Day 2: Cali to Salento (174 miles)

The first day on the motorcycle was completely amazing. We left Ricardo's house at 7:00am, which is when people are heading to work. I have never ridden a motorcycle with so many other motorcycles, mostly less than 250cc. They are on the roads weaving in and out of cars, driving in the shoulder to pass cars, driving down the center lane to pass. They would drive in amongst our group of 8 much larger motorcycles and weave in and out between us to pass us. It really kept us on our toes.

Here is my bike, a CF Moto 450. It is a new model that was introduced worldwide 6 months ago, and is not available in the US yet. Ricardo got one less than four weeks ago. He knew I wanted to ride it if he managed to get one. He told me on our ride in his truck from the airport. He wanted to surprise me. So instead of riding a KTM 390 I'm riding this CF Moto 450, which is way better. Ricardo's KTM 390 is up for sale because this bike is so good. All the other guys are on bikes twice as large as mine, KTM 890's. I like a smaller, more agile, bike for when we hit dirt roads. We are carrying our luggage on the bikes. Everything I need for a week needed to fit in the 50 liter dry bag strapped on the back.

Eventually we got out of the Cali area and into the country. Soon we were riding past mile after mike of sugar cane fields. We stopped at this stand beside the road where they take raw sugar cane snd run it through rollers to squeaze the juice out, making a fresh and very tasty drink.

Also at the sugar cane drink pullout were several army guys on motorcycles. They were very friendly and insisted we take our picture with them.

Our next stop was a barge to take us across a river. This was exciting to say the least. There was a sketchy metal ramp that we had to drive out onto, and then down onto the barge, which had a floor that was curved, and made from uneven Timbers.

After crossing the river getting off the barge on the far side was even more exciting. We had to ride across the uneven timbers, then the other ramp, and then keep our speed up and go up a bank. Mess this up and we would fall or topple into the river. We all made it. The key was to not go too slow, keep the speed up, and let the bike suspension work.

After the crossing the river we rode in dirt roads through sugar cane fields. We came across a guy on a horse heading a lot of white cows.

As we rode we passed out of the sugar cane lowlands until we gained enough altitude where the crops were coffee beans and plantain, a relative of bananas. We stopped for lunch at a small town on a ridge with a great view.

By this time my bike was no longer clean.

After lunch we rode further up the hills to a coffee house specializing in making the coffee the traditional Japanese way. Here is a picture of the barista demonstrating and making us coffee.

After coffee we had really fun riding on tight twisty narrow paved roads and dirt roads further and further into the hills.

Eventually we worked our way part way out of the hills to the town of Salento where we will spend the night at this family owned hotel.

We walked a short distance to the center of Salento for dinner. It's a town geared towards tourists and outdoor activities such as Jeep tours, horse back riding into the hills, zip lining, and more.

Overall today has to be a 10 out of 10 riding, scenery, and activities. The countryside is green everywhere. Lush is the best description. We are so close to the equator that there are no seasons. Just differences due to elevation.