Sunday, March 13th was a day of clear skies and warm temperatures. D., C., C., P., and E. met up on the highway out Etla way to explore some of the network of paths, trails and dirt roads on the western side of the Etla valley in the scrub-brush covered foothills that sit between the toll highway to Puebla / Mexico City and the pine-covered mountains.
Spencer, who hails from Boulder, Colorado, was spending a few weeks in Oaxaca and was anxious to acquaint his Yeti mountain bike with some of our favorite trails. So on this Thursday in early February some other gringos who call Oaxaca home (two of whom are also from Colorado) decided to introduce Spencer to the wholesome goodness of the trails above San Pablo Etla — specifically, the Oaxaca Flume Trail. The group arrived in San Pablo at about 10 am and hit the trail soon after. It is a long slog up a rather steep (11% to 12% grade) dirt road that leads from the valley floor up past the “La Mesita” reforestation area in San Pablo’s mountain park (where an admission fee of 30 pesos per person must be paid) and then continues upward to the start of the Flume Trail. Actually, the climb is just 3.5 miles (5.6 Kms), but it seems much longer, as the elevation gain amounts to 1937 feet (590 meters) and the grade is relentless. The single track Flume Trail is a skinny, little-used path which — today at least — was heavily overgrown with brush. Though almost entirely downhill, it is still a demanding ride because of the terrain and the downhill slope — which in places has up to a 26% pitch. On this outing the group rode a total of 14.0 miles (22.5 kilometers), starting from a friend’s home and winding up at an open-air comedor in the center of San Pablo.
Today’s Sunday morning shop ride sponsored by Summit Cyclery was essentially a breakfast outing. After a rather mellow ride through the open country between Oaxaca and the nearby village of Huayapam, the group stopped for a substantial and satisfying breakfast at a home-based restaurant in that town. Afterwards the gang returned by a more direct route, stopping for more refreshments at Cafe Brujula, just a few blocks from the bike store.
The total round trip distance on today’s excursion amounted to 10.7 miles (17.2 km), with an elevation gain and loss of 1189 feet (362.4 meters). The Summit Cyclery bike shop was the lowest point on the route at 5190 feet (1582 meters), while the highest point on the trail registered 5636 feet (1717.5 meters) in altitude.
There is a relatively new mountain bike club in Oaxaca called “Los Pedalazos.” They meet for a group ride twice weekly — at 4 pm on Wednesday afternoons and again at 8 am on Saturday mornings. The Wednesday rides are shorter, given the hour of the day, and may require the use of lights if the group will be out after dark. The Saturday rides are longer — both in terms of distance traveled and time in the saddle. The outings are announced on the club’s Facebook page a day or two before the ride — see https://www.facebook.com/groups/pedalazos/.
The ride today (Sat / 19 Dec 2015) was a long loop running from the Casa Cultural in downtown Oaxaca out to San Bartolo Coyotepec in the Zimatlan valley, then over a mountain ridge and into the Tlocolula valley, passing through the villages of Rojas de Cauhtémoc and Tule, where the gang stopped for a very welcome lunch at a local comedor before continuing back to Oaxaca.
Seventeen riders were on hand for the start of the ride, but one dropped out because of mechanical problems and another in the face of some steep uphill climbs. The remaining fifteen completed the 31.8 mile (51.2 km) loop ride in approximately six hours, counting time spent relaxing and eating lunch in Tule. The low point on the ride dipped to 4989 feet (1520.6 meters), while the high point on the ridge separating the two wings of the Valles Centrales topped out at 5912 feet (1802 meters). There was a total of 1982 feet (604 meters) elevation gain and loss going around the loop.
The Nitos Ciclistas en Movimiento cycle club set out on a bright Sunday morning in mid-November (the 15th, to be exact) on a cross-country ride through the flat farm fields of the Zimatlan valley, then steeply uphill to the mountain village of Santa Ines del Monte. Unfortunately, my GPS unit malfunctioned, so I was not able to map our exact route. However, similar information is contained elsewhere on this web site (http://www.oaxacamtb.org/wp/2013/03/cuatro-venados-loop/) for those who would like to look it up.
Today’s route covered 38.0 miles (61 km) round trip. The climb from the valley floor to the high point just before entering Santa Ines amounted to 3060 feet (932.7 meters) — which, of course, made for a wonderfully fast descent on a grade that in places was as steep as 13%. For those who like the nitty-gritty details, the lowest point on the valley floor was 5034 feet (1534 meters), while the highest point on the climb was 7868 feet (2398 meters).
