After visiting the mountains, we hopped on our bikes and pedaled for Boyaca.
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| what you need on any climb is cheese melted in hot sugar water |
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| crossing la linea, one of colombia's most famous mountain passes |
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| ironic that they call the semi-trucks "mulas" here, when they are still using real mules |
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| what? a bike path? |
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| sleeping at the fire station in girardot |
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| two days of continuous uphill and we were in cundinamarca |
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| misty sewage waterfalls and all, the outskirts of bogota are pretty toxic |
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| speaking of toxic, gas stations dinners are always delicious |
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| i didn't know the raj had a second home in colombia |
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| on the highway, magda adopted us for a few days |
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| i spotted this grandma spinning yarn. her grandson runs an internet cafe, she told us |
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| Magda was considering joining us for a leg... |
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| flat tire |
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| i love handmade hardware |
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| the massive cobbled plaza of Villa de Leyva |
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| Celebratory banana split. This time, WITHOUT cheese |
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| Land Rovers lurk behind every door. |
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| the brim i added to my helmet saved my face. but the climbing was still HOT |
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| Noooooooooooo! |
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| crossing the Rio Magdalena |
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| back in San Antonio de Prado finally |
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| Jan and Karina show off their old Rohloff sprockets |
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| oh yeah, that is my hernia. you're welcome. |
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| even hernia surgery couldn't slow down my cheeto comsumption |
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| a quick visit to Apartado |
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| Perro, never without a good dose of rubbing alcohol in his system |
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| My good friend Beltran, in his shop in Apartado |
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| He always seems to have an appetite for spare parts |
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| My Suzi, looking pretty, and no longer mine |
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| A send-off gathering with the local Semillero |
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| Careful: Affectionate Dogs |
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| This game is called rana. You through brass discs and try to land them in the frogs' mouths. I can see it catching on bigtime in the US |
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| Manuela, just about the cutest ever. |
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| The Semillero Juvenil de San Antonio de Prado shows off their skills |
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| Yohnni and Justy were true warriors and came with me on the pre-dawn airport expedition |
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| homeward bound |
After winding down the cycling tour of Colombia, I decided it was a good time to get my hernia patched up, and a good time to head back to the US to recover, to visit family and friends, and to put some money en el banco. So I sold the motorcycle, packed up Tatanka, and boarded a plane to Indianapolis. After 2 years on the highways of Latin America, I came to love it. There are so many places I never got to see, but it was a good run. I had wanted to ride around the world in one go, but lost my way, most likely in my crossing of Darien. I'm going to take a break from posting to the blog for a while, at least until I have some interesting roadworthy content. I hope to be back on the move later this year.
Thanks for following along and for supporting me with your comments and encouragement. I hope you are inspired to take a step outside, to check out what lies on down the road.
