Bogota

The hotel owner lead us to the road that would start our last riding day in South America. While passing through town the bike was running very hot, despite the temperature being only 20C. Once we got to the mountains the bike was still 1-2 marks on the temperature gauge higher than I would expect. I put it all down to a dirty radiator or maybe slightly low water levels, so decided to ease off a bit and stop at the next garage.

We climbed higher and higher, through fog and mist. All the time dealing with a large number of trucks in both directions. As we started to drop down towards the next town the batter warning light came on. Again I decided to press on and get to the town, rather than stop on the mountain pass.

A few km further on the engine management warning light started showing intermittently. Within minutes I had no power and pulled in to stop. With flashbacks to the electrical issues I had in Morocco, I thought this could be the end of my trip. I then remembered that both Andy's Harley and Phil's KTM had both had loose battery cables and than this could be simple explanation. I unloaded and removed the seat. To my relief the positive cable was loose. We jump started the bike and I was off again. I assume the heating issues earlier were down to the fan not working due to the loose battery connection.

I also noticed lots of cyclists, complete with Lycra kit. Columbia is visibly more affluent than many of the other countries we have passed through.

On arriving at the hotel in Bogota, in a quiet neighbourhood of mid range hotels and hair dressers, there was none of the vibrancy that makes South America special. At the end of an amazing South American leg there was a slight feeling of anticlimax. Spending the next day at the airport (completing the paper work to ship our bikes to Panama) did little to improve how we felt.

Our flight the next day was scheduled for 4pm. This gave us most of the day to do a bit of shopping and visit the local bike dealers. We started with BMW, mainly a car dealer but a few riders got some of the parts they needed. Next it was on to KTM, but as we arrived we noticed there was a Triumph dealer next door.

We were given a warm welcome, and a tour of the workshop in order to show me the tires that were for sale. They were race prep'ing a Daytona 675 - the first in Columbia. I always have a soft spot for 675s as I had one as my second bike. The only rubber available was a part-used race tire, so we moved on to the KTM shop.

The KTM shop put every other KTM dealer I have visited to shame. Most of the powerparts catalogue was out on the shelves. Phil bought replacement pads and levers, we both bought new tank bags. It was a shame we did not know about this place in advance as we could have ordered new tyres and also got our servicing done if we had known. Even the soap, towel and sink in the toilet was KTM orange.

Finally we set off for Harley Davidson to pick up some parts for Andy. The dealer was located in an up market area, after leaving the dealer we had some great noodles in the restaurant opposite. There were lot of other interesting looking bars and restaurants. We barely scratched the surface of Bogota, but my impression was of a city with much to offer, rather than the claustrophobic place that had been suggested by others.