I've never found Cuban food bad at all. Always noticed its the meat & potato/Big Mac hamburger crowd that usually are doing the complaining. When visiting any foreign country, you have to have some sort of culinary adventurous spirit and be willing to experiment and eat like a local. Nobody is starving in Cuba and the food is probably much healthier that the average North American diet. Certainly a lot less obesity there.

I was there in January and the buffet food was no better than it was 30 years ago.

That said I had some really excellent meals in Havana and one on the resort at one of their restaurants.

I have to think the people that were complaining about the lack of sport specific stores didnt spend any time researching where they were going.

As they discovered, Cuba is dirt poor. They must be pretty self absorbed to focus on their own "problems" rather than be so thankful for their incredible standard of living back home. It is always a good reminder for me when I travel see how most of the world lives.

Steve, I don't suppose you have GPS files of where you rode? (I looked for you on Strava without luck). Strava heatmap gives an indication of where people seem to ride but I'm curious if that's where you went as well or elsewhere. Also wondering which directions you would recommend based on what you did?

Miss P and I were riding naked - no data! Just going with the flow on the rides lead by the locals. There was one guy on the trip who is on Strava. I'll get his info and pass it onto you via a DM.

We were riding mostly in the area of Varadero Town, Matanzas, Cardenas and Maxio Gomez. We were staying at a hotel out near the end of the Varadero penninsula - that meant each ride started/finished along that 15km stretch. There were strong Trade Winds blowing almost every day from the east and north east, which meant that final 15k was straight into that wind!!

The terrain in the area is flat to rolling. Not many really big hills - which at this time of the year is fine by me - just getting in the miles at a solid pace.

As noted previously, the one day we road the coastal road past Matanzas all the way into downtown Havana - pushed all the way by the trade winds! :)

There is a cafe/hamburger stand in the central part of Varadero town(at the triangulated intersection of 1st & Playa), where many of the local cyclists gather for a shot of espresso before rides. The gathering time seemed to be in the 8:30 - 9:00 range.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Cool, thanks! How was traffic along the Varadero strip itself? That's one thing my wife is worried about that it will be really busy along there but I don't feel that will be a concern.

How was traffic along the Varadero strip itself?


That was the busiest stretch of road that we road on all week (with the one exception being on the final 5km run-in to Havana).

However, again as I noted previously, I was actually VERY pleasantly surprised by the courteousness, and respect of every driver. Seeing what you first see in Cuba - the knee-jerk reaction is to expect the worst - but it's actually the complete opposite. On the four lane bigger roads, we were ALWAYS given the full lane. On two lane roads, motorists, would ALWAYS wait for a fully safe place to make a pass, then pull out completely into the other lane and make the pass. I encounter more (motorist generated) dangerous situations, higher risk and motorist hostility on rides at home on a single ride, than I would seem to receive in Cuba. Granted, this was only a week of riding in Cuba - but the behavior pattern of the motorists was remarkably consistent! (Just as the behavior pattern of drivers at home is remarkably consistent in the opposite, negative way) :(

What you have to look out for actually are the horse & buggies, locals on bikes and pedestrians (all obviously moving slowly) who are on the road - they come up quickly when you are moving along at 35+km/hr.

Probably a good idea, to use a flashing rear (red) and front(white) light for extra piece of mind.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog