Category: Photos

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Countryside, GPS, MTBing, Outing, Photos, Ride Routes

Nitos Ride to Tlacolula

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There are several bike clubs in Oaxaca, one of which is called “Nitos Ciclistas En Movimiento.” (www.facebook.com/groups/Nitos.CiclistasEnMovimiento) This group sponsors a ride every Sunday morning at 8:00 am starting from the church of St. Agustin, located at the intersection of Armento y Lopez and Guerrero streets in downtown Oaxaca city.

The ride on this second Sunday in May was a pleasant 42 mile round trip excursion on back roads to the Sunday market in Tlacolula, where participants stopped for lunch. Oaxaca had received over an inch of rain the night before, so there were lots of puddles along the route and some of the farm roads were pretty muddy – nobody came home with clean riding gear! Still, it was a fun outing and the fifteen participants had a good time, despite a succession of flat tires and one bike’s free wheel getting stripped.

The map below does not accurately reflect today’s ride, which followed a somewhat different route. (The map is for the “Tlacolula Loop” listed on the “Rides” page of this web site.) However, it serves to give the direction of today’s outing and reflects about the same overall mileage.

GPS, Mountains, MTBing, Photos

Mountain Misadventure

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In theory it should not be difficult to ride from La Cumbre to La Neveria. This could be an out & back excursion or the first leg of a truly epic day in the saddle that would continue on from La Neveria to Benito Juarez, then down the mountainside to Teotitlan del Valle and on to Oaxaca – a trek that would cover over 60 miles and see the rider drop something over 7500 feet in elevation. But theory and practice seem to be out of alignment. The first time I tried this a few years back with a friend, we got totally turned around in the forest and wound up – after timber bashing for several hours through steep, heavily wooded terrain – in Latuvi. Oops! Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere!

On this first Sunday in May I corralled another group of friends and we set out with somewhat better instructions. Things went smoothly for the first fourteen miles, but then we found ourselves in a maze of logging roads which went every which way. We picked a road that, while little traveled, seemed to head in the right direction. Unfortunately, after a few miles the road petered out, becoming just a footpath through the woods and eventually disappearing altogether. That was aggravating, as we knew we were close to our destination. However, we felt it would be foolhardy to push on and so reluctantly retraced our steps to La Cumbre.

The map below indicates our course, including a false turn that would have taken us to – you guessed it! – Latuvi if we had persisted. Altogether we covered 28.4 miles (45.7 km) and had the pleasure of gaining and losing 4481 feet (1365.8 meters) in elevation going out and back.

If it is true that “the third time’s the charm,” perhaps we’ll find our way to La Neveria on our next attempt.

Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Racing

Easter Race at San Pablo Etla

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I actually saw a live bunny rabbit hopping down the trail on today’s Easter Sunday mountain bike race at San Pablo Etla. I did not find any colored eggs hiding in the brush along the route, however. What I did find – happily so! – was the digital camera that bounced out of my fanny pack as I was riding back to the finish line after taking photos of the race. Elsewise there would be no pics to go with this post, and I would be one very unhappy camper!

Today’s race was on the same 3.2 mile (5.0 km) race circuit as last year, but to give the venture a different spin the riders rode the course in the opposite direction – going clockwise today. The start/finish line was in a slightly different location on the loop, as well.

You can see photos of the race last year by going to the “Race” page and scrolling down to the “San Pablo Etla” entry.

Countryside, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Trail Info

Pedaling Around San Pablo

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There is no shortage of flowing trails around San Pablo Etla, a suburb on the north side of Oaxaca city. This Sunday afternoon ride follows a popular trail (almost identical to the San Pablo Mountain Park Loop Two reported elsewhere on this web site). Fact is, there are so many intersecting trails in these parts it is possible to make a thousand variations so there is always something new, even when you’ve ridden the area many times over.

The bulk of the ride is on singletrack trail that pretty much follows the contour lines of the hills — though there are some rather steep ups and downs. The trail is quite narrow, for the most part, and often runs off-camber. There is a good assortment of rocky sections to keep you on your toes, and lots of thorny shrubbery waiting to draw blood from passing bikers.

The loop ride shown on the map below covers 6.0 miles (9.65 km) with a gain and loss of 1002 feet (305 meters) on the circuit. The high point just touches the 6000 foot mark (1829 meters), while the low point tips the altimeter at 5500 feet (1676 meters).

Countryside, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Racing

Mountain Bike Race at San Jose de Gracia

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It is quite a slog to the village of San José de Gracia, which is located on highway 190 some 70 miles (112.6 km) southeast of Oaxaca city, but the local residents turned out in force to welcome all the mountain bikers who came for the race held on 16 March 2014. The race circuit was a 3.1 mile (5.1 km) loop that began on the city streets of the town and then dropped down into the valley of the Rio Quiechapa, where riders crossed the river twice on bridges set up for that purpose and then wound up, down and around through the forest on single track trail.

The high point of the race course hit an elevation of 2783 feet (848 meters) on the hillside above San Jose, while the low point was the river crossing at 2465 feet (751 meters). There was a total of 621 feet (189.3 meters) elevation gain and loss on one turn around the race course – but, of course, participants rode the loop two, three or four times, depending on which category they were entered in.