Today I want to go a little bit deeper and talk and explore a little…
Today I want to go a little bit deeper and talk and explore a little bit more of everything Columbia has to offer. I'm going to chat with my friend Thomas from Columbia Cycling. Let's cure that intro! The big question is this. How do we use cycling as a tool to improve our health, our happiness and our longevity? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers. I'm going to Amazon to meet Welch and welcome to the Roadman Podcast. Roadman, welcome back. Roadman, anyone who's followed my journey for the last few months, you'll know that I spent a turn of the year out in Columbia three weeks from the start of the New Year. What an amazing, magical way to kick off the New Year and get a bit of a break out of Ireland's lockdowns and all that nonsense. I was out in Columbia and for a portion of my trip, I was lucky enough to be guided and chapped around around Columbia by somebody with serious experience. His name was Thomas. He runs a company called Columbia Cycling. It's on Columbia Cycling.com. Thomas brought me around. He shepherded me up, let's just. Honestly, I would have been one of those guys who landed in a country like that and looked up a bunch of strivafoils and went exploring on my own. There is some cool beauty to that because I've done it a bunch of times in various countries. But this was something I haven't experienced before. It was a local picking out all the best routes. And I know for me if someone came to Dublin, jumping on the Strava files doesn't do justice because the Strava files just show you roads that have been ridden most. They don't show you the local guy with the local knowledge who knows the lanes and who who knows how to bring you down all these quirky little descents. They don't show you the roads less ridden. They don't show you where to stop to get the cool coffee. They don't show you the local farmer's markets. And that's what Thomas done for my trip. He brought that local bit of culture and every village we entered had a story. Every place we stopped for a coffee or a drink. It had a reason why we were stopping there. And really that portion of the trip was just magical because of Thomas's guiding hand. Today I wanted to jump in, I wanted to just talk a little bit more about Colombia, about why it's such a magical cycling destination. In my view it's one of the places that's just going to pop. As soon as Covid restrictions are lifted worldwide, I see Colombia, specifically Medellin, turning into the girona of South America. In Europe, we've all grown up. If you're my age, we've grown up with Ryanair flights. So we've jetted all around Europe for the better part of our lives for really, really low costs. And I've been to Germany, I've been to Spain about 40 times on the bike. I've only been to Colombia once and you get this feeling and it's almost otherworldly. It's just a completely different bucket list experience. And I can see it absolutely blown up after this lockdown. And that's why I just keep coming back to Colombia, Colombia, Colombia. There's a few places in the world where I've traveled to and I will go back time and time again. So today, I'm proud to welcome to the podcast Thomas from Columbia Cycling. He was my god. He was my, you know, I suppose mentor around Columbia. But now I have to say like after I haven't spent that time and I consider him a friend. So please to welcome him to the roadman podcast, Thomas, welcome. Anthony, thank you for the invitation. Thomas, I'm really excited to chat again. Thomas was my gracious host around a large part of my Colombian driven. Thomas. Yeah. Do you miss me? Yeah. I miss you a lot. And obviously I want to tackle the letters again for the four hours and make you suffer a little bit. Man, I'm already stopped eating. Like I'm getting ready. You got to hit the letters out like raceways because it's a day out. We just jumped straight into it there, didn't we? There was no like foreplay, no like, how are you? It's just like Laetras. Let's talk about it. It is, it is an ice ride. And I think that is a perfect excuse to know other places in Colombia, like the coffee region, the jungle, everything in Colombia. So yeah, I think it's an ice ride. And even in the same ride, you can do a lot of, a lot of, you can do just riding obviously, but you can see a lot of different landscapes, different crops, different fruits. You can pass through the coffee plantations. So it's really, really beautiful. I've spoken on the podcast about the time I wrote up La Tras, but I was in so much pain for the second half of it. My recollection is like hazy. So can you just explain to listeners like how long the climb is, what the gradients are? Okay, we're going to focus these little five minutes in lateras. So lateras for us, as I told you, is an excuse to know other parts of the countries.
We start in Onda. Onda is a heritage town, very beautiful, cover the…
So we start in Onda. Onda is a heritage town, very beautiful, cover the stone roads. From there to the base of lateras is 20 kilometers. used to do that part to warm up and also gain a little bit more than 330 meters of elevation gain and from the base of Letra's which is in Marikita town. You don't want to pull sure in Marikita town. Oh man, it's a fun place to get a phone share. Yeah, like it was already like 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. and we are super sweating in that moment. is very very humid. So we start Marikita from Marikita and then we're gonna climb 80 kilometers is the normal road the normal ride for for lateras. The average slope or the average gradient doesn't mean anything because it's 4% but it's very, very diverse. You can have like eight or 9% the first five kilometers and then it's steady until the first down, which is at 20 kilometers. Because you hit the base of that climb and it's like straight away. It's like getting like punched between the eyes. It like pitches up at like eight, nine, 10, like straight away. You arrive five kilometers just boom, start. Yeah, eight, nine percent that you're right. And then it's more or less rollers and a little ramp and a little hill and then steady until the first down 20 kilometers. And obviously remember in every town we love climbs. So every town has its own climb. It's like, it's funny. Every time you pass through with a town, there is a big hill in that town. It's the hardest part coming out of the town. Like, because as well, you have to break your concentration for the town because there's normally some like little bit of traffic on to the town, you need to be more alert. And so it takes you out of your rhythm and then you're out of your rhythm. And then it normally pitches up like an extra 5% gradient out of the town. So it's a climb that's difficult to get your rhythm on, because of that. It is, it is. And yeah, it's very important to pay attention in every town, because you have everything. You have kids, cars, dogs, donkeys, horses, whatever you call it, you name it. So after the first time you continue more or less like also in rollers and going up, up, up to the second town which is at kilometer 40. That town is beautiful because you can see the the other part of the mountain and the other part of the road. So you can pedal and push a little bit more harder than the than the first part of the climb. Obviously in the second town that the name is Padua all again, seven, nine, 10% to pass through that town. So get the rhythm is a little bit difficult. I think if you're suffering in the fourth half of the climb, like you're in real trouble, like you need to be chill, chill, chill in the forest half of the climb. Because if you're not eating, you're not drinking in the forest half of the climb, you just pay for it like 40 kilometers later. Yeah, you don't realize that until it's too late. So I always advise after the first 10 kilometers, start eating as much as you can and drinking. Because yeah, you will need it. If you start drinking or eating in the second half, it's gonna be too late. Definitely. I went out like it was a training day. It was a training day, but you nearly need to approach it with a race mindset. Because I went out like handlebar, bag on, camera, tubes, all this stuff. You need to go there in shape, your bike needs to be in good shape, you need to have your good tires on, you need to be mentally ready for a race day. because you're riding at like zone tree or just below threshold like for five six hours if you're a good rider if you're a bad rider seven eight hours yes in the last time we took ten hours to me with a rider one of the hardest one of the hardest time for me that's a killer how many times have you been left now now is 35 times. And the what's your record on it? For hours 20 minutes. So we're gonna attempt some for sometime this summer COVID permitting. Yeah, COVID allows. I hope so. And then so the second half after the 40 kilometers is very very beautiful because the weather is very good, is fresh and from the kilometer 40 to 55 is steady. So you can just pace yourself. You can have your own rhythm and it's very, very enjoyable. I always say that it's not a race, it's just doing as fast as you can, but as you can enjoy also. But remember always that the destination is always important. So being in that destination after the Lettras is beautiful too. It's like six hours of meditation. It is. And then obviously, the last in the in the Kilometre 60, you remember that harp part between the 60 and the 73? The gates of hell. But wow, it's doors of hell. It's very, very hard. People, if you're going to quit, you quit there.
Because in those 13 kilometers between 60 and 73, yeah, you're gonna…
Because in those 13 kilometers between 60 and 73, yeah, you're gonna have like 10, 11, 12% after being in your bike for for four hours, five hours. It's kind of difficult. It's mental also. I think the problem is you've a lot of things gone against you at this point because you're getting fatigued because you're late in the climb. You're maybe fatigued if you haven't eaten well enough. If you haven't drank well enough, so you're dehydrated, cramping a little bit. Mentally, you're starting to tire. And then you have the altitude hitting you because at this point, we're over 3,000 meters and the air is just getting tinner and tinner and it's getting very, very difficult to breed. And like the top of the address is what, 3,800? 3,800, yeah, you're right. Like it's difficult to breed a 3,800 if people haven't been there. Even the hotel that night, I found it difficult to sleep put the altitude. Yeah 3,500 was the hotel and it's very cool. It's very difficult to breathe and it's not that very easy to rest after that long day. So that's later then you once you arrive to 73 you get it in your pocket. I always say you have the 95% in your pocket. It's only two and a half kilometers going down and the last four kilometers. The last four kilometers is a drag though. I was like, oh, is this ever gonna end? Four kilometers, like five percent, six percent, but you very, you barely see the top. So you are, you have some motivation to arrive. Your old training partner and you know, one of the most famous Reuters to ever come out of Colombia, Santi Batero, So he has the records on La Tras. Santi is one of my best friends and he teach me a lot about cycling and we ride a lot together still. I rode yesterday 100 kilometers with him. I was kind of destroyed and he's super strong and he has a record. It's two hour 53 minutes. It's unbelievable. That was a, well, the Colombia. That was a well, the Colombia. He won that with the Colombia with the biggest gap in the last 25, 30 years. And if you Google a picture of Santi Batero, he's not a small dude. He's not like one of the Colombian, you know, Rigoberto and Egon Barnal. He's a big 70 kilo, dude. He's a big 70 kilos, one meter, 75 centimeters. And yeah, he's a time trial specialist. So he's the world champion in time trial, the former. So but he can't climb a lot too. So yeah, he's not the typical Colombian super skinny. So what's going on with the Colombian riders at the moment? Is this, you know, we have it in athletics. You see a very small areas in Ethiopia and they have a very high concentration of professional athletes, some of the best runners in the world. I'll come from one or two villages. I've heard Kip Jobe saying, it's not altitude, it's not altitude, it's attitude, that they cultivate a winning attitude in these small villages and kind of, you know, this idea of being in a group, spores them on because there's extra tests, the Austro-on flown around and they all want to beat each other's records. What's going on with Colombia? How is it producing so many Reuters? I think the history is start in the late 40s and 50s. We have one of the the oldest beltas in South America. We have the three CORDI JEDAs, the three mountain ranges. We have a lot of support from the governors, from the mayors, from the Colombian government to do some checks and some races, some racers here, small. So I think that Colombia produces one of the best cyclists in the world because of that. And I think those guys like Santi Botero in 2000, Maricio of Dilla, and then the new star is just a motivation for the new kids that are coming and coming more and more in the pro cycling. So I think that the future in Colombia to be like that for a while. And obviously the cars are very respectful for the cyclists here. So they can train and they can enjoy the roads also. And I think it's a good news for Columbia, not only for cycling, I think for Turiums, for our company that is Columbia Cycling, that we do tours. It's a great news that Columbia has a lot of people, a lot of cyclists in the top UCI pro guys. Right now, I think that we have like 22, 23 cyclists in the 20 UCI pro teams. It's crazy. And I know from living in Ireland and thanks to Roy and Er, it opened up all of Europe for anyone living in Ireland for really low cost fairs. But it's been brilliant, but as a result of that, like I've been to Spain training, I don't know, maybe 50 times. I've been to Italy maybe 20 times. I've been to Switzerland, Austria. You've been to all these places and they're beautiful, like the first time, the second time, the third time. But like when you're gone 20, 30 times, back to like like Garda or something, it's just like, oh, I need something new. And stepping out to Columbia, it's my kind of idea going out was it's adventurous and dangerous are like a very fine line.
Think Columbia is for anyone living in Europe, It's just on the…
And I think Columbia is for anyone living in Europe, It's just on the adventure aside. Like the danger is one decade past, but it hasn't got the big developed infrastructure that like gone to a European city has. So it still feels really raw and it feels nearly like you're stepping back in time a little bit. I described the two a friend, like it wasn't like taking a flight over to Colombia. It was like getting into a time travel machine. Like there was people with donkeys on the road and the cars are older and people are, people have time for each other. people want to talk to each other and it's a simpler life. It's a slower life. It is, it is. And yeah, Colombia in the main cities has a lot of things to offer. But I think that the authenticity of Colombia, the countryside of Colombia, the people that have time to share with you and try to speak in English a little bit or try to teach you some Spanish. And they have the time to chat with a foreign in a square in a little town. That's the beautiful thing. That's the magic of Colombia, that you can go around and really enjoy not only cycling. We always say it in Colombia, we always say that we are more than cycling because we have gastronomy, history, people, landscapes. So yeah, you're right. That's beautiful. And I think I have done that for a lot of years. And every time I do that or I come back to a region that I haven't been for one or two years, I always find something new and I always find something magical and I always find people that made me laugh. So there was another cyclist that come here to do a tour with us and he said, Colombia is a place where you always feel welcome and i think that people always and breath you always how you and that's great but it's even the food like one of my friends was asking what's the food like and i was like i don't even know how to explain it because you brought us to a fruit market. And it was like I've been dropped out of a spaceship. I didn't know. I'd never seen any of these fruits. I'm like, they're not selling like bananas and apples and oranges and pears like they have in Europe. It's all these crazy colors and fruits. They nearly needed to come with it like instructions. Like, how do I do this? What do I do with this fruit? I've never seen this before. That's so funny that you mentioned because, for example, Agra Nadeja is a fruit that, Yeah, like seeing a foreign opponent in Indonesia is super funny. They try to crack it in little pieces and they take like, I don't know, like 10 minutes. So yeah, the biodiversity, the fruits, the food is really nice to get into that world with someone local and know about that. Yeah. I felt like a monkey trying to open a coconut or something. I was like, what's going on here? What was brilliant for me? I kind of epitomized the Colombian people a lot on my last day there. We got a chance to go out to the legendary frame builder, Augustine Hincapi. And he's one of the greatest frame builders in the world at the moment. Maybe one of the greatest frame builders ever. And he just takes time and he drops tools for, I don't maybe an hour to speak to a guy who doesn't speak his language and play like a game of charades where I'm guessing is it Reynolds tube or Columbus tube and it was just like you wouldn't get anyone at the top of their craft like that in Europe who's willing to just give their time so freely to someone else just because they have a shared passion for bikes. Yeah, it was a nice joke that we asked him how many hours do you need to do a frame and He told us like, yeah, like 45, 48 hours, something like that. And you tell him, yeah, when not an Irish guy come here and take me two hours of my day. But yeah, he's such a cool guy. He loves to show people his work. And he's like one of the entrepreneurs that we work with in Colombia, that they really want to take part of their time to talk about, to explain, to welcome people from other countries. And this is Augustinian in Capil, yes. It's more than a bike for anyone that's really into cycling. It's closer to a piece of art than having a bike. It's handcrafted, it's made with love, it's just, it's beautiful. Thomas Girona in Europe is like the hub. That's where all the cyclists go. It's kind of our mecca and I just seen the Colombian champ, the new kid, the time for EF. His name escapes me. I just seen today he moved into Jirona. He posted a picture at his new house. But I feel like Medellin has the potential to become the Jirona of South America. It's just perfect climate, hills in every direction. It's nearly like, would you describe it as like a ball? You can climb in any direction nearly?
Yes, you can climb in any direction and Medellin could be a hub…
Yes, you can climb in any direction and Medellin could be a hub because Medellin, its name is very famous. It's not necessarily good, the famous that we have from Medellin, but it's changing. But it's safe now. We walked around, left our bikes outside, coffee shops. We went to restaurants at Noysen. I felt the exact same as I felt walking around Dublin. Mike, do you remember that when we arrived to Medellin by car with the bikes on the roof, I leave my car with the bikes on the roof outside in the street while we were walking and having dinner. So yeah, it's very safe. But Medellin, if you're going to cycle, maybe it's better to stay a little bit outside of Medellin, couple of kilometers outside of Medellin, to be more in the countryside and I think in that area it could be the east, it could be the south of Medellin, but in that area it could be the Mecca of cycling in South America. You're right. What's the name of the area near the your apartment and the Hincapie Vojshov? That seems perfect, it's place to stay. Yeah, the name of the area is East of Antioquia and the closest little town is El Rediro. Would you say that's like a good hope for people that are travelling out there? Yeah, absolutely. I recommend that and I recommend also another hub, beautiful in the coffee region in Antioquia. Yes, it's another little place that you can stay and do climbs like 23 kilometers, 38 kilometer climbs, 12, 15, a lot of culture, people, landscapes. So yeah, absolutely. We can't finish the podcast. Sorry, I'm just leaching here. Everyone's listening to audio won't be able to see this, but I have a bag of coffee here called Pergamino. No. Me, Bergamino Coffee is in the south of Medellin and is one of the best coffee in Colombia. Yes. It's, I came home with my bag absolutely loaded. A Bergamino coffee. I think I've got, got like some of my bags. You almost left your, your bike. One Canadian guy did that. He, he sell my, he sell his bike to me. And he came back with the bike box full of coffee and bokadillo, the guava paste. But I think, look, it just takes so many boxes. It's a place, you know, I've been lucky enough with cycling, you know, I never got to the very top of the cycling game. But what I got far enough to get to travel the world on two wheels and got to race all across Europe and America, there's not many places that I go back to time and time again. I love Bork du Asain, they're out to Wes, it's a place I always go back to. I love Jaron and Spain, always go back there, Medellin is a place I'm just going to go back again, again and again. Like if the coffee, if the climes, if the culture, like every girl in every corner looks like Shakira, it's perfect weather. It's just an incredible mixture for anyone who's looking to experience cycling. Thank you, man. Thank you for being such a great ambassador of Colombia. Thomas, thanks for chatting. Before we finish up, I'll let you go, because I know a bunch of people are going to be starting to plan their post-pandemic holidays. What's the best place to follow along? You guys get a little bit more information, or how do they get in touch with you if they want to get a guided tour around Colombia, which I can highly recommend from Thomas. Thank you, man. I think that the best place and the full information is in our website is Columbia Cycling. Remember, Columbia is with all. My name is Mike. Columbia Cycling.com and also we post a lot in Instagram. Instagram is at Columbia Cycling. Yeah, and your Instagram is brilliant. It's probably linked up both those up in the description on the show notes down below. Thomas, you're a legend. Thanks for showing me around Colombia and thanks for chatting today. Man, I see you soon, okay? I hope so. Definitely. Okay, man, chat out. Okay. Hey everybody, it's Anthony again. Really quick, I want to invite you to join arguably the best thing I've ever put out inside the roadman community. It's a challenge. It's a challenge called a 14-day Kickstarter challenge. So regardless of where your fitness is that right now, this is going to be the catalyst for making you faster and making you the leaner. I've created this challenge to take the guesswork out of everything. It's 14 days, training plans, regardless of what your level is. There's the master's beginner advanced, there's meal plans, shopping list and even a video course holding your hand and talking you true at all. So what I recommend you do right now is just stop everything, press pause on this audio and go to roadmancycling.com forward slash 14 day or check out the link in the bio that roadmancycling.com slash 14 day.