Category: Foothills

Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Racing

Mexican National Mountain Bike Race In Oaxaca

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Today’s event was a double-header. First, local mountain bike racers held their usual monthly contest on the San Felipe bike trail network. Then contenders in town for the National race conducted a second round of races. Weather conditions were ideal, and track conditions were good. The course laid out for the event mirrored the route used in past years, with the addition of an extra uphill segment to push riders to their limits.

The convoluted loop wound 3.8 miles (6.1km) through the forest, with challenging technical spots and some sharp climbs and drops thrown in for good measure. Altogether there was a total of 737 feet (224.6 meters) of elevation gain and loss around the circuit. The Start/Finish line was at the site of an old stone quarry and registered 6045 feet (1842.5 meters) in altitude. The high point of the race course hit 6313 feet (1924.2 meters) and the lowest point came in at 5941 feet (1810.8 meters). No one went home feeling this was a wimpy course!

 

Countryside, Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Ride Routes

Nitos Ride At San Pablo Guila

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Today’s outing was a massive undertaking. The Nitos group teamed up with Perros de la Montaña and Chapus Bike for this expedition to San Pablo Guila. The trip had seventy participants and required a caravan of vehicles to transport all the riders and their bikes the 42 miles (67.6 km) from Oaxaca to San Pablo. Pedro Martinez came along for the ride, as well.

The ride itself had two parts. First the group climbed 2.3 miles (3.7 km) up the steep dirt road from town to the capilla atop the hill overlooking the village. This proved quite a challenge, as the road was very rough and badly eroded, in addition to requiring a climb of 944 feet (287.7 meters) on a grade that consistently ran at 12 to 14 per cent.

After looping back to town (with some of the more adventurous riders taking the tricky singletrack trail rather than the road) and pausing there for a well-deserved break, the gang then did a 4.12 mile (6.63 km) out-and-back ride to a natural spring not far from town. Some in the group took advantage of the situation to play in the mineral water at the spring. Once back in town, the whole entourage was hosted for lunch at the home of Moises Lopez Cruz, who acted as our host for the entire day.

It was a tired but happy bunch of cyclists who returned to Oaxaca late in the afternoon.

Countryside, Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos

Nitos Ride To Santo Domingo Tomaltepec

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The ride into the mountain valley which serves as the source of water for the community of Santo Domingo Tomaltepec is a very scenic and enjoyable outing. That said, it might well be called “Trial By Water,” as the trail crosses the same stream seven times going both out and back. Even in the dry season the rider will likely get splashed. During the rainy season (which this was) the water is swift-flowing and sometimes a foot or more deep, which guarantees your foot gear – and sometimes more – will get thoroughly soaked.

Just as a black powder fuse will sputter and die when wet, our riders’ enthusiasm was considerably dampened by the water crossings. By the third stream crossing almost half the day’s group of 33 riders decided not to go any further, leaving it to the more intrepid bikers to push on to the end of the trail. Still, everyone was in good spirits and seemed to have a good time.

The ride out and back covered a total of 24.8 miles (39.9 km), and the total elevation gain and loss on the trip amounted to 1270 feet (387 meters). The ride began and ended at an elevation of 5113 feet (1558 meters). The high point on the trail hit 5696 feet (1736 meters), while the lowest point along the way bottomed out at 5084 feet (1549 meters).

Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Racing

Mountain Bike Race In Huayapam – Carrera de Ciclomontañismo en Huayapam

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It was a soggy Sunday morning in June for today’s mountain bike race in Huayapam, a small town on the outskirts of Oaxaca city. The area received four-tenths of an inch (2.3 cm) of rain overnight, and it was still drizzling as people milled around waiting for the race to get under way. Needless to say, the trail was muddy in places, so no one expected to go home in clean riding gear! The course laid out for the day’s race was a loop running 3.8 miles (6.1 km), utilizing a bit of paved city streets and more extensive dirt roads, but with most of the distance accruing on single track trail. There was 696 feet (212 meters) of elevation gain and loss along the way. That may not sound like much climbing, but some of the uphill segments registered gradients from 15% to 20%, making many a contestant a hike-a-biker. Some parts of the trail going both uphill and down were a bit treacherous because of mud. A number of riders found their rear wheel spinning out from under them on the climbs and their front wheel sliding sideways on the descents. Still, most riders managed to stay upright on their bikes throughout the contest, and there seemed to be fewer flat tires and broken chains than on other recent races.

Era una húmeda mañana de domingo en Junio para la carrera de ciclomontañismo en Huayapam, un pequeño pueblo a las afueras de la ciudad de Oaxaca de Juárez, famoso por su tejate. El área recibió 2.3 cms (1 in) de caída pluvial la noche anterior, y se presenció neblina mientras los concursantes llegaban a paso lento. Era evidente la grandiosa cantidad de lodo, al jabón le esperaba una gran tarea! El camino trazado para la carrera de hoy contaba con una medida de 6.1 kms (3.8 millas), valiéndose de un poco de carretera pavimentada del hermoso pueblo, de una vasta extensión de destapadas, pero con la mayor parte de vereda de un solo carril. Hubo una diferencia de elevación de 212 mts (696 pies) en el camino. Sin encontrar mucha subida, algunas rampas contaban con un gradiente de 15% y hasta 20%, obligando a muchos a cambiar de lugares con su bicicleta. Por esto, junto con el lodo, la dificultad se vio acrecentada. Varíos concursantes encontraron sus llantas inútiles ante la resbaladiza pista. Igual, la mayoría de los resios mantuvieron firmeza a través de todo el concurso; también se presentaron menos casos de llantas ponchadas o cadenas rotas que en recientes carreras.

Countryside, Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos

Nitos Ride In Tlalixtac Territory – Los Molinos Trail

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Members of the Nitos Ciclistas En Movimiento took to the hill country in the territory belonging to the village of Tlalixtac for this Sunday’s ride. The Oaxaca Valley had received over 5 inches (32 cm) of rain in the previous five days, so the ground was saturated, streams were running strong, humidity was high and there was plenty of mud along the way. It was a fun outing, nevertheless; and the 26 people who took part had a great time!

After getting clear of the city, the group took mostly back roads on the way to the foothills and then followed a country trail that wound upwards running parallel to Highway 175, but on the far side of a gurgling stream. After pedaling for about three hours the group stopped for lunch in the woods before splashing across the creek and sailing back to Oaxaca on the shoulder of the highway.

The round trip covered 16.2 miles (26.1 km) with an elevation gain and loss of 1007 feet (307 meters). There were just a few technical challenges along the way in the form of some rock gardens. However, there were many muddy spots and a number of places where water was running down the trail, so the going was slow at times.