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Road cycling/training in and in the hills above Medellin

Saludos

I am a 39 year old gringo residing in New Jersey (USA)with my 36 year old Paisa wife (born and raised in Itaguii - educated at the University of Medellin) and a beautiful 4 month old son. Beginning this July, we plan to travel to Medellin for 4 to 8 weeks every summer (I am a school teacher with nearly 3 months of vacation) as a family to visit my wife's family and friends, mostly in Itaguii and Envigado. I am an avid road cyclist/amateur racer in the US, will be bringing a bike with me and am looking for safe areas/routes to train on and possibly some riding partners. I definitely like to ride in the hills, but I understand that this might be a bit more dangerous than sticking to the city. From what I can tell from previous visits, there don't seem to be ANY safe roads in or around the city for cycling, as the drivers seem a bit crazy, the roads windy and narrow, and the traffic laws mostly unenforced. I hope my perception is incorrect. Are there certain areas (or roads)in the city and the surrounding suburbs that should be avoided? Are there any organized cycling groups that I could join up with? I understand that there is a velodrome in the city as well. Although I am inexperienced at track cycling, I am considering taking it up prior to my trip at a local velodrome, then continuing this style of training/racing at the velodrome in Medellin, as it is likely to be safer. Any info/advice/contacts about cycling in the greater Medellin area would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening. Feel free to contact me directly at: kgaissert at pennington.org

By kengais on May 31, 2004, 12:31 in Friendly Talkzone.

viewpoint says on May 31, 2004, 15:17:

Cycling Medellin You or others might not like my comment but I would leave your bike at home. Your wife already told you no. On Sundays they shut down the southbound lane of the Alta Pista and that is certainly safe. To be honest the climb from Las Palmas towards RioNegro is only for the most fit person (I am sure you would qualify).

The real problem is that cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles have no respect for each other let alone a bicycle. When I first came to Medellin I noticed a lot of people without legs and arms but later I learned that these (for the most part) were survivors of motorcycle accidents with cars and trucks. The Azules (men in blue) cannot enforce traffic laws to any degree because there are so few of them and mostly without transportation except a motorcycle.

Your perception is correct but on saturdays or sundays you would soon find cycling partners on the road up the hill from Los Palmas towards RioNegro. Just make sure that you are down the hill before 5:00pm on Sunday as that road becomes a one-way road down the hill (from 5:00pm to about 7:00pm) with two and three cars abreast traveling at 80k (or more)racing home for the weekend. You could be someones hood orniment.

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observer says on Jun 1, 2004, 19:12:

cycling in Colombia I have cycled all over Colombia, and to be very honest it is always better outside of the cities, 5 am to about 7 am are the best hours. I have some friends who know cyclists in medellin I will talk to them and see if I can hook you up with some people. As far as bringing your bike absolutly, not a problem, and as far as colombia is concern, man they are cycling crazy, they love the sport. So no problem in hooking up with riders espcially in medellin.

I prefer to be outside of the cities, I can not tell you where a good place is in medellin, I live in Bogota, but I cycled there for a few days when I made a bike trip from bogota to medellin, and I loved it. Everyone told me it was to dangerous, blah, blah, but to me I found no problem what so ever, and the roads/trafic are so much better outside of the cities. If you come to Bogota' give me a post and I will cycle with you, and you can meet people at my shop. oh and one other thing change you tires to Specialzed Armidillos before you come, than you will not need to worry about flats, because it is very hard to find a good tire here in colombia
this is a short post, and will check back later to see if you have anyother questions. one thing is for sure bring the bike and hit the climb our other friend was talking about, its a nice little climb.

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Gringopaisa says on Jun 6, 2004, 21:28:

Bicycling is very popular in Medellín Don't let'em scare you, if you can handle New Jersey, you can handle Medellín. There are many, many cyclists in this city and you will love it! Rio Negro is the best place and most beautiful. Imagine rolling hills in Virginia and you get the picture. The city itself is crazy, but that doesn't stop anyone. The roads above the city in the Poblado neighborhood are popular and the road to Sante Fe is very popular, especially on weekends. Sante Fe de Antioquia is awesome for cycling. I cycled all over the city, up the mountain roads, in the parks, no problem. Crazy, yes, but I lived in Manhattan and that was no different.

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kengais says on Jul 2, 2004, 20:39:

Cyclist friend's in Medellin? Hi

Did you have any luck finding contact information for your friend's friends who cycle in and around Medellin? I am looking for specific contacts before I go (July 13th) because I don't want to spend half of my vacation trying to set something up. Again, I am very intimidated to ride alone in Colombia at this point (poor Spanish, don't know my way around) and I want to find some good riding partners/organized groups in and around the Medellin area. Thank you for any assistance you can provide in this matter. Feel free to e-mail me directly at: kgaissert at pennington.org. Again, thank you.

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