I got up at 6:30 thinking it would be cooler in the morning. The AC unit in my hotel room wasn't very good so I mostly used the ceiling fan to keep cool during the night. When I opened the door of my room I was greeted with a wall of humidity. It was already 90º! I don't think it cooled off at all during the night.

Most of my day I rode along the Magdalena River basin. At only 400 feet above sea level it was hazy and hot. The mountains loomed to the east and west of me as miles of open range lands blurred by. When the road passed through jungle areas, the vegetation arched over the road making a long tunnel which could go for several miles. Sometimes the road would split to a divide highway for five or six miles and then abruptly narrow to two lanes to go through a village. Many villagers lined the narrow road, selling cold beverages, fruits, and snacks to the many truck drivers on this route.

I stopped for gas at a truck stop and the attendant who was filling my tank asked if I would like some "tinto" (pronounced teen-toe) which is what they call coffee here. I said yes as I thought he was going to point me to a cafe but instead he poured me a small cup from his own thermos and offered me a piece of mango. Talk about a full service petrol station! I guess there was no hurry to clear the pump as the man and I chatted and drank our coffee.

The best part of my day was when I turned West from Ibagué towards Armenia. Finally... the Andes! Over the next two hours I enjoyed one of the best rides of my life going from 400 (120m) to over 11,000 feet (3350m) in elevation before dropping back to 5000 (1500m). The mountainsides were massive and steep. There was no doubt that this was a formidable mountain pass. What made the ride so spectacular though was the road itself. There was the old road which wound its way around every draw, ridge and canyon and there was the new road which soared over the canyons with long arched viaducts which spanned thousands of feet. Colombia had made this into a divided highway with two lanes following the new highway and two lanes following the old. The pavement in both directions was pristine. I got to ride the old highway to the top of the pass and then the new highway down the other side. There were many trucks slowly making their way up the steep winding road but because I had two lanes to work with it was like having the road to myself. I reveled in the sound of Tiggrr's whining intake as we sliced around hairpins and chicanes, my foot pegs occasionally scrapping the road from the lean angles. On the way down the other side the air was acrid with the smell of burning brakes as the big trucks lumbered down the precipitous grades. One of the viaducts made a complete 360º revolution as it descended into a long tunnel. When I arrived in the small city of Armenia I was euphoric. I wanted to ride back to Ibagué and do that section again!