In the build-up to the festive season, Sage, Alain and I attended a group ride to celebrate Día de Muertos.

Alain dived straight in with some impressive skull facepaint (Huesos recognised him immediately, amazingly) but Sage and I just went in plain clothes, as it was kind of a last minute idea. I immediately wished we’d made more of an effort, but still, Huesos got tonnes of attention in his trailer and behaved really well, so I feel like we weren’t a complete disappointment. Next year perhaps we’ll decorate the Farfarer, as I reckon people would get a real kick out of that.

Anyway, it was amazing to do a group ride with Sage (he was the youngest cyclist) and to his delight, we had a couple of police escorts! One of them wore mirrored shades and was straddling a Chips/Police Academy-style cruiser motorbike. I wish I’d got a portrait!

First we circled Llano square, which was heaving with revellers, then we headed down towards the Zocalo, and ended up doing quite a reasonable ride, on streets that I didn’t always recognise. And and all without the worry of dealing with cars which made me, as a parent, very relieved.

I’m not sure who organised the event to thank them, but Sage came back with a bagful of weird Mexican sweets, so was doubly happy. Other highlights? Huesos howled with a passing siren. And it was high vibes all around.

All in all, it was really cool to get a little insight into Oaxacan bike culture and play a small part in the general visibility of cyclists here.