| OFF THE BEATEN PATH |
SloWinG DowN In CosTa RicA
By MARISA MCINTURFF Photos by CALEB MCINTURFF
“ a qui es buen! Aqui es buen!” I barely heard the shouting over the roar of water, but I wasn’ t paying much attention. In front of us was a long river crossing – the longest I had ever seen. The current pushed hard from right to left, the surface broken into chaotic white- capped ripples that hid whatever waited underneath: rocks, holes, drop- offs, it could be anything.
We had been warned of this river, which washed out the road that connects the ring around the southern edge of Lake Arenal.“ So deep it swallowed a Jimny,” we had been told earlier in the week. I wanted no part in tempting fate like that. Water moves fast, and motorcycles sink faster.
We hadn’ t come out here with the intention of crossing it. We just wanted to see it, stand at the edge of it, and understand what had taken out the road. The ride here had already been worth it. The volcano loomed in the distance most of the way, somehow never getting any bigger no matter how many miles we covered. Its slopes wrapped in shifting clouds that changed every time we caught a new glimpse of it between the trees. Backtracking on this same stretch of road wouldn’ t be the end of the world.“ Pasa por aqui! Evita esas rocas!” The words started to sink in. Just like that, Caleb and I glanced at each other through our helmets with a look we knew well. After 15 years of riding together we didn’ t need to speak to know what was going to happen next. We were going to ride across this river.
42 / JULY 2026 / RIDERMAGAZINE. COM