January 12th 2024 – Bernal, Mexico

On the day of departure we spent the morning with Rodolfo and Delfina. They had been great house mates during our time in Tlaquepaque. Fin dropped by before we left, to say goodbye and get a picture of us with our bikes for his ride report.

Earlier on Fin had told us about Amigomoto in Aguascalientes. We decided to pay them a visit. We took the scenic route north and had a pleasant day on the road.

We pulled up in front of Casa de Amigomoto as the sunset painted the sky.
Amigomoto was founded by Elena. She’s a Canadian expat runs the company together with her husband Marco who is native Mexican.
Besides lodging for motorcycle travelers they also offer guided motorcycle tours around Mexico.
Both are passionate about long distance motorcycle rides. Marco is the founder of Asphalt Rats Endurance Motorcycling and besides Amigomoto they also run the Iron Butt Association in México.
In recent years sidecar rigs have been their preferred mode of transportation. Marco even supplements his income by building custom made rigs to order.
We had only just arrived when Elena took me shopping and I got my first experience as a sidecar passenger.

Initially we had planned to stay 2 nights. It would allow us time to pick Elena and Marco’s brains about Mexico.
We ended up staying with them for 4 nights and had some productive and interesting days in between.

The first 2 days were mainly spent around the house and exploring the neighborhood.
Marco found a place downtown that could replace the broken zipper in my camera bag – something I’ve been looking for without success for a couple of months. He took me there in the sidecar. It was around noon the first time we got there. They were very busy and wouldn’t be able to fix it  for the next couple of days. Marco pushed them a little and eventually they agreed to fix it after hours if we were willing to pay extra.
We returned early in the evening. They did a good job. I was OK with paying them the exorbitant amount of 70 pesos (US$4).

The last day Elena and Marco took us for a ride. They rode a rig, Katrine and I on our own bikes.
First stop was Real de Asientos – a pueblo Magico to the north. After lunch at their favorite restaurant in town they invited us underground to have a look at the old tunnels connecting the church buildings.
Back in daylight and on the bikes we continued to a newly built observatory and planetarium. Elena is into astronomy and wanted to have a closer look at the telescope.

The dusty parking lot by the new buildings was packed with motorcycles. It turned out that one of the local motorcycle clubs was celebrating their 7th year anniversary. The members greeted us like old friends and was thrilled to hear about our journey. When they discovered who Marco was (he is a bit of a celebrity in motorcycle circles in Mexico) everyone wanted selfies with us and we were gifted with key rings.
The “biker” culture is alive and kicking in Mexico. The biggest difference compared to the US and Europe is that nobody judges you based on what brand or size of bike you are riding. It’s not about the bike, only the attitude.

Eventually it was time to move on.
I had prepared a route through the mountains to our next destination. On the morning of our departure Marco told me that the police/military had acted against one of the local crime bosses the previous day. Concerns for retaliations had been raised and people were advised to stay on the main roads through the area. We listened and did just that for the first part of the day.

As a result we had a rather uneventful ride – at least until we reached Lagos de Moreno where we had decided to stop for lunch.

We arrived at an intersection just after 2 motorcycles had collided. Both riders were still laying on the ground and appeared to be hurt. One of them was a police officer. Katrine stayed with our bikes. I went over to see what I could do. It quickly became apparent that despite a huge crowd at the scene I was the only one with qualifications to handle the injured. I decided to focus on the police officer. The language barrier made it difficult, but I managed to perform a somewhat decent examination and stabilized him until the ambulance arrived. I then help the ambulance crew prepare him for transportation.
It was interesting to observe how the ambulance crew handled the patient. 
Back at the bikes after the ambulance had left with the police officer I was greeted by a journalist. He had been taking pictures and was now talking with Katrine. When he learned that we hadn’t witnessed the accident happen he moved on – and so did we.

10 minutes later we pulled up at a small restaurant by the church at the central square.
At first we parked the bikes across the street by the church wall to have a clear view of them from our table. While we waited for our food to arrive. A parking guard came and politely asked us to remove the bikes. She pointed out a spot just around the corner where we could park them instead. When I had moved the bikes, lunch arrived – and by moving our table a bit, we could still keep an eye on them.
This is a good example of how we have experienced that things work in Mexico. If you break the rules without hurting anyone or causing serious problems, and act politely if confronted with your offense, you can get away with most things. I like the relaxed and pragmatic approach to rules and regulations.

A series of tunnels dumped us out in downtown Guanajuato. I’ve wanted to visit that mountain town since I first heard about it a few years back. What had piqued my interest back then was the extensive underground network of roads. The tunnels and steep twisty cobblestone streets makes it a hoot to explore the town on two wheels. You just have to accept that a GPS is worthless, follow the signs and go with the flow.

After only one wrong turn, we arrived at the address provided by JD @SkizzMan. He had invited us to stay with him while in town.
In the evening JD invited us to buy him dinner at “Rosemary Cocina Dulce”, his favorite restaurant in town. It was a very unassuming place. Nothing indicated it was a restaurant when you passed on the street.
Inside we were greeted by a basic interior with room for maybe 15-20 people and a younger man who turned out to be both the owner and the chef.
Everything changed when we received our food. It was far from unassuming and basic. It was extraordinarily delicious culinary art. I recommend anyone visiting the city to try it out! It won’t break your budget.

The following day JD gave us the grand tour of downtown Guanajuato. It was a wonderful town with much to offer. I understand why JD picked it as his new home when he left Texas 3 years earlier. He was an excellent tour guide.
At one point during the afternoon Katrine and I suddenly heard someone calling our names. It was our friend Hannes from the language school in Tlaquepaque having lunch with a lady on a balcony above us. We agreed to talk later.
As we were running out of daylight a few hours later the trio became a quartet when Hannes joined us for dinner at JD’s favorite restaurant for mole. It was good to catch up with Hannes. He fitted right in and we had a fun evening together.

In only one day Guanajuato had won our hearts. Rarely have I spent time in a more enjoyable town/city. It has a long and interesting history. The infrastructure and architecture are fascinating. It’s big enough to have everything you need and the university attracts young people who help create a vibrant atmosphere.
We enjoyed a last morning walk through the neighborhood before breakfast the following day. With help from JD I planned a mostly underground route out of the town. When the last tunnel spat us out we started climbing up into the mountains on smooth twisty roads that provided us with nice views of Guanajuato below us.
The first hour or so we meandered through the mountains at up to +2.600 meters altitude. The roads and weather was perfect.

In the afternoon we descended to around 2.000 meters and navigated the traffic of Dolores Hidalgo, San Miguel De Allende and finally Querétaro. Progress through the cities was easy despite heavy traffic. I like how the traffic flows in Mexico – especially when you are on a motorcycle and can move between the cars. It is very similar to the traffic culture of southern Europe.

Katrine was feeling a bit under the weather when we arrived in Bernal late in the afternoon. As a result I did a bit of exploring on my own the first evening in town. Bernal is primarily known for the enormous monolith “Peña de Bernal”. It’s the third highest on the planet and towers over the town.

Katrines health improved and her energy slowly returned over the next couple of days. She joined me for walks around town. Bernal is very touristic. The town square and the road leading up towards Peña de Bernal are lined with restaurants, bars, eateries, bakeries and shops selling everything imaginable. Our hotel is located at the opposite end of town. Our neighborhood is less picturesque but the atmosphere is more relaxed and the locals less occupied with getting money out of our pockets.

While recuperating, Katrine has wisely refrained from joining me in more arduous activities like a run along dirt roads and trails on the outskirts of town yesterday or when I earlier today decided to climb Peña de Bernal as high as I could get without mountaineering equipment. The altitude tested me on both occasions but I enjoyed the challenge.