Riding the Americas by Alastair Humphreys

Author:Alastair Humphreys
Language: eng, eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eye Books
Published: 2014-10-28T20:59:14+00:00

Cycling Through Colombia

Cycling is a popular sport in Colombia and Tom was often overtaken by speedy cyclists in proper outfits on shiny racing bikes. Usually he was faster than other people on bicycles – children on their way to school, farmers heading to market with a couple of chickens or a pig tied to the backs of their bikes – but in Colombia he felt slow and heavy as his bike was loaded down with camping gear and supplies. Riding at this snail’s pace did, however, give him a chance to chat with equally slow locals. Tom always enjoyed riding side-by-side with other cyclists and finding out more about the country he was in.

One sunny morning, Pedro and Maria were cycling to the market to do some shopping for their mum when Tom caught them up.

“¡Hola!” called Tom.

“¡Hola!” replied the boy and girl. “¿Cómo estás? How are you?”

“Muy bien, gracias. Very well, thank you! ¿Cómo te llamas? What is your name?”

“Me llamo Pedro. I’m called Pedro. Maria es mi hermana – my sister.”

“Me llamo Tom” replied Tom. “I’m cycling round the world, alrededor del mundo.”

The children laughed. Cycling to the shops sounded easy compared to cycling round the world.

“Isn’t is dangerous? A bit crazy? ¿Un poco loco?” asked Maria.

Now it was Tom’s turn to laugh. So often when he told people about his adventures they would ask exactly the same question. Tom thought back over his journey and how often people had treated him kindly. A few people think every country in the world is scary. Most people think that a few spots are dangerous. And everyone always wanted to offer advice.

“Don’t go to that country!” he would hear. “It is very dangerous.”

“Watch out for the people there – they are all robbers.”

When Tom first heard warnings like this he used to get very worried and think, “Oh dear! I don’t think I should ride through there.”

But over the thousands of miles he had ridden, Tom had learned that the best thing to do was to ask them a question: “Have you been to that country yourself?” Almost always the person had to admit that he or she had never actually been there and so really didn’t know what they were talking about.

Tom remembered Sergeant Sharif and Sergeant Amarri – border guards in two different African countries who had stood staring suspiciously across a border gate at each other for years. Tom had persuaded them to have a chat with each other, and they became good friends. So he was used to people thinking that the world was more dangerous than it really is. The reason that he laughed especially loudly when Maria asked if his adventure was dangerous was because they were in Colombia. Of all the countries that Tom visited in South America, nothing had got people more worried than Colombia. For many years it has had lots of problems and been known as a place to avoid.

Tom explained this to Pedro and Maria. “Everyone told me that Colombia was dangerous! They told me I should not visit.

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