Visual Joy: Dani Bastidas' 'Cafe de Colombia - Los Escarabajos' celebrates Colombia's cycling farmers

In this series, photographer Dani Bastidas pays a lighthearted tribute to Los Escarabajos Colombianos, farmers who historically rode bicycles through the Colombian mountains.

What began as practical transportation out of necessity evolved into something far greater when, in 1983, the Colombian Coffee Federation established Café de Colombia, an amateur cycling team that quickly rose to national recognition through their outstanding performances at the Tour de France over the following years.

With their proven record of skilful climbing, the team earned the nickname Los Escarabajos (The Beetles) and put Colombia's name at the top of world cycling, giving the nation a welcome sense of pride – In the South American country, cycling, more than a sport, has proven itself an outlet from complex political and socioeconomic realities.

"United as a country, under the same passion, cycling has allowed us to put aside, for a few moments, el dolor de Patria* that we all carry under the shadow of the violence that stalks us wherever we go and that, unfortunately, identifies us as a nation," says Bastidas.


*Dolor de Patria - A phrase used in Colombia to express the affliction for their country and all the war they have suffered.


Photography Dani Bastidas