I made it. out of Guadalajara!!!
Finally, after 4 weeks (a great time I don‘ t wanna miss!!!) at the Hostal de Maria in Guadalajara, I hit the road again. It was already 10:45am when I left, it was very warm and there was a lot of traffic. But cycling wasn‘ t too bad, the car-, taxi- and busdrivers were very patient when I was in there lanes, I heard some friendly honks, saw many people wave at me and showing thumbs-up.
So it was a great start. When I left the city after 14km I had already climbed 200m. But I was sure there was more to come… Guadalajara is at 1400m elevation, Tepatitlán, my destination for the day, at around 1800m.
Getting on the Cuota was no problem though there was a sign saying that bikes are prohibited. Well, noone stopped me and I had a good shoulder to cycle on. The first 35 km just flew by, I was really enjoying my time back on the road! After 40 km I met a young guy from Mexico on his racing bike. He lives in Guadalajara and comes out there every day to train! It was nice talking to him, his english was better than my spanish but that‘ s not very hard;-).
A while later I stopped for a short roadside lunch, a banana and a pastry. With new energy and still motivated I hopped back on my bike but the never ending climbs (then it was going down again) were taking its toll (after a few weeks without cycling) and I started to become cramps in my legs. So I slowed down a bit and finally left the Cuota at the exit to Tepatitlán. A nice downhill ride led me right into the city, to the town plaza where I checked into the first hotel I saw (250 Pesos/around 14 ). The guy who worked there helped me to bring my bike and trailer to my room where I slept, totally exhausted, for an hour or so. Then I took a long hot shower and walked a bit around the city to get something to eat. The city is very clean (I‘ ve necer seen such a clean city in Mexico!), the atmosphere is peaceful and friendly and the town plaza is very inviting to just sit there and hang out for a while. It‘ s a very charming city, worth a visit!
I‘ m not sure if I‘ ll be back on the road tomorrow, 77km and almost 1000m in elevation, it was a hard day for a new start.
But even if I ll stay here a day or too, there‘ s one thing I know for sure I‘ ll be back on the road soon!!!
Keep pedaling
Anja