The dangerous practice of “gravity cycling” continues to claim victims in the country

He ‘gravity bike’ It is a high-risk extreme sport that consists of modifying the traditional structure of the bicycle to achieve greater speed when descending from the top of a road, without using protection. There is an alert from the authorities of the department of Antioch, because at the national level it is the region with the most cases, it has exceeded the 35 dead.

This practice uses bicycles 80 centimeters high by one meter long, most of them have the modified saddle. Many times they the quality of the brakes drops in order to feel the adrenaline in the movement, so that their arms straighten and the wind favors them for the fall.

The misfortune of this extreme sport is that the young people first make the ascent to the top of their course, clinging to the tratomules. It becomes deadly when they meet a car head-on or lose control on a bend.

The routes of the mountains of eastern Antioquia are the favorites of young people who practice them, ranging from 12 to 25 years old.

One of the latest cases to draw attention in the region came to light when two youngsters were injured while playing extreme sports They collided head-on with a vehicle on the La Ceja – Medellín road.

The victims fell from the famous devil’s curve at kilometer 32, where the athletes did not measure their speed and collided with the car. They were immediately transferred to the San Juan de Dios clinic in La Ceja.

According to the traffic police coordinator of the municipality of La Ceja, Colonel Jorge Ocampo, one of them was slightly injured, while the other is in a serious state of health.

“Young people who are constantly called to attention so that they do not practice this risky bike descent. They do them day and night,” Colonel Ocampo said.

One of the dead in Antioquia was Thifany Montoya. Despite the fact that he survived two tragic accidents and suffered six facial fractures, he lost his life in this extreme sport. The first incident occurred on a section of the road that leads from La Unión to La Ceja, frequented by top athletes. But on the highway Medellin-Bogota When he hung himself from a moving car, the tires collapsed under the pressure, his body and that of his friend lay on the asphalt and died.

For its part, in Villavicencio, many complaints have been recorded in recent months by drivers who are mobilizing on the roads of the department of Meta because of the dangerous practice of some young people on the roads.

According to Mobility Secretary, Mauricio Frías who spoke for the regional newspaper simple seven daysthe idea is that these people choose to practice safe sports, such as Bicicross, Stunt (motorcycle or bicycle stunts) and calisthenics.

“The most important thing is to characterize the group of boys, to identify other activities in which they not only burn adrenaline but which can really interest them so that they avoid these practices which put their lives in danger”, the manager said.

According to figures from the National Road Safety Agency (ANSV), in the capital of Meta, during 2022, died 10 bicycle users in road accidentsAmong the victims are three young people who practiced gravity, they were Camilo Andrés Quintero, 18 years old; Melany Villalobos, 16, and Duván Gualteros, 17.