Riding down a stretch of freshly paved asphalt I see the sun rising, while overlooking local farmers working in their peanut, yucca, and sugar cane fields. Glancing to the left I see a series of eight volcanoes, none more ominous than the one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Central America and its smoldering, gaseous fumes, San Cristobal.

What’s a guy from Winnipeg, Canada doing riding a bike in Nicaragua in January?  Well, it all started as a rough idea about six months ago.  I travel each year to a different continent to explore different countries and cultures, and what they have to offer.

Training in the midst of an active volcano, San Cristobal

As a triathlete I am an active person, so my travel plans always include some sort of active adventure. For instance, in 2011 I rode a mountain bike 1000 kilometers across Tanzania, followed up a few weeks later with summiting the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. In 2010, I mountain biked and trekked into the ruins of Machu Pichu, Peru, and in 2009 I trekked into the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

My plan this year was to somehow combine two of my greatest passions, which are traveling and triathlon.  I had few parameters other than my preference to avoid as much of the cold Canadian winter as possible by traveling during the winter months.

An online search for half-Ironman races led me to quickly conclude that the half-Ironman (1.9 km swim, 90 km cycle, and 21km half marathon) triathlon in Panama City, Panama on February 12, 2012 was going to be the one. I have long been interested in Central America and thus a plan was born. There were logistics that needed to be figured out (time away from my career, support from family, developing a training plan, pre-training) but I was convinced this could work out.

A few month later and here I am, basking on the beautiful beach of Las Penitas, Nicaragua after a terrific training ride of 120 km. Las Penitas is about 110 kilometers northwest of Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua.  I have been training (swimming, cycling, and running) on the beaches and roads of this sleepy little fishing village for almost two weeks and it has been a terrific experience to say the least.

I feel like I have found a little slice of triathlon training heaven; who would have thought that something like this was possible in Nicaragua? Click here to read more.. »