Lake Atitlán Enduro Tour

I really loved tour! My brother and I were headed to Lake Atitlan after Antigua, so we used this ride as our means of getting there. We sent our luggage with the shuttle and continued our journey from the lake after the second day’s ride. It made for a really cool and tremendously satisfying way to reach the lake.

The views on this tour are insane. Descending from the top of the mountain overlooking the lake into the village below and then to the waterfront was an unforgettable experience. The tour also comes with another delicious local Guatemalan breakfast on day 2 and a midday lunch (on both days).

Brendan and his team’s deep passion for the culture and inspirational vision for MTB Guatemala was very obvious from the moment we met them in the shop. They have been identifying, studying and developing these routes for several years and it was really cool to see what they have done. They are building something really fantastic and I can’t wait to go back and shred some more with them. Absolutely recommend to anyone and everyone! You will NOT be disappointed.

I had an absolutely incredible time on this tour! The mountain biking was awesome (singletrack totally different than any other riding I’ve done) and in a short period of time gave a good glimpse into the culture of the country. It was the highlight of my time in Guatemala!

There are 2 full days of riding and they’re challenging from both a fitness and technical point of view. I normally ride blues/blacks and the terrain there was challenging but in a good way. I wasn’t sure what it would be like and the riding exceeded my expectations by far. The views were spectacular and it was the perfect way of getting from Antigua to the lake.

Brendan and his team really went above and beyond for guiding – not only is he crazy good on the bike and knows the trails in and out, but they also explained a lot about the cultural background of Guatemala, introduced me to delicious local food (with amazing veggie options), and even taught some Spanish! The team’s love of Guatemala and biking was obvious and super inspiring to ride with.

I would highly recommend this tour – it was one of those trips you wish would never end and I can’t wait to go back!

Riding in Guatemala was an amazing experience and I am so glad I did it. I was visiting Guatamala with other non-rider friends and was looking into getting out for a day of two of riding. I quickly found mtbguatamala.com and sent an email detailing my dates, ability and what I was looking to do and got a quick detailed reply from Brendan. A few emails later I was set up with a bike, two and half days guided riding and accommodations. I was quickly getting stocked on Guatemala.

The first day Brendan picked me up and took me on an afternoon “warm up ride” up in the mountains outside of Antigua. I consider myself a good rider and Brendan tested me right off with some technical descending. I will have to admit I had to walk a couple sections. Brendan took his time though and we had plenty of stops, where I would not only catch my breath, but he would enthusiastically explain so many interesting things about Guatamala from politics to the vibrant mountain biking culture. I can tell you he is very passionate about two things, Guatemala and Mountain biking. We rode down some great trails that first day, all the way down to my hotel in Antigua, it was perfect.

The next morning he picked me up early, we had a classic Guatemalan breakfast and then met up with our local native riding guide Alex who joined us and gave us a guided tour of Iximche, an ancient Mayan city which was amazing. After a quick tour we got on the bikes and headed off for our adventure for the day.

Over the day we traveled down a combination of foot paths, roads and other good weirdness not like anything I have ever ridden before. I really got to appreciate how many hundreds of hours it must have taken to link up all these trails. The best part of the day was the very end riding down through the narrow urban alleys and steps into Santa Catarina Polopo and Lake Atitlan.

We spent the night in a comfortable hotel in Panajachel where we loaded up on some good local food then visited the famous Pana Rock bar for some live music, Guatemalan brews and great conversation. We woke early the next day and had another classic breakfast then drove, then rode, high into the mountains. This was not what I was expecting as we were in pine forests, fern grottos and trout filled lakes. We had some moderate climbing to get going but this was followed by some fantastic descents.

I really enjoyed stopping at the various stores and villages to interact with the locals. It was great having Alex with us who could speak the local native languages and provide more insights into the native culture. It was truly an amazing trip and would highly recommends this tour to any serious mountain biker looking for an adventure.

This two day trip was the best riding I’ve done. I think that means something when you think about that I started mountain biking in 1985. I have been riding in Europe (Belgium, France and Switzerland mostly), New Zealand (mostly the South Island) and the US (Marin obviously, but also Utah, Lake Tahoe and the Sierras).

I guess the reason why it was so good is that the tour we did had aspects of all my top rides packed into one. Add to that the cultural info that we learned from our guide, Alex along the way. It was a good and balanced package. You have a gem!