Home > Gravel

Watch: ‘Pasion de Grava’ details a Colombian gravel adventure

High-altitude gravel roads and a nation that celebrates cycling

Photo by: Shimano

Cycling pros like Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Uran, and Egan Bernal adorn large billboards in major Colombian cities. The sport is the nation’s number one pastime—Colombia is a cycling country.

Cities like Bogota and Medellin are surrounded by high altitude roads with famous climbs, but beyond those roads is gravel that connects small communities and farmlands.

In March, three riders from Medellin embarked on a five-day bikpacking trip covering almost 500km and 13,350m of elevation, with the goal of exploring the beauty and warmth of the region.

The riders, Mauricio Ordonez, Paulina Arango, and Camilo Jaramillo, bike through beautiful mountainous scenery. In Pasion de Grava, they discuss the aspects of riding in Colombia that they love and how the country is often misunderstood by outsiders. They pass through small towns and markets and Jaramillo notes that often to get from one town to another riders must climb around 2,000m.

As one may expect from Colombia, the riders rode by many coffee plantations, a topic expanded upon in the five day journal of the ride.

The film was created by Matthew Clark of Stirl and Rae Media Haus. Clark is an Australian based out of B.C. who travels the world as an endurance athlete.