Andean Paradise Expedition (Colombia)

Five nights through the Colombian coffee country, guided, riding off-road out of Medellin.

Colombia is among the best off-road countries in the world and almost unridden by visitors: the Andes split into three ranges here, which means constant elevation change, and the valleys between them are green, warm and full of small roads.

Rionegro airport opens it, with the bike fitted to the rider, controls and suspension adjusted, and a night at Llanogrande. The first riding day covers 111 kilometres from the base at 2,200 metres through Sabaletas to Santa Barbara. The route then runs by Puente Iglesias and down into the Rio Frio valley, with an optional technical path the locals call El Camino del Duende or an easier alternative, finishing at Jardin, a colonial town with a painted main square and a hotel on it. The last day is a ninety-kilometre loop to Rio Sucio and back, crossing clear rivers and climbing to Alto Petaquero at 2,650 metres, through avocado farms, with lunch at a trout farm.

The bike hire with the custom fitting is included; the full inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. December to March and July to August are the drier windows, though this is coffee country and rain is never far away, which is part of why the riding is as good as it is. Six days at this length is a proper expedition rather than a taster, and having the bike set up to the rider on the first day is the detail that matters most over five consecutive days of technical ground.