Guanajuato

[ Guanajuato, Mexico ]

Hola amigos y feliz lunes—

Today’s dispatch will have to be brief, as I’m riding out again this morning: heading for Mexico’s highest volcano and in the general direction of Ciudad de Mexico aka Mexico City aka DF.

I arrived in Guanajuato mid-day Friday after a grueling eight-and-a-half day slog through some of the most beautiful terrain in central Mexico. Or I should say “we” arrived, because I’ve been riding with an amiable Ecuadorian cyclist, Sebastian, since my second day out of Zacatecas. Sebastian is on his way from Montana to his home in Quito, and it’s been great to have a more adept conversation partner than my own fragmented, dubious subconscious monologue.

Having a riding partner has also served as constant motivation throughout the section’s more than 5000 meters of climbing (and pushing); trust me when I say it was brutal. And it’s about to get worse: this next segment has well over 9000 meters of climbing in five hundred, mostly off-road kilometers. I anticipate it will take about two weeks in the saddle to reach Toluca, where I’ll catch a Texas-bound bus so I can spend the holidays with my mom.

I’ll catch you up when I can. In the meantime, wish me luck.

Ciao,

—jim