My Favourite Bike Ride

As a cyclist in Jamaica starting in Kingston there are a number of superb rides to take, ranging widely in variety.

There are mountains to tackle, seaside routes to explore, a long, traffic-free peninsula to speed along and city neighborhoods to check out.

But my favorite is a ride that starts at Manor Park in Norbrook and heads up to Peter’s Rock. It is a mountain bike ride that last anywhere from ninety minutes to 2 hours. It consists of s steep climb followed by a scenic descent.

And what a climb it is. By my count there are 6.5 steep climbs – 5 tough ones and three halfs.

This morning, I took the ride at daybreak… and it was superb.


It was cool, and got cooler as I climbed. The air was quite crisp, and although it took everything from me to climb those hills, as usual I loved the sense of accomplishment that comes doing such a tough climb before breakfast.

Along the way, the views of Kingston alternate with the view of the hills, and the sun coming over the hill just makes the effort worthwhile. I came back down slowly so that I could appreciate the sight of the sun hitting Portmore, Red Hills, Port Royal and the stretch from Constant Spring to Downtown.

Luckily, the road is still being fixed after the rains of 2005, so there are still very few cars on the road. When it is done, I believe that it might return to being as busy as it could be, but for now it remains a pleasure… one of the many that are there for the taking for those of us who live here.