Bike Tour Blog
For more about Bogotá Bicycling Visit Mike’s Bogota Bike Blog – And: Help Save La Ciclovía!
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Bogotá’s world-famous Ciclovía
Ciclovia on Seventh Ave.
Sunny Ciclovia Sunday.
La Ciclovía, when major avenues are shut to cars, happens Sundays and most holidays.
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The Green Party is Riding on Bogota Bike Tours’ bikes!
Bogotá’s last three mayors: Luis Eduardo Garzón, Enrique Peñalosa and Antanas Mockus, potential Green Party presidential candidates, are campaigning through Bogotá on our bikes! All three were considered good mayors. And Peñalosa, a cyclist, built the city’s famous bike paths network. Now, will they pedal to the presidency?
Garzon, Mockus and Peñalosa.
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Car-Free Day
Feb. 4 was Bogotá’s annual Car-Free Day. It’s one of the few cities to have such an event. Car-Free Day’s goal is primarily to demonstrate to auto-addicts that they CAN get to work or school by means other than the private automobile (or taxis, which abounded). Yesterday, congestion dropped dramatically, but the many old buses meant that pollution continued. We did see many bicycles out, but rented only one bicycle – to an Argentinean resident of Bogotá.
We saw more than the usual number of cyclists yesterday.
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Poderoso Berraquillo!
Recently, we’ve tried berraquillo, a secret mixture of borojo juice, vitamins, secret ingredients and live river crabs – all blended together. The concoction is supposed to be a ‘natural viagra’ for ’savage love,’ but this writer has never felt any effects.
Powerful Berraquillo - Natural Viagra - Savage Love
Preparing Berraquillo
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Macumba ‘Museum’
Entrance to the Macumba, in Bogotá's Teusaquillo neighborhood.
Vulgar, bizarre, intriguing, colorful, explicit, interesting, weird and just about any other adjective applies to the private ‘museum’ which 75-year-old Jaime Barranco made out of his apartment in Bogotá’s Teusaquillo neighborhood. Barranco, who appears two decades younger,
Inside the Macumba
has filled home, including the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom, with curios and treasures he collected during decades of walking and hitchhiking across the Americas. We saw a coca leaf masher, African masks, erotic sculptures and Chinese paintings. We also heard the owner’s quite unique philosophy and scientific theories.
Favela Tour
Patrick and friend in Belén, Bogotá
Bogota hillside slum
Patrick, a graduate student from Oxford U. studying urban development, wanted to see Bogotá’s ‘favelas.’ Favela is the Brazilian term for its hillside slums. Bogotá’s own slums are on its Eastern Hills and its southern regions. Most slum residents are honest, hard-working people, but some slum areas have bad reps for crime and violence. Patrick agreed to pay for any lost bikes, and we were off: to the low-rent red light district, with its building destroyed by hapless bomb-makers working for the FARC guerrillas, the old Cartucho neighborhood, now a park, ‘El Bronx’ (a street notorious for trafficking of stolen property) and the Las Cruces, Belen and
Chicken lunch in Belén
20 de Julio neighborhoods. I admit to several frights, including when the drug-addled drug dealers outside El Bronx yelled at us for taking pictures, the hostile gazes of several young toughs in a park and when Patrick stopped on one of the city’s worst blocks to put on sun screen. Along the way, we visited friends, tasted in a fruit market and admired some churches.
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Car-few (tho not car-free) days
During the holiday season, many bogotanos depart from the city for the coast or the countryside – leaving the streets mostly to us. It’s a real pleasure cruising Bogotá’s car-few streets, low-pollution streets!
On to Santa Marta!
Frans and Eveline, with Parchita
Dutch couple Eveline and Frans toured Bogotá with us on Jan. 1, on their own hi-tech bikes, whose tires probably cost more than all of our bicycles combined. The couple are now off to Zipaquira, later to Bucaramanga, then Santa Marta and eventually back here. Pretty good, but just a short sprint for this couple, who have previously toured Europe, Asia and much of the rest of the known world! You can follow them, especially if you know Dutch, at http://effefietsen.web-log.nl/
‘World’s Largest Ecological Nativity Scene!’
(Well, that’s what they call it, anyway) The Nativity Scene, or pesebre, we visited in the National Park may very well be the world’s ‘largest ecological Nativity Scene,’ since there’s not likely to be a whole lot of competition out there. Anyway, the secene is impressive for its size and materials. Unfortunately, the state petroleum company Ecopetrol, which helped sponsor the scene, is not always so terribly green, despite its new symbol – a green iguana.
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More Bogotá Alternative Transport!
A horse cart on Jimenez Ave.
On our rides, we frequently cross paths with these four-footed and four-wheeled vehicles. They don’t pollute the air like gasoline-powered vehicles, although they can pollute the pavement. The sad side of these horse-and-buggies is the poverty of the families which use them and the way the horses are sometimes abused and overworked. The horse cart drivers usually make their livings by scavenging recyclables from the garbage or vending things.
The city government has tried to restrict the horse carts, arguing that they cause traffic jams – which is absurd. Bogotá’s traffic troubles are caused by too many cars – not too many horse carts. Today, there are thousands of them cruising Bogotá’s streets and avenues.
But just don’t call it a Ciclovia!
With the statue of Pepe Caceres in the bullfighting stadium
In La Candelaria's Plaza del Chorro
Walking on the crowded Ciclovia
Thurs. Dec. 10 was the annual ‘Nocturnal Ciclovia,’ and we had huge demand for bicycles. Funny thing was, tho, that despite its name, cycling was impossible on the closed
Seventh Ave. because of the
sea of people walking. We did a nice ride, anyway, combining some walking along ‘La Ciclovia’ with cycling through the neighborhoods of Teusaquillo and La Macarena.
On normal Sunday/holiday daytime Ciclovias, of course, you can actually ride your bike – and see things!
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Trevor, in green on right, and friends in Bogotá's Tercer Milenio Park
New Yorker Trevor Thompson toured with us the other day and posted this nice note and photos on his blog!
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Keith from New Zealand
The other day, Keith, a businessman from New Zealand, took time out to do a ride with us. During his pedal through Bogotá, he tasted guanabana juice, fought a bull and fell in love several times.
Keith in Love in Bogotá's National Park
Keith takes on a big bull in Bogotá's Bullring.
Love this Guanabana!
True love on Bogotá's Bolivar Square
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Cats Cast members in Independence Park.
Cats crew sample tropical fruits in Palo Quemao fruit market.
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Cats Crew on Wheels!
Their putting on the Broadway play Cats in Bogotá’s El Campin stadium, and the crew came and rode with us. We wish them all the best in their performances! May their houses be full and no lines be forgotten.
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Here Come the Crazy Germans!
Here they come! ¡Los alemanes locos!
This wild group of young Teutons bike toured with us this weekend (with a few stops along the way for fuel and lubrication).
A green rapper - and happy with his work. That we all could say as much.
A Homeless Intellectual
Today in Third Millenium Park we talked to a homeless man who defied all stereotypes. The guy was quite educated and well-traveled, at least in Colombia. He spoke French (it sounded good to me), and applied a green philosophy to his scavenging activities. He even did an ecological rap for us!
Sundays
Sundays are a nice day for cycling – and not only thanks to the Ciclovia. On Sundays the public markets are also bigger and more active. In the Mercado de Egipto, above La Candelaria, farmers often come in to sell their fruits, vegetables, ducks and chickens. This woman showed us her panela cakes. Made from sugar cane, panela is a popular Colombian sweetener. This woman’s panela, of course, is the world’s most natural and delicious.
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Later, at the National Park we watched a free public aerobics class, although none of us had the guts to jump in.
Watching aerobics in Bogotá's National Park along the Ciclovia
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It’s the rainy season – but it hasn’t rained much!
Raindrops keep falling on my helmet!
However, due to El Niño, it actually hasn’t been raining that much (bad for the country, but convenient for us). And, fortunately, the hard rain usually doesn’t last too long, and so after lunch or a game of ‘Toss the disk into the metal frog’s mouth’ we can usually ride on. Don’t trust those Internet weather forecasts. Lots of times they say it’s raining when the sun’s shining strong.
I've got no future tossing brass disks into metal frogs' mouths!
Window Art Goes Bananas!
An Italian artist filled floors of two buildings along La Jimenez Ave. with bananas! Why? He says that for him the banana represents Colombia, since all social classes eat them. In 1928, the banana also played a grim role in Colombian history when the Chiquita (the United Fruit Company) massacred striking workers in a coastal town, with government backing. More recently, Chiquita paid a multi-million dollar fine to the U.S. government after confessing that it had made extortion payments to Colombian guerrillas and later paramilitary groups, both of which are considered terrorists by the U.S. government.
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¡Universitarios a la Calle! – University Students Hit the Streets!
We met these students marching down 7th Ave.
It’s time for the government to set the public universities’ budgets – and that means student protests for more financing. Students have been marching the streets and rallying in Bolivar Plaza, and the sweet smell of tear gas wafts over the city. We encountered them marching down Seventh Ave. And on the National University’s Plaza del Ché they held a Minga – a communal meal – and afterwards discussed university budget issues. They even ‘retained’ the university’s rector by surrounding his car for five hours. The result: the government has pledged more funds. Some government officials, however, have suggested that some of the protesters are guerrillas. Certainly, the guerrillas have sympathizers on campus. But the government’s habit – or tactic has often been to brand opponents as terrorists. And these students just want to study!
A minga is a communal meal. They've become a tradition amongst activist students at the National University. Here, preparing a meal below the portrait of - guess who? - Che Guevara!
A tricyclist signs up in support of La Ciclovía
The Seventh is one of Bogotá’s most famous avenues, and certainly its most emblematic one, since it runs past the presidential palace and Plaza de Nariño, as well as important parks and many neighborhoods. Removing Seventh Ave. from the Ciclovía would be a fatal blow. It would lose its prominence in the city and thousands of users would lose access to it. We’re demanding that the Ciclovia of the Seventh be preserved. We also want to be certain that after Transmilenio is operating on Seventh Ave. the Ciclovia will still be there, even though there will be one less lane each way for cars – and thus less room for the Ciclovía. Nevertheless, we believe that that Ciclovía CAN continue using Seventh Ave. – but the politicians must be pushed in order to make that happen.
Watching the hamster races on San Victorino Plaza
Let’s go to the (hamster) races!
In the National Park we found this memorial to the Salado Massacre
Examining crabs meant for Colombian viagra!
Shawna and Adam making friends with kids from a barrio.
Nobody can outrace Parchita, day or night!
Nancy and Dick from Redding, California enjoy cups of coca tea.
Our Beautiful Visitors
How could we not post this photo of three pretty young ladies who rented bikes from Bogota Bike Tours last Sunday for Ciclovia?
An aspiring actress with CityTV racing downhill.
Hope there are no real bulls around here!
The young man, an aspiring bullfighter, advised keeping your legs covered, to hide them from the bull.
Meanwhile, a real matador practiced his craft.
All four Aussies immediately decided to give up surfing for bullfighting! The other day when we visited the bullfight ring, we talked to a young, aspiring bullfighter. Both I and the two cycle tourists, an English couple, dislike bullfighting, because of the cruelty and violence. However, I also recognize that bullfighting requires a great deal of courage and skill, and anyone who does it is a braver man (or woman) than I am.
Our bullfighting friend at practice.
Read previous posts at:
Yes, Bogotá has good things, including the Ciclovía and the bike paths, as imperfect as they are. But how about really enforcing emissions controls? What about finally reducing the sulphur in diesel fuel to a reasonable level? How about instituting traffic calming measures? And, finally, Bogotá society needs to accept the automobile as a form of transport equal – or even preferrable – to the car.
Somehow, it often seems here that the bicycle is considered the vehicle for the unfortunate poor – something which the wealthy class which Bogotanos aspire to shouldn’t be bothered with. Maybe that’s why many major destinations, including shopping centers and even public buildings, ignore the law by providing no bike parking. One time a friend and I went to the City Hall to talk to a councilman about bicycling issues. Unfortunately, there was no place there to park a bike, so that I ended up parking blocks away and the friend had to convince a neighboring storekeeper to store her bike in the back of his shop. What’s the message in that?
Another time, I went to deposit money in a bank near a ritzy hotel. I locked the bike to a post on the sidewalk and went inside and got in line. I’d forgotten to bring a novel, as I always do to pass the time waiting. But the considerate local law enforcement officials were kind enough to fill my time. Very promptly, a security guard appeared and examined my bike suspiciously. Then some soldiers came, and a dark-suited man with a drug-sniffing dog. This bicycle parked on the sidewalk was a real crisis!
The law enforcers examined the lock, made a few attempts to remove the offensive bicycle. Finally, they left, leaving one guy to stand guard by the fearful two-wheeler.
Meanwhile, those of us standing in line were watching Bogotá’s finest deal with this tremendous threat to the city. When I finally left, I thanked the soldier for watching my bike, but he insisted that he had to take it away. Finally, after I’d discoursed on the benefits of cycling, the guy relented – and suggested that I give him a small financial gratification, which I did. It is true, of course, that Colombia has a civil war and that bicycles have occasionally been used to carry bombs. But cars carry much larger bombs, and nobody seems very concerned about them. To be fair, bicycle paranoia isn’t restricted to Bogotá. Years ago, I arrived in the small town of Greenville, Mississippi to work for the newspaper. On my second day I went to the bank to DEPOSIT money – which naturally meant showing my I.D.s, writing checks, filling out forms, etc. The next day at work the editors, who listened to the police scanner, asked me whether the cops had caught me. It seemed that a bank employee had reported me as a ’suspicious individual on a bicycle.’ I’ve heard of the crime of ‘driving while black.’ Is this one called ‘bicycling while existing?’
Anyway, something more timely – even if it does involve hippos! So, during his banner years, cocaine king Pablo Escobar populated his estate near Medellin with exotic animals, Michael Jackson style, including giraffes, zebras and even hippos. After Escobar was hunted down and killed, the estate was looted and the animals either died or got sent to zoos – except for the hippos, which happily reproduced. Several also escaped, and recently authorities decided that one family group was a public danger. So, animal control agents shot the male dead. That’s produced big public protests. Hippos actually do kill a lot of people in Africa. And they’re an exotic species here.
What’s all of this got to do with bike touring? Well, one of our tour stops is in a public park where displaced people are camped. Colombia actually has the world’s second-greatest number of displaced people, right behind Sudan. So, we talk about the nation’s civil war, and the great suffering it causes, especially to the nation’s poor campesinos. Which generally goes unnoticed and unprotested.
That’s why this outpouring of moral outrage over the killing of a hippo strikes me as disproportional.
So much for human rationality!
