We spent another 10 days or so in Bucerias and continued to explore the area by foot and on our bikes. I am working during the day so it means an early start on the bikes and then usually followed by an evening walk. We also started watching sunset from Sara’s amazing rooftop and it was super fun to go up there with Sara and her pups to take it in.

There is a beach walk that starts at the south end of the beach in Bucerias and it ends in Nuevo Vallarta. You have to be committed at the beginning as there is no exit once you are on it and round trip from home was just under 13km. It is a fairly flat beach though so easy walking and we opted to take the road back and walk through Nuevo. Obviously morning is better before the heat sets in and I still had time to eat, shower and be ready for work.

We did a few early inland rides out to a coffee shop we found. It’s called Proyecto Darwin and it is a coffee roaster/shop, gallery space, and climate action advocate. It’s located on the highway towards Valle de Banderas in a rural area but the space itself is very peaceful; there is great music playing, good food, and amazing coffee. The buildings are a mix of wood and metal and the vibe is very chill. As is true in all Mexican establishments there are the resident cats and dogs just hanging out.

The ride out to Punta de Mita was great, I hadn’t been out there before and I had a picture in my mind of what it would be like. It wasn’t like anything I imagined. First, the road out is pretty hilly and the cars drive fast. Very fast. Thankfully the road is pretty wide and the shoulder was in pretty good shape. I thought it was going to be a bustling upscale community since it services all the fancy resorts out there. Instead it is a pretty depressing town with not much to offer outside of the beachfront which is filled with hawkers and restaurants. We did stop for breakfast which was very good and had a great view.

Punta de Mita is on a point and it has been bought up by developers so now it is all gated golf communities and regular folk can’t access the waterfront for a large part of it. Granted it is pretty rough waters out there and the beaches are rocky. The surfers love it though and both La Cruz and Punta de Mita have a big surf culture. Round trip the ride was about 55km and once we reached Bucerias we went straight into the ocean for a cool down.

Later that evening we went to the local tienda to watch the world go by. We bought a couple beer and sat on the curb and before we knew it we were surrounded by the local dogs who all came to visit. It’s amazing how friendly most dogs are down here these days, I always have my guard up after years of being chased by them but so far I’ve only been chased twice on my bike.

We were slated to leave on the 29th and Nick sorted out bus tickets for us to take the 11 hour ride overnight to San Miguel de Allende. We couldn’t figure out if this particular bus line would let us take our bikes so one morning we rode out to the station to ask and our instructions were to dismantle them and wrap them in paper. No joke, paper. Yeah.. that’s not going to happen. So instead we just arrived on the 29th, popped the tires off and taped some padding onto them and we were good to go – no problem.

The first class buses in Mexico are pure comfort. The seats are super wide and recline almost completely and the bathrooms are top notch. We had a great sleep and in the morning we were just pulling into Leon and got to see the sights as the sun came up. We have travelled through this area before but it has been about 9 years now. It looks the same in the countryside but the urban area have certainly grown. The bus pulled in to San Miguel de Allende (SMA) at 11am and when we stepped off the bus it was freezing out compared to the coast.