We are not exaggerating when we describe both the fireman and cyclists of this lovely country as 'heroes', there are no words to thank them enough for everything they've done for us and how rich they're making our experience here in Mexico. They've opened the doors of their homes and hearts to make us feel as if we were in our own front room from the moment we meet them, and all this without asking for a single thing in exchange. You're the best guys!

We start this incredible week by saying goodbye to the surprising city of Guanajuato. Expecting nothing less given that our arrival here was so overwhelming, the exit was equally so as we had to climb a huge mountain to leave the valley behind us. It should be said that we left in the midday heat which really didn't help things, we just had so many podcasts to record in the morning to get us up to date! Sorry if this sounds all too familiar... Things always end up accumulating on us, but at the same time I just can't help feeling that we are constantly busy getting them done! (I'll never get my head round how it never seems to end). Although it was a hard start to cycling today, we managed to try one of the best birrias (goaty soupy stuff) we've had to date on the way out of town and also, each time we looked back down the valley behind us, the views we breathtaking. Once we made it to the top we entered an area of natural beauty and, once more, mother nature helped us to recharge our batteries up here in the mountains. We were so relaxed that before we knew it the sun was setting and we still hadn't made it to town. So we had to whip out the red rear light and cycle like there were no tomorrow! Entering Dolores Hidalgo just as dusk was fading into night we made a beeline straight for the fire station to ask for refuge for the night. As nearly always is the case, a bunch of super nice guys welcomed us, offered us a place to shower and a corner to put the tent up in. Soon after more crew started to trickle in and they all shared a moment with us, with no lack of stories and tips!

We got into gear with the rising sun and made good use of the kitchen facilities on offer to prepare a breakfast of quesadillas with coffee! We had a chat with the guys, who'd been working all night, before leaving them to their heroics and pointing the handlebars in the direction of the next town along via a dirt track that followed the, rather dry, river's edge. What an amazing route, really calm and lined with trees and fields. We even bumped into a old geezer on his push bike, making his way to have lunch, who accompanied us for a long while and showed us to a good spot to have a tasty traditional lunch. Once we made it to San Miguel de Allende, a stunning town considered 'Patrimonio de la Humanidad', we thought it necessary to indulge in an ice cream to cool off; since the last stretch had been rather sunny. We bumbled into the town centre and after a tricky walk around, given the pavements were rammed with people, we decided to go into a place selling churros with hot chocolate (to warm up from the ice cream!). But the surprise was left to when we were leaving the establishment. While we were unlocking the bikes to make our way out of town someone caught our attention... This was Ricardo, a cycle tourist who, on seeing our bikes, stuck around till we'd finished eating inside to offer us a place to stay for the night! We had a quick chat, instantly agreed to stay on for longer and went to his house to leave our stuff. This is one of those curios things that happen on trips like these. Suddenly plans change completely and you find yourself in some really magical places. Without doubt this is how I'd describe where we ended up at the end of today. Now in Ricardo's home, which is full under construction, he led us up the various ladders to the roof where the views just took our breath away. We met his family and got to know the man a little better, such as how he'd been a big part of the long distance cycle route through Mexico called the Ruta Chichimeca for a couple for years and even had the characteristic 'flag' that the leader of the route carries, which is draped in colourful ribbons. He brought us up some pastries from the local bakery to sweeten our day even further. A truly magical night with the city lights at our feet.

The night was followed by a morning full of colours and sounds indicating that the city had sparked back into life after its nightly slumber. We decided in this moment that we needed to stay here longer to make the most of all this amazing place had to offer. We spent the day strolling though the alleyways, discovering hidden corners and foods to later finish up editing podcast episodes up in the rooftops. When Ricardo came back from a hard day's work he was kind enough to take us to an really tasty taco stand (more 'sesos', yum!) and take us on a mini night tour through town. The final act was some delicious peanut marzipan that we had the honour of trying right next to the illuminated cathedral together, with good chat from the man himself.

We woke up nice and early so we could make some good progress and catch up from our unexpected day off, although a previously undiscovered puncture held us back a little just as we were leaving... The guys sorted that out toot sweet and I went to the bakery to buy some pastries. And thank goodness! As a mighty hill was waiting for us round the first corner... Ricardo joined, and filmed, us for a few kilometres and we really enjoyed this morning ride together. He also showed us to a really nice, quiet road that would take us off the highway to the next town. We enjoyed this immensely. Once more we scoffed a huge, three scoop ice cream once we'd made it which felt better than we could have possibly imagined. Then a bike lane took us nearly all the way to a cheapo hotel easily enough which had a park bizarrely beautifully made up of broken plates at its doorstep. Here we had a beer and couldn't resist the temptation of a bustling hot dog stand run by "Don Toño"; only to cap off the day watching a bit of "El Chapo" on Netflix back at the ranch.

We were able to start the day with a good old coffee in our room, thanks to the dude at the reception helping us boil some water. We made a list of things to see before leaving the city and got straight to it. Although we didn't get far, right next door was a stall selling home made "gorditas" (fat tortillas stuffed with goodies like the arepas we've described previously) that we couldn't help but stop at. Soon after we found ourselves in a museum all about calendars and wondered its halls trying to get our heads around how various civilizations understood the concept of time. Really interesting! But equally tiring... The museum was in an old colonial house which had a small café in the garden which we spend a long while in, coffee in hand, enjoying the tweets of the birds. Mid-afternoon we were back on the road heading towards a cheese and wine route that we hoped to start the next day. We identified another fire station on the way out of town and as they always welcomed us so warmly we headed straight for it. But this was the exception to the rule as they surprised us with a big fat 'no'. However, they suggested we try at the ambulance station down the road who, it turned out, were more than happy to have us for the night. We had the pleasure of talking to some of the crew and meeting their little old doggy, all of whom were super kind and generous. We ate some tasty tacos from a stall on the side of the road before falling into dreams of cheese and wine...

We awoke to a cool morning and warmed up with a chicken soup for breakfast together with more tacos and a coffee, to soon after head out to the first winery/cheesery. At 09:30 we were already banging on the door and to our surprise the tours had already begun. We went for the full McCoy: cheese tasting, wine tasting and artisan beer tasting! This all took a good 4 hours to complete... As you can imagine we learnt a hell of a lot about the production of all three and the place was really inviting, due in equal parts to the staff and the well looked after gardens. We left around midday hungry as hell and as Morelia had taught us the only solution was to chow down an entire roasted chicken. It's true that there were tons more similar wine places we could have visited but by bike it's not so easy to hop between them and neither did we agree much on which way to go. So after various failed attempts and getting worn out in the process we changed tack and set sail in the direction of a nearby town. But as everything happens for a reason, it was on the way that we made some new friends! Just after passing another winery, who's tastings had sadly finished for the day, we spotted a couple of cycle tourists on the road; Oscar and Gustavo! A couple of Mexican lads that lived in Querétaro and we on route to 'El Geiser' hot springs to spend a long weekend, it being a bank holiday on the Monday. We were talking for a while and told them we planned to stay at the fire station even though they planned to plough on further, with night setting, them fixing a puncture and another 20 miles or so to go... We overtook them and ended the day at the station as planned where Sergio, the head honcho, welcomed us with open arms and showed us around. We had some dinner in a little family shop and when we got back, who was there? The lads of course! They were super kind and we spent a good part of the night chatting away around the tents, sharing stories.

We were feeling fresh and new this morning after a good rest and decided that we would join Oscar and Gustavo's plan. Going to some hot springs with some great company sounded like a winner. Also we were not sure about whether to carry on the route of cheese and wine or not, so it was a good opportunity to forget about that and try something new. We started off checking out the town of Tequisquiapan before finding ourselves in a little restaurant enjoying the most Mexican of breakfasts, chilaquiles (sort of nachos covered in sauce) with fried egg and beans. This gave us the required fuel to take on the mountains ahead. It was a tough route at times but very gratifying as the mountain views made all the work worthwhile. Just before reaching 'El Geiser' we stopped in a place run by a couple of lovely ladies that cooked us some gorgeous gorditas that, at least I, washed down with a michealada. Then at the hot springs we were greeted by a rather big surprise... I've never seen such a mass of people altogether in my whole life! We went to pitch the tent as far away from the maddening crowd as we could and managed to relax a little. Later on we walked through the complex trying to identify which pools might get emptied of their soupy, sweat filled contents so we could enjoy them in the morning nice and clean and alone. We ended up having dinner under a lamppost chatting away the evening and, as they for some reason didn't sell any beers, slurped down some chocolate milks and got some rest in the tents; thinking about the hot morning bath that awaited us in a few hours time...