Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Mohan
Posts: 2
Joined: 11 Aug 2022, 8:28am

Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Mohan »

Hi,
I am planning to go to Medellin in March 2023 for 1 month. I will be very grateful if I can talk with anyone who has been there and done some ROAD Cycling. I have many questions. I have scanned the web and gathered as much as I can but it’s nothing like talking to someone who had been there and done it. Please get in touch with me.
Thank you so much.
Mohan
(Brighton, UK)
Tiggertoo
Posts: 475
Joined: 2 Jun 2021, 4:52pm

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Tiggertoo »

Good grief!!! Cycling - or even being in Medellin for any reason - would in my view be insane.

In any case, don't you have to get permission from the local Capo?
Winders
Posts: 99
Joined: 31 Aug 2015, 6:15pm

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Winders »

Medellin, like much of Colombia is considerably safer than it used to be, while sadly much of Mexico and Central America has become more dangerous. Public transport there is pretty good, you can probably use the metro or the cable cars to get out of town into the countryside to ride.

I can’t advise you in particular about the road cycling there, but about ten years ago the road riding scene was developing fast and it was quite common to see club runs out in the scenic parts of the country (apparently now it’s the second most popular sport there after football, which figures). Perhaps look for some clubs in Medellin online, on Facebook maybe? A quick Google search confirms that there’s a lot going on out there. Anyway, good luck with the trip, looks like it’ll be fun if you don’t mind the hills!
Mohan
Posts: 2
Joined: 11 Aug 2022, 8:28am

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Mohan »

Thank you so much. I have been doing this but it’s difficult to fine someone who has been there and done what I plan to do. I have questions like do I take my own bike or hire type of questions but hard to find answers. I will keep trying. Thank you for your response.
Mohan
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by simonhill »

Obvious reply, but have you tried crazyguyonabike forum.

More likely to find US cyclists on there who have travelled to Colombia. You can ask questions there as well.

I've heard good things about cycling there, but I haven't been since the early 90s, when it was a bit more iffy.
Tangled Metal
Posts: 9505
Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Tangled Metal »

My partner lived in Colombia for 13 years and since then things have got a lot better with the various peace deals with the various armed groups. Ppl from Europe and especially UK rarely know what has been happening in Colombia nor realise it's doing a lot better than other central and South American countries. Not least with cycling.

My partner used to tell me about the Sundays that they shut down the main, central road through Bogota to cyclists and pedestrians. How bus drivers from one of the biggest Bogota companies train cyclist awareness into new, trainee drivers. You'll have seen the viral video a year or two ago where trainee drivers are on a stationary cycle in an underpass and they drive a large bus past them a little too closely. Not sure they actually do that but they do train them better than over here.

No idea about medellin as my partner never lived there during her time there but she does promise to show me around the places she visited one day. She loved her time there including the hiking in the hills when there were still terrorist militias around.

I hope the OP has a wonderful time over there, I'm sure he will. I also hope he comes back with a new thread telling us all about his experience there. I think we really need to know more about parts of the world the majority will never see but have developed so much from our stereotypical views of them from the past.
djb
Posts: 435
Joined: 24 Mar 2013, 9:27pm
Location: Canada eh

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by djb »

Mohan, in forums, folks sometimes ask about trips like this, but you do realize that it's completely in your interests to read trip journals from places like Crazy Guy etc of the country to get an idea of what you're getting into.

Are you completely unrealistic and unprepared and naive for thinking of going to bike in Colombia? I have no idea, but as someone who has lived, travelled on my own by bus etc , and also spent months biking in Latin America, do be aware of the realities and potential issues there.
I've biked through about half of Mexico and down through central America, so comment from a certain amount of experience.

As Simon says ;-) crazy guy journals are a great resource

What traveling experience/common sense/ language skills etc that you have, only you know that.

I wish you the best properly informing yourself of what a trip like this would entail.

Cycling culture is strong in Colombia, and I'd love to bike there, I have friends who have toured through it, but I'm being realistic in saying that it's not the same as heading off to France or something.
Jon Lucas
Posts: 364
Joined: 6 Mar 2009, 6:02pm
Location: Bath

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Jon Lucas »

I've never been to South or Central America, but can offer another source of ideas to answer a question like this. If you are planning a journey to a country where few others you might come across have cycled in, and are planning well ahead (as the OP is), one way to possibly find out more is to join Warm Showers, the web-based organisation where cycling hosts put up touring cyclists.

We have been WS hosts for many years, and have put up hundreds of touring cyclists in our time, and from that have gained a wealth of experience from those who have stayed here. Many have come from countries where it is highly unlikely I will ever travel to, or have traveled to them in their travels, but you find out that there is a wealth of cycle touring knowledge out there, from people who are actually doing it.

So if you are in a position to host touring cyclists for a night, you may well meet people who have cycled in countries (or come from them) which spark your interest to go to them (they may even put you up as a guest if they live there). Or if you cannot host, take a more local journey yourself in advance, so that you get to meet some WS hosts, who may well be able to tell you what they know about cycling in other countries, from either their own experiences or from the guests they have had.

We have never hosted anyone from Colombia and I can't remember having had a conversation about cycling there, but have met people who have cycled in the majority of countries around the world in my time, and our evening conversations often focus on our guests' cycling experiences and our own (which tend to be more limited, though we do have complete newcomers to cycling who stay, and who then learn much from our own journeys and from what we have heard from others).
Tiggertoo
Posts: 475
Joined: 2 Jun 2021, 4:52pm

Re: Road Cycling in Medellin, Colombia

Post by Tiggertoo »

I wanted to resurrect this topic because this morning a neighbour told me he is often in Columbia and said it is a wonderful country with lovely people and more birds, and flowers and wildlife than anywhere else on the two continents, and so to Mohan I will correct my earlier comment about the country and say to go for it, and when you return let us know how your trip went.
Have a wonderful time.
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