Author: Larry

Countryside, GPS, MTBing

San Antonio Buena Vista

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This small village nestled in a quiet corner of the Tlocolula valley is completely unpretentious and seldom seen – except by mountain bikers looking for some out-of-the-way place to visit on a pleasant ride from Oaxaca city. The route to and from may vary slightly from time to time, and in any case is quite similar to other ventures into this part of the Central Valley of Oaxaca. The figures for today’s excursion are: 63.9 km (39.7 miles) traveled, with 319 meters (1048 feet) of elevation gain and loss.

Countryside, GPS, MTBing

Jalapa Lollipop

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A pleasant, moderate ride through the rolling hills of the western Etla valley to Jalapa del Valle and back, passing through San Andres Ixtlahuaca both going and coming. Distance traveled amounted to 48.4 km (30.7 miles), with an elevation gain and loss of 724 meters (2376 feet) along the way. Elapsed time was almost exactly three hours.

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GPS, Mountains, MTBing, Photos

Spanish Mining Haciendas

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The Spanish mined the hills and valleys around the Papaloapam River for silver and gold from the 1600 through the 1800’s. There were two significant ore processing haciendas not far from Amatlan and Lachatao, serving a rabbit warren of small mine tunnels in the area. Most of the extensive structures have fallen into ruin, leaving just foundations and a few walls to bear witness to a once-thriving industry. The remains of a couple of large stone aqueducts and their attendant water wheels still stand sentinel over the site. These make for a provocative stop on a 19.3 km (12.0 mile) loop ride on unpaved roads and a single track trail along the stream joining the two haciendas. Though the loop is relatively short, the hill climbs are rather intense (545 meters / 1789 feet), so strong biking ability is required. As an added bonus, there is a charming trout restaurant nearby which can be used as a staging area and a place for a delicious lunch at the conclusion of the ride.

Unpaved roads wind through the mountains around Amatlan and Lachatao.
Spanish moss drips from trees.
Merrily we roll along.
The centerpiece of today’s ride is the single track trail linking the mining haciendas.
The trail is little used and not maintained, so obstacles are commonplace.
Centuries old stone bridges cross the stream.
Pedaling past the ruins of some buildings.
A friendly burro was our welcoming committee at the Cinco Señores hacienda.
A trout restaurant on the river was the start and end point of today’s ride.

Countryside, GPS, MTBing, Photos

Sunday Fiestas

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Cyclists who take part in our regular Sunday excursions are looking for exercise and some good comaraderie. The exercise comes from the rides, which are mostly of moderate difficulty and cover between 32 and 64 kilometers (20 to 40 miles). The socializing happens on the trail and when the group stops for brunch along the way. With this latter in mind, the route on any given Sunday will likely visit a village which is holding a fiesta that day. There is almost always a town somewhere in the Valles Centrales celebrating a patron’s feast or marking some similar occasion. So it was Santo Domingto Tomaltepec sponsoring a mountain bike race and community celebration this last day in March, which also happened to be Easter Sunday. The streets around the zocalo were tented over, with vendors displaying all sorts of merchandise and multiple stalls selling street food. A brass band and a parade added to the festivities. All of which added spice to the day’s bike adventure.

Bikers – but no Easter bunnies – on the trail today.
There are five reservoirs along the Mil Rios trail,
but none had a drop of water on account of severe drought.
A contestant crosses the finish line in today’s mountain bike race in Santo Domingo Tomaltepec.
Cyclists mingle among the display tents set up in the zocalo.
A colenda added to the festive nature of the occasion.
Streets around the town square were tented over and lined with merchandise.
Women of the village were busy fixing all sorts of good things to eat.
A wheelbarrow pressed into service as a comal to cook tortillas.

GPS, Mountains, MTBing, Photos

Miles Of Mountain Magic

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This weekday outing was a challenging high country ride on logging roads in the Sierra Norte which varied in elevation between 2750 and 3050 meters (9,000 to 10,000 feet). After a 90 minute shuttle ride from Oaxaca on the newly paved road to Guacamaya, the group of biking buddies set out to conquer a series of long climbs and thrilling descents threading through dense evergreen forests between Guacamaya and the ecotourism camp at La Cumbre Ixtepeji. Several logging crews were encountered along the way, who were surprised to see four gringos swooping through the woods on bicycles. It was decidedly chilly when the ride started at 9:45 am under moderate cloud cover. Happily the sun broke through and warmed things to a pleasant 23°C (73°F) by mid-afternoon. At the turnaound point the group split up, with two riders retracing their route back to the shuttle van while two others opted to take a shorter route to town, dropping down the La Reina trail to Huayapam – thus the two route maps, below. Though participants were competent cyclists with many miles of pedaling experience, all were pretty tuckered out by the end of the day. The total round trip distance amounted to 49.6 kms (30.8 miles), with a serious 1362 meters (4468 feet) of climbing along the way.

The four mountain Musketeers on today’s adventure.
Logging crews were busy harvesting lumber in the woods.
Locals gathering firewood watch bikers pass by.
The network of logging roads was a delight to ride.