Columbia

Thursday 1st October
Panama City to Bogotá City (Columbia)
Flight

The bikes, we had heard had arrived in Bogotá yesterday, so we were on our way to Bogotá. It took a short flight of 1 ½ hours to get to our Third section of our trip South America, as always the airports of all countries look the same and operate the same, only the different language on the signs denotes the country you are in. Once out of the air port the change was apparent, the temperature had dropped considerably and the humidity had gone as Bogotá is at altitude. Once we had collected our baggage, we left this in the taxi van and went to the customs to collect the bikes, this took about 3 hours to get the paperwork sorted and go collect the bikes from the warehouse. However once there we find we have to drive the bikes through an office and down a set of steep steps outside, the warehouse is only geared up to load lorries with their high, drive in bays. Once out of this the drive to the hotel was interesting to say the least, wacky races would be mild compared to this, well when in Rome …. So last minute lane changing, squeezing the bikes into any gap and forcing your way through the traffic is all par for the course, and a lot of fun! Later most of s decided to eat in town, it was very surprising, looking for all intents and purposes like any European café culture area, bar clubs and restaurants.

Miles
Today : 0
Total : 11763
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Friday 2 October
Bogotá
Bike servicing

I spent the day servicing my bike, we had been allowed the use of the local BMW dealer’s workshop, and this turned out to be a very large dealership, as large as any back in the UK. The workshop was kitted out with all the specialist tools and we were given the run of the workshop.

Miles
Today : 0
Total : 11763
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Saturday 3 October
Bogotá

I spent the morning unpacking the kit from the flight ready to load onto the bike, in the afternoon was a presentation in the dealership, as we were the first large group to go to Columbia, we were a big event, and many guests had been invited. Our bikes were put on display in the showroom still covered in dirt as they wanted them displayed like that. After a presentation we answered questions from guests and hosts about our bikes, as best we could, my Spanish is poor, but I muddled though and think some of them understood me!

Miles
Today : o
Total : 11763
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Sunday 4th October
Bogotá to Medellin

An early start for our first ride in Columbia as we joined some Columbian bikers as escorts to ride north to the city of Medellin. The first section started with miles of mountain twisty road getting warmer at first then cooler again as we wended our ay through the mountains. Although the mileage was not too long, but because the road was twisty we could not make good progress, after the lunch stop, the road became more a little quicker, it still took us into the darkness to get to the city a total of 12 hours of riding.

Miles
Today : 313
Total : 12076
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Monday 5th October
Medellin
Day off

Spent the day wandering around the city, being in a valley it’s easy to navigate and as a modern metro system, this again is very surprising and its very like many European cities. I like this city it appears to be a very nice and pleasant place to be.

Miles
Today : 0
Total : 12076
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Tuesday 6th October
Medellin to Cerritos

Again the riding in this country is superb, the hills and mountains very green as I climbed the temperature dropped and these roads were good with lots of bends. Later I dropped out of the mountains on to a flat plain with an increase in temperature I could see lots of sugar cane fields.

Miles
Today : 172
Total : 12248
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Wednesday 7th October
Cerritos to Popayan

Miles
Today : 222
Total 12470