I did the race last year and stayed at the Caribe. It's pretty busy around the hotel. I saw some people riding, but I chose not to. If you got up really early it might not be too bad, but not knowing the area and with all the traffic it felt like more risk than it was worth. I'm in WI so I had a lot of trainer time leading into the race but I did get out for a couple of outdoor rides prior to heading down there.

It's a great race. I'll probably do it again next year.

Cool, you'll probably do it again! I hear great things about the race. And coming from snowy Vermont, it will be a welcome break. Riding outside on the roads during March in Vermont is unlikely unless we get a warm spell. The last two winters have been too cold. I'm not a fan of traffic so it will be early morning or no riding at all.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

There is a bike path by the hotel you could ride a little if you just want to get little time on your bike after a winter on the trainer. You could get up early and ride some loops around the stadium. Better than nothing. Others may know if there's a better route, but I didn't see any good roads to ride close to the hotel.

The Caribe was great and my girlfriend loved it because it's right by the swim exit so she went up to the room and napped while I was on the bike. The day after the race we went into Old San Juan and explored a little which was fun. It's a tough early season race, but we really enjoyed the area and want to go back.

The swim was great. It's in a protected area so it doesn't really get choppy even though it was windy everyday. The water was warm and you can get out there and swim before the race. The bike is flat, but is exposed to sun and wind. The run is tough. It's hot and hilly. We had lots of brief showers in the days leading into the race and then on race day there wasn't a cloud in the sky so it got toasty out there.

It was a great race/vacation and gave us something to look forward to during the cold WI winter.

I did the race a couple years ago and I thought if I could get back I would have the concierge arrange for a taxi ( they were all big SUV/Vans) to take me and my bike to the far end of the bike course or maybe just after you get off the highway on to the ocean road and then pick me up an hour or so later.

I spent a week in PR a few years back. I drive in traffic in Atlanta all the time. I drove for a living here while in college. I will bike anywhere in Atlanta.Traffic in PR is insane! Completely insane! I have seen 4 lanes of traffic going one way on two lanes of a highway- 2 lanes and each shoulder. I am assured it has gotten worse. I do not think they have actual laws there. I would not bike there on the roads near San Juan. Nope.

Maybe drive out a bike elsewhere. I remember driving to the Arecibo radio telescope. There is a 20 mile mountain road that used to be like a long driveway. That would probably be nice. There were some nice roads out near Fajardo. (Never leave your bikes, or anything else, unattended at any time.)

---

---------------

"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC

Sounds great! Yeah even just getting out for a bit on a bike path in the morning and trying to go around the stadium would be enough. I love that you can swim before the race.

I hear that fat biking is popular in WI. We got fat bikes last year and they are super fun here in Vermont. Although this year we might be on the trainer a lot more than the fatties.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

That's a good idea! Or even leaving San Juan for a bike ride on a Friday or Saturday before the race.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Done it twice staying at the Carribe both times. You cannot do any meaningful bike ride there safely. Don't plan on it. This last trip I came later...Friday...doing my last ride at home before catching a flight. I stayed longer on the back end for the same amount of vacation time.

 OK the problem with most of the advice here is the complete lack of knowledge of how locals operate (no offense intended against anyone); however, everything stated by the previous comments is true: doing SOLO riding in San Juan is not only crazy dangerous but ridiculous when u r used to US standards. The easiest, safest and more effective way to ride in San Juan will be doing it with a group of locals who know exactly what they are doing and where are the places to ride. These are my recommendations for a great San Juan experience:

- Don't get any expectations on the roads! They totally suck! And you will find more potholes in 1-mile ride in PR than what you will find in ur entire life in your regular riding grounds, seriously!! But it will increase your riding skills and you will get a whole new appreciation for the place you currently train on.

- Be ready to break your paradigms about riding: these guys ride under very different conditions in terms of space, safety and implicit biking rules; you have to "do as the Romans" and just follow their lead and do what they do; it may seem very "weird", unusual and nuts at tes but just go with the flow and follow the group.

- Do not dare to ride alone: Sam Juan is not Chicago or Manhattan where, regardless the crazy traffic conditions, u may get some sympathy and respect from drivers; riding a bike in San Juan is like driving an Smart car in north west texas....... Size is power and they are willitto show u the hard way who is the boss.

- Be smart and train with the locals: there is a small tri shop close to Condado called " Koishma Multi sport"; the owner's name is Javier and he is the most well known endurance race organizer in PR; almost every single pro goes to his place for assistance, support and group rides while in town. They have 2x weekly rides on weekdays and they know exactly where to go; all those guys are fantastic, friendly, welcoming, funny and know how to ride in San Juan. That should be ur first phone call once u land in San Juan; the shop is 2-3 miles from the Caribe Hotel and they can get u anything and everything u need. Heck, they can even find u housing if ubdont have a hotel and want to rent an apartment!

I've done Sam Juan 70.3 3x times and I met them the first time I arrived to San Juan, clueless like most of the tourist and since then, it has been my favorite race, that much that I lived for a month in San Juan this year before the race. The place is spectacular if u know the right people so they teach u the in and outs. I am not doing it next year because I just got upset with the organization people in San Juan because they jacked up the price of the race 30% for 2016 compared with previous races, thinking the sold out event this year was a success while they completely forgot the only reason the race sold out was because there was no Panama race this year so everyone went to PR instead, they decided to stick it to the regulars and rip us off.....not this year San Juan, I decided for Florida.

Another tip: if u have not booked yet, book JETBLUE; it is the only US airline that allows u to check ur bike as a piece of luggage so there is no charge!! It is FREE!!! No other US airline does it and that's a huge plus for me. Roundtrip free bike!

Hope I was able to help and happy to answer questions on pvt msg if u want! I love San Juan and it has its ups and downs but if u know what u r doing and ask the right people, u will love that island even more.

P.

Got engaged there a couple of days before the race, loved the trip, and thought it was a great race, although don't underestimate the very hot and quite hilly run. Make sure to get some good coffee in old San Juan. Don't plan on biking anywhere near the hotels. Good race, too, for getting in some base race miles. The folks from Latin and South America come there in tip top shape given different seasons and weather.

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet. If you can get a car for the day, just drive to the el yunque rainforest. It's an awesome hill with a lot of roads some of which are completely closed off to cars, that's where all the locals are.

I wanted to do an early season 70.3 next year and it really came down to Panama and PR. I do think the lack of a Panama race this year skewed registration numbers.

The shooting incident mid-race probably was not the greatest thing to happen from a marketing standpoint either. Two athletes did get shot.

---

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Not a bad idea although the rental car prices in the island are ridiculous! but unless you know what you are doing, riding El Yunque alone can be risky: blind curves, tight roads and crappy roads; the group I mentioned goes to El Yunque or to the surrounded hills as well.

I completely forgot about that!! In fact, the previous year was another incident with a high speed chase on a stolen car which invaded the bike route twice; I am surprised only 1 person got hurt and it was just against a police car backing up to join the pursuit. Yeap, those incidents do not help and although are isolated, they took part on race day and on race route.

Thanks for all the great information! I've got the Koishma Multi Sport webpage book marked. I might even reach out by email first. But we will most likely drop into the shop.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.