Day 140 - 145: Rest days in Mexico City + Bike Repair.
This is my third time in Mexico city (CDMX) and it feels strange to be back.
The first time I was here, I did absolutely no research before arriving. Are you detecting a theme yet? I was in Oaxaca and sitting on a bus to CDMX when I realized it would be smart to book accommodation. So I opened Airbnb, zoomed into what I looked like the center on the map, and booked the cheapest place I could find.
It wasn’t the center…
No skyscrapers. No landmarks. Just a dodgy neighborhood. That first night, I went to the local Oxxo shop to get water and snacks. On the walk back, I pass 3 rough looking, presumably homeless guys trying to break down the door right next to mine. “Shit” I think, “this is not a good first impression”. “Buenas noches” I try to say confidently while opening and then quickly closing and double locking my door. I moved to a better area soon after.
All that is to say, this time I was a little smarter and stayed in a better area, namely a hostel in the Reforma.
As mentioned in the last entry, my rear rim has multiple cracks and 3 broken spokes. So I played a game of going from bike shop to bike shop in search of a size 27.5 rim. It seems that this size wheel is weird here. Eventually I found a shop with one, but they had to order in the correct size spokes. So I left my bike with them to rebuild the wheel, do a service and replace my chain.
As I have been in CDMX before, I didn’t feel the need to do the typical tourist stuff. One night when following the crowd, I ended up in a very small speakeasy type place. Randomly ended up in the same place another night. I ended up in a Salsa bar another evening that I just happened to have been in the last time I was here. If that wasn’t enough I just happened to run into a group I had met in a hostel in Guanajuato a week or so prior. CDMX is absolutely massive, but sometimes feels small.
Met a friend from Guadalaraha and visited a couple of museums. The parks in CDMX are great and so full of life. Walking through one park, there was one big group socially dancing salsa, another group practicing break dancing, two teams of three locked in a rap battle, shouting rhyming Mexican insults at each other. Every park seemed to have this aliveness.
By Thursday I still hadn’t heard from the bike shop, so I started to get a little worried. I went to the shop expecting excuses and delays but was greeted with my fixed bike. Damn, I wasn’t expecting that.
So that means I will cycle tomorrow. I hadn’t planned a route to Puebla but know others that have gone there so contacted them for route suggestions. Will detail this in the next entry but let’s just say that it is a long, difficult and a little bit scary ride… So it was early last night in CDMX.
