Dave Mobley takes a ride through
Colombia and quickly discovers that
often the hardest things that chal-
lenge you are often the most enjoy-
able ...
I
n English, the Spanish
word Golpeado translates
to beaten up, which is the
perfect way to describe
how I felt after my latest
motorcycle adventure. I’ll
get back to that, but first let me back-
track slightly.
In 2013 after going through a
divorce, I sold the house, quit a
high-paying job, threw caution to the
wind, and set off for a year aboard
a BMW F800GS. I rode solo for 24k
miles, and passed through 17 coun-
tries. I started in Denver and made
way to the bottom of the world in Ar-
gentina. The trip changed me deep-
ly, in ways that I can’t explain. Upon
return I accepted another high-level
corporate sales and marketing man-
agement position, which relocated
me to Brooklyn, but couldn’t shake
daydreams and cravings for more ad-
venture.
In June of 2016, after two more
years in the Corporate America
grinder, I quit and took off yet again.
This time riding a bicycle for 100 days
across the United States with my 65
year-old father, then a bit of sailing
landing me in the Caribbean for a
brief stretch. After that, I hopped
around Latin American researching
several investment and business op-
portunities.
Chasing said opportunity, warm
weather, and yet more adventure,
I ended up settling in Cali, Colom-
bia. After being here a few months,
I was offered a gig leading motorcy-
cle tours part-time through Colombia
and South America with Motolom-
bia, a well respected rental and tour
agency.
Recently Mike, the owner of Mo-
tolombia, asked if I wanted to help
guide an upcoming tour called the
‘River of Gods Explorer’. I’d been told
we would ride high mountains, low
plains, and experience the border
between dense Amazon forest and
the Andes. Our ultimate goal was to
reach Caño Cristales, known as the
River of Seven Colors or River of the
Gods. Some say Cristales is the most
beautiful river in the world, and it’s
quickly becoming very popular as
the southeastern department of Meta
opens up and presents itself. All this
following a recent peace treaty nego-
tiated between the Colombian gov-
ernment and the FARC rebel group.
Of course I agreed, and we began
preparations for the worlds first orga-
nized motorcycle tour to the mythical
Caño Cristales. Two weeks ago, after
months of anticipation, the day final-
ly came to begin the tour. We were
seven total. A slightly older former
U.S. Marine named Jim. A father and
son duo named Doug and Matt. A pro-
fessional, very talented photographer
from Turkey named Kadir. Finally
representing Motolombia the owner
Mike, the newest full-time guide and
amazing rider Dennis, and me.
After a briefing at the shop, the
first stretch of the trip took us north
from Cali to Salento. We exited the
back door of Salento on a dirt stretch
TRAVERSE
21
riding a ridge above the stunning Co-
cora Valley down into the tiny village
of Toche. This is the heart of the Co-
lombian coffee region, also the only
place to see Colombia’s national tree,
the beautiful Quindio Wax Palm.
From there it was onward to Melgar,
really nothing special, but a good
resting point. The day was split be-
tween paved and packed dirt roads.
The scenery just outside of Salento
is some of the most beautiful in the
world.
A couple of maintenance issues
aside, day two was uneventful apart
from some spirited, sweeping paved
curves that led us to Vista Hermo-
sa. We were on Yamaha XT 660’s,
wrapped in Metzeler Karoo rubber. I
have a road racing background, and
was quite impressed with the stability
and lean angle that can be achieved
by this combo. Keep in mind that
traffic lights, speed limits, double yel-
lows, and stop signs are not enforced
here, and seen as ‘recommendations’
instead of rules. As long as you ar-
en’t a complete knucklehead, don’t
wheelie past a police station, or blow
through a military checkpoint, you
should be fine.
After spending a relaxing night in
Vista Hermosa, day three was where