to a minimum while packing in foreign experiences, is to provide your own transport. Dust off that lycra, pump up those tyres and set off on your next freewheeling adventure on two wheels.

Cuba, the largest country in the Carribean, offers thousands of kilometres of cycling on mountainous and flat terrain. From the Bay of Pigs to the Big Rock, the following is a list of the best reasons to keep those legs pumping through the Cuban countryside.

Best Coastal Scenery:

For short and easy, there's no beating the Havana Circuit ride, which follows a waterfront bike lane along the Malecon for 18.4km.

Best Mountain Scenery:

Fascinating hump-shaped limestone monoliths feature on all the rides based in Vinales, in Pinar del Rio provence.

Best Descent:

Hold on tight if you tackle the 9km descent along the highway known as La Farola. The road clings to cliffs hung in tropical vegetation, with guard rails protecting you from deep gorges, before sweeping from one giant limestone ledge to the next, each turn providing a closer vista of wild open ocean.

Best Ascent:

La Gran Piedra (The Big Rock) offers a challenging climb to a 1020m peak. The temperature drops as the scenery changes from a wasteland of thorn bushes to pine forests filled with ferns and orchid trees.

Best Wildlife:

There's no better way to see wildlife than to ride along the western tip of Cuba to Las Tumbas. See if you can spot Cuba's national bird, the tocororo, and keep an eye out for crocodiles.



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