Chat Zone for The Big Big Trip Journal!

[HobbesOnTour]

A fitting description for your whole post! It is so refreshing to find a time and place where there are few motorized vehicles (or none) and a relaxing, energizing ride. I always smile when I see someone riding their cycles, even when I am confined to my car.

Thank you once more for sharing your observations and photos. You have truly become a blogging ambassador for CDMX!

Willie

Thanks Willie. I'm just writing what I see - this place is inspiring in lots of ways.

I keep thinking about your comment about taking your family to México for a couple of years.
I understand that it was a while ago and things may not be the same, but it would have been a very interesting experience.

I find the kids here to be very open, very smiley and chatty. No evidence of a fear of "stranger danger". If I spent as much time hanging out in parks in NL as I do here, I'd probably be arrested! Here, kids (and their parents) aren't spooked by this stranger.

The parks are full of kids and like the dogs, they all get along with no problems. And amused with such simple things!
A ship must have arrived from China because the last couple of weeks there has been an explosion of "bubble guns" that shoot out millions of bubbles. The fun such a fundamentally simple thing generates is infectious!

I pulled up at a skateboard area recently to watch. Teenagers flying around on skateboards and bmx bikes and not an ounce of any anti-social behaviour. Just kids having fun. Out of about 80 kids, only one, a girl, had any kind of safety gear. In other places they'd need padding from head to toe to take part.

Just tonight, in my local park, after dark, two little sisters, I reckon maybe 6/8 years old, are rollerblading up and down a ramp right beside a basketball/soccer space. A group of teenagers, guys, are having a hectic game of football right beside them. There's no swearing (that I can tell), no negativity, just two very different groups side by side without a problem. Oh, anyone walking up or down the ramp are careful to avoid the girls - no complaints like "you shouldn't be here".

It's different. Good different.

Of course, the flip side is that there are a lot of kids working or selling things. There's a cabin/shop on a lake in the Bosque de Chapultepec with a delightfully friendly woman. Her son, probably about 12, spends his weekend working with her.

If comfortably off, I think there are a lot of positive things that kids could pick up here.

 

[cwskas]

I sometimes wonder about myself, if I'm descending into some cavern of madness or dementia. . . . I don't think anything in here is going to disprove that thought.

Does cyclechat have a survey option?

400 days of preparation & Tabare

Definitely preparation. I suspect we all knew you were at the starting line, waiting for the starter to fire his pistol for the next race! stage of the adventure! Tabare seems to have been the starter!

There's a romance to his story that is just so hard to resist. He loves riding his bike . . . His attitude is infectious . . . One of the greatest joys of travelling on a bike is the ability to live in the moment, to savour the present, the here and now. I reckon Tabaré has become the master of that!

. . . sounds familiar!

México! It's feckin' great (and Uruguay must be worth a visit too!)

The crescendo is building, the conductor lifts his baton . . .

I'm hitting the road again!

And there it is . . . the audience goes wild!

Willie
who is now off for a ride!

 

[IaninSheffield]

I'm back on the road and there's no going back!!

Cor blimey! So you are off then?
Can't imagine what it's like spending such a long stretch on a motorway without being yelled at ... or arrested! And the thought of a driver 'having your back' rather than screaming blue murder at you being in his way ... well, that's plainly another universe entirely!
Are you sure you didn't post this whilst still in a dream?

Wonderful to see you (although no travelling companions?) back on the road. It'll be interesting to see what difference your newly acquiired linguistic skills bring to your experiences in the boondocks. Wishing you tailwinds and downhills whenever they're needed.

 

[CharlesF]

I feel your pain Hobb when starting cycling again! Great that you are back on the road, I can get Google maps and Wikipedia working as I follow the route.

 

[netman]

Lovely to see you back in the saddle @HobbesOnTour ! Wishing you happy travels...

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans. That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred." William H Murray

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Cor blimey! So you are off then?

Probably more of a linguistic device. I've no idea how things will turn out and a return to CDMX is not off the table.
It was just emphasis that this phase is on

Can't imagine what it's like spending such a long stretch on a motorway without being yelled at ... or arrested! And the thought of a driver 'having your back' rather than screaming blue murder at you being in his way ... well, that's plainly another universe entirely!
Are you sure you didn't post this whilst still in a dream?

Ah now! I thought you were following along! Riding a bike in México is nothing like riding a bike anywhere else!

And Sí, a little Spanish is already enriching these little escapades!

And here's a pic of one travelling companion, outside the Azteca stadium in CDMX

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I feel your pain Hobb when starting cycling again! Great that you are back on the road, I can get Google maps and Wikipedia working as I follow the route.

If you're reading Wiki, you'll probably have more info than me!
Don't be afraid to share it!

Oh, check your PMs - there's a surprise in there for you!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Lovely to see you back in the saddle @HobbesOnTour ! Wishing you happy travels...

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans. That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred." William H Murray

Thanks @netman
I firmly believe the head is the most important "piece of kit" for a bike tour.
Sometimes, it's just like a starter motor in a car, just needed to get us going.
The sentiment is 100% correct. We can't possibly know what to expect until we get out there.And when we do, things have a way of working out.
Thanks!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I may be out of Internet coverage for some days. No panicking please

 

[cwskas]

Finally had a chance to catch up ... and you had already posted 3 times! A great way to start my day. Now it is off to take care of business that must be done before the weekend. How mundane!

Willie

 

[Cathryn]

I can't believe you're not in Mexico City any more Your photos were beautiful and have given me a great desire to visit....especially in jacaranda season.Stunning.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Finally had a chance to catch up ... and you had already posted 3 times! A great way to start my day. Now it is off to take care of business that must be done before the weekend. How mundane!

Willie

Willie, you're going to have to ration yourself!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I can't believe you're not in Mexico City any more Your photos were beautiful and have given me a great desire to visit....especially in jacaranda season.Stunning.

The truth is my photos, even the edited ones don't do the city justice! 😊
I believe I was blessed by the Touring Gods to have that time there. The only thing I'd say to anyone thinking of visiting is to allow time to do nothing - that's when the magic happens and the only necessity to pack is a smile - it will open so many things and be repaid a thousandfold.

 

[cwskas]

There's a beauty in a lot of things if we take the time to stop and look.

Amen!

A route not around two volcanoes but right between them! If things worked out, I'd get to camp! But first, there was a monster climb (to me) to get out of the way. I reckoned about 1200 meters in less than 30km.

About 9km in I came to my first little food stall. . . . I had chicken with melted cheese served in a blue tortilla, washed down with cafe de ola, a Méxican coffee . . . Lovely and smooth.

But of far, far more value was the chat, the interaction, the observation. . . . Three women and two kids running the show. Open every day. . . . The stove!

We talked about where I came from, where I was going, about the volcano, the weather, the pine trees, why I was doing this alone. (The absence of a wife and children is always an interesting topic of conversation). A lovely, lovely time.

Your description made me feel almost like I was there. So thankful that you are on the road again and taking us along with your narrative skill!

Willie

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@HobbesOnTour I have moved your post in the main thread, as requested.
I must admit that im very behind in following your adventures, must make time for this most enjoyable read asp!
Pat