Pulque Haciendas (Hidalgo), 27.12.05

Photoset Show

GPS Cycling Data: Distance: 57.5 Km, Ascent: 717 m, Time: 8:00 hr, Avg Speed: 7 Km/hr, Max Speed: 40 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This was my first and so far, only MTB (mountain bike) cycling ride. In fact, the bicycle I used was my wife's MTB bike. The reason ? I am not particularly fond on MTB cycling :-)

I decided to attend an invitation for this ride made by Juan Valencia, from the Tigrillos MTB cycling club, in Tulancingo, in the mexican state of Hidalgo.

The start of the ride was in Singuilucan (Hidalgo). I had to drive my car to that position just to be able to begin the ride. Could you imagine this pathetic situation ? Requiring to drive my car to a remote location just to be able to start a cycling ride ? Well, I suppose this is a standard procedure in the MTB realm ...

As usual, I got up a little late that day (it was holidays), so I arrived late at the rendezvous point at Singuilucan. Nevermind, I told myself, I will catch with the group later, as I had already the route beforehand.

Armed with my wife's MTB bike, I cycled along the route posted by Juan Valencia, which included visits to the following Pulque Haciendas (Ranches): Tecanecapa, Mazatepec, and Tecajete. Your can have a look at the superb architectural designs of those ancient Ranchs in the following photoset.

But it wasn't until I reached the Tecajete Ranch, at the base of the Tecajete Hill, that I found the rest of the MTB cyclists along the route.

We rode later to Zempoala, where a meal was ordered and the official photos taken, in front of the humble church of Zempoala.

The visit continued spanning more Haciendas, at least three more of them, before the group could arrive at Tepeyahualco, to admire its imposing aqueduct.

I do firmly believe that the best way to describe this ride is by simply showing the pictures of those quiet, imposing and beautiful pulque manufacturing ranches. They certainly look as if the time had stopped at those old Haciendas. In this fashion, I would recommend having a look at the photoset.

As the cycling ride finished at Tepeyahualco, we needed to be trailed upwards in a truck to Singuilucan, where the cars had been parked.

The GPS recordings of this ride were impressive: 58 Km and 700 m of climbing ... in 8 hours ! A stunning average speed of ... 7 Km/hr ! Wow ! Well, I guess that is what MTB cycling is all about :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next real journey.

Huapalcalco Archaeological Site + Tulancingo (Hidalgo), 18.12.05

GPS Track Video

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

GPS Track: GPX (MapSource, et al.) or KMZ (Google Earth)

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 122 Km. Ascent: 595 m. Time: 5:18 hr, Avg Speed: 23 Km/hr, Max Speed: 57.3 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This bicycle journey was performed in the last days of the year, so the weather was really chilly. On top of that, I was suffering from a considerable cold that made me "enjoy" the trip. But, heck: I had been delaying this trip to the archeological site of Huapalcalco (in the mexican state of Hidalgo) for more than 2 weeks, so ... I had to do it :-)

I started in the northern Mexico City Metro Station of Indios Verdes. The climbing at this starting point is a little bit interesting, but after passing the initial hills, it is a walk in the park. This route, up to the Teotihuacan Pyramids is a piece of cake, because it is composed of plain terrain, with less than 200 meters of ascent.

Fun starts after the Pyramids, but anyway, this journey is not a mountain one. The whole ascent is less than 900 m. The real problem was the wind. That december northern wind. As we were heading to NE, this continuous chilly and strong wind was the most remarkable feature in the trip.

A moderate ascending starts that will only finish at Sanguilucan, 55 Km after the Pyramids. The state of the road is excellent ! As there was a lot of wind that day, the weather was really sunny, so the photographs obtained enjoyed a fair amount of solar light, so they were not so bad (for my standards, anyway) as you could observe in the photoset.

The landscapes were beatiful. The views of the road, the hills and those plains make me desire now a re-run of this route. After arriving to the road to Sanguilucan, the descent to the Tulancingo area starts. We need to pass the city of Tulancingo in order to arrive to the archelogical site at Huapalcalco (it is anyway a short ride from that city).

At Huapalcalco, we could enjoy learning about the history of the place (of Toltecan roots) There are no many pyramids there, but the positiong of the site in the middle of 2 big cliffs, made the view imposing, wonderful. There are even caves in the walls of these cliffs, but the path conducting to them was almost impracticable for my bike.

So, we took some photos of the site, of the pyramid, and the sourrounding area (there are a lot of nopales and cactus !). Sadly, there were no many visitors. When i was leaving the site, just a family showed up :-(

In Tulancingo I made a little visit to the Main Square, its Cathedral, Park and Kiosk. As Christmas was looming, I had the chance of knowing the first green Santa i had ever seen :-) After eating something, i boarded the bus that took me back home again.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.