Villa de Leyva: Reflections of our first week on the road

When you look at a map, the distance between Bogotá and Villa de Leyva is not that far. A couple of centimeters maybe. It took us six days to cycle that 190km or so with some difficult.

This first week we were supposed to take it easy, get into the groove of cycle touring, get in shape and learn as we go. We did that and then some, but at the same time we had to tackle some major elevation that was in the way. We crested 3,000 meters three times in two days. The are no flat roads in Colombia. You go up, then you go down, adjust your brakes, then you go up again.

We pushed a lot. Pushing isn’t much fun. It’s tiring, and at 3,000m it’s just that much harder. We needed to get lighter. Between us we purged three dry sacks of stuff we don’t want to push up mountains anymore.

The first time we summited 3,000 meters it was in fog and rain. It was quite atmospheric, however I really just wanted to get back into the sunshine.

By the third time, on the way down we ran into a French family cycling up the mountain late in the day. I offered what information I could about the road ahead for them but I would not want to be in their position trying to get to the next town just starting a climb like that at 3:30pm when it’s dark by 5:30pm.

Finally we made it to our destination and after a couple days of organizing and rest, we are ready for our next adventure which will take us deep into the province of Boyoca and up to San Gil.