Andean Paradise Expedition with Jarvis (Colombia)

Four nights through the Colombian coffee country, guided, riding with Graham Jarvis across a broader route than the operator’s standard expedition.

Riding with Jarvis is the distinction, and on terrain like this it is a real one: watching one of the best hard-enduro riders in the world pick a line through a rock step teaches more in a minute than a week of trying it alone.

Llanogrande near Medellin opens it, with the bike set up to the rider. Santa Barbara follows through the coffee plantations, where the slopes are steep enough that the picking is still done by hand and the rivers run clear between them. Cauca Viejo comes next, a cluster of historic colonial villages above the river, then Jardin, a painted town with its square and its cable car up the valley side. The routes mix technical single track with easy cow paths and are set across four levels from easy to expert, with trailside stops for trout and local food along the way.

The bike hire with the custom setup is included; the full inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. The price shown is per rider and sits well above the standard version of the same region, which is what riding with Jarvis costs. December to March and July to August are the drier windows, though in coffee country rain is never far away, which is a good deal of why the trails are as good as they are.