It was a little overcast but Medellin is a large modern city sandwiched between mountains
In this town on the way to Medellin, the locals stopped to admire our travel bikes. They do everywhere in Latin America. I think it is because so many people here ride small 100-200 cc cycles
I cannot figure out why medellin is so prosperous. It can't all be from the drug trade.
One of the smaler Andes we rode over.
Bogota to Medellin - 350 miles
The road from Bogota to Medellin is only 350 miles yet it took over 13 hours to ride (breaks totaled about an hour). There are several reasons for this. The main reason it took so long is that the route goes up, over, and down an endless set of beautiful, high and very steep mountains. For nearly 200 of the 350 miles you tuck and twist your way around this Columbian portion of the Andes.
Another reason it took all day and part of the night is that the road does no appear to have been designed by experienced road engineers. Rather, it’s as if, to save money that had it designed by medical school students. They’re smart kids but they have no concept of a properly banked turn. Some of these hairpin switchbacks are banked the wrong way! Instead of helping your vehicle turn they make it more difficult. You are thrown toward the tree lined shoulder when making a turn. It’s disconcerting but adds to the technical nature of this ride.
Also slowing me down was the unpredictability of the road. Ordinarily the left and right twists balance each other out. It is logical and you can anticipate what’s coming next. This mountain route is an erratic and describes a path like the one that would be made if you filled a large balloon with air, but just as you were tying it closed it slipped from your grasp and spun crazily away. You can’t predict how it will twist and turn, only that it will eventually come down. This road is the same.
The final justification for my sloth is the road maintenance, or lack thereof. Fallen rock was everywhere. One large boulder was as big as a Spanish fighting bull, only more dangerous. Rather than move it off the road they put caution tape around it. Potholes are ever present and deep. Every 3 or 4 miles there is a patch of road under construction. They usually consist of 300 yards of missing asphalt and the rutted, irregular earth below.
The author doesn’t want it to sound as if this wasn’t a great ride. It was marvelous, but not for the faint of heart. It is very technical and demanding. I felt like I was racing on a track and halfway expected Rossi to scream past me, knee-scrapping in the turn. This is not a leisure jaunt. Cancel the ride if there is much rain and leave Bogota early or you’ll be riding in the dark before reaching Medellin.
The road from Bogota to Medellin is only 350 miles yet it took over 13 hours to ride (breaks totaled about an hour). There are several reasons for this. The main reason it took so long is that the route goes up, over, and down an endless set of beautiful, high and very steep mountains. For nearly 200 of the 350 miles you tuck and twist your way around this Columbian portion of the Andes.
Another reason it took all day and part of the night is that the road does no appear to have been designed by experienced road engineers. Rather, it’s as if, to save money that had it designed by medical school students. They’re smart kids but they have no concept of a properly banked turn. Some of these hairpin switchbacks are banked the wrong way! Instead of helping your vehicle turn they make it more difficult. You are thrown toward the tree lined shoulder when making a turn. It’s disconcerting but adds to the technical nature of this ride.
Also slowing me down was the unpredictability of the road. Ordinarily the left and right twists balance each other out. It is logical and you can anticipate what’s coming next. This mountain route is an erratic and describes a path like the one that would be made if you filled a large balloon with air, but just as you were tying it closed it slipped from your grasp and spun crazily away. You can’t predict how it will twist and turn, only that it will eventually come down. This road is the same.
The final justification for my sloth is the road maintenance, or lack thereof. Fallen rock was everywhere. One large boulder was as big as a Spanish fighting bull, only more dangerous. Rather than move it off the road they put caution tape around it. Potholes are ever present and deep. Every 3 or 4 miles there is a patch of road under construction. They usually consist of 300 yards of missing asphalt and the rutted, irregular earth below.
The author doesn’t want it to sound as if this wasn’t a great ride. It was marvelous, but not for the faint of heart. It is very technical and demanding. I felt like I was racing on a track and halfway expected Rossi to scream past me, knee-scrapping in the turn. This is not a leisure jaunt. Cancel the ride if there is much rain and leave Bogota early or you’ll be riding in the dark before reaching Medellin.
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