Guasca sits at twenty-seven hundred metres in the Andes east of Bogotá, in the cold, green country that leads up to the páramo, the high moorland that Colombians treat with a kind of reverence. The town is small, with a square, a church and a scattering of cafes and shops, and the surrounding land is dairy farms, strawberry fields and potato plots, with eucalyptus and pines on the ridges. It feels a long way from the capital, though the capital is only an hour or so away.
The riding here is one of the real pleasures of the Bogotá region. The roads wind through the hills in long, rolling bends, with good views over valleys that drop away in layers of green. The surface varies, and the potholes, landslide repairs and sudden patches of gravel are a reminder that you are in the mountains, but the pace is easy, and traffic is light during the week. On weekends, cyclists and city riders come out in large numbers, so you will share the lanes with plenty of company. The weather can change quickly, with sunshine at breakfast, cloud by midday and rain in the afternoon, so carry waterproofs whatever the morning looks like.
The district is close to places that belong to Colombia's earliest history. Lake Guatavita, a few kilometres away, is a round crater lake that the Muisca people held sacred, and the ritual in which a new chief covered himself in gold dust and floated out on a raft to make offerings to the water is the source of the legend of El Dorado. The Chingaza páramo beyond is a national park whose lakes and wetlands supply a large share of Bogotá's drinking water, with frailejones, the furry-leaved plants of the high Andes, growing in thick stands.
For fuel, Sopó, about eight kilometres away, is a larger town with a regular station, and it is also where the Alpina dairy company has its roots, so the cheese and yoghurt are good. Guasca has the basics, but it is wise to arrive with a decent tank. Local restaurants serve hearty food, from trout to soups with potatoes and corn, and the altitude means that a hot drink is welcome at any time of day. The dry season, December to March and July to August, is the best time to go.