A Visit to La Guarida

La Guarida's modest building 
is easy to pedal past.

 To get a feel for Bogotá's hip and high-end bicycle scene, you could do worse than visit La Guarida, a bike business complex located in Chapinero, across the street from the El Campin stadium.

Bicycling is all about balance!

From outside, La Guarida offers barely a hint about itself. The three-story light blue house could be a university rooming house, judging by the bicycles parked around the entrance and the bar on the first floor. However, the bar is outfitted with a cycling decor, and alongside it there's a small bike repair shop - evidently concentrating on high-end machines.

Climb the stairs to La Guarida's second floor and find the Biciosos bike shop, a small place but crammed with bike gear, including the sort of German-made bikes you'd better not take your eyes off of on Bogotá streets. In the other corner is a barber shop - also with a cycling decor. Are the haircuts here aerodynamic?

Bienvenidos a Biciosos.

The top floor holds a cycling jacket maker run by several French
guys. The reversible reflective MOVA Cycling jackets are nifty and innovative, either water proof or breathable, depending on how you wear them. They have integrated lights, their own stuff bag and hidden pockets to protect against those ubiquitous Bogotá pickpocketers. However, at several hundred thousand pesos, these jackets might get stolen themselves. Unsurprisingly, Mova exports most of its production.

Movi's sharp shirtwear.

Sharing the floor is Concienbiciate, whose name means something like 'integrate cycling into your consciousness,' and which lays claim to being Bogotá's largest bicycle activist organization. The colectivo definitely does turn out huge groups of cyclists - thousands, says a friend who is a member - who make racous rides thru Bogotá and the countryside. Hopefully, they can turn that momentum into pressure for more bike-positive city policies.

La Guarida: Cra 27 A Bis No 61C – 06, Bogotá, Colombia

Concienbiciate

Bikes hanging in La Guarida's entrance.

The first-floor bike workshop.

High-end bikes, for Bogotá.

Mova's slogan: Ride in Peace.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours