to Zaragoza: a road best for bike packing

May 4, 2017

"The buzzards are circling" Rachel says and Patrick adds "Waiting for one of us to drop?" When we turned onto this road, it didn't take long to realize we were in for a long day and might not have brought enough water.

We started first climbing out of Remedios. The "Torres de Angola" was a nice hotel with excellent food. We thought it was a bit isolated and did not explore further, but just around the corner we pass a bakery. We stop and pick up some bread and pastries for the day. Good thing because there are not a lot of bakeries along our way today. We had been told that the road to Segovia to Zaragoza was unpaved so that was not a surprise. What we didn't expect was the condition being so bad with huge rocks, washed out areas and puddles to cross. Now we understand why most cyclists take the route 25 from the coast to Medellin, even though there is a much higher pass to cross on that route.

At 22km we are running low on water and see a clear stream coming off the jungle. We stop to filter water. There isn't much hope that there is a lot along the road. We've passed through beautiful hills with cattle and jungle. Then 4km on just as we are thinking this is a day without a cold drink we go through a very poor town and there is a shop. A nice cold drink in this heat makes all the difference in quenching the thirst. The road continues almost as a track in places. Relatively flat stretches and downhill is just as painful as the uphills.

Another town at 39km gives us a longer break. There is a fortified police station with a sandbag bunker across the road from a nice bakery. We stop for a cold drink and ice cream. We did not see a hotel, but the town is large enough that it might have one. Otherwise the police station could be a very safe place to roll-out a sleeping mat among the sandbags.The final kilometers go slowly, the afternoon passes and we are still 26km away from town. We are in a very poor area and start going through more small towns but are reluctant to stop. At 7km away, we did stop at the top of a hill and a truck full of people stops and hands us a plastic bag. Inside are 4 small bags of cold water. Water in Colombia is sold in bags not plastic containers.

Finally, with about a half hour left of daylight, we arrive in Zaragoza. We head for the city center where there are three hotels that we know of. One is full, one was closed so we take a room at the third, La Casona. Room was very basic and at 30,000 COP ($11) overpriced for what you get. We decide to go look for food before cleaning up and find a very nice restaurant near the plaza. We had planned to take a rest day here tomorrow, but the hotel is such a dump we do not want to spent a day in there. We think the road from here to Caucasia is paved and not too hilly. Even though we are pretty worn out after today we will try to get there, otherwise at least get down the road a ways and try to flag down a ride if need be.

What a day! This is a road that would be perfect for bike packing. Not so much a loaded touring bike with no suspension. But at least now there is a journal on CGOAB about this route, we could not find any before.

Just after La Cruzada the yellow road that googlemaps shows turns to this. For most of the way it is a single lane dirt track. Rough going but beautiful.

The road dips down into gullies filled with vegetation, then climbs again into deforested rolling hills and cattle country.

There are few vehicles and very few roads branch off this one. Transportation into the hills seems to be on horseback or donkeys.

A turkey standing guard in a small village we pass.

River crossing. This one was deeper than expected. It was also wide enough that it required a couple of pedal strokes, which meant wet feet.

Kids looking for shade in a small town we pass through.

Mules are used to transport hardwood beams from the hills to the road where trucks are being loaded.

Another rough road and a hill, more jungle scenery.

The river has washed-out this section of road. Fortunately the water has receded so we can get through.

Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 31,338 km (19,461 miles)

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