For this post, I want to discuss cycling in Medellin. Specifically, what I consider to be one of Medellin’s best bike rides. This bike ride is from the Laureles neighborhood, up to Santa Elena, through the Oriente De Antioquia, and back down Las Palmas. It’s nearly 82 kilometers and features a bit off-road as well as plenty of climbing. This ride is most definitely not for the faint at heart. It was a difficult ride, make no mistake.

Getting out of the city, heading east. It is a bit hard to ride a bike and make a recording on a bumpy road, in a country where most drivers have no driving license, on a crowded road. You get it! And this is the part of the city where you wouldn’t dare to come too late at night. Now, in the daytime, it seems normal, people going about their business and nice ladies throwing smiles at you.

What I just LOVE about these parts is that it doesn’t take a long time to get out of the city wreck and enter a completely amazing deed of nature! You exit the urban and enter a completely green paradise with the thin gray line of the road bringing civilization to it.

You’ll get the chance to see people growing cows and goats, selling crafts (I say a guy selling wooden, carved frames for mirrors, windows, paintings), and selling goat and cow milk products. Everything is one hundred percent natural, homemade, organic, call it whatever you want, and just next to the road waiting to be bought.

In case that you wish to take a pit stop, there are places where you can eat and drink for the price as low as $1,50.

I passed by Rionegro, a place where Pablo Escobar was born and raised. Piece of history. So beautiful! Here you can rent a horse for the day and learn more about what real wilderness is!

Before even starting the ride, I made a route with a plan to go up on a bumpier part of the road and to go down for a cool downhill experience on a much nicer part of the road. This was such a great decision!

At the end of the day, I spent just a bit under five hours on the road, went for an 81km distance with an elevation of 1,809 m.

It was a long day, a great day, and I was freezing and ready to head for home.

Do visit my YouTube channel to see how I did this: