Cycling Colombia

One week into my trip to Colombia and I'm finally getting to grips with cycling on an epic scale. The first serious ramp-up from the Bogata Plain (2,625m), left me light-headed, heart-racing and gasping for breath and wondering what I had let myself in for! Climbs totalling 1,300m up to 3,000m were more than enough for the first day. There followed over 40km of descent to the Magdalena Plain with temperatures in the mid 40's on day two.
 This so-called two-day gentle introduction was a primer for Andean road riding, with an ascent of the Alto de Letras - one of the so called 3 Mythical Mountains of Colombia, featuring in the Vuelta a Colombia. My bike computer read 3,739m altitude gain and though a relatively modest average climb of 5 per cent, over 7 hours of constantly ascenting totalling 54miles was physically draining. Half of the group of 14 were swept-up by the support bus before the summit and only one rider managed to descend into Manizales before dark. My new Enigma Etape - with lower gears than most, performed brilliantly all the way to the summit.
The rest of the week has been exhilarating, coping with altitudes of over 2,500m and descents sometimes lasting over 40km. The mountains are often lost in mist and cloud  but when clear the views are stupendous. Thankfully the roads are good but often unexpectedly turn to gravel where storms have swept them away.
The first week finished with a climb of the Alto de Minas - again an almost permanent feature in the Vuelta a Colombia; my computer recorded 2,641m gain. However the descent into Medellin (still at 1,500m), was nerve-racking, with 12 miles of manically fast traffic changing lanes at will and trying to split the group up on the way to the hotel.
Saturday has been a well-earned rest day.enjoying the delights of a transformed city from the dark days of the drug cartels. Thereafter the second week of the trip finally descents from the Andes to Colombia's hot Caribbean flatlands. More to follow!