I arrived at a crazy Mexican girls house late in the afternoon. I’d met her just over 24 hours earlier in the town of San Miguel de Allende. I’m basing myself here for the next couple of weeks exploring the nearby areas. ‘Come mountain biking with me and my friends’, she said. So I went mountain biking Nevada de Toluca.
The brother of this girl loaned me his car to transport us 65km to the large Mexican city of Queretero. It was dark when we arrived. This girl I just met took me out on the town with her sister for dinner then back to her sisters place. At 1am we drove to another friends place. It was like the scene of a Tarantino movie.
It’s 2am. I’m standing on a quiet Mexican street. This crazy Mexican girl, Edith, and I are waiting for more cyclists to arrive. We are driving for several hours through the night to start cycling up Nevado de Toluca.
At 2am Miguel, Dr and Rafa arrived. We threw our bikes in the back of the truck and set off for the long night drive to the base of the snow covered 4800m, Nevada de Toluca. This is Mexico and this is how some Mexican mountain bikers spend their weekend.
I slept little in the truck. We started cycling pre dawn. The temperature was -6C. We all struggled our way up the steep hill at high altitude. We were all breathless which is understandable at altitudes above 4000m. The struggle took almost 2 hours, then the trail was less steep, the views more expansive and the sun was out to warm us.
I’m in Mexico, it’s -6C, we are cycling through snow, there are frozen lakes and in the distance Volcan Popocatepetl was erupting. What an amazing place Mexico is. The diversity of the country is beyond belief. Just look through my previous posts and photos. I’m constantly amazed, surprised and impressed by the country and it’s people.
Mid morning, we cycled down to a frozen lake. Boldly I cycled onto the lake. The ice was thick, very thick, I was in no danger of falling through. Rafa, Dr and Edith follow me. The sound of the ice cracking as I walked on it was similar to a high pitched shrill of a bird. I tried my best penguin impersonation, other tried their best ice dancing. It was a fun place.
Late in the morning we cycled at speed downhill to our waiting vehicle. Cycling without the weight of my panniers was great. So light and fast. This bikepacking craze that is sweeping the cycle touring world might just have another convert. Now, how can I lighten the weight of my gear to half what I have now.
A big thank you to my crazy Mexican cycling friends for allowing a traveling gringo to tag along with you. Muchas gracias.
By the way I’ve made some changes to my website design, let me know what you all think.
Next : 2 Years of Travel
Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking Pages might like:
Bicycle Touring Gear List
Bicycle Touring Spares and Tool Kit
Cycling from Alaska to Argentina
Where to buy all the best gear for Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking:
| Competitive Cyclist |Amazon | REI |
| Campfire Cycling | | Snowys.com.au | MEC Canada |
That sounds a lot more fun than my daily bike commute to work on the city streets of Chicago. I love the new look of the blog!
Thanks, I like the new look too. Maybe more hard work than your daily commute.
Since Chicago is pancake flat, I bet you are right. I can’t imagine biking at 4200 meters. Impressive!
Hey I just read your Robert Campbell highway adventure. Another great adventure bud, too bad we didn’t cross paths up north. I ended up in Nahanni NWT with my mountain bike and helicopter. My wife is a pilot and dropped me off on many extremely remote mountains while she flew out of a hunting camp. I was all alone on those mountains except for the critters I ran into from bears and wolves to sheep and caribou and it was pretty intense. The nearest road,or town for that matter, was hundreds of miles away, truly just me and my bike. I’m just now figuring out this WordPress thing and building a site to document all my adventures. Your site gives me some inspiration, thanks! I do have a Facebook page Yukon Helibiking where I kept track of the fun if you’re interested in checking it out. Good on ya mate enjoy life yeah!
The Robert Campbell hwy seems so long ago. Intense. Not much traffic. I lost quite a bit of weight during that week. Some amazing places in that part of the world. I thought about the Canol trail but it would have been too expensive and remote for me at the time. Although combining the Canol with a canoe trip on the Mackenzie to Inuvik was appealing. I’ll check out your Facebook.
Wow, those are some great images and the adventure sounds amazing
Cheers, life’s just one big adventure
Those are great people and good friends. I was invited to go with them but being from Michigan, I don’t ever want to see snow again. I’ll wait until summer.
Haha. Yes it was cold. But a great trip.
Thanks Brad gran compañía y amigo, que tengas buenos trayectos a tus destinos y más aventuras.
Y tu tambien. De Mexico a Argentina.
yes, I like the new format too
Thanks Sally
Wow! Amazing. I had know idea there were frozen lakes in mexico. I would not have believed it until now, from seeing your photos. Thx of sharing.
Yeah I know. Mexico is all about tacos, cervezas, playas and resorts. It’s so much more.
The new layout is nice! What an amazing place Mexico is. Never knew this sort of scenery was in Mexico. Wow!
Thanks Anna, most Mexicans don’t know just how diverse their country really is.
Hey Shepard!
I’ve been following your adventure since your PCT launch. I’ve probably been thru your PCT post 3 times as I have been planning my PCT jaunt for April 1, 2016, learning much from your posts. Thank you again for your inspiration. You are a great story teller and writer.
I really like your new WordPress theme.
Rick
TheOldGuy
Thanks TheOldGuy. Good luck with your hike. If I can help in any way please don’t hesitate to ask.
Fantastic pics Brad. No wonder you’re loving Mexico so much.
Thanks Peggy.