Warm Showers, French Guests, and a Local Bike Shop

Just like in my last post about warmshowers.org, I was happy to host some more touring cyclists in this awful, awesome city I’m living in.

The Similarities Are Eerie, The Differences Even More So

Having hosted my second set of guests (apart from the three cyclists I made friends with riding together), I’m beginning to notice a pattern. Certain things are just extremely typical for touring cyclists, so I’m not surprised the least bit that everyone is going down to Patagonia. Also, it seems to be the norm that most cyclists don’t even ride their bikes to Mexico City, but take the bus, or use some other means of transport to find their way in and out of this crazy urban area. Other things, however, may not be that obvious.

Just like the last time, my guests came in threes, and they were all French: Marie from France and a couple, Pascal and Tiphaine, from Quebec. Unlike the last time, they did not arrive at the same time only to become cycling buddies at my place. Marie arrived about a week before Pascal and Tiphaine, so I never got to host them all at the same time. However they had met before, and had ridden part of the way together on the Baja California. So they were quite excited when I mentioned them to each other. Certainly, you get to know fellow riders on the road, and you are bound to run into them again if you’re headed the same direction.

When Marie got to Mexico City, I was the second host to offer her to stay. What happened to the first one? They didn’t like the fact that she arrived by bus. Sure enough, warmshowers is a network for cyclists, so having a bike is kind of essential. However, looking at Marie’s profile, it was quite obvious that she was not traveling around by bus. And it made sense that she had left her bike with most of her gear at her previous host’s place in Teotihuacan, so she could visit Mexico City for a couple of days without the worry of being run over. In fact, out of all the people I have hosted before her, there had been only one guy who arrived and left by bike.

Incidentally, the Canadian couple, who came just after Marie had left, were all about biking everywhere. They had covered the same routes many others have told me about: after reaching the tip of the Baja they took a ferry to Mazatlan, then went inland through Durango, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí, across the Sierra Gorda towards the Valley of Mexico.

Pascal and Tiphaine were very experienced cyclists. Their current trip from the Southwestern US seemed to be just one of the many, even though they were going to ride down to the tip of South America. But both of them had completed admirable rides before, especially Pascal, who once rode from Australia to Europe. He even wrote an inspiring book about it, or at least the fact that he wrote it has been super inspiring to me, getting me enthusiastic again about writing down my own trip from last year.

A Bike Shop To Recommend

Mexico City also provides the perfect place for some bike-tuning, getting it ready for Southern Mexico and Central America, where the bike-shops are not as abundant and well stocked. A previous warmshowers guest of mine had some negative experiences with a bike shop in the North of the city, so I didn’t even want to mention that. And to Pascal and Tiphaine I suggested to go downtown, where there are lots of bike shops in one street, so if one turns out to be below par, the next one wouldn’t be too far.

As it turns out, however, they found an amazing bike place right here in my neighborhood. The recently opened Pedal and Crank Bike Shop is located on Gob. José María Tornel, between Juan Cano and Protasio Tagle, in San Miguel Chapultepec. It is run by two brothers, who do many things, from bike repair to selling new bicycles, and even a bit of custom work. What’s more, they have the coolest mural in front of their shop: It’s the moon (which in and of itself is pretty awesome to behold), but then there is a small silhouette of a cyclist. It’s Elliot from the movie ET, as it becomes obvious from looking at the image of the small extra-terrestrial, that had fallen out of his bike’s front basket.

Wow, hosting people, touring cycling, bike shops, murals, adventures... Putting all this together is filling me with so much joy already. I wish all of my guests a fun and successful ride, and I can't wait to respond to my next warmshowers request.