Amidst more pressing matters such as elections, local media have recently ballyhooed the extension of the innovative, state-owned, Mi Bici rent-a-bike system into centro or “downtown” Zapopan. (Downtown is in quotation marks because the bustling area near the famed Basilica of the Virgin of Zapopan on the north fringe of Guadalajara lacks tall buildings, except for the basilica, and maintains the charm of a smaller pueblo, even though Zapopan is a sprawling suburb that almost encircles Guadalajara and helps account for one-third of the metropolitan area’s population of nearly 4.5 million.)
I firmly believe that every true environmentalist is a fan of Mi Bici and I already have my annual membership in Guadalajara (for one peso a day). So, since my key can also be used in Zapopan, I set off to see if Mi Bici is a good way to see the sights. I took along an uninitiated companion, wine writer Sven Clyde, to find out if he could, as advertised, rent a bike using a credit card.
Curiously, we had to get to Zapopan by bus because the Guadalajara Mi Bici system (with 86 stations) and the Zapopan system (with 30 stations) are not that near each other. We couldn’t have made it in a half hour — the designated interval for all rides on Mi Bici — from the outermost Guadalajara station to the nearest Zapopan station. The plan seems to be that someday, as in Montreal and other cities, the whole rent-a-bike system will be contiguous, and Zapopan is just the second step in making it so.
People are always telling me that this is Mexico and I must mend my uptight ways so I am proud to report that the bike excursion planned for 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday got under way at 2:30 p.m.. Sven is a clock-driven person like me, yet the two of us managed to show up under the Arch of Zapopan (Avenida Americas at Avila Camacho) four hours late, ready to ride but — oops — with only an hour left until our planned lunch at the Greek restaurant Agios Aggelos. This, for us foodies, promised to be the highlight of the day.
Agios Aggelos means “Saint Angel,” Sven told me — a coincidence, since another well known restaurant just around the corner from it and the nearby Mi Bici station on the street Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican one called Hosteria del Angel, or Inn of the Angel. Does all this angel business have something to do with the nearby basilica?
But before eating, we got down to riding and touring. We hit the nearest Mi Bici station on quiet 5 de Mayo, with its ten gleaming, red bikes, and Sven gamely inserted his debit card to buy a day pass for 80 pesos. The card got rejected, though, as did two more debit cards. So we aborted that plan and used my key, which worked fine, and after adjusting the seat, he zoomed off down the Andador (pedestrian walkway) 20 de Noviembre with the basilica beckoning from the distance.
On our sojourn down the andador, we didn’t enter the MAZ (Museo de Arte de Zapopan) because we had already been there. MAZ is a fine, small modern museum with a nicer interior than exterior. It features avant-garde shows that change every couple of months and is probably the local museum most like the ones many foreigners are accustomed to. Its free entrance, ample hours (Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Monday) and interesting shows, not to mention sparkling bathrooms, make it worth a visit. www.mazmuseo.com.
The andador gets very busy on Sundays and there’s a good vibe there, with families, vendors, concerts and other activities. But on a Tuesday my intrepid biker-companion had smooth sailing from the Arch of Zapopan clear down to the basilica. On the way, with Sven circling back and me walking fast, we admired the lush gardens and sculptures on either side of the walkway.
Although there’s another Mi Bici station a bit to the left of the main basilica gate, Sven walked the bike inside the gate to take a look at the famous statue of Pope John Paul II, made after his momentous visit in 1979. Of course, we couldn’t take the bike into the basilica and, in any case, had already been inside and enjoyed its ample and well appointed interior, usually quite full of visitors and worshippers.
We did peek at the small Huichol museum to the right of the basilica’s main entrance — worth a stop to see their embroidery and beadwork and peruse the gift shop.
The Mi Bici Zapopan website (mibici.net/estaciones-mibici-zapopan) lists eight attractions that are convenient to downtown Zapopan. However, it should be remembered that Mi Bici is not intended as a recreational system but one that cuts down on car traffic by allowing us to do business and errands by bicycle. That is why each trip must be limited to 30 minutes (unless you want to incur additional charges, which are not that high) with breaks of at least five minutes between trips.
We were surprised to learn, at the Mi Bici table staffed with two representatives outside the Presidencia building (also called the Palacio Municipal) at Hidalgo 125 — our last stop before hitting Agios Aggelos — that the 30-minute limit applies even to one-day, three-day and seven-day passes. In other words, you are never supposed to take the Mi Bici home or to lock it up in any other spot than in a port at one of the official stations.
At that point, we did just that and talked to the reps at the table. They had brochures to give us, though Zapopan still doesn’t have very handy pocket maps showing station locations, like in Guadalajara. (These maps are almost indispensable for conveniently utilizing Mi Bici.) But the reps can set you up with a key for a day or a year — well, they couldn’t the day we were there because there was a power failure — and they know the ropes.
We went inside the serene Presidencia (city hall) building for a few minutes to look at the large mural painted above the stairwell opposite the entrance. While not as famous or as striking as a similar mural by Orozco in Guadalajara’s Palacio de Gobierno, it is a pleasant mural with a similar style and themes.
Outside, on the street just in front of the table at the Presidencia, there are painted street markings like those that Guadalajara Mi Bici users enjoy and that aim to educate car drivers in bicycle culture, which is relatively new to this area.
At present, the other spot with such markings is outside Villa Fantasia, a small zoo — 140 animals — that is mostly visited by schoolchildren and is located a couple minutes ride northeast of the Presidencia. Villa Fantasia is in the process of converting to a wild animal shelter for its 140 denizens, which include a lion and tiger.
More street markings are coming soon, the Mi Bici reps assured us.
Next, it was back to the Arch where we started, and lunch in its shadow at Agios Aggelos. The platters of squid and octopus heaped on a nice salad, at 125 pesos each, didn’t disappoint. Sven, an expert in octopus as well as wine, declared it very well prepared, and it has the advantage of not staining your teeth black, as my squid did. (Agios Aggelos: Calle 20 de Noviembre 356; tel. 33-3833-1131, open 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.)