arthur richards

Nearly 6 months after snapping my collar bone in half from a mountain bike accident, I got back in the saddle for one of Guadalajara's 'paseo de todos' - a critical mass-esque bike ride through the city's biker unfriendly streets. It was nothing short of epic.

It was a crowning moment that happily coincided with my general sentiments of feeling comfortable, at peace and very happy to be here. After re-reading my second-to-last post, I think I can safely say I'm over the nasty hump of culture shock, although I'm sure it will be an ongoing process. Finally getting two working bikes together, beginning to get a grip on the different ways of doing things and learning to let go has helped push me in the right direction.

Biking here is nothing short of ... interesting. If you're not in a car, you may as well be invisible to motorists. In fact, even in a car, you're likely invisible to some motorists as well. There's one bike lane that runs the entire length of one of the largest streets that runs right through the middle of Guadalajara - Del Federalismo. However, the bike lane runs along the sidewalk, not along the street:

This makes turns crossing at intersections something of an adventure - especially when a car is turning right.

That said, there is aMAZing bike culture in GDL! I dunno how the numbers compare to San Francisco, but considering how biker-unfriendly the streets are, I'm blown away by the movement here. With large group bike rides (a la critical mass, but a little more organized - I think) nearly every day, there is a lot of pedal powered momentum up in here!

Besides seeing people throw their trash out the windows of the buses with reckless abandon, I saw something else that caught me off guard today - a bicycle, spray painted white, locked to a telephone pole maybe 8 or 10 feet off the ground, adorned with Day of the Dead flowers, accross the street from a Corona (yeah, the beer) factory. It turns out, our buddy Pato helped put it up there. It's a memorial to a fellow ciclista who was hit and killed near that spot a few months ago. It turns out it's part of a global movement which installs the 'Ghost Bikes' to "...serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel." Below is a video of the bike being installed:

By the way, check out these sweet pictures of an 'ofrenda' to ciclistas in Mexico City on Day of the Dead.

There's still plenty of adjusting to do. But our work has already been incredibly rewarding and the challenges are starting to feel more like an adventure. It's been a big lesson in learning to let go of deeply ingrained ways of doing things and learning to tackle things from new angles. Enriching indeed.

I have to admit, I was nervous and scared sh*tless to get back on a bike (granted, you might be too if you saw the bike). But facing the fear was a lot easier with such a huge, friendly, wonderful group of Guadalajara's ciclistas. It also helped me feel not so far from home - a feeling that gets reaffirmed with every pedal revolution.

Shameless Plug: You should check out more about the communities we're working in here [includes interactive map!] (via Adapting to Scarcity)!