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Charley’s blog
Charley’s blog

Adventuring off the beaten track

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Riding, Traffic, Churches, Role Models

7 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I thought I would get back to riding and give up the thoughts about staying put and just writing- for now. Once again I was sharing the road  with trucks, busses and motorcycles. Most of the time there was a shoulder to stay over on. I wasn’t expecting much after the tiny and secluded mountain […]

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Writing, Paris or Barichara?

6 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I’ve written earlier about being a dreamer and modeling my dreams off either an experience or books. Early on in my life I started to read Hemingway novels and about his life. There was little separation as he did quite a job portraying himself as the hero from his books. Actually, his novels were based

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“ Big Assed” Ants, Mud, Paper, History

2 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

While I had time in Barichara, I went to explore some of the local traditions: I wanted to try the local delicacy, Hormigas Culonas, which translates to “ big- bottomed ants” or the more modern translation “ Big-ass ants”. I didn’t see them in stores, probably because they show up in April, but hoping that

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Virgin Mary, Dreamer of the day, Possibility

8 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I am sitting on the covered upstairs porch of my hotel. It is hot out, but high  up here I can feel the cooler breeze and I am out of the sun. This makes the weather about perfect. I brought my keyboard for my ipad and use it regularly for my blog writing. Ive been

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I’m Giving Up, Mountain Backroads of Dirt, Unhitched Legs

9 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

Clickbait! Yup, give me a hard time. But. But, there is some reality to what I am giving up. I am giving up on my plan to ride north to south across Colombia. There’s lots of reasons. There is the danger of getting near the Ecuador border. For some reason I keep getting these notices

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My Favorite Mountain Town, Words Can Count

12 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

So far Zapatoca has been my favorite town, maybe the effort to get here has biased my opinion, but I have been enjoying just exploring all the nooks and crannies as I walk the streets. No trash anywhere, fresh mountain air and coolness. The best restaurants yet of the trip. Coffee shops to while away

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Joking Stoic Gods, Angel of Colombia, Lessons

11 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I woke up nervous and a little anxious to be starting on the uphill portion of my back way out of San Gil. Since I had booked a hotel only about 8 miles away and not wanting to get there before customers from the night before had checked out, I took my time in the

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Off Road, Warmshowers, Judging a Book By Its Cover

4 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I’m ending my stay of six days in Bucaramanga. I’ve been in recovery mode; eating well, relaxing, stretching and planning. After dealing with the crappy road coming into this city, I was hoping for an alternative. In my second day continuing south from here I would have to ride up about 5000 feet within a

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The Andes, Flats, Hardware Store Fun

8 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I’m 358 miles (577km) south of the Caribbean Sea.  Not without a tremendous effort, but here I am at 3500 feet in the 1.5 million population city of Bucaramanga. I arose today at my usual time of 0430 from habit, so did some stretching, journaling and reading. Now I’m upstairs on the balcony enjoying the

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Hills and Recovery, Another Bike Packer, Alarmed

8 Comments / Bike Touring, Colombia bike touring / charleysblog

I’ve been in Colombia now for over a month. My Spanish is adequate to find directions, order meals, secure a room and even tell people where I come from and where I’m going. When I’m around people here I’m really “on” in that I stick out like a sore thumb: white skin, big guy, on

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