the bajio

mexico city to san miguel de allende the road from mexico city to queretaro (hwy 57) is supposedly mexico´s most travelled, so in keeping with our decision not to ride about the capital, we took a bus to san miguel de allende, traveling through the bajio, mexico´s central highlands known for their fertile soil and rich silver deposits. san miguel is a picturesque colonial town perched on a steep hillside and featured exactly what our guide books promised--incredible atmospheric clarity (much unlike the capital we had just left), a high-profile colony of writers and artists (attracted to the city for the superb lighting), but also a large contingent of USA retirees. we found the town pretty, but also too ex-pat and expensive for our tastes and we only stayed for the night. in the morning we began the 1-day ride to guanajuato, for centuries one of mexico´s richest colonial cities owing to the silver and gold that poured from its hillside mines. en route we rode passed dolores hidalgo, the small town where the ¨cry of independence¨VIVE MEXICO was first issued in 1810, and which is repeated by the president every year at midnight on sept 15 to kickstart independence day celebrations. however, somewhere near the town, perhaps overcome by the history of the area (or more likely just not back into our cycling routine after such a long break in mexico city), we lost track of our preferred route and made our first navigational error yet, turning onto a country highway that, while beautiful, cost us an extra 20 steep and exhausting miles we definitely couldn´t afford on our first day back on the road. we made it to guanajuato just in time for the afternoon´s daily deluge which poured into the narrow ravine and over the town stacked within. the conditions were less than ideal for our most difficult city entrance yet. access into guanajuato (at least from our small, country road, grrrr) was via several consecutive tunnels--long and dark mining tunnels--that plunge through the surrounding hillsides. we still can´t decide if it is more or less frightening to compete with rush hour traffic when you can clearly see it, or when in total darkness, as we were upon arriving in guanajuato. we lived to see the other side--a riot of colonial buildings stacked like legos into the ravine--but we still weren´t in the clear. we were greeted by a labyrinth of slick cobblestone streets, for which a map is useless, and worse still, double decker streets. guanajuato´s subterraneo miguel hildalgo is a tunnel originally designed to take the river beneath the city to prevent flooding. though this undergound traffic diversion makes for a great pedestrian city, it was not biker friendly.

on the morning we rode to leon, abby´s first puncture of the day (as indeed there would be many) occurred less than 1km from the city center, officially beginning a 2-day search for bike repair shops and the necessary parts to keep our movement in check. abby´s thinner tires, well past their 2,000th mile, hadn´t been performing as they once had in their younger days, before the beating of highway schrapnal and heavy loads, but we were assured that leon and neighboring aguascalientes would have more options for bike repair than the mining towns with their donkey streets. a treacherous ride and 3 punctures later, we arrived in leon and immediately pulled into a large fire station to ask for directions to a bike shop from the bomberos, the people who know city streets best. sure enough, and commensurate with all the public service officials we have met anywhere in mexico, we had the full gentlemanly attention of 7-8 leon firemen, who between the lot of them assisted abby with her latest puncture, decided on the best bike shop to direct us to, and drew a detailed city map to get us there. on our way again (and in our possesion the most accurate map we´ll ever consult on this trip) we cycled several miles to the shop and received very economical (but sadly insufficient) tune-ups...but still no new tires for abby. (lee side story: we spent the night in an ¨auto motel¨ run by several little old ladies offering a 4hr room rate, which an alarming number of...couples...found very convenient. the parking lot at this quickie motel was the heaviest traffic flow we have seen in mexico!) awoke to a dark and rainy morning and spent no less than 2 enraging hours searching the sprawling, industrial streets of leon for the autopista for aguascalientes. by the time we found the highway we were soaked through and caked with grit from repeated tidal waves of street water created by rush hour traffic and city buses. a rolling highway ride warmed our bodies but not our spirits and in less than 2 hours abby´s tire went flat. we patched her tire and raced to the nearest town where, we decided, it would be best to catch some transport to aguascalientes and renew the desperate search for tires. we took the turn-off for the beautiful country road leading to lagos de moreno--a setting that was definitely soothing for our souls--and within 30 minutes of arriving into town we were on a bus headed for nearby aguascalientes. in aguascalientes we began the hunt for bike shops and in el centro a team of construction workers, much as it went with our leon bomberos (we have a thing for calendar men), were especially receptive to our plight. the most senior of the group personally escorted us to a bike shop where, lo and behold, they fitted abby with new and wider tires.

leaving aguascalientes was far less hassle than our disastrous departure from leon and we flew through the first 30km of lowkey urban sprawl, bolstered by new tires, a favorable tailwind, and a determination to have a strong ride to zacatecas. well out of the city and riding along wide, highland plains we paced ourselves, heading for the climb the bike shop owner in aguascalientes had prepared us for. sure enough, the barren 25-30km mountain pass to zacatecas had some of the longest, straightaway inclines we´ve encountered, and though it was our toughest ride in well over a week, it was exhilarating to be on open road again, back in the empty hills of the sierra madres. a bored but friendly highway patrol car escorted us up a particularly long and steep stretch, which we always appreciate except that this time the cop wanted to chat on the way up (as if we weren´t sucking enough wind already!). our efforts at polite conversation while grinding our way through the mountains were rewarded on the other side, with beautiful views across lush pasture land, untouched save for the cattle, exquisite cactus, and mountain backdrop.