Bike travel, commuting and more

Panamericana

Colombia V: Pasto to Pedregal

Climb out of Pasto

Climb out of Pasto

Back on the bikes!

After the forced break in Santander de Quilichao, I could not wait to get back to the bikes. The stage would be tough though. We would have to climb from 2600 mts to 3200 mts in the first 13 km, joining a tough climb to the problem of altitude, to which we are obviously still not prepared.

Leaving Pasto
Leaving Pasto

We struggle with the weight, the climb and Susanne specially with the weight distribution. Each time she had to stop it was quite hard to get started again as the front panniers made it hard to control the bike. In the end we took longer than 3 hours to do just those 13 km, with a stop in the first half for breakfast in a family run place with good food.

Breakfast break outside Pasto
Breakfast break
Climbing out of Pasto
When the going gets tough, the tough get going

At the top of the climb we took a long break and ate a few pastries from the bakery there. We also tried Kumis, a local speciality the kids loved, which is some kind of sweet yogurt. Susanne wanted to continue just to the nearest accommodation, but we had 25 km of downhill so I would rather continue.

Drinking Kumis at the top
Drinking Kumis at the top

The sky was darker and darker, and when we were cycling downhill a downpour reached us. Susanne was clever to stop in a petrol station beforehand, but I continued thinking a village was nearby and I got soaked. The kids in the trailer did not even notice the rain and were laughing and throwing our spare toilet paper roll at each other.

Downhill to Pedregal starts
The downhill starts!
The rain starts too!
The rain starts too!

Tangua was the nearest village but it was on the other side of the highway, so we just continued downhill on a very good road. The rain stopped and we crossed another toll. Shortly afterwards we arrived in Pedregal, outside of the highway and with a killing last 500 meters on a very steep road.

Crossing the toll by the motorbike lane

We stayed on Moro’s hotel just based on looks, and Sara, the daughter of the owner did all the paperwork for us, even though she is probably just 6 or 7 years old. The hotel was nice and clean, with a huge internal patio to park our bikes, but again cold water.

Hotel patio in Pedregal
Hotel patio in Pedregal
Playing with the girls of the hotel
Simon and Thomas playing with the girls of the hotel

4 Comments

  1. Maria Alonso

    Me encanta las fotos! Que aventura mas genial!!! Soy vuestra fan number 1!!!

  2. Saúl Bellido Alfageme

    Menuda aventura. Pasadlo muy bien y muchas barritas energéticas, que todavía tenéis mucho viaje por delante.

  3. Katherine

    Parece que Los Andes ya se estan haciendo presente..ay mamà! Pero ustedes son unos aventureros clase A+ y eso sera pan comido! . Adelante queridos amigos!!! ( can’t wait for your adventures in Ecuador!!!)

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