1 cyclist against 10.000 runners….

Hola Amigos,

It never ends with funny stories. Sometimes I think why this happens always to me….

First of all I have to tell you some general information about Bogotá before I start with my next story. Bogotá offers every Sunday from 7 a.m. till 2 p.m. (by closing some main streets) 120 km streets only for cyclists. Around 2 million people (25% of inhabitants of Bogotá) only in Bogotá use this opportunity to ride their bikes on this streets. The closed streets during this time are called “Cyclovia” (bike path).

Normally I have to say that the time (from 7 a.m. till 2 p.m.) on Sunday is not very comfortable if you were out for a drink (or two!) on Saturday. I think this was also the problem why it took almost 3 months that I will use the opportunity of the Cyclovia to ride my bike there. I took a look on the map for the Cyclovia and decided to make a nice ride for about 1 hour. I took me 10 min. to reach the Cyclovia from my apartment. I had to pass a cordon to get on the bike path. It was great because the main street was closed, no cars on the streets ….. a lot of people on the side, no cyclists on the street. There were a lot of music stations on the sidewalk, some tents with people who offered water….. and I was really impressed how well they organize the Cyclovia every Sunday. I can tell you that I really enjoyed it and I was sure to do this the next Sunday again. After some time I was wondering a little bit because there were more and more people on the sidewalks behind some cordons. I think at this time the whole situation was a little bit suspicious for me. Some cyclists with orange T-shirts and radio headsets came my way. They looked and say (screamed) something to me but I didn’t understand and just greet them. Then a man with the same orange T-shirt and radio headset jumped on the street and said something to me but I was so shocked and busy to avoid an accident with him that I didn’t take care what he said to me. I just thought how fool this guy was.
After 20 meters two other orange people jumped on the street and this was the end of my trip. They stopped me, said something really fast in Spanish and the only word I understood was Marathon. You can imagine how fast the gear wheels have worked in my head. Of course everything was clear for me, the music stations, the tents with the water station,…. that was not for me, for the cyclist. This was an official Marathon (once per year in Bogotá). Around 1 min after the took me of the street the first 3 leaders of the Marathon passed by. At the end there were around 10.000 marathon runners at this event so there were no chance for me and my woman mountain bike to win this battle.
I wanted to use the first time of my life the “Cyclovia” of Bogotá and at the same time there is the Marathon of Bogotá (only once per year). I’m always lucky with such extraordinary circumstances.

Saludos de Bogota

Jürgen

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