Panama

I depart from for Panama from San Diego on the evening of June 11. After a brief layover in Miami, I arrive into Panama City on the afternoon of June 12. I must be in Portobelo on the Caribbean coast for a pre-departure meeting on June 14 by 4pm. That gives me approximately 2 days to bike roughly 100km across the width of Panama. I will be meeting one of my cycling companions, Brian, in Panama City and together we will head to the coast.

Panama is not renowned for its cycling infrastructure, and as such there is really only one legal route across the country, the Carretera Transístmica. I intend on leaving Panama City early on the morning of the 13th, with the aim of getting to Portobelo early that evening. Of course, flexibility will be key on this trip, so I may also overnight somewhere before Portobelo. From what I have read online, my options include cheap hotels, asking to camp on someone's farm, or talking with local bomberos to see if they will let us set up camp at their local fire station.  

Transit to Colombia

Following a pre-trip meeting on the 14th, I will load my bike and gear aboard the Ave Maria, an Alden Offshore 50′ ketch that plows the seas with 10 passengers between Portobelo, Panama and Cartagena, Colombia. The trip to Cartagena is slated to take 5 days, including 3 days of island hopping through the San Blas Islands and a short stint of open-ocean transit to Colombia. Upon arrival in Cartagena, I will clear customs and immigration and then be off on the next leg of my adventure. Brian and I will also meet up with our other companion, Girish, and together the three of us will leapfrog south.

Colombia

"If you want the best Caribbean beaches, go to the Bahamas; if you want the best of the Amazon, go to Brazil; if you want the most amazing Andes, go to Peru; but if you want them all in one place, go to Colombia."

Colombia is slated to be the true gem of this journey. Unlike my previous tours in the United States, this trip will not follow any one specific route like the TransAmerica Trail or Pacific Coast Bike Route. Rather, we'll be tasked with weaving together our own route and drawing our own line on the map. Girish, Brian, and I will be in constant communication with locals to determine what roads to take and what local highlights to take in. 

Our general plan can be broken down into several segments. Following arrival in Cartagena, we will spend several days heading southeast towards either Bucaramanga and the Andes Mountains, or directly south towards Medellin. We have numerous routes that we may incorporate into our travels, including portions of the Oh Boyaca! bikepacking route through the small towns surrounding the Sierra Nevada del Ruiz, and El Camino de Cafe. Regardless of what route we take, we intend on making it to Medellin to take in one of South America's cultural capitols for a few days.

After exploring Medellin and resting up, we will continue through the Zona Cafetera, a region famed for its coffee production. As an avid coffee drinker, I'm sure my cadence will increase as I pedal furiously from finca to finca in towns such as Pereira, Manizales, Salento, and Valle de Cocora. 

We have yet to clearly map out a route south from the Zona Cafetera, but the rough plan at the moment is to hop between Bogota, Cali, Pasto, and the border crossing at Ipiales. 

Ecuador

I depart from Quito early in the morning on August 3, so my stint in Ecuador will be brief. Depending on my timeline, I will either head south following the Trans-Ecuador Mountain Bike Route or the paved PanAmerican Highway. My goal is to be in Quito no later than August 1.