Bike and Hike Grenada - Cycling to Grand Etang and hiking to Mt. Qua Qua

Grand Etang Lake on route to Mt. Qua Qua

Cyling from St. George's to Grand Etang is a challenge, no question!
It is hot, it is steep and worst of all the secondhand bike which I bought here on the island has no uphill gears. It was clear from the beginning, that I would have to do some pushing along the route.

In the end I pushed my bike most of the time from the beginning of Grand Etang Forest Reserve.

I left St.George's around 7:15 and it took me about 2 hrs to get to the Grand Etang Lake - which is not all that bad. That includes some breaks in between to drink and to shelter a few passing showers.

Since the weather was on my side that morning I decided not to head back down to the city just yet. Instead I hiked to Mt. Qua Qua. The trail is currently in a quite good condition - a bit muddy and slippery in some areas but there is no bush to cut your way through.

I sat on the peak rock for about an hour and enjoyed the view which constantly changes with the moving clouds.

Mt. Qua Qua

From there I went on to the Beasejour Lookout. The view is spectacular but the lookout itself is in dire need of repair. The steps at the bottom have rotted and collapsed as you can see in the photo. A bit of gymnastics is needed if you intend to go all the way up.

Beasejour Lookout.

Now the way back home was just drama!

So my mountain bike is not only missing proper uphill gears, the brakes are really really bad. Although I changed the brake lining and brake levers yesterday before my bike and hike, they just don't have enough power to allow my to stop on a steeper hill. This is a must when attempting to cycle in this area of Grenada since there are several steep segements on the route.

I therefore had to spontaneously develop a technique to increase by brake power. Did I hear someone say feet! This was necessary but really not advisable. To add to that a spoke on my real wheel broke and the tube on the front wheel burst because of the heat. Since I forgot to bring a spare tube I had to cycle back most of the route on my rim. When am I going to learn!

One word on the Grenadian car drivers: they are the most aggressive drivers I have ever met. They don't give a s* if there is a cyclist, pedestrian or other slow road user on the road. They drive full-throttle even cutting across to your side of the road. Most times they don't even blow their horns to alert you. This was really the worst experience of the day!