Greg Turley, Washington and Lee '87, Rides In The Andes
This year, I was invited to go to Medellin, Colombia with my friend Dr. Oscar Alvarez who is from Medellin. He's is an avid cyclist and had told me of cycling in the Andes Mountains. In good fashion, I said "Yes" to the trip. This would be a fulfillment of a life goal to visit South America.
"Aren't you afraid of going to Colombia?" asked everyone. If I was, I did it anyway and we even flew on Friday, September 11 arriving very early in the morning. After clearing Customs and a power nap, we went to pick up the bike I'd be riding. It was a nice Giant carbon frame - a little small but it beat packing my bike. Oscar already had a bike there at his parent's house and also had his own car there. I brought my Speedplay pedals and a pedal wrench and was ready.
The next day, Saturday, was our first ride. The area we would ride in is the "county" of Rio Negro which is outside of the city pretty near the international airport which was about 30 Km from the city. To get there you cross a large mountain. The climb up looked very steep but we just drove most of the way up. Stopping at a souvenir store El Caballo Troyo, we parked and started to ride about 11:00 a.m.
Within about 60 seconds, I quickly became short of breath. The climb was not steep. The speed was not great. But the 2400 meter altitude was unlike anything I had experienced. I didn't know what to do. Breathing was very shallow and quick. I had no idea how far we'd be going. We were on the side of a busy road to the airport.
I thought fast and rationalized that I was in pretty good shape and was able to pedal so I should keep going slow and steady. It worked! I didn't keep up with Oscar too well but kept going and breathing did return to a reasonably normal level. We rode about 35 minutes up climbing slowly and then a quick 10 minutes down. We had to get back for his niece Sara's First Communion.
Sunday we left early for our second ride. I was completed tired out (not sure why). We picked up Sara's dad, Carlos who joined us. He was a military man, in good shape. For all the lawlessness the US media paints Colombia with, there is a strong military culture. We had some breakfast after which I woke up finally. Oscar joked I might get sick on the ride. More nervousness...
We started again near the airport and started to climb. Up and up and up. It was like a road to a ski resort, switchback after switchback, no flat spots, more climbs around each bend. It was a long and difficult ride. I was by myself most of the time, since Oscar and Carlos were more experienced and could ride up the mountain faster. Using some common sense, I started looking at the horizon and noticed that we were about as high as we could go. Then, I crested and started the descent.
Wow! Down and down and down! 50 Km/h and I rode the brakes the whole way. The road was a little slick and I didn't want to skid. The bike was small so I had to keep back on it. An exhilarating ride down made it well worth the ride up. The road flattened out later and it was rolling hills to our destination which was Oscar's brother in law "Finca" (farm). A fine end to about a 3 hour ride.
Wednesday was our next day to ride. After that experience, I felt ready for it. We rode a shorter time, still up the mountain but the route was not so steep. We took a break in the little town of San Antonio which was a quaint village. No way you'd ever see a place like that if you were not on a bike.
Thursday was the last ride. It poured rain the entire drive out and I was pretty worried about the gear I had and the road conditions. As a guest, you go along. It stopped raining just as we got to the start point, and we just rode a short time, 1.5 hours, ending with a fine breakfast.
Riding in the mountains has 3 aspects I had not experienced. One is the altitude. Medellin is at 2400 meters in the Andes Mountains (about 7500 feet) so the air was thin. I was completed unprepared and have a new respect for the training at altitude.
Two is the climbing. Hard to do at a slow speed; great skill required to climb at a faster tempo. Oscar said he enjoyed the climbing because it was safer - slower speed - high effort.
My favorite however was the descent. The rush down was worth the major effort to get up. But I can see that you could get hurt if you weren't careful.
None of this would have occurred if I hadn't taken a big step to achieve a stretch goal. Work seemed pressing. Ten days seemed a long time to be gone out of the country and away from the family. So many people thought I would be kidnapped.
Reality was that Colombia was much closer to the USA that Europe. Many Colombians spoke at least some English. The children go to bilingual schools. People vacation in Florida, New York and L.A. We even went to Hooter's of Medellin.
How about you? Looking to go someplace you've always wanted to go? Looking to experience a sport or interest in another part of the world? Go ahead and go! You're not worth that much in kidnap ransom anyway.
Gregory Turley
Washington and Lee '87
"Aren't you afraid of going to Colombia?" asked everyone. If I was, I did it anyway and we even flew on Friday, September 11 arriving very early in the morning. After clearing Customs and a power nap, we went to pick up the bike I'd be riding. It was a nice Giant carbon frame - a little small but it beat packing my bike. Oscar already had a bike there at his parent's house and also had his own car there. I brought my Speedplay pedals and a pedal wrench and was ready.
The next day, Saturday, was our first ride. The area we would ride in is the "county" of Rio Negro which is outside of the city pretty near the international airport which was about 30 Km from the city. To get there you cross a large mountain. The climb up looked very steep but we just drove most of the way up. Stopping at a souvenir store El Caballo Troyo, we parked and started to ride about 11:00 a.m.
Within about 60 seconds, I quickly became short of breath. The climb was not steep. The speed was not great. But the 2400 meter altitude was unlike anything I had experienced. I didn't know what to do. Breathing was very shallow and quick. I had no idea how far we'd be going. We were on the side of a busy road to the airport.
I thought fast and rationalized that I was in pretty good shape and was able to pedal so I should keep going slow and steady. It worked! I didn't keep up with Oscar too well but kept going and breathing did return to a reasonably normal level. We rode about 35 minutes up climbing slowly and then a quick 10 minutes down. We had to get back for his niece Sara's First Communion.
Sunday we left early for our second ride. I was completed tired out (not sure why). We picked up Sara's dad, Carlos who joined us. He was a military man, in good shape. For all the lawlessness the US media paints Colombia with, there is a strong military culture. We had some breakfast after which I woke up finally. Oscar joked I might get sick on the ride. More nervousness...
We started again near the airport and started to climb. Up and up and up. It was like a road to a ski resort, switchback after switchback, no flat spots, more climbs around each bend. It was a long and difficult ride. I was by myself most of the time, since Oscar and Carlos were more experienced and could ride up the mountain faster. Using some common sense, I started looking at the horizon and noticed that we were about as high as we could go. Then, I crested and started the descent.
Wow! Down and down and down! 50 Km/h and I rode the brakes the whole way. The road was a little slick and I didn't want to skid. The bike was small so I had to keep back on it. An exhilarating ride down made it well worth the ride up. The road flattened out later and it was rolling hills to our destination which was Oscar's brother in law "Finca" (farm). A fine end to about a 3 hour ride.
Wednesday was our next day to ride. After that experience, I felt ready for it. We rode a shorter time, still up the mountain but the route was not so steep. We took a break in the little town of San Antonio which was a quaint village. No way you'd ever see a place like that if you were not on a bike.
Thursday was the last ride. It poured rain the entire drive out and I was pretty worried about the gear I had and the road conditions. As a guest, you go along. It stopped raining just as we got to the start point, and we just rode a short time, 1.5 hours, ending with a fine breakfast.
Riding in the mountains has 3 aspects I had not experienced. One is the altitude. Medellin is at 2400 meters in the Andes Mountains (about 7500 feet) so the air was thin. I was completed unprepared and have a new respect for the training at altitude.
Two is the climbing. Hard to do at a slow speed; great skill required to climb at a faster tempo. Oscar said he enjoyed the climbing because it was safer - slower speed - high effort.
My favorite however was the descent. The rush down was worth the major effort to get up. But I can see that you could get hurt if you weren't careful.
None of this would have occurred if I hadn't taken a big step to achieve a stretch goal. Work seemed pressing. Ten days seemed a long time to be gone out of the country and away from the family. So many people thought I would be kidnapped.
Reality was that Colombia was much closer to the USA that Europe. Many Colombians spoke at least some English. The children go to bilingual schools. People vacation in Florida, New York and L.A. We even went to Hooter's of Medellin.
How about you? Looking to go someplace you've always wanted to go? Looking to experience a sport or interest in another part of the world? Go ahead and go! You're not worth that much in kidnap ransom anyway.
Gregory Turley
Washington and Lee '87
Labels: Altitude, Andes, Colombia, cycling, Greg Turley, Mountains, South America, Travel
posted by Dave Cobb at
3:04 AM
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