2 Months on a Bike in Colombia - 2019 and 2020

Excellent report, I used to run up to the church every Sunday. Can't wait to get back there, I had a V strom there for 10 years and now have a new KTM 790 hardly ridden. Colombia is a fantastic place.

Whew, finally made it to this pause at page 30!

Great report on what seems to be a fun adventure.

Also, several pages back and a week or so ago, you got me hooked on Duolingo- always regretted not learning Spanish in high school.

Anyway, keep it comin' !

I rode from Popayan to San Augustine late last year, great ride. Just make sure you check security before you go if you do it. Used to be completely off limits but much better last year although I believe security has deteriorated a little. Can't wait to get back there.

So y

So you rode through Purace National Park on that route. Where they feed the Andean Condors. Did you see any ? Popayan is South of Cali but still a good way from Ecuador. What kind of security concerns did you have ? Were there some good views in the park ?

I keep reading more accounts of the Mocoa-Pasto run ..AKA the Trampoline of Death. It is further South from Purace....getting rather close to Ecuador. It is on my bucket list.

Borders are generally less accessible areas, particularly the borders with Panama and Brazil. Ecuador and Venezuela too, but to a lesser extent. Those are good places for FARC and similar groups to hide and even conduct business. One must be careful to not intrude upon them.

Duolingo - catch me if you can.

I admit that I run hot and cold with language learning. Riding in Spanish speaking countries is very inspirational since it opens up so many more possibilities. So now I am back home where I have time to study and am running HOT.

The Duolngo game has many features to encourage you. One of them is to put you in a league with 49 other people at your experience level. There are 6 or 7 levels. If you score in the top 10 in your league you automatically go up one level. So I have been at the top level (diamond) for a while. But there is another goal of being number one in diamond league. I have never done that because there are always one or more players that are super motivated.. . so usually I am lucky to be in the top 1/4.

Not this week. I have hit a streak where I am making good progress and hit the #1 spot earlier in the week. The week ends this evening and I am carrying a 300 point lead over #2.

Out of the top 10 players this week in my league, 8 are women. Am I taking an unfair advantage ?

I too was in the top spot of the diamond league this week and then whammmm an Asian guy learning english blasted by me in one night by over a 1000 points!!!

Well, that wasn't going to happen to me. That's what the 300 point lead is for. And since you got me worried, I increased it to 400. So nobody dared to challenge me the last days before the week closed yesterday. Leaving me with a good margin winning diamond league for the first time.

Duo is constantly under development. Most of the moves they make are very good. Recently they started rewarding review less, so that you prefer to make progress on the "tree". Another good move was adding more explanations for grammatical rules.

Thanks for taking us along.

I will ride in Colombia - hopefully sooner rather than later.

But you need more pics of the chicas.....

And stay away from buying a business or into a business in foreign lands - stay friends with Ana & have fun with her & leave it at that - my.02 - I've known to be wrong

Great trip write ups - Thanks again

Check out the Duo Spanish podcast. One of the best out there, IMO

Getting a bike to Colombia just got more expensive and less fun. The Stahlratte, a big steel sailboat, that made many Panama-Cartagena trips is quitting the business. The boat is being sold and given other duties.

It used to cost around $1500 for bike and rider each way. There are other boats and freight options but the Stahlratte was a reliable highlight experience.

Anyone still going to Colombia ?

My next return is still a few months away but I am trying to keep up with the conditions in the meantime. So I hear we now have to double mask in the US to travel ?

Last time I had to run at the airport, with my luggage. Mask got wet. Started sucking in with the heavy breathing. Yeah, double mask. That’s the ticket.

Actually, I wish I could go now. The weather is perfect. And I no longer say political conditions cannot be worse. Because they can and will. So I would not put off travel plans. It may turn out to be impossible to travel later.

Following TLC travels but just on IG or FB.

Jeff's new book.

During my trip I stopped in Medellin to visit Jeff Cremer of Colombia Motorcycle Adventures. He impressed me as being extremely competent , friendly, and knowlegeable . We are still in touch. Today he emailed me about a book that he and a friend wrote together about riding in Colombia. It has just now been released for publication . Here is a link to it:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578847698/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_671BJ7MXW7DZX7R44Q24 .

To be honest, I just heard about it today and have not had a chance to read it. But I will.

friend of mine did a tour in Colombia this past december. I couldn't make it but we are planning on going sometime in the future and also Equador if and when the covid crap clears

Congratulations to Tomaso for having the cojones to pull the trigger on a trip to Bogota in these uncertain times. He is a inmate here who is following my lead on dental tourism combined with motorcycle adventure.

He is in Bogota right now, and speaking highly of Juan, the dentist, and also his KTM rental agency. Says he is saving 75 percent of the dental cost while getting way better service.

His trip is only for 2 weeks and just starting. I hope to hear from him some more.

I do not see a report here from Tomaso, so I will add some of his experience to mine.

He was offered a KTM 790R with zero miles on it but switched to a regular 790 after finding that the R was uncomfortably tall. Juan, the dentist, laid out a very nice loop to the North of Bogota for him. It includes the Zipaquira salt church and a spectacular cliff area, among several other sight worthy stops.

Tom has a 3 day window to tour at the moment so this loop will be perfect. He had considered doing the coffee region or the Southern desert, but they would have required some marathon riding if it was to be done in 3 days, so he is going to do the North loop and take his time instead.

I've been on several trips in 2020, one to Colorado, and several rallies, but I'm not brave enough to head to any other countries until after Covid is under control. I've taken fly & ride tours in Baja and Costa Rica, would love to go to Columbia.

Not sure which Columbia you are referring to. I like going to Colombia, which is a country in Northern South America.

The Covid hoax is not stopping me. The political aspects cause me some concern and inconvenience though. No ADV inmate has caught it, to my knowledge. Nobody I know has had it either, including Tom, who is in Colombia now, and Ana, the owner of the hotel near Medellin, who is visiting Miami presently.

Of course there is the motorcyclist in Florida who died from major crash but was listed as dying from Covid.
I do not want to get into much of a discussion about this due to the risk of a political squabble here, but I think it is obvious that those who are out and about are ready to live their lives normally.

Did I mis-spell Columbia? I know where it is. There is a British Columbia which is not a country, but a Province in Canada. Each of us make decisions, you are not letting Covid stopping you from visiting Columba which is fine, it's your decision. My decision is that there are enough domestic locations for me to ride to until the Global Pandemic COVID-19 is under control. Don't let your political leaning ruin a nice ride report to an exotic destination, we have a thread for that.

Yes, you mis-spelled it again. The country of Colombia is not spelled the way you do. Hopefully you will correct that before you go there.

The capitol of the US is spelled your way as well as the river between Washington and Oregon. That may be the source of your confusion. It will probably please the natives more if you can spell their country correctly.

But please go right ahead and make your own decision. I have a brother who can not spell either and will not learn. He quotes Mark Twain as saying that correct spelling indicates a lack of imagination. ha ha