Both the city and the state of Oaxaca have been affected by the coronavirus crisis. The first two confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported on 16 March 2020 and that number grew slowly over the next few weeks. As in cities around the world, steps were taken here to limit the spread of the pandemic. Most public venues (schools, movie theaters, ball parks, concert halls, etc.) were shuttered and gatherings of more than 10 people were banned. People were urged to avoid groups and distance themselves from others. Everyone was encouraged to stay in their homes. As a consequence, the city is eerily quiet, with little pedestrian or vehicular traffic about.
Mountain bikers have been affected, too, as local bike clubs cancelled their weekly group rides. However, individual riders continue to pedal trails in the mountains and around the Valles Centrales as a way of staying in shape and to keep from going stir crazy because of forced isolation. If anything, there seem to be more bikers on the Libramiento and the trail network in the hills above San Felipe del Agua than usual on weekday mornings.
This post was put up on 1 April. It is hoped the pandemic will peak sometime this month and that the number of infections will begin to taper off in May and June. In the meantime, mountain biking serves as a way to keep one’s sanity in a world gone crazy.