If you are looking for a mountain bike vacation, we’ve got the perfect spot, the Costa Rica of Indian Ocean, and nobody knows about it. Welcome to a mountain biker’s Island Paradise, Sri Lanka.

The Costa Rica of Indian Ocean

Sri Lanka, small island nation off the southern coast of India on Indian Ocean, was not known for much other than good cricket, beautiful beaches and being hot. Not much by all accounts until the recent devastating Tsunami. You think an island vacation is all fun, sun, surfing, diving, crystal-clear aqua-blue waters lapping against powdery golden sand, pleasantly numbing cocktails? Well, yes, Sri Lanka has all that. But here, beyond the beaches and kicking back with a few cool ones, there's another island pleasure: lush hillsides with incredible riding trails.

The pedaling can be unvarnished as well. Despite a fairly impressive history of road cycling in the country, the motorists are a lot less accommodating these days. A quick drive through the narrow roads of the capital city of Colombo convinces any doubters. The city wasn't designed for a population boom and all the cars that came with it. Lead-footed drivers careen down narrow roads littered with table-sized potholes and lined with open drainage trenches. I fear for my life as honking cars pass within inches--and I'm sitting in a SUV.

We take our rides off road. Smart move, since the abundance of terrain is overwhelming. In six to seven days, you can ride through rainforests and evergreen forests, along ancient trade routes, hunting paths and tea plantations. It's all good, provided you bring the right frame of mind.

Bring the right frame of mind

Some of the trails of Sri Lanka aren't well-traveled routes. And the topography, highlighted by the 8,281 -foot Pidurutalagala, is raw and intimidating. In the rainforests particularly, aggressive plant species can quickly take back a trail, and heavy showers can reduce the best routes to mud-filled quagmires. You must remember, this is still a Third World country.

The battered backcountry roads, slick with rain and peppered with switchbacks, takes a toll on your gear. If you bring your own gear, always bring spare parts too.

Increasingly, eco-tourism and adventure tourism is beginning to attract more and more visitors to Sri Lanka which is one of the most biologically diverse countries in Asia. A bike tour with one of our guides is a rolling ecology classroom. This island of only 60,000 square Kilo Meters (37,282 sq. miles) with a quarter of the flowering plants are endemic while a half the amphibians and reptiles are also endemic to the country. You will see the country’s endemic mammals and reptiles as you ride the rain forest trails and up through cloud forest onto mountains.

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“David Yon, a 33-year-old VP of Business Development in a NY high-tech firm”.