San José is not a city people fall in love with at first sight, and it does not mind. It is a working capital in the middle of Costa Rica's Central Valley, some 1,100 metres above the sea, with nearly everything the country needs packed into a grid of traffic, shopfronts, markets and bus stops. What it does have is a climate that is almost always mild, and a ring of volcanoes standing guard on the horizon, Irazú and Poás among them, whose peaks catch the early light when the air is clear.
The centre has a few things worth lingering over. The National Theatre, finished in the late nineteenth century, was paid for by coffee money and is a surprisingly lavish pile of marble and gilded ceilings for a small republic, and the central market is a good place for a sit-down lunch of rice, beans and plantain. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, and the country is proud of that fact. Beyond the capital, though, is where the riding begins.
For a long day south, leave early. The Pan-American Highway climbs out of the valley and over the Talamanca ridge, and the stretch over the high pass is cold, windy and often wrapped in cloud, with a steady stream of trucks that you should overtake only with care. After that the road falls a very long way, down through cloud forest and into the warm, lush country of the south, so the temperature swing is dramatic and a waterproof is not optional. Rain is regular in the afternoons from May to November, and the morning is the time to be moving.
Fuel is easy in and around the capital and in the larger towns on the way, and you should fill up before you leave, since service stations are less frequent on the high road. Nearby suburbs such as Colima and Calle Blancos mean you can find a stop easily on the way out. Traffic in the valley is the real hazard here, heavy at the morning and evening rush, so aim to be on the highway before the commuters.