AI can plan a cycling trip in seconds, which makes the itinerary the ‘commodity’ of a cycling holiday. What stays scarce is everything a human can deliver and a prompt cannot: someone who has tried, tested and vouched for it, and who is accountable for it when the plan changes. This is why we built Colombici around that, and what it looks like in practice.
Líbano, Tolima, on the Road to El Sifón. Any tool can draw the route. The standard is who stands behind it.
Photo: @FotografoAltodeLetras
Founder-run · Limited group size
Colombici is a founder-run cycling holiday company based in Bogotá, started by the two of us, Maya Blanco and Pan Yamboonruang. We changed careers and relocated for it: Maya back home to Colombia, Pan by choice. What we didn’t find was a cycling holiday run to an international standard of service and as immersive in the culture as it is demanding on the climbs. So we set out to build one: routes we ride ourselves, partners we trust, and no more than ten riders, so we can give every client our full attention and answer for every detail.
In short
AI can draft and plan a trip in minutes. Delivering and executing it still takes a human.
Founder-run: Maya and Pan design every journey and run the business end to end, from the first enquiry to the final roadbook.
Limited group size: never more than ten riders on each trip, with one van and one shared dining table.
Both founders are hands-on, from operations and logistics to curating the routes. Nothing reaches a client untried: every route, hotel and restaurant is tested by us and refined season by season, the level of care a small, founder-run business can offer.
On Reserved departures, a driver, mechanic and soigneur: specialists in their fields, with Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo (FCC) experience, who know these roads better than we do. Private journeys come with a designed itinerary, pre-booked accommodation and a driver-mechanic.
Ridden, timed and checked before a client ever arrives.
Photo: @FotografoAltodeLetras
Can AI or ChatGPT Plan a Cycling Holiday in Colombia?
The short answer: yes, and quickly.
ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude can all draft one. Ask for a week in the Colombian Andes and an itinerary arrives in seconds: regions, climbs, hotels, distances, neatly ordered. We use these tools ourselves. More than 70% of travellers now use AI to research a trip. Fewer than 16% are comfortable letting it book one.¹ Every draft is assembled from what someone has already written, so they end up looking alike. The smaller details that make a trip work are the ones no one has written about yet.
That gap is worth a moment. Travellers are glad to take ideas from a prompt and far less willing to let it book. A cycling holiday asks for a lot of trust: your safety, your time and your money, in a country you may never have visited, ridden or spoken the language of. In our previous lives, we helped brands define their DNA and experience. We applied the same rigour to Colombici, using that experience to shape its itineraries and operations around one idea: accountability. Someone has to answer for every part of what a client experiences, and here that is us.
Already have an AI itinerary? Send it to us. We’ll tell you what it’s missing.
Pan and Maya, co-founders. Two names on every departure, and two people to answer for it.
Photo: @FotografoAltodeLetras
Who Founded Colombici?
Meet Maya Blanco and Pan Yamboonruang
Maya Blanco, CEO and co-founder, is a Bogotana, educated in France. After years abroad in luxury and hospitality, among different cultures, she moved back on purpose, bringing home what she learned about how service feels from the guest’s side. She leads the business, from new partnerships and growth to operations, logistics and safety on the ground. A Colombian with a global outlook, she links how the world travels with what Colombia can offer.
Pan Yamboonruang, creative director and co-founder, was born in Thailand, educated in Australia and has lived across five continents. He leads the creative vision and designs the routes and regions, curious about every corner of the country. He sees Colombia from the outside, and that fresh perspective shapes every journey. Of all the places he has lived, Colombia is where he stayed.
Together, her operational rigour and his creative vision are the duality that makes Colombici unique.
Before Colombici, we spent our careers in global branding agencies across Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific, where quality and accountability were not up for discussion. We have also been married for over a decade, so business and pleasure have always shared a table. It keeps us meticulous about the details.
Colombia is often pictured through its coffee, mules and green hillsides. They are real, and they are only part of it. The country is also in motion, with roasters, riders and entrepreneurs building something new. We have always believed the bicycle is the perfect translator, and that Colombia is best ridden by bike. So we built Colombici.
“Utterly fabulous hosts, really amicable, knowledgeable and relatable.”
Mark S. | Google review, 2026
2021, the first Tour de Colombia. Seven riders, one van, a mechanic on a motorbike. The blueprint came before the name.
Photo: @FotografoAltodeLetras
Why We Started Colombici
A Curated, Cultural Way to Explore Colombia
In 2021, as Colombia reopened after pandemic lockdown, seven riders set off on a week-long ride from Bogotá to Filandia, over Alto de Letras. We had one van and a mechanic on a motorbike. For most of the group it was a first visit to Colombia. They kept coming back.
That week set the blueprint for how we travel. We ride the roads. We spend time in the towns we pass through, eat where locals eat, and talk to the people who live there. The riders came for the climbs. They came back for the towns, the food and the people in between. We wrote about what that taught us three years later.
We called that first ride Tour de Colombia. The name Colombici came years later, once the idea behind it was clear: to explore Colombia by bike in a curated, cultural way, and to show it as the country in motion it is today. That first tour created the what and the how. The brand followed.
The towns between the climbs.
Colombia in motion, seen at the pace of a bike.
What Is It Like to Ride in Colombia Today?
A Country in Motion
Colombia is cycling’s country, and you notice it on the first ride. In Bogotá, Alto de Patios is among the most attempted climbs anywhere, and the locals who ride it before work treat it as a weekday. Cycling here is infrastructure and identity. We set it all out in our complete guide to road cycling in the Colombian Andes.
In the coffee towns, a new generation roasts beans that once went straight abroad. Highland communities are connected by roads paved only in recent years. A páramo supplies water to millions and is protected by the people who live beside it.
Tourism has grown quickly since the 2016 peace agreement. Too often it is sold as more miles in less time, or as suffering for its own sake. Our early motto was “suffer together, friends forever.” The suffering is still on the menu. It is just no longer the main dish.
What we wanted was simpler, and more difficult to execute: an international standard of service, applied to a deeply local experience. That is the idea behind why we travel this way.
A limited group size, by design. Photo: @LaVueltaEsAsi
Ten riders at most, one van, one table. Photo: @LaVueltaEsAsi
Why Choose a Founder-Run Cycling Holiday in Colombia?
Accountability · Attention to detail · International Standard
Founder-run means the people who design the trip are the people accountable for it. We own the business, so when something changes there is no one further up the chain to ask. It is us.
We design the itineraries of every journey and vet all our partners. Reserved departures are scheduled journeys hosted by both of us, with a driver, a soigneur, a mechanic and a media partner. Private journeys are designed by us around your dates, your group and your level, with details you only learn by living and riding on these roads. Accommodation is booked before you arrive, a driver-mechanic travels with you, and a recovery kit comes along, packed the way a soigneur would pack it: a Theragun, recovery tools and a shoe dryer.
Ten riders at most is an operational decision. A limited group size means safer logistics, better judgement on the road, more attention to detail and a more personal experience. It also changes how the trip feels. At ten, everyone fits at one table, and the day is shared together: the climb, the cold, the coffee. Research on shared attention suggests that experiences people go through together are felt more strongly and remembered better than those they go through alone.²
Shared days stay memorable only if they run smoothly, and for that we follow international standards, adapted to roads none of them were written for:
ISO 9001, quality management: clear workflows for every journey, with every route, hotel and restaurant tested and refined season by season.
ISO 31000, risk management: a risk assessment for each route covering roads, weather, heat and altitude, vetted suppliers, and decisions made with partners on the ground when conditions change.
ISO 14001, environmental management: decisions guided by environmental and social impact: local partners, local spending, and care in fragile places such as the páramo.
We work to these frameworks and pursue formal certification only where it adds real value.
Planning a private journey? Tell us your dates, your group and your level, and we’ll design the route around you.
Start your private journey →
Support on every stage. Photo: @LaVueltaEsAsi
What Do Service and Safety Look Like on a Cycling Holiday?
The small decisions clients never see.
The short answer: a series of small decisions, made before the trip and adjusted by us in real time while it runs.
Alto el Sifón, also written Alto del Sifón, climbs to 4,149 m (13,612 ft). Before we built a journey around it, we did a recon from Armero over Alto el Sifón to Alto de Letras. We scoped out the route and its landmarks, the stops, the meals, the toilets for the women in the group, and where the winter layers go. Every itinerary is curated, tested and vetted this way before a client rides it.
Altitude sets the order of the days. A journey starts in Bogotá, at 2,650 m (8,694 ft), with a day or two to adjust. We then drop to the Magdalena Valley for a night to recover, and from there every night sleeps higher than the last: Líbano, then Termales del Ruiz, at 3,500 m (11,483 ft),³ after El Sifón, which we ride in one stage or two. You wake up at Termales del Ruiz with hot springs outside the door.
A standard also shows when plans change. On August 10, 2026, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake closed roads across the Central Cordillera, including the road over Alto de Letras.⁴ Our next tour started ten days later. We checked with partners on the ground, rerouted where needed, and kept the days that mattered.
Rerouting like that depends on the people behind it: a driver, mechanic and soigneur with FCC experience who know these roads better than we do, and family-run hotels, one in the UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape.⁵ The money stays local. Every partner is vetted and vouched for, and we put our name only to people we would ride with ourselves.
Safety on the road starts with the driver. Our drivers follow a safety protocol based on international road-safety practice: no texting and no mobile phone use at the wheel, at any time.
“The places we visited, the routes, the food, the snacks, the team, the time to rest and recover, the transportation, all the logistics were thoughtfully planned and performed.”
Alejandra C. | Google review, 2026
Refining is part of the standard. This season we changed a route to ride the hills in the heart of Quindío, where the single origin in our Tinto by Colombici is grown, so riders see where the coffee in their cup begins.
What to Ask Before Booking a Cycling Holiday in Colombia
Six questions, and how we answer them
The short answer: ask who has ridden the route, who is on the road, and who is accountable when plans change.
Whoever you ride with, these questions separate an itinerary from a standard. This is how we answer them:
Who designed the route, and have they ridden it? We designed ours and ride them first.
Who is on the road with the group? On Reserved departures, a driver, mechanic and soigneur with FCC experience, and both of us. On Private journeys, a driver-mechanic, with accommodation booked and the itinerary designed in advance.
How are the days ordered for altitude? Bogotá first, a night in the valley, then every night higher than the last.
Who decides when a road closes or the weather turns? We do, with partners on the ground, in real time.
Who are the local partners, and who vouches for them? Family-run hotels, our driver, mechanic and soigneur, and Orígenes in Salento. Each one vetted and vouched for by us.
What is the maximum group size? Never more than ten riders on the road.
The climb and the company. Photo: @FotografoAltodeLetras
What Should a Cycling Holiday in Colombia Feel Like?
What clients notice, and what they don’t
The short answer: the climb and the company, with everything else already taken care of.
The best compliment a rider can pay us is that they didn’t notice any of this.
What they noticed was the light on the way up to El Sifón, the restaurant on the páramo, the coffee in Salento, the company. They didn’t notice the stop that came when it was needed, the toilet that was where it should be, the lunch that was waiting, the water, the shade. Those were planned, so nobody had to think about them. Riding through 44 °C (111 °F) valley heat is a logistical failure. We have been through it, and we plan every day so our clients don’t have to.
“Everything was taken care of since the day 1 till the end.”
Ivana N. (Czech Republic) | Into Coffee Heartlands, 2026
An itinerary describes the trip you intend to have. The standard decides the trip you actually get.
Every route ridden, every partner vetted and vouched for.
Read our Google reviews →
Frailejones on the upper slopes of Alto del Sifon. Photo: @FotografoAltodeLetras
Cycling Holidays in Colombia: Frequently Asked Questions
Who runs Colombici, the cycling holiday company in Bogotá?
Colombici is run by its two founders, Maya Blanco and Pan Yamboonruang, who live and ride in Colombia. The company is based in Bogotá and registered in Colombia’s national tourism registry (Registro Nacional de Turismo), RNT #176025 and #176023.
What is a founder-run cycling holiday?
A founder-run cycling holiday is a trip designed and operated by the company’s founders, not handed to a sales team or an outside agency. At Colombici, we design every journey and work directly with every client, and both of us host Reserved departures.
How big are the groups on a Colombici cycling holiday?
Colombici keeps a limited group size: never more than ten riders on the road. Reserved departures are eight riders plus the two founders.
What support is there on a guided cycling holiday in Colombia?
On Reserved departures, Colombici’s road team is a support vehicle with a driver, a mechanic and a soigneur, all with Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo (FCC) experience. Private journeys travel with a driver-mechanic and a recovery kit with a Theragun, recovery tools and a shoe dryer.
Is it safe to cycle in Colombia?
The US State Department rates Colombia Level 3, “reconsider travel,” as of March 31, 2026, and lists specific departments as Level 4.⁶ Our routes run outside those areas, and we check road status with local partners before each stage. In 2024, we planned a six-day journey through an uncharted department known for its volcanoes. We called it off and moved the trip to other regions after abnormal activity in a nearby department. We take no risks with a group, and we only operate in areas we consider safe. Check current advisories before you book.
Can AI or ChatGPT plan a cycling holiday in Colombia?
Yes, AI can draft a cycling holiday in Colombia in seconds: regions, climbs, hotels and distances. More than 70% of travellers use AI to research a trip, and fewer than 16% are comfortable letting it book one.¹ A founder-run company adds what a draft can’t: someone who has ridden the route and is accountable when plans change.
What is the difference between Reserved and Private cycling holidays?
Reserved departures are scheduled journeys hosted by both founders, with eight riders plus the two of us and a driver, mechanic and soigneur on the road. Private journeys are designed by us around your dates, your group and your level, with pre-booked accommodation and a driver-mechanic. Both keep to a limit of ten riders on the road.
How does altitude affect a cycling holiday in Colombia?
Altitude sets the order of the days. A journey starts in Bogotá, at 2,650 m (8,694 ft), with a day or two to adjust, then drops to the Magdalena Valley for a night, and every night after sleeps higher than the last, up to Termales del Ruiz at 3,500 m (11,483 ft)³ after Alto el Sifón (4,149 m / 13,612 ft). Every body responds differently to altitude, so talk to your doctor before you travel.
Which cycling holidays does Colombici offer in Colombia?
Colombici’s cycling holidays include Road to El Sifón, Into Coffee Heartlands and Private journeys.
Sources
Shteynberg, “Shared Attention,” Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2015
El Colombiano, August 10, 2026 · PAHO situation report, August 10, 2026
Keep reading: Cycling a Geography That Shouldn’t Exist · Alto el Sifón: the road · Alto de Patios · Why We Chose to Travel Small · Tinto · Alto de Letras vs Alto el Sifón
Written by Pan Yamboonruang.
