Category: Uncategorized

This Sunday morning ride was a bit different. After meeting at the plaza in front of Santo Domingo at 9 am, the group of seven riders loaded their bikes into a van for a long but scenic drive up to the plateau above San Pablo Quatro Venados. Once there, they set out first on a two-hour, 11.6 mile (18.7 km) easy ride on the well-graded unpaved roads that crisscross the region, passing through the village of Soledad Peras going both out and back. While hardly level, this route entailed just moderate climbs and descents, taking riders up and down a total of 1150 feet (351 meters). Once returned to the starting point, two cyclists opted to ride in the van back to Oaxaca. The other five riders chose to then cycle back to Oaxaca on the road that passes by Santa Inés del Monte and through Lobera and Zaachila. This extended route added 24.4 miles (39.3 km) to the day’s tally. More importantly, it let the bikers descend a thrilling 4,209 feet (1283 meters) on a combination of unpaved and paved roads. Unfortunately, one of our riders lost control and crashed on a curve while racing downhill just past Santa Inés. A local ambulance took him to a clinic in Zaachila where he was patched up. Three cheers for the Mexican healthcare system! The drive to the trailhead took two hours each way. Those doing just the short ride got home at 3:30 in the afternoon. The guys taking the long way back did not return to Oaxaca until 6:00 pm – delayed by the accident and then stopping for lunch at the mercado gastrinomico in Zaachila.

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Ten energetic riders showed up for this ride on the West Etla Valley Loop on Sunday, 21 February 2021. Among the group were several regular riders, plus two visitors from Australia – Alee and Ben, both veteran long-distance bikepackers spending some quality time in Oaxaca. Vidal was aboard his spiffy new Specialized bike with custom graphics. Larry was riding the Specialized Enduro on which he had just installed a new 11-speed transmission with some ultra-low gears for steep hill climbs. The gang opted to ride the loop in a clockwise direction, which took them on paved roads to Cuilapam and thence on unpaved farm roads into the countryside. Near the half-way point three of the stronger riders broke off to climb to Cuatro Venados while the rest of the crew continued back to Oaxaca. As usual, the weather was perfect for such an outing, and all had a great time.

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Today’s ride took seven cyclists from Oaxaca through the countryside to Tlalixtac and then up the valley where the Mil Rios trail comes down the mountain from near La Neveria. The full Mil Rios trail is ridden downhill because it is steep and difficult in its upper reaches (see other “Mil Rios” entries on the RIDES page of this website). The lower section, though, makes for a fine out & back ride on a Sunday morning. It took the group 90 minutes to pedal from Santo Domingo church in Oaxaca to the entry point to the Mil Rios trail, where there was a toll station at which each rider paid a fee of 10 pesos. The initial few miles from that point were on a freshly-graded dirt road which services the four dams spaced at intervals up the valley. Eventually the road petered out and the trail became a single track running through the forest. A number of stream crossings and rock gardens made the ride interesting. Time constraints dictated when the group had to turn around and head back to Oaxaca. Ultimately the gang pedaled 24.2 miles (38.9 kms) round trip, gaining and losing 1447 feet (441 meters) in elevation along the way. The mercado in Tlalixtac provided a good place for a tasty lunch stop on the way home.

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Fourteen bikers showed up for the first Sunday ride of 2021, meeting at the plaza in front of Santo Domingo at ten am on 3 January. As expected, it was a glorious day, with blue skies, lots of sunshine and a gentle breeze. The ride was scheduled one hour later than usual, anticipating a chilly morning. In fact, though, the thermometer registered 64º F (17.7º C) at sunrise, signaling a warm day. The destination for the ride was the monumental statue of the Danzante, perched atop a hill just outside Zimatlan 16.6 miles (26.7 kms) distant. Half the riders in the day’s contingent had never ventured there before and so were excited about pedaling to someplace new. One rider had to turn back due to a mechanical problem halfway to the Danzante. When it came time to depart from the Danzante, three of the group dropped out to visit a friend in Zimatlan. Of the remaining ten bikers, five opted for a longer and more challenging route back to Oaxaca, riding 28 miles through the rolling hills west and north of Cuilapam and then through San Pedro Ixtlahuaca. That left just five of the original band to retrace their path back to the city. All agreed that it was a fine outing to kick off the new year. Photos, a map and elevation chart for this ride appear on the RIDES page of this website under the heading “Danzante of Zimatlan”.

It is a very quiet Christmas holiday weekend in Oaxaca. Thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there were no posadas this past week and no festival of the radishes on 23 December. There was no giant Christmas tree in front of the cathedral, and the city did not decorate the zocalo with hundreds of poinsettias this year. While some families had festive gatherings, there were none of the block parties that usually occur over the holidays. So on this Sunday morning eleven bikers gathered at 9 o’clock for a moderate ride to Huayapam and back – a short but satisfying outing. The round-trip distance amounted to 18.5 miles (29.8 kms).

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