The trip from San Miguel to Queretaro is, in principal, an easy afternoon’s ride and I set off around midday, taking a quiet paved road to Jalpa, an almost non-existent village, with a nonetheless extremely impressive church.
On the other side of Jalpa, the road turns to cobbles – visually charming but extremely wearing for cyclists [...]
What I love about touring on a bike without a fixed plan is a life of constant contrast. Having started the day waking in my tent in the middle of field, I arrive in San Miguel de Allende in the afternoon of my birthday, with little idea of where I am – I am here [...]
Tagged hospitality, mexicoI wake up under a thorn tree in a field and set about cooking myself breakfast. As I am stirring my porridge over a small fire, a cowboy climbs through the fence in the corner of the field a mere twenty metres away but he discreetly ignores me until I bid him good morning at [...]
Tagged dirt roads, mexicoWhen I reach Villa de Reyes at dusk my aim is to get to the other side of town to search out a spot to camp but having lost faith in the reliability of my map I am not entirely certain how to proceed. I had plotted out a likely looking route and, in theory, [...]
Tagged dirt roads, mexicoIn general, travelling on my bicycle makes me ridiculously happy but, even so, there are some days I view the world with a somewhat more critical eye than others.
I leave the hills behind me and ride through the flat sunny plains south-east of Zacatecas, where I find the terrain is a little uninspiring and the [...]
It finally stops raining and I leave Zacatecas.
I am armed with detailed maps, obtained from the Secrectaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes, of the states that I will pass through next. These maps are the only ones I’ve seen that detail secondary roads and dirt tracks with any degree of accuracy but acquiring them is a [...]
On the second rainy day in Zacatecas, I go, at the urging of Ernesto, the manager of the Hostel Villa Coloniel, to a rodeo. My feelings about the venture are very mixed.
The first thing I discover is that arriving on time in Mexico is not necessarily a good idea.
The rodeo is a university event and [...]
I spend my time in Zacatecas sampling the various culinary delights available on the streets and in the markets and admiring their sheer beauty.
I enjoy cheap meals which can be found in a range of restaurants, specialising in different regional delights.
The hostel boasts a modest kitchen, which I make the most of, to cook yet [...]
Over the last seven months on my bike, I’ve learnt a lot about what does and doesn’t work on bike tour – and one thing I have learnt is that carrying too much gear is definitely a burden. I have gradually, and often somewhat reluctantly, been discarding items that aren’t strictly necessary: the little black [...]
Tagged bikeWe arrive in Zacatecas after dark and make our way through the bustling town to find Victor, our couch-surfing host, in his student digs.
Victor lives near the centre of town in a tiny semi-derelict house. Amazingly, the limited space Victor has at his disposal doesn’t prevent him from unquestioningly offering four cyclists accommodation. Victor is a [...]