Obstacle Cycling: Riding Road Bikes in Guadalajara

We are avid road cyclists. We loved living in Colorado because of the many glorious riding routes we could choose from, ranging from bike trails into Denver to loops on mountain roads. We usually rode two or three times a week, including a long ride on the weekend. Lisa rocks a Specialized carbon fiber road bike with about 27 gears, and Bob has a classic green Bianchi.

So we optimistically brought our road bikes to Mexico on the back of our car, hoping to continue our healthy habit and explore Mexico on two wheels. 

Trying to Find a Safe Place to Ride

I knew we were coming to a city of 5 million, people and despite researching online, I couldn’t find any active road cycling clubs, or even decent rides, on our favorite cycling route app, MapMyRide. Nonetheless, every night during the drive to Mexico we dutifully took them off the car and took them into the hotel rooms, and now the bikes live in the guest room of our house in Tlaquepaque.

But they don’t see the road much, and neither do we.

The roads in Tlaquepaque are rough, narrow, virtually unsigned, and often chaotic. We’ve only driven the car four times in the four months we’ve been here because of the challenge of the roads. There are virtually no bike lanes in our section of Guadalajara. However, the city does have what is called “Via RecreActiva” on Sundays and holidays, where they shut down several major roads for recreational purposes for six hours. We’ve come to accept that as the best we can do.

Thank God for the Via RecreActiva

So every Sunday morning, we pull on our cycling clothes, pump up our tires, fill our water bottles, and hit the Via RecreActiva. To get there, we have to ride almost two miles on a busy street with no bike lanes, Avenida Rio Nilo. Bob has almost been “doored” by cars several times, Lisa was almost run off the road by an aggressive bus driver, and almost rear-ended a cab that pulled in right in front of her t collect a passenger. But it is what it is. Rio Nilo gets us to the Via RecreActiva, and then we get to ride for one day a week.

If you can call it riding.

There are essentially two main problems with Via RecreActiva. First, literally thousands of people take advantage of it –unleashed dogs chasing each other back and forth, kids learning to ride their bikes, teenagers doing tricks and popping wheelies, old ladies pulling carts crossing the street at a mercado, boyfriends on bikes teaching their wobbly girlfriends how to skateboard,  and people just walking three or four 4 abreast. It is just plain crowded and you have to be extremely vigilant to avoid running into someone. Lisa calls it “Obstacle Cycling.”

The other main problem is traffic on the cross streets. While your road is closed for a few hours, other roads aren’t, so you have to stop at multiple lights and wait for traffic. This means that you only get to ride several blocks before you are forced to stop so that cross traffic can go.

It is better than nothing, but it is not for the faint of heart!

Trying to Find Other Riders

We have tried to make contact with other cyclists in Expat forums here, but didn’t get anything really solid from those groups. We have also seen cyclists riding on the sides of highways outside of the city, usually followed by a sag wagon. But at this point we are leaving Guadalajara soon, so we don’t plan to pursue that option.

We hope to find better cycling in our next stop, Guanajuato. Lisa has already found a few promising routes on MapMyRide!

Enjoy a video of the Via RecreActiva here!