With the arrival of October it was as though someone turned off the spigot. Where September 2020 was unusually wet, October has turned out to be quite dry – which is in keeping with the historical switch from the rainy to the dry season at the end of September. On this 18th day of October the landscape is still lush and green, and now fall wildflowers are in full bloom across the Valles Centrales. The wild marigolds may go unpicked this year, though, because the coronavirus pandemic is still running at full gallop and most public Day of the Dead events have been cancelled. Local families will doubtless still construct the traditional ofrenda in their homes, but the time-honored tradition of decorating graves and celebrating the season with noisy comparsas in various neighborhoods will be muted, at best. Our group of expat mountain bike riders continue to schedule regular weekly rides, though. The outing this Sunday was essentially a repeat of the loop ride of August 30 (see “A Ride In The Country” reported below) except we rode the circuit in the reverse direction just to be different. Alee, a bike-packer pedaling from Argentina to Alaska, was in town and joined in today’s outing. There are now six such long-distance riders recuperating in Oaxaca before continuing their epic journeys. We enjoy their company on the trail and are fascinated by their tales of seeing the world from the viewpoint of a bicycle saddle. Alee hales from Australia and has bicycled across all five continents. Today’s ride of 24 miles (38.6 kms) was but a drop in his bucket and he hardly broke a sweat, even on the gnarly sections of steep jeep road. Ride on!