Khach Me If You Can

….as well as arepas, culture, extreme landscapes, complicated history, art, music, and kind people to name a few others, but this would have resulted in a garbled mouthful of a title.

Colombia’s roads have provided the training grounds for cyclists such as Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal, and Rigoberto Uran to excel into world class superstars. Along with football, cycling is a sport ingrained in the nation’s DNA. I had long been dreaming of exploring the harsh beauty of Colombia, its small towns, and it’s challenging climbs from the saddle. When choosing a cycling holiday this amazing country should be on the shortlist of options.

Why Colombia?

I have an affinity for South America, and specifically Colombia. In my non-cycling related adventures I have been to the continent 6 times with 4 visits to the nation. The appeal of Colombia to me had as much to do with the culture and people to me as it did the cycling. The people of Colombia have dealt with a complicated and violent history including narcotraffickers, guerilla warfare rebellions, political corruption, and severe equity inequality. A series of past experiences that would leave lasting trauma among the typical citizens of the Western world. However the result is not a timid untrusting and pessimistic society, but rather a shaping of a healthy worldview to appreciate the good things in life and an ability to adapt and respond to minor setbacks with a laissez fare attitude. The people are incredibly kind, the attitude is generally laid back, and the authentic culture was held on to even tighter.

My experience in South America in general is that the countries at least give the feel of more freedom and independence than the United States in day to day life. There are the same laws maintaining your safety and autonomy from others in instances such as theft or violence; however, the obsession the United States has with planning for every potential scenario and bubble-wrapping the world against one’s own ignorance is not present. If you want to ride that motorbike without a helmet, it isn’t wise, but you are free to do so. You shouldn’t get too close to that edge, but if you do we aren’t going to install unsightly barriers disrupting the beauty of the landscape to ensure you don’t. Almost immediately I feel the brain fog of computing thousands of insignificant small problems and regulations every second lifted allowing me to focus on the tasks at hand and well… LIFE. A true moment of zen washes over me remains there even for some time after I have returned home.

I say these things with the caveat that one much also carry their own laissez fare attitude with them on the journey. This isn’t a destination for the OCD individual as there may be the occasional cold shower, loss of wifi, and time delay. To me these “problems” don’t even create a blip on the radar, but for some these little minor inconveniences could sour a whole experience, and if you are one of these people this likely isn’t the destination for you.

Arriving to Colombia

My itinerary took me from Boston to NYC and then directly to Medellin. I was due to arrive in Medellin at midnight, but after a few delays I wasn’t picking up my bikebox from baggage claim until around 1:00 AM. Luckily my prescheduled driver, Jhonatan, did not flinch at the additional time waiting around for me to arrive and was still at the meeting point with a “William” sign in the air and a smile on his face. Jhonatan did not speak a word of English so my jetlagged brain was immediately thrown into the fire of polishing the rust off of a language I had barely touched in 2 years.

My rudimentary Spanish was enough to learn that Jhonatan was also a cyclist, or maybe more appropriately as I would find out, cycling is a universal language down here. As we discussed our shared passion, and occasionally understood each other we drove down a series of beautiful winding mountain roads. I wanted to stop the car and assemble the bike right then and there, these roads were just asking to be ridden.

The journey ended in El Retiro, a medium-sized charming town about 30 minutes outside of downtown Medellin. This would be home base for the next 4 days before our routes took us across Colombia and to the base of “The Longest Climb in the World” Alto de Letras.

All of the lights were off and the front door of the hotel was locked. After some knocking and waiting a groggy woman answered the door clearly having just been woken by my rapping on the door. Despite my intrusion on her slumber, she happily greeted me and showed me to my room where I promptly collapsed. Only 5 short hours remained between me and my first ride, best to try to get a couple hours of shuteye in.

Say Yes to Pastries

4 hours later it was time for my still very jet-lagged body to wake and get ready for the day.

A cold shower is a quick cure to jetlag…. silver linings I suppose.

Breakfast was at a La Liebre, a cafe around the corner that had a loose definition of the 7:00 opening and a strict definition of phenomenal pastries. I lack a sweet tooth; however this place was quick to turn that around as I soon found out certain regions of Colombia are renowned for the pastries. Say yes to the pastries… always.

No cycling breakfast is complete without a bit of protein and en excessive amount of coffee so the best huevos rancheros this mouth has ever tasted and a few cold brews rounded out the pre ride meal. (I still get a kick out of there being no translation for “cold brew” and the simple English name doubling as a universal translation.)

Time to return to the hotel and build my weapon of choice for this trip, my 2019 Trek Emonda SL6.

Choose Your Weapon

I had a few options for my South America steed. My lightweight Trek Emonda with mechanical groupset, my aero 2021 Trek Madone SLR 7 with Di2, or borrowing a steelframe Scarab from Colombia Cycling.

Scarab makes an absolutely fantastic bicycle, and later in the trip I would get a tour of the Scarab factory to see first hand the love and care that goes into their bicycles, but for this trip I wanted to bring one of my own bikes with me.

As much as I love my new Madone and all the spaceship tech that goes into it I knew the Emonda was the right weapon for the job.

Lightweight, easier to pack, and easier to service made the Emonda the obvious choice for the trip. I could just as easily have hired the Scarab through Colombia Cycling; however I enjoy the feel of my own bike and perhaps secretly enjoy my steed collecting more passport stamps than the typical American.

In addition, I was going to Colombia to chase some epic climbs and the Emonda is a true climbers bike. It just WANTS to climb, the bike seems to subconsciously steer you towards grades even if your legs are screaming for flatter ground. Weighing about 2kg, the Emonda comes with no frivolous grams that will fight gravity.

I had learned my lessons from a nightmare of a bikepacking experience when leaving for Mexico a month prior and has successfully test-packed the Emonda in my hard case. So far so good.

Respect the Altitude

Being a coastal city, my home base of Boston, MA has a whopping altitude of 0 ft, at sea level. The first ride of the day was to begin at 7000 ft and climb higher at multiple points. When standing still the thinner air doesn’t outright smack you in the face; however there are signs that it’s there. A slight headache may linger, walking up stairs or uphill seem ever so slightly more laborious, and the effects are bound to become more pronounced as the effort increases.

The first ride was meant to acclimate to this new elevation, winding through the Colombian countryside of Llanogrande, La Ceja, Rionegro, and back to El Retiro.

Flat sections of road offered little to no discernable difference, but the second the road pointed upwards heartrate followed suit and each gasp of air offered noticeably less relief than at sea level.

The rule of thumb is that for every 1000 m (~3300 ft) gained in altitude there will be a 10% drop in one’s cherished FTP.

If you live at low elevation like myself it is critical to arrive to Colombia early to acclimate with some more forgiving route before attacking the legendary climbs the country has to offer.

The Land of Flowers

The initial ride took us through the wealthy suburbs of Medellin with colonial style mansions and their sprawling cattle and horse ranches. There was a crash course in the meaning of respecho , which is a small steep hill usually about 500m long with grades up to 15%. The respechos got the blood flowing and provided a leg burning introduction to Colombia cycling.

Along the entire route were walls of orange wildflowers on either side of the road. Motorbikes transporting flowers to market to be sent to overseas and be turned into stunning bouquets frequently passed us on the respechos as we passed stunning displays of these flowers still growing from the Earth.

Colombia is the second largest exporter of flowers in the world and this region was at the heart of the trade. Adding even more natural beauty to the incredible rolling Andean foothills.

The Culture of the Bicycle

As I pushed power to the pedals on the initial respechos of the tour I continuously heard my chain slip as it dropped into a higher gear. Aside from completely interrupting my cadence, the sound of any mechanical issue is maddening to us cyclists. A slight tick in the chain may that isn’t even registered to those of wheelless masses may as well be a vacuum cleaner through a megaphone pressed directly against our eardrum. If you want to break a cyclist just make them listen to a noisy drivetrain for a bit and forget about just giving any information you may want, they’ll offer to sing it in your favorite tune.

Juan led me into a bike shop with a few young boys working in it. The shop was adjoined to a classroom. As one of the boys worked on my bike re-indexing the gears and adjusting my cable tension Juan explained that after school the boys came to the shop to learn how to be bike mechanics. Many of these same mechanics would eventually become professional cyclists as well. Math, geometery, history, cycling… all from a young age. It began to become apparent to me how the region has produced so many world class cyclists. It isn’t a sport that one chooses at a certain point in their life to pursue. The sport chooses them. It’s a lifestyle here that becomes as much of a right of passage in education as any other subject.

The education in the bicycle was clearly met with unbridled enthusiasm as the boys laughed and joked with one another while meticulously caring for each bicycle their hands touched whether it was a trainer for a toddler or an all carbon race bike. It turns out when you love something there is no need to feign an interest.

The Eyebrow

… Or La Ceja, it a town along the day’s route that offered the perfect café stop. La Ceja is a town that has the culture of cycling ingrained deeply in it’s day to day life. My guide, Juan, informs us that it is the 2nd most popular town for cycling in all of Colombia. This makes itself evident as we sit in front of the white church in the main square observing hundreds of Colombians riding past with a padded bike rack outside of every business. A sign made of flowers identifies the name of the town along with the image of a bicycle directly underneath.

I opted for my favorite riding fuel, Coca Cola, and a buñuelo. Colombian buñuelos are friend corn dough with some cheese in the middle which make for a delicious calorie dense snack.

I am not a soda drinker, but for some reason during a hard ride nothing beats the perfect ratio of sugar, salt, and caffeine that a Coke has to offer. I may never drink one off the bike, but on the bike I may as well be sponsored by Coca Cola. Its the secret sauce, give it a try!

Burn it Home

Leaving La Ceja we turned upwards again for a couple of category 3 and 4 climbs before returning to home base at El Retiro. An “easy” acclimatizing ride of 32 miles and 3000 feet of elevation was complete. I was feeling strong, full of cycling bliss, and ready to take on the big climbs ahead.

My excitement of finally experiencing Colombia from the saddle had given me a watt boost despite the altitude. The good news was I was having an absolute blast and falling in love with the bike all over again. The “bad news” was this strong day 1 performance has set the bar high and my guides now were intent on pushing me to go harder in the climbs ahead.

Post Note

I will be sharing more specific breakdowns of some of the climbs and routes in subsequent blogs including a detailed breakdown of Alto de Letras, the climb around which this itinerary was built.

I also will simultaneously be working on compiling some clips of the experience in a Youtube video. Please consider SUBSCRIBING to my Youtube channel to help make future video projects possible.