Fun in the Barrio: Clasico El Colombiano Urban Downhill

Every year, the local newspaper, El Colombiano, hosts 5 days of various cycling races in Medellin. The event is called Clasico El Colombiano and the races include a time-trial, road circuit, downhill urban, BMX, gravity, and mountain biking.

I spent a couple of hours watching the downhill urban this afternoon. Its similar to this event in Valparaiso, Chile, although today's course was not quite as suicidal, unfortunately.



It seems the organizers look for a barrio with a steep pitch, lots of urban obstacles, and perhaps a stray dog or two. Here are photos from today's Clasico El Colombiano Urban Downhill.

I planned to race in the road circuit, but I was out too late last night. I did see some of the riders from the EPM and Shimano GW development teams that I met on Wednesday. I probably couldn't have held on anyway, since the pros were racing, including Movistar.