July 16-18, 2016
Mostly back on paved roads and down to four cyclists, until we became seven!
Cycling Stats
July 16, 2016
Start Point: Colon, Putumayo, Colombia
Destination: El Encano, Nariño, Colombia
34.6 km trip, 4:16 time, 50.8 km/h maximum speed, 8.1 km/h average speed
July 17, 2016
Start Point: El Encano, Nariño, Colombia
Destination: Pedregal, Nariño, Colombia
59.9 km trip, 4:37 time, 59.2 km/h maximum speed, 13 km/h average speed
July 18, 2016
Start Point: Pedregal, Nariño, Colombia
Destination: Ipiales, Nariño, Colombia
41.9 km trip, 4:58 time, 49.9 km/h maximum speed, 8.4 km/h average speed
Route Description:
Most of the three days is on paved roads. The only time it becomes gravel is a very short section on the first day where it is steep grades and higher in elevation. It’s rideable but for some reason they don’t pave it. As you approach Ipialis on the last day the traffic definitely becomes heavier but you always have a shoulder. There are lots of places to buy food along the route.
Accommodations:
We stayed in hotels the first two nights and the last night in Ipialis we stayed at a warm showers host. There are plenty of opportunities for accommodation along the route.
What happened…
Amanda writes: So on our first day we knew we had some climbing to get out of Colon. Danny and Jess left early as they wanted to tackle far more mileage than we did. Philip, Nici, Andrew and I set out in hopes of reaching at least the first climb. It rained at times, but overall after tackling the trampolin it seemed anything was possible. Again the landscape throughout the ride continues to be beautiful. Something I notice about Colombia is most of the land is harvested and farmed in some way. No land goes unused. We basically just tried to accomplish as much mileage as we could each day without killing ourselves. Now that the exciting and challenging road was done, the four of us needed to get to Quito in Ecuador. Andrew and I needed to get there for a flight we had booked to the Galapagos Islands and Philip’s Dad was flying in from Austria to meet them.
On the third day of cycling we met up with yet more cyclists! It really seems we are traveling at the right time of year in these places now as we continue to see cycle tourists quite regularly. The first two German cyclists were two people that we met back in Mocoa. They were tackling the trampolin road a couple of days ahead of us so we didn’t think we’d see them again, but then they rolled up behind us and they had another friend they met along the way. The other fellow was a French cyclist who started in Cancun. We all chatted on the roadside for awhile before continuing. The frenchman ended up going ahead of everyone and then as we got closer to Ipialis we met up with yet another cyclist; crazy! Nakano is from Japan and he is very smiley and despite not really speaking Spanish or English; hand movements work great. We ended up sharing our warm showers accommodation with him, the two Germans, the two Austrians and us. It was very interesting because there were so many of us we ended up sleeping in the back of a semi-truck. It’s a long story but let’s just say it made sense. There was rain, inside the back of the semi was dry and we all fit. I can say that is a first for me; sleeping in the back of a semi-truck with friends. So we settled in and then made plans to cross the border into Ecuador which was only about 10 kilometres from where we were. Our host was wonderful. He provided us with the dry roof over our heads, good music, great conversation and a toilet and shower.