It’s not all work, work, work. Sometimes it’s great to get out and ride. This ride however was a honeymoon ride around part of a stunning Caribbean island. In some ways cruising around stopping off at every beach was a bit like being back on Guernsey, but the difference here was that at every opportunity we wanted to get in the sea for a swim and we knew it’d be warm!
We hired bikes from the great little shop we found near where we were staying called Tri Sport. In terms of friendly staff willing to offer help and advice, we couldn’t have asked for more. Suitably kitted out with matching Trek hire bikes we went out for a day riding around the Caribbean’s largest lagoon – Simpson Bay. The fact that half way around this featured an area called the lowlands might have lured you into the false sense of belief that it was going to be fairly flat chilled out riding.
This turned out to be a bit misleading as more than once our flip flop shod feet were pushing the granny and the lowest gear combination the Shimano setup offered. Still it was a great opportunity to see what this part of the island had to offer and we knew that this was a much easier ride than the one we would have faced had we opted to tackle the mountainous Eastern half. If it ever became too hot, it was fairly easy to find a beach and chill out or stop underneath a palm and get some shade.
In the end we made it to Marigot and checked out the hilltop fort that had been built by the French to keep the pesky British from continually disrupting the colony. The ride back home was interesting. The border from the French half to the Dutch is distinct in that one minute you on a bike lane with clear road markings and a smooth surface and the next the road markings have vanished and you’re riding on the dirt of the verge. Still when you know that shortly afterward’s you’re going to be kicking back with a cool beer and checking out another glorious sunset, little details like that don’t really get you too worried.
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