2moroRider - 30k in Central America
Round-the-world rider Rhys Lawrey is in Colombia, having covered 30,000 miles in his bid to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle. The 23-year old completed the Central American leg of his trip on Christmas Day 2014, when he crossed the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia, riding his his Triumph Tiger 800XC into Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast.
“Colombia ranks alongside China as one of the top countries I’ve travelled through” says Rhys, who is riding under the 2moroRider banner to raise money for the Prince’s Trust charity.
“It has a bad reputation for drug-related crime but I’ve found myself riding in the countryside after dark and it hasn’t been a problem. The people are so friendly - they’re really intrigued and want to know who you are & where you’re from. I can’t speak Spanish but Google Translate works wonders!”
Rhys was joined for part of the journey by Scotsman Steven Kirk, who is riding a Triumph Tiger 800 from Perth to Peru. They originally met while Rhys was riding across Australia and bumped into each other at the border between Costa Rica and Panama. The pair experienced one of the toughest days in the entire trip in the mountains between the Colombian cities of Barichara and Sogamoso;
“I spotted a really nice mountain road on the map, which looked way more interesting than the main road going around it. Things started really well and we even found a place to go waterfall abseiling. But the higher up we rode, the trickier it became. The GPS told us to follow the main tarmac road, but there was very little traffic, which made us nervous. The locals pointed us onto a dirt road running down the mountain. We took their advice but it quickly turned into a rocky track and soon we were effectively trials riding between boulders, on fully loaded bikes with road tyres! We had to stop every few minutes to rest our arms from hauling on the bars to hop between rocks. The locals kept pointing us down the mountain, then we ran out of water, because it’s thirsty work, and it started to rain. With another 20-30 miles in front of us we had no choice but to turn around and retrace our route back to Barichara. The next day we took the main road to Sogamoso and it turned out to be a really fun twisty road!”
From Colombia Rhys will head south into Ecuador, where he will cross the equator for the first time.
Rhys is raising money for The Prince’s Trust, asking for a donation of just £1 for every continent he crosses (up to a maximum of six). You can follow his progress, view his video diaries and make a donation at www.2mororider.com.