March 2017 | 125
At 0430 the Baggage Reclaim area of Bogota airport was a quiet place to build up the bicycles before heading towards the centre on dedicated cycle-paths that dipped under junctions- " tricky to construct " said a civil engineer . On to a meeting and lunch with Friends of Colombia for Social Aid ( www . FOCSA . org .) President Maria Cristina . Our 9th Colombian tour was in order to ride again the wonderful mountain roads , to meet ex-BarrancaBermeja racing friends now spread out over the country and visit , check out and meet the users of hospital equipment used by Colombia ' s poorer children .
From Chia , down , down , down at 33mph into a cauldron of heat for mile after mile round sweeping bends . Cyclists " in heaven ". However , we paid for it next day with 1000m of
Rio Magdalena , sadly very low ( El Nino / global warming ) and with only
with their hand nets in Honda a hot , beautiful and historic colonial town . We had lived on the Magdalena in 1977-79 and come to love it .
Three days of hard climbing to 3500m , and over the Alto de Lettras Pass , with views west towards even higher mountains . Dogs are not so vicious in these parts and uplifting music played as we passed quiet homesteads perched precariously above steep
of the many children ' s hospitals , the equipment was in good condition and really appreciated and we are shown a video and given a tour of the hospital by the Director . In the afternoon , a heavy shower and suddenly the 5000mt plus Nevada De Ruiz is clearly visible , but without snow this time of year . road , nowadays . In the afternoon , after yet another 1000m climb in 40C temps up to Rio Sucio , we are rewarded by
using the room that Lucho Herrara had previously slept in . Perhaps some
after all I do have photo of him and myself on a 200m long Essex hill . Later that evening we stumble across the Carnival del Virgen of Candalaria with
running around in the sparks .
The next morning a visit to the Rio Sucio hospital where four FOCSA donated incubators were checked together with calibration , maintenance
good working order .
Lots of climbs , gradients the usual 5 %, then 7,9,10 even 11 % and the heat 27C then 30,35,39,40 , 42 and topping 43C in the sun . Good for losing weight 63kg , then 62,61 … Great descents follow and we see small steel-wheeled trucks carrying bamboo , with their Flinstonesque brakes which are lorry tyre rubber stood on by the driver ! We spend overnights at La Pintada and the lively hill town of Sta . Barbara where a terrace overlooks distant mountains and Rio Cauca before the long fast bendy descent to Medellin . There , six FOCSA equipment locations are visited as well as ex-racing friends from the late ' 70s .
Mechanicals so far : two tyre problemssolved with new Schwalbes ; a broken brake cable but more time consuming was after a road-works where they let us sneak through but we rode over new , hot , wet tar which rose up 1cm with all the grit , glass etc . stuck to the tyre and still partly attached after a few days ! An own goal but our old Raleigh and Hill Special 10 speed traditional tourers still going strong .
Leaving Manizales , lots and lots of cyclists pass the hotel early in the morning , racers , mountain bikers of both sexes . Cycling is still going strong in the land of Cochise , Lucho and now Quintana , although nowadays often on MTBs with slicks and in the towns at
and the heat of the day .)
MANIZALES TO MEDELLIN A dreaded tunnel . As we stopped to put on a rear light , a six-axled " tractomulle " slowed right down , held
passing through the dark tunnel and waving him onwards . How caring and professional are these kings of the
MEDELLÍN TO BARRANCABERMEJA : BACK POCKET NOTES Leaving the Dodgem Car racing that was Medellín , a run between buses , motos , taxis and bicycles took seventeen miles until open country and , what ' s this , a dedicated cycle path all the way to Barbosa . On to a cattle ranch stay after a windy , rolling day on a treelined road . There , treated to a tour of natural swimming pools , breeding sheep and cattle plus a personal show of a mixture of ballet and brutality . Sad news RIP- a dear Essex cycling friend . This was balanced out by the
' boy ' himself born in our digs when we were ski instructors in 1969 .
GB Special
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