Riosucio to Cartago: Colombia Cycling Journal
This was one of the more enjoyable cycling days of my 2009/2010 bike tour from Alaska to Argentina so far. The first hour was still quite tough, but the views were unreal.
Cycling from Riosucio to Cartago
Blog post written: May 21, 2010
There is something magical about looking down onto clouds drifting between mountain tops.
More so because the view had been earned through bloody hard work!
Each view was better than the last.
It really felt as though I was on top of the world.
After that first hour, the route became rolling up to the town of San Clement, where I took a nice breakfast.
The road leading out to the town of Anserma was rolling once more, and the it was basically downhill and flat for the next 40kms to La Virginia.
I had to stop a couple of times to let the brakes and rims cool down on what was a great descent.
From La Virginia it was all uphill to the junction town of Cerritos where I rejoined the main highway, and glided downhill to Cartago. 12,000 pesos saw me in a hotel room attached once more to a service station.
Reflections on the day
So, although I took the wrong road, it actually turned out to be the right path, if you get my meaning, and if any other cyclists reading this are planning to ride through Colombia, I strongly recommend this route. It bypasses the city of Pereira which is probably a pain to cycle through, and the views are out of this world.
Read more about cycling from Alaska to Argentina
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Dave is a UK travel writer living in Athens since 2015. With 20 years of firsthand travel experience and over 80,000 km of bicycle touring across six continents, he's been blogging at Dave's Travel Pages since 2005. Every guide is based on places he's actually been.
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