Texmelucan (Puebla), 10.02.08

A short ride indeed (merely 105 km), properly departing at a very late hour and unfortunately, handicapped by mechanical incidents along the route.

After we have fixed all our mechanical problems along the route (I would like to thank the cyclist Carlos, who in the Autodrome helped us fixing a unbalanced rim), Gaby and me started the ascent to Llano Grande, crossing Zoquiapan ... ten minutes before 16:00 ! The best thing was that all the crossing of the Llano Grande pass (ascent + descent) was carried out in a non-stop ride. The most incredible thing was that although we had started the ascent too late, we were able still to overcame another two cyclists along the ascent :-) It seems as there is no late hour to ride to Llano Grande :-)

Along the road between Zoquiapan and Texmelucan a lot of cycling pilgrims could be observed, riding in big groups, scorted by gigantic trucks that were carrying the cyclists belongings. Those pilgrims came from all places in Puebla and were heading to visit the Guadalupe Virgin of the Tepeyac, north of Mexico City.

Reaching the summit less than two hours later (at 17:42) we started the descent to Texmelucan, where we arrived at 19:10, under full cover of the night. Although the original plan was to ride to Tlaxcala and the archaeological site of Xochitecatl, it now seemed impossible to reach our original destination and get back to Mexico City an the same day. That being said without still mentioning that we had to ride the 25 km that were required to reach Tlaxcala with no solar light at all and ... with no lights. So we decided to cut short the ride there in Texmelucan and leave the Tlaxcala ride to the following weekend.

In Texmelucan we dinned at an Arabian Tacos restaurant, which was fully booked by the locals. Indeed, the food was delicious and generous (all a cyclist could ask). After a short visit to the Texmelucan Cathedral and the central Kiosk Cafe (where Gaby could have her chocolate cup), in order to take the de rigueur photographs, we took our pre-booked return bus to Mexico City at 22:00, arriving just in time to still use the subway to arrive back at home.

Story lesson: we must get up early on Sundays and start the ride early, at least at 07:00. We hope we could achieve this milestone for the next ride :-)

As usual, all the pictures of this travel are available at the following photoset. And the GPS track of the ride is also here available.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel !

Tlaltizapan (Morelos), 03-04.02.08

This ride started at the insanely late hour of almost 11:00, owed to the fact that I arrived late at the rendezvous point with Gaby, and that we needed extra time to pack al the things that we were going to need in our two-day journey.

So, just minutes before 11:00 we started cycling towards Tlalpan, in southern direction, all the way up to La Joya and the Caminero Monument, just at the junction where both paid and free Cuernavaca highways start. We took then the free Cuernavaca highway.

We started the ascent from this point all the way up to La Cima summit, stopping just some minutes at El Mirador restaurant (elev: 2700 m), in order to have a glimpse of the imposing almost aerial view from the Mexico City valley that is available at this sightseeing point, located 500 m above the city level. After taking the de rigueur pictures, we continued our ascent to the summit (elev: 3000 m), and after reaching it, we started the descent to Tres Marías, where we arrived at 14:30. In Tres Marías we re-charged our liquids and continued the descent to Cuernavaca, reaching the Zapata Monument (at the entrance of Cuernavaca) at 15:20, continuing our descent to the center of the city.

As Gaby had never before arrived cycling in Cuernavaca in day hours, we decided to stop at the center of the city in order to have a look at the main buildings. So we headed to the Cuauhnáhuac Museum, located in the Cortes Palace, to have a look at it, after having visited the Morelos Statue and State Government Palace, both located in the Main Square of the city.

Once in front of the Cortes Palace, it was a crime not entering in it, since Gaby had never before known the museum (being myself twice before a visitant of it). So we attached the bicycles at the entrance of the Museum, and voilá, there we went. The Cuauhnahuac Museum houses an impressive arrangement of cultural riches and anthropological findings, along with several murals (frescoes) painted by the revered post-revolutionary painter Diego Rivera. You can have a glimpse of all those riches in the photoset.

Once exiting the Cuauhnahuac Museum at 18:30, it was realized that we had to pernoctate at Cuernavaca, since darkness was already looming. We choosed then to visit the Cuernavaca Cathedral and attended part of a mass. After the mass, we roamed a little bit alongside the cathedral and its outskirts, even playing a little ball game with a local. Once taken the de rigueur photographs, we started the haunting of a room in a decent hotel. But as this was a long weekend (three days of weekend in fact, owed to a national holiday), it was a little bit difficult to find a room in a decent hotel, as all of them were fully booked already. It was required the visit to at least five hotels before we could find an available room to pass the night (at the España hotel).

Once downloaded all our luggage at the room, we started then the haunting of a good meal, since it was already 22:00 and we had eaten no real food in all the day. We were told that the best option was to dine in front of the Estrella Blanca bus terminal, so we headed in that direction, fortunately not far from the hotel (just a couple of blocks away). The dinning was wonderful ! Lots of food (Cecina and other delicacies) for a reasonable price ! :-) After that wonderful dinning we returned to the hotel in order to let rest our humble humanities.

At the following day, the cycling ride started again really late, as we abandoned the hotel just before 15:00. After loading liquids in our bicycles, we headed south from Cuernavaca, this time to Alpuyeca, using the free Acapulco highway. The descent to Alpuyeca was carried with no problems at all, crossing in our path the towns of Temixco, Acatlipa and Xochitepec. As the plan was to arrive at Tlatizapán (where the Carnival party was being carried out), after Alpuyeca we cycled towards Xoxocotla, Galeana and finally Zacatepec.

Once in Zacatepec we went to visit the Emiliano Zapata Ingenio (major sugar factory in the region) and the center of the city, where a beautiful church stands. We decided to purchase our return bus tickets in Zacatepec in advance, before we went to Tlatizapán, since on that day the journey back home was going to be a fully booked return trip. After purchasing the tickets for the last bus (21:20), we headed towards our final destination: Tlatizapán.

After leaving Zacatepec at 17:30, we started the last 10 km trip to Tlaltizapán, where we arrived before 18:00. We headed towards the Zapata General Headquarters Museum, which unfortunately was already closed. After taking the compulsory pictures, we went on to follow the Carnival dancing that was crossing our path. After climbing to the church, we had a better view of this picturesque spectacle. The pictures of this event are certainly remarkable.

After paying a short visit to the Tlatizapan church, we started the return trip to Zacatepec at 19:00, under complete darkness. I would like to thank the driver of a pick-up that escorted us from in the ride between Taltizapán and Zacatepec, without by-passing us and sending its high lights whenever possible in order we could see the road :-)

After dinning in the center of Zacatepec, at 21:00 we went to the Pullman bus terminal where we loaded our bicycles in the bus and started resting in the long way back home, arriving in Mexico City at 01:00 (owed to the big traffic mess along the Cuernavaca highway) at the Taxqueña bus terminal. From Taxqueña all that was required was a short 10-minutes ride to our houses and voilá, we were again back at the safety of home :-)

As usual, all the pictures of this travel are available at the following photoset. And the GPS track is also available, in both formats: GPX or KMZ .

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel !