Eight people showed up for the ride today which took the group on a moderate 43 kilometer (26.2 mile) traverse through the countryside linking Oaxaca with Tlalixtac, Santo Domingo Tomaltepec and Tule. The weather could not have been nicer, with a pleasant temperature and blue skies overhead. We encountered quite a few other cyclists similarly enjoying a Sunday morning outing.
The two presas above Tomaltepec were brim full after recent heavy rains.
This is the first time in several years water flowed over the spillway.
The first Sunday of July fell on the 4th of the month – Independence Day in the U.S. Someone was firing cohotes (skyrockets) into the air in front of Santo Domingo as our cycling group gathered at 9 am, but they were likely not in celebration of that holiday. Nevertheless ours was a free-spirited bunch heading out for a ride to Rancheria San Cristobal and back. Since San Cristobal is perched at 2149 meters (7050 feet) near the top of a steep mountainside overlooking the Valley of Oaxaca, we knew our legs and lungs were in for a good workout. There was a lot of huffing and puffing to get to our destination, which entailed climbing over 1900 vertical feet from the valley floor. All told, the band pedaled 49.1 kilometers (30.5 miles) going out and back – a respectable distance for a Sunday outing. Counting a stop for lunch at the D’Villa Torta sandwich shop in Atzompa on the way home, the group spent about six hours in the saddle. Despite the hard work pumping up the mountainside, there were smiles all around at the end of the ride.
Ron savors the view from near the top of the climb to San Cristobal. Kristina & Ben are still pedaling up the switchbacks. The light line squiggling off to the right side of the photo is the road we came up on.
We try to mix up our Sunday rides for the sake of variety. However there is only a finite number of routes leading out from Oaxaca and so eventually we have to repeat outings. So it was on this last Sunday of June that our band of bikers set out to pedal to the Danzante of Zimatlan again. This is a gigantic statue of a man dressed in the regalia of the Danza de la Pluma which stand atop a hill a short distance from the town of Zimatlan, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of the capital city. Getting there and back is a relatively easy endeavor, as the terrain is remarkably level. Today’s four riders enjoyed a very mild temperature of 24º Celsius (76º Fahrenheit) on the excursion, which was accomplished in five hours, including time out for lunch at the mercado gastronomico in Zaachila on the way home. The group’s timing was good, as a series of afternoon rain showers swept through Oaxaca not long after the gang wrapped up the ride.
For the past three weeks Tlaloc, the god of rain, had a stranglehold on the Valles Centrales. Oaxaca lay beneath heavy cloud cover for days on end. Residents could not see the top of Cerro San Felipe, let alone catch a glimpse of blue sky. Rain showers moved through the valley half a dozen times a day. The city received 11.0 centimeters (4.35 inches) of rain in the past six days. So it was a welcome surprise when Sunday morning brought sunshine at last! Today’s ride was laid out to minimize riding through mud. There are numerous ways to get to Huayapam while remaining either on paved roads or byways that have good drainage. Our riders managed to arrive there dry and unsplattered with mud. Pushing their luck, they then decided to check out the Los Molinos trail, a perennial favorite of hikers and mountain bikers alike. The first three-quarters of the distance to the ruins of the old water-powered grain mill was in great shape. Only in the final segment did the single track trail get mired in mud. From the mill the riders opted to cross a creek and climb to the nearby Hwy 175 so as to have dry pavement for the downhill ride back to the city. This outing was a test drive of sorts, as Ron M. was aboard his new Priority brand bike designed for bikepacking. The sturdy rig is equipped with an internal gear hub mounted inside the bottom bracket, is driven by a rubber belt rather than a chain and rolls on extra-wide 29 inch tires. Ron declared himself delighted with the bike at the end of the day’s ride.
Ron baptizes his new Priority backpacking bike in the stream near the ruins of the old grain mill at the end of the Los Molinos trail.
Oaxaca was blanketed with cloud cover over several recent days with cooler temperatures and a constant threat of rain – though, in fact, the city received little precipitation through the week. However, skies were clearing when the ride got under way at 9 am on June 13 and there was no need for the rain gear riders carried with them. The small group of four cyclists concentrated their efforts on the back roads of the Etla Valley to the west of Monte Alban, covering a total of 52.9 kms (32.9 miles) while cruising up and over a couple of ridgelines, gaining and losing 563 meters (1847 feet) of elevation on the circuit. Riders set out at 9 am and were back in their respective homes by 1:15 in the afternoon, thus avoiding the rain showers that arrived about an hour later. All in all, it was a pleasant Sunday outing.
