Opening ceremonies - Forum Modial de Biciclettas

The primary function of my trip is to introduce the Bikesurf.org message to a wider audience. Forum Mondial de Biciclettas is the perfect stage to reach other like-minded volunteer bicycle projects. It is the biggest forum worldwide and is now in its forth year. It is an open forum for projects to present their ideas and with free entrance, 5000 people have signed up to attend. 

Opening ceremonies consisted of Spanish speeches from important figures, including the mayor of Medellin and some of the organisers of FMB. 

Making fruit smoothies using bicycle power. Simple and effective. 

Medellin life

View from my balcony over Belen park. Lots of street vendors selling exotic fruit, which they so excited about that they tell everyone about very loudly all day long. Tropical weather conditions all day long, all year long. Nice to amble the streets. 

Medellin calling

Leaving bogota and it's 8 million plus population behind. It's been great but Medellin's World Bike Forum starts on Wednesday. 

Overnight bus ride very comfortable and first impressions of Medellin are positive. Despite its notorious recent history as the capital of murders and other drug related crime, it's taken this second chance at being a liveable city seriously. The feeling on the streets is less rushed and they are simply prettier. 

My new Couchsurf host (Greg from the US), introduces me to his friends and Xbox. Private room and a maid who looks after us all day - this is couchsurfing, diamond class. Later on we've gone training rollerblade hockey with his team. Great sports facilities that are free for all to use and fully utilised by old and young alike. Plenty of inspirational ideas from this city already and the bike forum has yet to start. 

Ciclovía - Bogota's inspiration

"Sun is shining, the weather is clear, yeah."... Time to experience this ciclovía (car free streets from 7:00 until 14:00 every Sunday) on this glorious Sunday. Great idea and well organised means that it is now a proud aspect of this city's culture. It's a time to show off your bike and your biking skills, including downhill steps and managing not to crash into pedestrians and other bikers on the crowded streets. Something that I obviously recommend every other city to adopt to not only embrace cycling culture but to let the people in general take back the streets. 

Some other fun incidents or noteworthy differences in the past few days. Bogota is 2600m above sea level, but no need for an oxygen mask so far. Am intending to do some exercise tolerance tests or maybe even some endurance/ condition training. 

The ambiance on the streets is pretty relaxed, with no overt signs of criminal activity or aggression, although my host (Miguel) warned me against using Carrera 13. To exchange money, however, one needs to provide a passport, signature and fingerprint. Methinks they have/ had a problem with money laundering. 

Another feature of walking about today was that people were generally quite happy and random acts of kindness seem to happen regularly here. Whether it is donating some of the food you are eating to a begging homeless person or volunteering to organise the ciclovía, Colombian people seem to be in touch with their humanity and demonstrate compassion for those in need. 

Back to blogging in bogota

This blog has remained dormant for some time now, despite my many adventures in near and far flung lands these past years.

I have found a muse once again, a combination of suggestions from family members to document my life and the really exotic location in which I find myself... lying on the couch of my CouchSurfing host (Miguel) on my first night in Bogota, Colombia. 

This being my first time in South America and my limited Spanish, had me initially nervous at the prospect of traveling alone in this hollywood-portrayed notorious land. On arriving in Bogota, i set my phone 6 hours backwards. My first impressions are that this city is in many ways anything but backwards when it comes to city planning and public transport. Although a city of over 8 million people and an intimidating vast landscape of apartment blocks, the naming of the streets & avenues by number (similar to manhattan) makes navigation easier. They have even added extra information in the addresses so that one knows exactly where an apartment is located by cross referencing it with its nearest carrera (streets running north-south) or calle (avenues running west-east). 

Another feature of the urban mobility is that bicycles and their corresponding lanes are abundant here. The bikes tend to be flashy and stylish. Clearly an expression of their users' personalities. Met a guy (Hermann) who described the Sunday "no car times" in many cities. Basically, most of the city's roads are designated car-free for up to 7 hours on every Sunday, mostly morning and afternoon but also in the evenings. It was an experiment that proved so successful it continues to be rolled out in most of the mayor cities. 

Get me on a bike, stat!