30.01.09
León Guanajuato
When I finally left the hotel it was almost 11:30am! So, that didn‘ t change;-).
Cycling out of León wasn‘ t a problem, The road had 3 lanes in each direction which allowed the cars to pass me easily. Just the traffic lights were kind of annoying. The first 30km were great. The first time since… I can‘ t even remember… a long long time, I cycled on a mostly flat road!!! Though I had a slight headwind I had a blast. I pushed it and it was just so much fun to ride a bit faster for a while and see the kilometers fly by!
In Solao I passed the GM plant, then stopped in the shade of a tree for a small lunch to get ready for the hills I had to climb to get to Guanajuato. Looking at my trailer something didn‘ t look right and I saw the flat tire. I changed the tube and found a piece of metal stuck in the wheel. Ok, no big deal, soon I was on the road again. 10 km further I heard a noise: sshhhhhhhhh flat number 2, this time at the rear. A big piece of glass was stuck in the tire this time. Well, at least there was a shoulder and some shade from a tree. Changed the tube, a bit annoyed this time. 2 flats in a day… Then a car stopped and a maybe 11-year-old boy got out and asked me if everything was ok. Then he gave me a T-Shirt which said something about cycling and Guanajuato on it. It was a present for me! My spanish was only good enough for a short conversation but he didn‘ t mind and was very patient when he tried to tell me something and I didn‘ t understand it right away. That was one of those moments when I regret that I didn‘ t learn more spanish, yet.
Soon I was on the road again, it were only a few km to the pay-station for the Cuota. No problem getting through, but a cop made me stop. What did he want? Well, I saw the sign that said that bicycles were prohibited on the cuota, but so far nobody cared about it. It turned out that he was only curious about my trip, he asked me the usual questions, from where to where, how much time, how many kilometers, how many tires, alone…
Then I stopped at the Pemex (gasstation) to pump up my tires. Trying to find my way into the Guanajuato I asked some guys who stood at the side of the road for directions and they even had a map of the city for me, which was very helpful. They showed me the way and said that I would have to cycle through some tunnels. Just after cycling through the first tunnel, which wasn‘ t very long, I a heard a familiar sound again: sshhhhhhhhh!!! I couldn‘ t believe it!!! Flat number 3!!! This time at the front tire where another piece of glass was stuck! Now I was getting mad but tried to tell me that it could‘ ve been worse: I was almost there, there was more then an hour of daylight left and it didn‘ t happen in a tunnel…
Since my spare tire already had a puncture in it I had to patch it. A while later I was back on the road, wondering what else could happen…
Then I had to cycle through a long tunnel, but it wasn‘ t too bad. There were even busstops down there!!! The tunnel dropped me out right in the center of Guanajuato, at the Union Jardin. Only a minute after getting there a guy walked over to me. His name was Andrew, he‘ s from Oklahoma and cycles as well. He started in Vancouver and stopped in Guanajuato for a while for a spanish class. So he gave me directions to the area where the hostels. So, finally the day wasn‘ t as bad after all…