Biking to school has become a hobby for students and teachers in the last couple of years, but a group of teachers decided to take it to another level and bike to Barichara, Santander, during the Thanksgiving break.

TCS teachers Emily Butterworth, Andrew Ambron, Jeremy Gleason, and Brett Roeper decided to challenge themselves and bike approximately 500 kilometers in 3 days. On Wednesday November 21st, they embarked on a 6 day journey that would take them to their limits.

“We had heard from friends who had visited Barichara that it was really beautiful. We knew that the area surrounding Barichara is a national park so there are very beautiful landscapes,” Andrew Ambron, 8th and 10th grade English teacher, said.

However, Ambron and the rest of the teachers knew they were up for a challenge once they accepted to bike to their destination.

“Everyone who went on the trip knew that we were gonna be riding for 3 straight days… We all knew going in, that we were going to have to ride a lot and it was going to take the better part of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to get to Barichara,” Ambron said.

On the other hand, Jeremy Gleason, 6th and 8th grade History teacher, enjoys a challenging experience like this one.

“This trips are really fun because it’s a moment of self-discovery because you put yourself in situations were your patience is tested, your physicality is tested, and your intelligence is tested… In the end it was a success because everyone is healthy and we arrived okay,” Gleason said.

Even though everyone arrived well to Medellín, health was always a concern for the teachers during the trip.

“It’s really important always when you’re biking or doing anything active, especially when you’re covering that distance, to make sure you’re eating enough and drinking enough water,” Gleason said.

Despite the challenges faced during the extensive trip, the teachers were able to enjoy a change of environment and the beautiful landscapes.

“It was really beautiful. It’s a real blessing to live in Colombia and to be someone who is interested in cycling outside the city of Medellín itself. There’s beautiful landscapes everywhere, everything is very green, really lush. There’s rivers running all over the place, waterfalls, beautiful mountain peaks… Once you get out of Medellín especially the air quality improves a lot,” Ambron said.