37km | +962m | Hard

This technical route is at the upper end of what a gravel bike can do. It’s totally rideable if you have good bike handling skills, and although the ride back down is possibly more suited to a mountain bike, it’s fantastic fun on a gravel bike with 44+mm tyres. The rocky, rutted road was originally constructed to take materials up to an antenna complex on the top of a 3,640m peak, and on a clear day the vistas all the way up and from the top are quite simply magnificent! Make sure to take a detour up the footpath that appears on your right hand side about 100m after the ruins of an old house. A little way up the footpath there’s a great spot to take a breather, with some spectacular views of Bogotá and the Monserrate and Guadalupe hilltop churches.

When you reach the top of the climb, you’ll find a locked gate, but there’s a way through on the left for foot traffic (if there’s a security guard there, they’ll usually let you past if you ask nicely). Once inside the gate, there’s a path to the right that takes you up to some rocks with an amazing 360 degree view of Bogotá and the surrounding mountains.

This is a great climb to do any day of the week, especially on the weekend when hundreds of people will be out on their bikes. And early each Thursday morning a huge group congregates at the Monserrate funicular railway station for a 5:30am start on what’s known as the Tren del Verjón, with all abilities – from people doing the climb for the first time, to some of Bogotá’s best amateur riders.

About 11kms up you’ll find a café called Marquez del Once that’s a great place to stop for arepas, coffee and aguapanela. And a few kms after that there’s a small school where you take a right onto the dirt to start the final climb.