The summer rainy season of 2017 has proven exceptionally wet. It may not match the record precipitation measured in 2010, but it must be close and has certainly put an end to the drought conditions of the past two years. The month of September was particularly gloomy and wet, with hardly a glimpse of blue sky. So when Ron and Larry set out on 3 October for a gentle ride in the countryside of the Zimatlan valley, they were not surprised to find lots of mud on the dirt roads that criss-cross this agricultural region. Ron picked the route, as this was his first mountain bike ride in Oaxaca and he wanted to stick with flat terrain. The idea was to load our bikes in a van and drive to Zegache, then do a loop through the countryside to Ocotlan and back. In this regard we can report “mission accomplished”. We pedaled 14.7 mi (23.6 kms) on the route, with an elevation gain and loss of less than 350 feet (106 meters). We rode at a leisurely pace and stopped at several places along the way, including to visit the Rodolfo Morales museum in the monastery the famous artist restored in the center of Ocotlan. Unfortunately the parish church in Zegache, which Morales also had rebuilt and then painted, was damaged in the earthquakes of 7 and 19 September, and so was not open to the public. Also, to our dismay, there were very few fields of flowers to be seen in the area, which normally produces most of the flowers used to decorate graves and family ofrendas for the “Day of the Dead” festivities at the end of October. Many of the farm fields, in fact, were under water. A special highlight of the ride was the discovery of a beautiful wall mural on the main street of Santiago Apostol protesting the introduction of genetically modified corn into Mexico — see photo, below.
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