The Valle del Cauca is one of the richest farmland regions of Colombia, a wide, flat valley between two great ranges of the Andes, and this point lies on its western edge, where the plain begins to climb into the mountains. The Cauca river runs through the middle, and on either side lie fields of sugar cane in a green sea that stretches for kilometres, harvested for most of the year, with columns of smoke and cane trucks on the roads. The Western Cordillera rises to the west, covered in cloud forest, and its slopes hold coffee farms, small villages and some of the best birdwatching in South America.
The nearest settlements tell the story of the region. Trujillo and Riofrío are small, friendly towns of a few thousand people, with plazas, churches and shops, and Tuluá, a city of more than a hundred and sixty thousand, lies down in the valley with its markets, fuel stations and food. The region was once the territory of the Calima people, who made gold ornaments of astonishing delicacy, and the nearby Calima lake, formed by a dam, is now a magnet for windsurfers and kitesurfers, who come for the steady wind.
Riding in Colombia is an education. Motorbikes are everywhere, carrying families, goods and cooking gas, and car drivers are used to them, but overtaking is bold and traffic can be chaotic near towns. The main roads are good, wide and well signed, with toll booths where motorbikes pay a reduced fare, and the mountain roads are twisty, steep and scenic, with sudden fog in the higher sections. Landslides are a risk in the rainy seasons, from April to May and October to November.
Fuel is easy in Tuluá and available in the larger villages, and you will find roadside stalls selling fresh fruit, coffee and fried snacks. Try sancocho, the hearty soup of chicken or beef with plantain and yuca, and finish with a cup of local coffee. Afternoons are hot in the valley, and cooler up in the hills, so carry a light jacket. The dry months, from June to September and December to February, are the best for riding, and the valley's green is most striking after rain.