Albi and Larry, two retired biking buddies who live happily in Oaxaca, set out one Monday in early March to test their strength and agility by riding along the aqueduct that carries water from a stream well up a mountain valley down to the water treatment plant in San Agustin Etla. This route is a perennial favorite among participants in the “Hoofing It In Oaxaca” program of weekly hikes and is equally prized by local mountain bikers. After registering and paying a nominal 50 peso permit fee, the two set out from the water plant and headed up the valley. The grade of the trail is quite mild, so the pedaling uphill was easy enough. More challenging were the narrow places where the trail balances on the edge of the aqueduct. There are also a number of spots where the trail jumps from one side of the aqueduct to the other. Most of these are bridged by planks of lumber which can be ridden over. The aqueduct terminates at a small water diversion dam in a mountain stream near the grand ruins of a hydroelectric plant built about 1900. From that point our intrepid duo continued onward, exploring a single-track trail that ran further uphill, generally following the stream. The trail had been recently groomed and marked for a mountain bike race, but even so the pair wished they had brought tools to prune back overhanging tree branches and clear brush from the trail. The riders decided to accomplish their return to San Agustin on a service road rather than retracing their uphill route, which made for a fast descent. All told, the ride covered 8.3 miles (13.4 kms), with an elevation gain and loss of 957 feet (292 meters). The outing began at the water treatment plant, which sits at an altitude of 6371 feet (1925 meters), and topped out at 6897 feet (2102 meters). The elapsed time for completion of the loop was just over two hours.
Category: Foothills
Countryside, Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Trail Info
La Muneca and Santo Domingo Tomaltepec Presas
by Larry • • 0 Comments
Four biking buddies hit the trail to climb the La Muneca trail in the hills near Tlalixtac and then coast down to the two presas in Santo Domingo Tomaltepec before looping back to their starting point near the Tlalixtac town center. All told, they spent about four hours in the saddle and pedaled 12.5 miles (20.1 kms) on this leisurely ride on a lovely May morning. The climb to the monument at the top of the La Muneca trail took the riders 1477 feet (450 meters) up the hillside. The trail was sufficiently steep to cause some hike-a-biking going up. But that was rewarded with some great zinging downhill. One of the riders had never visited the two lovely presas in the valley above Santo Domingo Tomaltepec, so those were included in the day’s itinerary. The group wrapped things up with a lunch of tasty Mexican food upon their return to Oaxaca at mid-afternoon.
Countryside, Foothills, Hiking, MTBing, Photos
Clearing Brush on the Trail
by Larry • • 0 Comments
Late last October a small group of friends went for a hike on the trails in the foothills above the village of San Pablo Etla. Their objective was to follow the same loop trail used for a mountain bike race held there annually. To their dismay, they found the vegetation so thick at the end of the rainy season that in places they could not even find the trail! So on this Saturday in mid-March several fellows set out with machetes, hedge clippers, pruning shears and tree saws to clear away the brush from the trail. They were in for a couple of pleasant surprises. First of all, after five months without rain all the greenery was gone. The trees and shrubs were bare of leaves, which made it much easier to prune back branches that hung out over the trail. And secondly, it was obvious another work crew had passed this way in recent weeks, as much of the vegetation had already been cut back. So what was expected to be a hard day of heavy work turned out to be much easier and faster than anticipated. Now hikers and mountain bikers will be able to pass freely on the network of intersecting trails that criss-cross the hillsides near San Pablo. For more information on these, see the various entries under “San Pablo Etla” on the “Rides” page of this web site.
Countryside, Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos
Oaxaca – W. Etla Valley – Cuilapam
by Larry • • 1 Comment
The rolling hill country of the Etla Valley to the west of Monte Alban is a lure to mountain bikers wanting to escape from the city. Riding from Oaxaca to Cuilapam provides a perfect getaway, offering pleasant vistas to soothe the soul and just enough challenging terrain to rate as a good day in the saddle. The out & back route from the center of Oaxaca to the ruins of the never-completed monastery in Cuilapam covers 31.4 miles (50.5 kms) and accumulates 2625 feet (800 meters) of elevation gain and loss along the way. It is also possible to ride a loop through Cuilapam that returns to Oaxaca via the main paved highway, which is shorter and faster (see second map below) — covering just 23.6 miles (37.5 kms) and with only 1505 feet (459 meters) of climbing and descending. Either option makes for a great cycling experience.
Countryside, Foothills, MTBing
Buddy Ride
by Larry • • 0 Comments
Another delightful, sunny, warm Sunday morning in Oaxaca – even though it is December 2 on the calendar. Four buddies agree to go on a loop ride through the rolling hill country of the Etla Valley to the west of Monte Alban. Two – Albi and Larry – are retired gringo expats living in Oaxaca, while Omar and Vidal are natives. The foursome rendezvous at the Plaza Bella shopping center in Atzompa at 9:30 am – late enough in the day for the sun to take the chill out of the air and for everyone to have breakfast before the ride. After a brief discussion they agree to ride in a counter-clockwise direction, first pedaling north toward San Lorenzo Cacaotepec, then swinging west to San Felipe Tejalápam, through La Unión and then on to Jalapa del Valle. After a brief rest stop, they head east over a ridge of hills, drop down and through San Pedro Ixtlahuaca and on into the Oaxaca valley and their original starting point. By the end of the ride the guys have been in the saddle a bit under three hours and have covered exactly 22 miles (35.4 kms). There was a gain and loss of 550 feet (167.6 meters) along the way, mainly due to crossing that ridge. The temperature ranged from 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 24 degrees Celsius) during that time.