June 25, 2006

Chalma (Mexico), 25.06.06


Map Navigation: This dynamic Trackmap shows the GPS track (red line) and some geo-referenced photos (red dots) of the cycling tour. Wheel up and wheel down your mouse to zoom in or zoom out the map. Click on any point in the map to center it on that point. Or just drag the map with your mouse. To see the photos, hoover the mouse over the red dots. Click on the photo to go to the picture page.


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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 92 Km, Ascent: 1300 m, Time: 4:05 hr, Avg Speed: 22.8 Km/hr, Max Speed: 68.8 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride was programmed jointly with the Tezozomoc cycling group. Unfortunately, I could start to ride with them , so I had to reach for them along the route.

As I started really late, I only reached them at Chalma, the destination ! They were eating in a restaurant and as I did not want to go to the center of the town as I didn't have shoes for walking, I waited for them in the bus station, so I could join them, at least taking the bus back home !

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

June 18, 2006

Zirahuato Archaeological Site + Zitacuaro (Michoacan), 18.06.06



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GPS Track

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 185 Km, Ascent: 2400 m, Time: 7:50 hr, Avg Speed: 24.1 Km/hr, Max Speed: 69.2 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride was made by 2 groups: the Tezozomoc and the Biciosos groups. Both groups started their ride at the Independence Angel Monument at Reforma, in the heart of Mexico City at 06:00. The group made the ascent to Tres Cruces (over the free highway to Toluca) at an altitude of ca. 3200 m, descending later to La Marquesa, 200 m below, in order to enter at a restaurant to eat a well deserved breakfast. In that location is where I reached them, as I couldn't start my ride with them, making my way to Tres Cruces over Constituyentes and later also over the free highway to Toluca. When I found them eating, I could rest a little and take some shots of the whole group.

After the meal we continued our descent to Lerma and Toluca, where our first casualty occurred: our only girl in the group: Lucía, decided that enough was enough, and not wanting to lower the speed of the ride, she decided to return back to Mexico City by bus. All the remaining fine chaps begged her to re-considerate, but her decision had already fallen. So we ride with Lucia to the bus station and said her farewell :-(

The rest of the chaps continued riding towards Zitácuaro, in the neighboring state of Michoacán. We rode to the western exit of Toluca, taking then the road to Villa Victoria. Up to this town, the ride was a smooth one. Problems raised after this point, on our way to the road to Ixtapan del Oro, since that in front of us rested a climbing of 500 m, but at Km 130 of our route !

Somehow we managed to climb that cruel ascent (at 2900 m) and soon we arrived to the highway to Zitacuaro. From this point comes a steep descent of 800 m in order to reach the city of Zitacuaro. The road was a cyclists dream, so a couple of our friends were able ta attain speeds of ca. 100 Km/hr in that descent !

But we still have not arrived to our destination: the Archaeological Site of Zirahuato or San Felipe los Alzati. After Zitácuaro we still had to ride another 15 Km in order to reach the site. And, worst of all, this almost last leg of our ride was another steep ascent of 200 m (at Km 170), but with the particularity that it had to be made over a dirt track of stones, since in the last kilometers there was no more pavement on the road ! And we had to do it with road and not MTB bikes !

With a lot of perseverance we were able to climb to the top of that hill, just in order to appreciate the beauty of the archaeological site of Zirahuato. As we reached the top of the hill, I was astonished by the sheer beauty of the site. Just image finding in the middle of nowhere and at the top of a hill the remains of a mostly unknown archaeological site !

After a short break at the site entrance, we proceed to its interior (leaving the bikes at the entrance). The view of this Zirahuato site is astounding ! You can have a look at the pyramids in the photoset. Two of us were even lucky enough to climb to the top of the big pyramid and find there a sympathetic local girl whom was friendly enough to cross some words with us :-)

After taking some shots of the site we decided that it was time to ride back to Zitácuaro, distant another 15 km :-( So we headed back to that city, riding our last leg of the travel, leg that included a last 100 m ascent to Zitácuaro, where we arrived at Km 185 of our travel (and a total ascent of 2400 m).

Arriving to Zitacuaro we immediately looked for a well deserved meal, and after that we purchased our return bus tickets to Mexico City, arriving later at home without incidents :-)

Thank you very much for reading. Till the next journey.

June 11, 2006

Zapata Route (Morelos), 11.06.06



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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 197 Km, Ascent: 1350 m, Time: 7:28 hr, Avg Speed: 26.3 Km/hr, Max Speed: 65.3 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride was an invitation of the Cycling Movement of Cuernavaca. Although the invitation was established at 08:00 in Cuernavaca (at the Calvario), I think I should have started the ride at about 07:00 in Mexico City ! Fortunately, as you can see in the altigraphy, arriving at Cuernavaca was going to be the hardest part of the trip :-)

The interesting aspect of this ride is that the route was going to visit some of the most important places where Zapata, the great southern Mexican revolutionary of 1910, made big historical landmarks. The route would visit places like: Anenecuilco (where Zapata was born), Cuautla (where are located his rests), Chinameca (where Zapata was killed) and Tlatizapán (where Zapata had his headquarters).

So I took the usual route: Tlalpan and later the free highway to Cuernavaca, passing La Cima summit and later arriving to Cuernavaca. As I was already too late, I did not enter in the city, and better decided to head for the first town that the Cuernavaca group was going to visit: Jiutepec. When I arrived to the center of Jiutepec, the people told me that the group has already departed, a half an hour before. So, I was not so far behind :-)

I headed to the nest town in the route: Yautepec. There the group must have used another route around the town since the police had no idea of the whereabouts of the cycling group. Anyway, I took some shots of this picturesque town and went for the next town in the list: Cocoyoc.

In Cocoyoc I still could not find them, so I continued my ride to next big city in the plan: Cuautla. When I arrived at this city, I went immediately to its center, with the renewed hope of finding the rest of the group ... to my dismay. Either they had already departed or took an alternate route along the city, the point is that in the center of Cuautla no one had saw any cyclist group :-(

So I continued my lonely ride to next town in the routemap: Anenecuilco, where Zapata was born. There exists a museum in the very place where he was born. So I headed directly to this museum and ... alas ! Finally I could reach the rest of the group :-) They were having a guided visit to the Museum, so I had plenty of time to take a well deserved rest .. and also to visit the museum.

After taking some shots of the group at the Museum, we went to Chinameca (where Zapata was killed by traitor Guajardo). In that location, at the very place where Zapata was assassinated stands an equestrian statue of him, under an arc that still shows the bullet impacts that cut his life. This is something really stunning: how you can touch with your very hand the effects of an action that changed the course of a national revolution, 100 years after !

After Chinameca we headed to Tlatizapán, where Zapata put his head quarters. we enter into a Museum located in what once was his HQ. The Museum houses several buildings of that time and a statute of Zapata, which we promptly used as a background for the tour photo.

After finishing our visit to the Museum in Tlaltizapán, the rest of the group decided to wait for a bus to Cuernavaca, as all of them live in Cuernavaca. I, being the only one from Mexico City, decided to ride to Zacatepec, in order to take my bus back home. So we told us farewell and I parted to Zacatepec, leaving the rest of the group there. At my arrival to the bus station, I promptly purchased my ticket, as the bus was already departing ! A couple of hours later we arrived at Mexico City :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

June 04, 2006

Calixtlahuaca Archaeological Site + Toluca (Mexico), 04.06.06



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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 86.81 Km, Ascent: 1190 m, Time: 4:13 hr, Avg Speed: 20.5 Km/hr, Max Speed: 68.1 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride had a rather difficult start. One of our friends had to wait for his guest in order to arrive at the rendezvous point. And after that, this guy and a flat tire that he needed to replace
, having to get back home. So, only two of us continued with the trip, ascending by Reforma and reaching the Tres Cruces summit, just to descend to la Marquesa where we could eat something, waiting there for the rest of the group.

One hour later the rest arrived ! After they ate something we continued our descent to Lerma and Toluca. At our arrival to Toluca, we took the way to the archaeological site of Calixtlahuaca, located 12 Km after at the northeast of Toluca.

This archaeological site of Calixtlahuaca houses an impressive collection of pyramids. You can have a look at them in the following photoset.

After the visit to the site we headed back to Toluca, and as the weather was horrible (heavy raining all the day) and also owed to the fact that we had already lost a lot of time waiting to half the group, we decided that the return to Mexico City had to be made using a bus, and not cycling ... Well, well, so we took our bus and arrived safely at home :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.