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 [...]
Also tagged hospitalityI 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 [...]
Also tagged dirt roadsWhen 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, [...]
Also tagged dirt roadsIn 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 [...]
We 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 [...]
After two days in Durango, we strike out again for Zacatecas. The guys have been busy developing their biking network in Durango and so we have an escort out of town; Miguelito offers to accompany us for the first 50 kilometres to guide us on the back roads. We meet Miguelito at the cathedral at [...]
Also tagged dirt roads, dirtbag gang