Cycling in Medellin Colombia

[damocles]

I'm heading down to Medellin to visit a buddy for about 3 weeks. Wondering if anyone from the Paceline has first hand knowledge of riding in / out / around Medellin?

Looks like a avid road cycling city with lots of Strava activity and a few online articles here and there. Pretty much everything I've gleaned about riding there is from this 2014 article: https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/lates...llin-colombia/

Any other intel or first hands reports would be awesome... Thanks!

[Mr. Pink]

Careful. The FARC rebels have made a call to arms, seems the three year peace is falling apart. The army just bombed and killed 7 in a rebel camp.

[Heisenberg]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Careful. The FARC rebels have made a call to arms, seems the three year peace is falling apart. The army just bombed and killed 7 in a rebel camp.

most of colombia is quite safe - and the FARC was never a serious threat in most populated areas over the past decade-plus.

so, fun story, i wrote that article. i was also just there about a month ago for 8 weeks.

where in MDE does your friend live? what time of year are you going? where do you live now? acclimation can suck.

there’s lots of good riding. much has changed since i wrote that piece for pez. road riding is now massively popular. more than anywhere on earth. sadly, for a few reasons, medellin itself can now be quite polluted on some days. the fun mellow riding is out of the city, to the east and to the southwest. if you can stomach 120km/2500m rides at altitude, riding out of town is fine. if you can’t, driving up to el retiro or llanogrande to start a ride isn’t too bad.

i actually work for a colombian f’builder. happy to give you more of a lowdown: nate@scarabcycles.com.

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

most of colombia is quite safe - and the FARC was never a serious threat in most populated areas over the past decade-plus.

It's like Mexico. Your odds of being a victim of random violence are very low. But your odds of being shot in the middle of a town square at noon on a Tuesday are exponentially higher than in the US, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan or Western Europe. Well, that's what my uncle in Salvatierra says.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/62-...in-guanajuato/

[Mr. Pink]

How about biking in the hills?

[happycampyer]

Give Abraham at Signature Cycles a call. He’s from Columbia and visits pretty often. There is an incredible cycling culture in Columbia. I’m sure he can give you suggestions for a guide, routes, etc.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

most of colombia is quite safe - and the FARC was never a serious threat in most populated areas over the past decade-plus.

so, fun story, i wrote that article. i was also just there about a month ago for 8 weeks.

where in MDE does your friend live? what time of year are you going? where do you live now? acclimation can suck.

there’s lots of good riding. much has changed since i wrote that piece for pez. road riding is now massively popular. more than anywhere on earth. sadly, for a few reasons, medellin itself can now be quite polluted on some days. the fun mellow riding is out of the city, to the east and to the southwest. if you can stomach 120km/2500m rides at altitude, riding out of town is fine. if you can’t, driving up to el retiro or llanogrande to start a ride isn’t too bad.

i actually work for a colombian f’builder. happy to give you more of a lowdown: nate@scarabcycles.com.

Nice read. Well done!

[Heisenberg]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

How about biking in the hills?

shakemydamnhead

whatever bro.

[homagesilkhope]

I take Mr. Pink's point - hey, you might wanna think twice about placing yourself directly in harm's way (my paraphrase) - but I seriously wonder where the greater risk lies: boarding an airliner for the flight to Colombia or getting caught up in FARC activity while there. After all, some umpteen million folks carry on in Colombia every single day. Kinda like in the US of A, you might say. Been temporarily away from that place now for a couple of months and from what I can tell from the news here, when it comes to random violence that joint's a pretty dicey proposition these days.

Hope you have a great time riding in Colombia. Even if not as widely practiced as in some places, cycling has produced - especially recently - so many national heroes/icons in Colombia that folks are absolutely crazy about cycling down there. Disfrute!

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

It's like Mexico. Your odds of being a victim of random violence are very low. But your odds of being shot in the middle of a town square at noon on a Tuesday are exponentially higher than in the US,

Hmmm. Seems like those odds may be changing on a ~weekly basis.....

[damocles]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

most of colombia is quite safe - and the FARC was never a serious threat in most populated areas over the past decade-plus.

so, fun story, i wrote that article. i was also just there about a month ago for 8 weeks.

where in MDE does your friend live? what time of year are you going? where do you live now? acclimation can suck.

there’s lots of good riding. much has changed since i wrote that piece for pez. road riding is now massively popular. more than anywhere on earth. sadly, for a few reasons, medellin itself can now be quite polluted on some days. the fun mellow riding is out of the city, to the east and to the southwest. if you can stomach 120km/2500m rides at altitude, riding out of town is fine. if you can’t, driving up to el retiro or llanogrande to start a ride isn’t too bad.

i actually work for a colombian f’builder. happy to give you more of a lowdown: nate@scarabcycles.com.

Nate, that’s awesome! Great to meet you here. I based 50% of my decision to go to Medellin on your 2014 prose... It comes up top on Google for “road cycling in Medellin” still too fyi

My buddy lives in El Poblado and I’m planning to rent an apartment there as well. I live at sea level in Vancouver, Canada, so will definitely have to go through the acclimation you talk about. I did just spend 2 weeks riding in Corvara, Italy (based at 1,500m, riding above 2,000m) and got sorted pretty quickly.

I’ll be landing in Medellin on September 19th and will be there for 3 weeks. I hear that we should expect some rain, but that’s not an all day thing.

Good tip on the driving out of town. I was thinking/hoping to avoid getting a car, but maybe I’ll reconsider that once we’re there. 100KM+ / 2,000M+ days are ok for me, but I’m also taking my girlfriend with me who rides. She’ll do one of those a week and look for half that dosage most days.

A part of me wants to take a poke at Alto de Letras while I’m close. Not sure if I’m fit enough this year and / or if it’s worth the effort but seems like a bucket list ride for novelty purposes alone.

I’ll shoot you a note directly as well, but with such little 2019 intel out there figured I’d add to this thread before it becomes an “Is it Safe to go to Colombia” thread . I do appreciate those comments and concerns, but from my perspective it’s moot as I’m booked and going 100% for sure.

[colker]

On a side note i just watched a brilliant colombian movie: Pajaros de verano. Think Scarface set on a parallel universe w/ dialogues in native american dialect. It´s an epic action movie set in the 80s marijuana smuggling to the US.... w/ a pagan religious morale.
Colombia is awesome.

[EB]

Seconding Nate’s recommendation for getting out of town to El Retiro and surroundings. The city itself is not a relaxing place to ride and the pollution is no joke - the geography of Medellin is a bowl that collects bad air, and emissions controls aren’t really a thing there.

If you do get out of town, it’s a road riding paradise. The roads were originally built to thread through the mountains to connect politically powerful haciendas - this makes the routes nonsensical for driving, but paradise for cyclists who like to climb and descend. Those same roads make car travel between cities impractical - flights between Bogotá and Medellin take 15 minutes, but driving takes 9 hours.

If you go I strongly suggest connecting with a local guide who knows the countryside. Spanish skills are also important - Colombia has the lowest rate of English knowledge in South America. It’s a wonderful country with great, humble, passionate people. As far as safety concerns go, I felt much safer in Medellin at night than I do in, say, New Orleans or St Louis.

One other random bit of advice is to skip the Narcos-related tourism options. The locals do not appreciate your Pablo Escobar t-shirt, I can assure you.

[colker]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

As far as safety concerns go, I felt much safer in Medellin at night than I do in, say, New Orleans or St Louis.

One other random bit of advice is to skip the Narcos-related tourism options. The locals do not appreciate your Pablo Escobar t-shirt, I can assure you.

I have always lived in big cities of latin america... as long as you use common sense you are mostly safe: watch the locals, embrace their routines, blend in (hardest part since appearances don´t lie). Don´t treat it as Scandinavia: ask around before going every place and every road. Sure.. lots of organized crime controlled places but otoh it´s so easy to get along. People are open minded and much less judgemental than you are used to.

[54ny77]

I can only imagine attempting to ride in the backyard playground of guys like Quintana or Bernal. At altitude no less.

Those guys are of a different cloth. Just amazing.