Adventure Journal: All Roads in Colombia

The Idea: We’ve talked about riding bikes in Colombia for years, its been quickly creeping its way up to the top of our list of destinations to visit and rid. With the feeling COVID is mostly in the rearview mirror, this seemed like the time to do the things we’ve always talked about doing. Our plan was hatched quickly and without much thought (typical for us): a cycling trip somewhere outside of Bogota, sometime between the week between Christmas Eve to New Years Eve and somehow we'd figure out what ride while there. And of course what is a cycling trip without cycling friends, someone would come along. Our good friends Kristen and Nick are always down for adventure and excited to help make the trip.

The Gear: We reached out to friends near and far who had been or know about Colombia to get a sense of the riding and what to bring as far as bikes, tire widths and gearing ratios. After many opinions, much debate, and no set routes made, Aaron and I decided to bring our GT-1 All Road Bikes, outfitted with WTB Vulpine 36 cc multi-terrain treaded tires and our favorite Shimano GRX combo with a small 34/40t ratio for the climbs. Perhaps the All-Road would be a bit underpowered for super chonky bits of gravel we would likely encounter, not quite the optimal efficient road machine for the amazing road climbs we've heard of, but a great all-around choice for whatever