1
Day
The road less traveled
Descending the Andes
This one day mountain bike tour is an excellent opportunity to explore the Andes mountains.
Enduro tour Colombia
9 Days
Pereira
Mild temperature
High Altitude
Intermediate
ENDURO TOUR
This enduro mountain bike tour explores the hidden trails that lie in the heart of the Andean mountains. This tour is geared for riders who want to trace their way along awesome single tracks that connect old colonial villages and experience great descents. The Andes mountains in Colombia are the home of single tracks that consist of up to 30 km of length of pure descent and trails with vertical drops of more than 2000 meters. We will start our tour in the eje cafetero, a special place with a very calm landscape filled with coffee plantations and colonial houses but flanked by dramatic mountains. This area is the home of the Enduro World Series in Manizales, and we will ride some of those trails. Our final destination is the Medellin area, with the beautifully preserved pueblo Santa Fe de Antioquia and we will visit the trails of the National Cup competition in Santa Barbara. Our Enduro mountain bike tour is the best way to discover this area of Colombia to the fullest. You will be surprised more than a few times as the scenery will change multiple time over the course of the tour.
But seriously, is Colombia safe?
You are not the only one asking this question, and we understand why. Colombia has not always been on the news in a positive way. We have been guiding foreigners through Colombia for over 10 years now, and have been welcomed by smiles and warmth wherever we went. Also, a lot has changed the recent years. Our former president Santos won the Nobel peace prize for his peace agreement, and Colombia quickly came on the radar of world tourism. The tourism growth in Colombia over the last 10 years is actually much higher than the global average.
Tour Dates
| Start date | Finish date |
|---|---|
| March/28/2020 | April/5/2020 |
| August/6/2020 | August/14/2020 |
Looking for anther date? Go private!
Any scheduled tour can be made private. Your group, your preferred dates.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival Pereira
We will pick you up in the Pereira International Airport and transfer to the city of Manizales. It’s about a 1-hour drive. We would love for you to arrive in the morning so we can put the bicycle together in the afternoon and stretch the legs in the afternoon /early night (bring your lights). Alternatively, you may arrive 2 days in advance and we can have a pre trip extension in an area that we don’t cover in this particular tour. The terrain for this it’s a groomed kind of trail similar to what you might be used to.
Day 2: Manizales
If you weren’t able to put together your bicycle the previous day, we will do this first thing in the morning after some great breakfast. After that, we will transfer just outside of town (20 minutes) and start riding in some of the most unique places you can think of. Surrounded by coffee plantations, and in the middle of nowhere lays a trail network with several tracks that we will cover. The quality of the tracks is guaranteed, it’s a network that although it’s not your typical bike park, it’s well sustained by local riders. Not to be lazy, but to make most of the days we will transfer some of them by car if you feel like it. After some good 4 hours of riding, we will be ready to call it a day, and have proper traditional hearty lunch to recover. Later on we will enjoy the beautiful hotel amenities and hot spring pools. At night we will hit the town, and enjoy its vibrant atmosphere.
Day 3: Manizales
Take a look at a map and just check the immense mountains that Colombia has. Well, that’s also a call for an adventure. Today might be the most adventurous ride of the whole trip. Starting around 3000 mts (9500 ft broadly), we will find our way over a series of different tracks way below the 3000 ft mark. It’s about 6 hours of riding that will include every possible challenge that you can think of. To make the day count, we will start early on with a hearty breakfast, and we will provide you with plenty of snacks and sandwiches that you can carry with you. After the ride, we will transfer outside of Manizales (1 hour drive) to lower altitude. Our destination for the night it’s an amazing coffee hacienda where we will be greeted with a great cup of coffee.
Day 4: Eje Cafetero
After the gigantic ride we did the previous day it only makes sense to have a calmer day for today. We will have a slower morning, waking up to the beautiful sounds of the birds, the trees, that cohabit with the coffee plantation. After this slow start we will ride in the middle of these coffee plantations. It’s not going to be the most aggressive riding but just enough to keep the system going. After lunch we will transfer to the town of La Pintada (1,5 hrs) were we will spend the rest of the afternoon.
Day 5: Santa Barbara
Changing the landscape slightly, the day begins with a transfer of about 1 hours to where the action takes place. It’s a series of trails that are put together as a clover leaf, with the center in the town of Santa Barbara. It’s going to be a change too as the whole environment is sunnier. The ride should take us 3 to 4 hours, but if at any time you want to take a break or call it a day it’s fine as the tracks peel off from the same town. We will keep it civilized today in anticipation for our arrival to Medellín, to which we will transfer just after lunch, hoping to enjoy a beer in the city in the afternoon.
Day 6: Medellin
Another opportunity for the epic. After breakfast we will leave Medellín for the day, and head west into the big mountains searching for another dramatic drop in elevation. In this case it’s going to be close to 3000 mts of vertical descending almost in one go. It’s about 5 hours of continuous riding as we find between the natural tracks to the bottom of the Cauca river to the town of Santa Fe de Antioquia, just in time to cool down in the beautiful swimming pool of our hotel. At night, we will stroll around in the colonial town, and be greeted by it’s beautiful buildings
Day 7: Santa Fe de Antioquia
Another location, another environment. In this case it could be mistaken for a desert with the arid nature of the surrounding trails around Santa Fe de Antioquia, in which we will take this opportunity to explore this time. Compared to the previous days, the terrain change will make things different to our previous experiences and will give a sense of the diversity that Colombia has to offer. After lunch we will transfer back to Medellín not before if time allow us, to arrive to town in style with one of the many trails that arrive directly into town. At night the city will be all ours, with a big night to celebrate such a a great week of riding and exploration.
Day 8: Explore Medellin
After exploring the nightlife of Medellin it is only fair to enjoy a rest day, and see what the city of eternal spring has to offer during the daytime. Wonder around in the small streets of Poblado or see the legacy of local artist Botero.
Day 9: Farewell
After a week of great riding it’s time to say goodbye. We will take you back to the airport to catch your flight back home.
Amazing scenery
With constant changing landscapes and colors, this tour will keep amaze you
Professional Guides
Our expert staff will make the experience more compelling, taking care of all your needs, and going out of their way to make sure that you have a great time on and off the bike, catering to all your needs.
Rich culture
Colombia is known for its cycling culture, and although Enduro might be the youngest addition, we have some of the best events organized here.
Great riding
From the coffee crops to the arid red colors around Santa Fe de Antioquia, all the tracks have their own speciality.
Does this look like fun? Request your date today!
Tour Information
DEPARTURE / RETURN LOCATION
Pereira / Medellin
PRICE
$2400/Person INTRODUCTION PRICE: $1999/Person (apply on March 2020 tour only)
- 8 Nights based on double accommodation
- 8 Breakfasts
- 7 Lunches
- Assistance before and during your trip to solve all the travel related doubts you may have
- Detailed trip information
- Professionally trained guides
- Support during the entire route
- Transportation and luggage transfer during the trip
- Airplane tickets
- Bicycle and equipment.
- Alcoholic beverages
- Single accommodation
- Lodging before and after the trip
- Personal items purchased during the trip
- Optional activities not scheduled
- Gratuities for your guides may be given at your discretion in response to their professionalism and leadership. Industry standard is for each individual guest to tip the guide team 5-10% of the trip price.
“Great experience and a lot of fun! Superb logistics and organisation of Cyclota. The beauty of Colombia and friendliness of the people were key take aways and the bike was merely the vehicle and only a small part of the wonderful experience.”
Nick Stephenson
South Africa
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