I took my time in the morning, planning to only go a few miles to Leon but I found San Francisco so busy that I realized Leon wasn’t really a place I should be visiting on my bike. I decided to bypass Leon and take the toll road to Silao, a mostly flat ride that would leave a short 15 mile uphill ride to Guanajuato. I changed my mind yet again when I found a nice collection of bike paths and decided to use them to zip through Leon and at least see some of the city without too much extra riding. I still took my time, which I later regretted when the routing I was following went from sane to stupid, going through all sorts of back roads and villages, getting into Silao much later than expected. I found the town extremely crowed and noisy, the hotel I’d hoped to stay at closed and all alternatives either noisy dumps or requiring significant backtracking or off route. I sat in the chaotic plaza staring at my phone and trying to will other options into existence but to no avail. I set out to climb the hill towards Guanajuato hoping that something would appear but nothing did until I got to Marfil, a mere 5 miles below Guanajuato. I was tired and the sun was setting so I picked a $50 hotel and called it a day. Now that I’m bathed and fed I’m happy to be here. I didn’t take many pictures so I’m afraid this will be a meh update.
I was buying my morning orange juice from Edgar who was curious about my trip. He asked how my stomach was faring with the food and I said fine, but I needed more fiber. At that he left his juice stand unattended and went down the street to his house and brought me a complimentary mug of his mom’s oatmeal 😊
I found this bike path out of San Miguel which motivated me to change my plan and bike path my way through Leon rather than avoid it using the toll road
This is where I would have grabbed the direct route to Sliao, which in retrospect would have been the better choice. Note that the sign includes both English and Chinese translations. I’ve seen several English and Chinese signs since entering Guanajuato. The times, they are a-changing
My only picture of Silao. It got so crowded and chaotic that I was more concerned with not getting hit by a motorcycle than documenting the transit. To my regret, as I saw interesting sights which are now just stuck in my head
