GPS Cycling Tours

Maruata Beach (Michoacan), 04.05.09

2009-05-04T10:43:00.002-05:00

This travel was not performed in its entirety by bicycle. For this reason, the GPS track is provided only as an informative basis to prospect future cycling rides.

Tlacotalpan (Veracruz) Candelaria Festival, February 2-4 2009

2009-02-05T08:33:00.004-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This travel was not performed in its entirety by bicycle. For this reason, the GPS track is provided only as an informative basis to prospect future cycling rides.

Zicatela Beach (Oaxaca), 18.01.09

2009-01-20T07:59:00.001-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This travel was not performed in its entirety by bicycle. For this reason, the GPS track is provided only as an informative basis to prospect future cycling rides.

Tulum - Cancun (Quintana Roo), New Year 2009

2009-01-05T23:56:00.000-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This travel was not performed in its entirety by bicycle. For this reason, the GPS track is provided only as an informative basis to prospect future cycling rides.

Mazatlan (Sinaloa), Xmas 2008

2008-12-28T21:54:00.001-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

For this travel we took a bus to the Pacific port of Mazatlán, in the north-western state of Sinaloa. We also took our bicycles in the bus, so we could visit nearby places cycling. In this way it was a beautil travel.

Acapulco (Guerrero), 16.11.08

2008-11-19T13:25:00.003-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

For this ride we took a bus to the capital city of Guerrero: Chilpancingo, passing the night there at a hotel. Next morning we took the federal highway to Acapulco and rode along. Beautiful highway but infernal weather. Heat all along the road and a lapidary sun that did not went never behind a cloud. We finally arrived at Acapulco when the night felt. After walking in the center of the city, we choosed the Avalon hotel to stay at night. The next day was passed in the beach and swimming in the sea.

Pachuca (Hidalgo), 09.11.08

2008-11-09T03:31:00.006-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This ride was performed in the company of maybe hundreds of cyclists that were celebrating the third inter-state cycling ride, this time to Pachuca, distant 90 km from Mexico City.Gf and me joined a little late this multitudinous ride, but we could reach them approximately at km 40. The rest of the ride was a breeze. At our arrival to Pachuca we decided to return home also cycling, as a lot of cyclists also choosed. So, we cycled our way back home again in the company of several cyclists fellows, arriving at the city at 19:30. Good (180 Km) ride !

Puebla (Puebla), 23.08.08

2008-08-25T02:49:00.003-05:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This cycling ride was made from Mexico City to the beautiful capital of the eastern state of Puebla. It is a 130 km long ride, with a little more than 1,100 m of ascent. We choose the federal highway to arrive at Puebla. This road is a beautiful one, specially in the month of August, when all the road is sided by a green carpet. It was really a memorable ride made in the company of gf.

La Marquesa (Mexico), 22.06.08

2008-06-23T02:22:00.002-05:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

We started this rode a little late, so we could not advance more that the touristic spot of La Marquesa, along the federal highway to Toluca, in the Mexico state. In La Marquesa we stopped to eat a delicious meal, which was more delightful because of the cold that was starting to build up. After finishing our meal, we started our journey back home, along a 1,100 m descent towards Mexico City.

Xalatlaco (Mexico), 01.05.08

2008-05-02T02:12:00.004-05:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

Once again, we took our favorite road: the federal highway to Toluca. We climbed to the Tres Cruces summit and descended to La Marquesa. There we made a stop to eat in one of the multivariate restaurants that flourish in that location. After eating we continue ourtravel, passing by the Conejo Valley and reaching shortly afterwards the quiet town of Xalatlaco., in the Mexico state As it was already too late to intent reaching a subsequent location, we has to cut short our travel there and took a bus from Xalatlaco to came back to Mexico City.

Valle del Conejo (Mexico), 27.04.08

2008-04-28T01:57:00.003-05:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This ride although was short in distance, had its own physical requirements. First we had to ascent to the Tres Cruces summit, along the federal highway to Toluca. Then a descent towards La Marquesa, and after that, another ascent to the Conejo Valley. In this touristic valley, a lot of restaurants can bee seen and visited. In fact, there is an artificial lake at this location. The weather was a little bit frosting, so, after admiring the artificial lake, we headed towards a restaurant in order to regain those lost calories. After the meal, we cycled our way back to Mexico City, also along the federal highway.

Augustine Convent in Acolman (Mexico), 23.03.08

2008-03-24T01:45:00.002-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This ride was performed in order that gf could knew the Augustine Convent of Acolman, in the Mexico state. The route is certainly not a long one and the toll highway is in pristine conditions. The Convent is a very interesting cultural reference, with lots of religious paintings and church related item. The interior of the building is conserved as if it were still functioning. Remarkably, along the corridors of the convent there still remain frescoes of biblical figures. A monk's cell can be admired in the interior of the building. The garden in the interior yard is almost fully gardened with several fruit trees (mainly oranges). In the center of the main yard lies a big black stone cross with the symbols of the Augustine order. An finally, the baroque facade of the convent is superb and second to none.

We started our return to Mexico City almost at twilight, arriving home under the cover of the night.

Thank you for reading, till the next travel.

San Juan de Los Lagos 2008 Cyclist Pilgrimage (Queretaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco), 16-18.03.08

2008-03-20T01:05:00.005-06:00

Photo Set ----- GPS Track

This cycling ride is one of those must-do in the whole year. It is a three-day almost 500 Km odyssey surrounded by lots of cyclists along a pilgrimage that took us to the holy town of San Juan de los Lagos, in the eastern (conservative) state of Jalisco.

This travel starts annually in Mexico City each Sunday previous to the Passover week. Hundreds of cyclists prepare themselves at the toll station of the Queretaro highway. Approximately at 07:00, hundreds of cyclists start this phenomenal ride. Although the pilgrimage nature of this ride is by definition religious, being a religious person is not a prerequisite perse. In fact, I could estimate (risking incurring in blasphemy) that the only true deity of this pilgrimage is the bicycle :-)

Along the road my gf and me decided to pay a visit to the beautiful town of Tepeji del Río, being it a small and picturesque town. After that visit we continued the ride towards Queretaro, destination of the first leg of the travel. At our arrival to Queretaro we decided to stay at the Hidalgo Hotel, in the center of the city. Apropo, it was 200 km long that Mexico City - Queretaro ride.

The second day ride had as destination Leon, in the state of Guanajuato. It is a 180 Km ride, mainly plain. As the second day of this pilgrimage is carried on Mondays, there was a little fewer cyclists along the route, but anyways, it was always fun to ride in the companion of fellow cyclists. Along the highway there were several trucks that gave away water bags and pieces of fruit to the thirsty cyclists. The weather was inclement as there were no clouds in sight. At our arrival to Leon we decided to stay in the same hotel we occupied the previous year.

The third and final day had as its destination San Juan de los Lagos, already in Jalisco state. From Leon it is only a 80 km ride, with some ups and downs along the route. The highway is in pristine condition. We arrived at our destination at about noon. The church was already packed with locals and strangers queuing in the main corridor of the church to gain a place to stay momentarily in front of the image of the virgin oflos Lagos.

We decided to pass the night in San Juan, staying in a cozy hotel just one block in front of the temple. Next day we walked along the busy market streets of San Juan. In the afternoon we took the bus that transported us again to Mexico City.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel !

Texmelucan (Puebla), 10.02.08

2008-02-12T10:50:00.003-06:00

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

2008-02-06T10:25:00.002-06:00

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 !

Xochicalco Archaeological Site (Morelos), 13.01.08

2008-01-15T02:07:00.002-06:00

This ride started at the late hour of 08:30 having as target the visit to the Xochicalco Archaeological site, in the southern state of Morelos. Departing from the center of Mexico City, we (Gabriela and me) took Tlalpan to the south all the way up to the Caminero Monument, and then we took the free Cuernavaca highway. At 2700 m altitude we made a little stop at the El Mirador restaurant, but ir was still closed (since it was early), so we had to take a view of the city from a near location.

Once resuming our trip, we made another little stop in Parres to buy some water, and, in the up-downs that exist between Parres and La Cima summit my frontal derailleur felt down and I had to repair it. Thank God I was carrying some Gabriela's Allen keys, since I do not use to carry any tools :-) Being myself not the best mechanic in town, I lost precious time in that reparation, but anyways, we could continue our trip.

Another little stop at La Cima summit to take the compulsory photograhs and we were ready to descend to Tres Marias. Since neither of us had ever visited the center of Tres Marias, we decided to have a look at that picturesque town. So we deviated to the left in Tres Marías and got to its little center. A small yet precious church is all that stands up in the center. We also decided to make good use of the stop and got a delicious hot meal (in front of the church) of fish broth, with sea food quesadillas. Could you believe that: Sea food in Tres Marías ? :-)

Once armored with that hot meal, we started the descent all the way up to Cuernavaca first, and then to Alpuyeca, via the free Acapulco highway. As for Gabriela these are her firsts cycling rides along inter-state highways, she uses to descend very carefully, so I use to pass her on the descent, but in order not to abandon her, I make svereal stops in between, so she can pass me again. Meanwhile I am waiting for her, what better thing to do than to take pictures of her descent ? :-)

We reached and crossed Cuernavaca, passing also in our way to Alpuyeca the towns of Temixco, Acatlipa and Xochitepec. Once arriving in Alpuyeca, we bought some water, as the ongoing way to Xochicalco was one of pure ascent, and the worst of all: we had to make it against the clock ! We had less than forty minutes to make a 300 m ascent along 12 kilometers (grade: 2.5 %), since the site closes its doors at 17:00. Making an exceptional effort we were able to reach the site in only 35 minutes, arriving just five minutes before closing (with an average speed of 20.6 km/hr, in that steep hills). Nothing bad for Gabriela. My most sincere congratulations to her for that final fast ascent to the site :-)

Once inside the Xochicalco (nahuatl for House of Flowers) Archaeological Site, we proceeded to have a quick look of all the buildings that comprehend that precious site. I hope the presented photograps could communicate a better meaning than my humble words when I try to describe that fabulous site. So I would recommend to have a look at the pictures so you could have a better view of all the pyramids and buildings that are located in the site.

Once concluded our visit to the site, we proceeded to start the descent back to Alpuyeca, almost in the middle of the dark, as it was already 18:40. At the beginning of the descent there was some twilight light, but as we were descending, the dark became more and more present, so we had to carry out that final descent with no light at all. Fortunately, we were finally able to arrive again in Alpuyeca in one piece :-)

Once in Alpuyeca, we proceeded to visit its simple yet beautiful white church (located at the top of a staired hill) and the main Plaza, where a picturesque green clock tower stands. Once finishing that small stop we cycled to the junction where the bus stop is located. To our disheart, we discovered that the buses that passed there had only small boxes to carry the luggage. We were not going to be able to load our bikes in those buses. So we had to rely in a big taxi to get back to Cuernavaca (taxi fare from Alpuyeca to Cuernavaca, with two bicycles and two cyclists: 130 pesos, driving along the toll highway).

The taxi drove us to the Cuernavaca Cathedral, in the center of the city, where we had a glimpse of the last part of the last mass (merely five minutes). But we were able to have a look at the interior of that precious Cathedral. Once the lights were turned off, we exited the Cathedral and started a small turn around the exterior of that gigantic church. After having taken the compulsory photographs, we rode towards the Pullman bus terminal, just a block away, where we bought our return tickets back to Mexico City (ticket fare: 65 pesos).

As we had still half an hour free, we decided to pay a quick visit to the center of Cuernavaca, to have a look at the Cuauhnahuac (Cortes Palace), Government Palace, Main Square, Clock Tower and the Morelos statue. Once our free time expired we cycled back to the Pullman terminal, where we boarded our bus back home at 22:15. For some reason (mostly traffic) the bus arrived at 00:00 in México City, so we had to cycle back our ways to our final destinations: 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 !

Calixtlahuaca Archaeological Site (Mexico). 06.01.08

2008-01-07T14:54:00.003-06:00

The ride started at 07:30, counting as a guest to our new friend: Gabriela Escudero, a determined and beautiful young cyclist that had never before attempted the one thousand meter high climbing to the Las Cruces summit (along the free Toluca highway), located in the middle of the path to the Calixtlahuaca Archaeological Site. I must aknowledge that she was able to finish that ascent with no problems at all, and also: making no stops whatsoever :-) My most sincere congratulations to her !

We started cycling along interior city streets (where we could see several fellow cyclists riding to reach their starting points, as it is customary that on Sundays several cycling rides are published) from the center of the city in order to gain access to Constituyentes Avenue, which would later took us to the free Toluca Highway. As it was early, there was no traffic at all, so we could reach really soon the junction between Constituyentes and Reforma (i.e. Palo Alto), beginning of the federal highway.

After only two hours of cycling, we were able to reach the top of Las Cruces summit (elev: 3200 m), so practically, the ride was already done :-) After a small stop at the top to take the required photos, the descent to La Marquesa and Lerma was initiated. Gabriela, being it her first time, carried out that descent in the most secure way: very carefully :-) Once in Lerma we made a stop to pay tribute to the gigantic equestrian statue of Gral. Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican southern Revolution hero.

After arriving at Toluca, it was really easy to get into Calixtlahuaca, less than ten kilometers away from the state capital, cycling along Isidro Fabela (Toluca-Atlacomulco highway). The only problem was that I had somehow forgotten the junction where I had to deviate to Calixtlahuaca (being a year and a half that I had visited that archaeological site). So, asking the locals for help (and with the aid of Gabriela) we could find another road to the town. This second road (different to the one that I had previoulsy taken) is in a better condition and measures only three kilometer.

The road I had previously taken was Río Papaloapan. But this time we took Libertad street. Libertad is far shorter (only three km) than Rio Papaloapan, and it is in better road conditions. The only problem is gaining acces to it from Isidro Fabela. Libertad is located where there are two gas stations along the Atlacomulco highway, aproximately 6 km after the center of Toluca (and cycling along I. Fabela).

Once arriving at the Calixtlahuaca (nahuatl for Houses in the Plain) Archaeological Site, we secured the bicycles at the site Museum (which unfortunately is closed as the exhibitions are being shown in another museum). Proceeding to see the several pre-hispanic buildings that were built in that ceremonial site, we took our way to the first pyramid: the Ehécatl (Wind God) Pyramid, a spyral piramid whose interior can be visited.

Calixtlahuaca was the capital city of the Matlatzinca culture. The Matlatzinca were an independent Nahuatl nation. They resisted several times the mexica conquest, rebelling at least in three ocasions against the aztec conquerors. At the last rebellion (in 1510), the Mexica emperor Moctezuma ordered the destruction of the whole region, forcing its inhabitants to migrate towards what is now the neighbouring state of Michoacan.

The sites features several impossing buildings, aside of the Ehécatl Pyramid. Walking above the Tenismo hill, the Tlaloc compound can be found. This compound houses the Tlaloc pyramid, a Royal Palace basement (believed to be a Calmecac: the náhuatl elite school) and a Tzompantli (nahuatl for Wall of Skulls).

Once concluded the visit to the archaeological site, we proceeded to visit the center of Calixtlahuaca, where a beautiful church can be appreciated). That church was closed on that Sunday because ... the religious paintings had been stolen ! Could you believe that ? No wonder why the saying goes: Little town, big inferno

We rode the last ten kilometers of the ride in order to reach Toluca, where we could appreciate its main buildings in the downtown: the Cathedral (whose interior is exceptionally beatifully decorated), the Palace of Government, Main Square, etc. Once concluded the visit to the Cathedral, we were lucky enough to find a good restaurant in the Portales, where our human appetites could be saciated. Once finishing the meal, we proceeded to cycle to the Toluca bus station, where we could finally took our bus back home (fare: 38 pesos).

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 !

Xochitecatl Archaeological Site (Tlaxcala). 09.12.07

2007-12-11T03:12:00.002-06:00

This was a wonderful ride since I had the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of several multitudes of pilgrims that were travelling in a pilgrimage to pay homage to the Lady of Guadalupe of the Tepeyac, main devotion figure in whole Mexico, whose main celebration is carried on every December 12th. People were walking and cycling along every pasable trail, road and highway from the eastern part of the mountain pass that separates the Mexico Valley from the Puebla and Tlaxcala states. Just bear in mind that this mountain pass climbs ... ¡ one thousand meters (up to an elevation of more than 3200 m) ! And people were walking carrying not only their personal belongings to pass a night, plus water and food, but also ¡ big and heavy religious icons (made of glass and wood) ! Certainly it is not factless that saying that goes: the faith moves mountains.

I had the opportunity to observe the Pilgrims since I took the free highway to Puebla, in Ixtapaluca. From this point on, countless pilgrims on foot and cycling could be observed in a human chain that climbed all the way up to the Llano Grande summit, and descended later to Texmelucan, like a human river. I really think that the photos of this human spectacle will have a more lasting impact that my humble words.

Once in Texmelucan, I took the road to Villa Alta, Tepetitla and Atoyatenco. Mistakenly, I continued cycling to Xochitecatitla, but had to return over my footsteps, since the gruesome climbing that is the entrance to the Xochitecatl site was just after Atoyatenco. In fact, I arrived at the Cacaxtla entrance, closed now for restoration (heavy rains had damaged the gigantic roof that covers the whole Cacaxtla site).

After a gruesome 8 % grade, 200 m climbing I could finally arrive at the Xochitecatl Archaeological Site. For the first time (I had been there at least twice) I could enter in the site's Museum. Very rich indeed. Lots of fine ceramics and religious pottery.

I proceeded then to the visit to the Xochitecatl Pyramids, including: the Spiral Pyramid , the Serpent Building and the Flower Pyramid. The spiral pyramid has at the top of it a big white cross, a prime example of the religious syncretism that is commonly found in Mexico. From the top of the Flower Pyramid, the adjacent closed Cacaxtla site can be observed.

Once concluded the visit time, I cycled my way back to Texmelucan, where I could take some photos of its magnificent Cathedral and not less interesting Plaza and kiosk. At 19:00 I went to the AU bus terminal, where I could take my bus back home to Mexico City (fare: 60 pesos).

All the photos of this travel are available at the following photoset. And the GPS track is also available, in both formats: GPX and KMZ.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel :-)

Convents Route II (Morelos), 30.09.07 - 01.10.07

2007-10-04T18:21:00.001-05:00

Since a long time ago, I had desired to ride the Convents Route (built in the XVI century) in the southern state of Morelos. But I had first to complete the visits to the archaeological sites of several pre-Hispanic cultures in Central Mexico (as a mean to pay a tribute to the original inhabitants of these lands). Now, as it seems like I have already completed the visits to almost all archaeological sites in the states of: Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Hidalgo, I could finally engage in this long desired route through the eleven convents in Morelos that have been declared by the UNESCO as World's Cultural Heritage.

In last week ride, I could visit three of those convents (since they were in my route to the Yautepec archaeological site), namely, the Convents of: Totolapan, Tlayacapan and Oaxtepec. The Convent of Tepoztlán has already been visited in a previous ride this year. In this way, I could arrange a route to know the remaining seven convents, the Convents of: Atlatlahucán, Yecapixtla, Ocuituco, Tetela del Volcan, Hueyapan, Zacualpan de Amilpas and Jantetelco.

The route taken involved arriving firstly at the convent of Atlatlahucan via Amecameca, and then riding down to Cuautla (Morelos). In order to arrive at Amecameca, I decided to take a new route to me, riding this time through Tenango del Aire and Ayapango. In this way, I could avoid climbing an extra 100 m that is required in the toll highway to Amecameca. But I still used the Puebla toll highway in order to bypass Chalco, deviating from it at the Cocotitlán branch.

So, let's start this report from where all things get started: at the beginning. The ride began at the really late hour of 10:40. I took Fray Servando Av. (where I had the opportunity to observe the cyclists riding in the ongoing Ciclotón in Mexico City) to gain access to the Zaragoza Av. Zaragoza is a long and wide avenue that converts itself later in both toll and free Puebla highways (at Los Reyes junction). At the intersection of those two inter-state highway stands what is currently a gigantic traffic jam covering several kilometers in length (owed to the building of an elevated pass). Once crossed that mess, I took the toll Puebla highway, and left it just before the Huixtoco toll station, in order to take the Chalco branch. After crossing the Puente Colorado toll station, I continued cycling along the toll Chalco highway, but at the Cocotitlan deviation I branched out south in order to arrive at Temamatla, Tenango del Aire and Ayapango. I should add that the road between Ayapango and Amecameca is one of unsurmountable beauty: a clean and pristine countryside with no sight of towns, almost plain, and surrounded at both sides of the road by colourful flowers and green grass: an idyllic scene, in fact.

Arriving at Amecameca, I took the Cuautla free highway, passing on my route the towns of Ozumba and Tepetlixpa. Tepetlixpa is the last town before the descent towards Cuautla starts, so, if you need to purchase water or food, please do it there. On my way down to Atlatlahucán, I crossed the town of Nepantla, place where Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (the best writer in her time) was born in 1651, and also a destination of one of my previous rides. At my arrival to the Atlatlahucan branch, I exited the Cuautla highway and cycled upwards to Atlatlahucan, arriving promptly at the convent, located in the main square of the town.

The San Mateo Convent of Atlatlahucan features an austere yet imposing all white monumental facade, being probably built at the top of a pre-Hispanic temple. As a result of this construction, the convent lies above the rest of the town. When I was there, a funeral procession (coffin included) was arriving at the church, so I had the opportunity to closely observe this funeral mass. A musical band accompanied the funeral, playing some local marches. In fact, that was a busy church, since it seems that just previous to my arrival, another mass, this time maybe from some fifteen-years party, had been just finished (by the looks of the gathered people in front of the church). I should add that, being that day September 30th, the entire state of Morelos was in party mood, as that day marks the birthday of Independence War hero and leader: Jose Maria Morelos, whom with Miguel Hidalgo, is one of the founding fathers of Mexico (in fact, Morelos took the leadership of the Independence War at the hanging and death by the Spanish crown of Miguel Hidalgo). So, I had the sheer luck of being able to observe all the convents visited along the route (Atlatlahucan included) being decorated by a multitude of floral crowns and arrangements. The convent houses also some wings that appear to be abandoned, with no maintenance at sight, just the facade is stunning white. The atrium of the convent is enormous and well maintained, featuring a pleasant green grass cover.

Once finishing my visit to that convent, I cycled again towards the Cuautla highway, and four kilometers down after the junction, I arrived at the Yecapixtla branch, which I took and started the ascent, from 1500 m at the branch, all the way up to Tetela del Volcan, at 2250 m. But I had first to arrive at Yecapixtla.

The San Juan Bautista Convent of Yecapixtla (built in 1535) features an equally imposing and gigantic facade (albeit a little less white), with a Gothic rose above the door, being the arch of the door also beautifully sculpted in stone, depicting some heraldic and angels. The atrium again was immense (albeit a little less maintained). But the interior of the church was magnificent, beautifully painted and decorated, with a precious white altar. The convent itself features no more than a single floor, but the walls that compose the garden's arches are precious, as they present beautifully preserved paintings and inscriptions of several religious people (as saints and popes) plus icons, along with Bible passages (like the Cruxifiction). In fact, not only the walls of the arches, but also the whole ceilings are covered by geometric figures (like octagons and crosses). The garden seems to feature a well in its middle.

After one hour of visit (curiously, I averaged one hour for each convent visit), I decided to resume the ride, continuing cycling upwards, this time towards Ocuituco, where 300 m of steep climbing were required to arrive at this town.

The Santiago Apostol Convent in Ocuituco features a beautiful ancient yellow facade, with a single bell tower. Time has left its mark in that facade, but no without a reason: this convent was the first to be built in America by the Augustine order in 1533 ! As the town was in party mood, the convent door had been enriched with a floral arch surrounding the entrance, depicting several religious passages. As the mass was beginning, I could observe several people arriving at the church, speaking in Nahuatl. Also the dressing of several women (mostly the older ones) started to resemble different from what we could term now contemporary fashion, more in the style of the original peoples of those towns. The interior of the church is painted in a smooth peach color, presenting a modest yet imposing white high altar. The interior of the convent features two floors, with a water spring in the middle of the garden. Its walls are painted in white, while the curved ceiling is decorated with geometric designs. The atrium of the church features a big cross, decorated by a floral arrangement. Outside of the convent, a picturesque (painted in strong blue) local market can be appreciated.

It was time now to continue cycling upwards, this time to the town of Tetela del Volcan, being required to climb almost 400 m to arrive at this town, located at an altitude of 2260 m. The ascent from Metepec to Tetela is a particularly steep one, specially inside Tetela (the Convent is located in the highest point in Tetela). I had to climb all the road inside Tetela standing on my pedals, as I was so exhausted (and the grade of the ascent was so cruel) that by just sitting on my bike I was not going to make that climb. But alas ! When I arrived finally at Tetela (at 19:15) ... there was a big party in the town ! But first business. So I headed directly to the convent.

The Convent of San Juan Bautista in Tetela del Volcan features what looks to me as the most austere facade of this series of convents. It is painted in a yellow peach colour, presenting only one bell tower (but its clock is working). The church interior is painted in pristine white. I has scarcely time to take the last shots of the convent, as it was now 19:30 and the darkness was looming. Once taken the compulsory pictures of this Augustine convent, I decided to turn my attention to a much more mundane topic of interest: the party !

From all the towns along the route that I had made that day in Morelos, Tetela was the place where I could find the biggest party. There was a lot of people gathering in the main square of the town, all taking part in the unconmesurability of La Fiesta. In that party at Tetela del Volcan (its biggest party of the year) I saw things that I had never been able to observe before. For example: I saw donkeys with floral crowns, which later I was told were part in some donkey runnings . I saw also a children competition, in order to see which child could catch an oil-covered little pig. In fact, there were several of those competitions. I saw another tournament, this time involving climbing an oil-covered mast, which at its top had prizes for the winners. I saw a lot of yet unseen things to me. That was my biggest reward: to know unknown things to me. There were a lot of fireworks also and another contest, this time involving the riding of a mechanical bull. Remarkably, I also had the opportunity of taking some photographs of the Queen of Tetela, meaning the victorious lady (and accompanying princesses) in the beauty pageant of Tetela del Volcán. Beautiful ladies indeed.

At 22:00 I had to make up my mind, since it was too late to do any other thing different than looking for a place to sleep. The party was going to continue all night long (till 04:00 next day), so I must find a hotel, just before the accommodations were fully booked. I decided to pass the night in Tetela, since from this point I could continue the route of the Convents the next day, and even, return to Mexico City cycling, but I had to be well rested for that matter. So, I started asking for directions for a place to sleep, and fortunately, I could find a hotel no more than three blocks away from the center: the St Valentin drugstore. Really, that drugstore (coupled with its sister clinic and laboratory) featured also a small yet clean hotel: the hotel Mirador del Volcan. So I ringed and ringed and finally a clerk got out and listened to my need, offering me a room for 150 pesos, which I promptly took. Once solved the accommodation problem, I had to sort out the next question: What to eat ? After leaving my bicycle (as I always do in these occasions) and the rest of my cycling equipment in my room, I went to the center of Tetela to purchase some food (mainly cheese, meat, soda) in a convenience store. I could also buy some local fruits in the street. Once armoured with my dinning/breakfast, I returned to the hotel. I would like to had been able to attend the ongoing party (and dancing ball), but I had to sleep for the next day cycling. All night long the dancing music continued (till 04:00 next day), the fireworks also continued their spectacle, and, after the music had subsidized, some pistol shots were listened, as is customary for those town parties :-)

I woke up next day at 08:00, just in time to take some clear photographs of the Popocatepetl volcano (difficult to see later, since it gets covered by clouds early). Once I had taken a bath and arranged my bicycle and cycling equipment, I started the ride at about 10:00, this time with the goal to reach the town of Hueyapan. So I climbed back to the center of Tetela del Volcan and took the sinuous descent road to Alpanocan, in a tip of the eastern state of Puebla. This town features a modest yet interesting church painted in pink. After briefly visiting Alpanocan's Municipal Palace, I resumed the trip to Hueyapan, entering again in the Morelos state. The road between Alpanocan and Hueyapan is one of sinuous and steep ascent nature, requiring climbing 250 m to reach Hueyapan. In Hueyapan (farthest point in our route) I found its Convent closed. So I had to rely on photographs taken from the door of the convent. That town is known for its prominent use of Nahuatl as a common language. Unfortunately, as I arrived there on Monday, all the people that use to arrive at the market were absent at that moment, so I could not grasp any hint of spoken Nahuatl. The only people I found on the plaza were secondary school students, whom with high probability would have never spoken a word of Nahuatl, being its use confined to the older generations. Once I finished my visit to the picturesque town of Hueyapan, I resumed my trip, this time cycling downwards to Tlacotepec (where I stopped a little to admire its beautiful white church) and later to Zacualpan de Amilpas.

The La Inmaculada Concepción Convent in Zacualpan de Amilpas is one of the most beautiful convents I could appreciate in the whole trip. The convent itself is maintained in pristine conditions, being built with some pink stones resembling pink marble. Its facade its superbly clean. The convent even features two bell towers (something not so common). The church interior is every bit as beautiful as its exterior, all in white painted with simple yet elegant paintings as decoration. The walls of the arched corridors of the convent feature clearly restaurated frescoes, depicting religious images and saints. The convent comprises two tiers, featuring a central yard, complete with a water spring in its center.

Next point in the route was the Convent of Jantetelco, so I cycled downwards for the last point of interest in the route, arriving promptly at Jantetelco. Unfortunately, the convent was closed for the public visits, as its architectural integrity has been compromised by the fall of a lighting a couple of months before. The fallen lighting was so strong that one of the church vaults had broken under the force of the lighting, rendering the whole church structure unstable, and now prone to fell over its occupants. For this reason, the masses in that church are being carried outside as open air masses.

Being Jantetelco the last point of visiting interest along the route, I decided trying to do a promptly return to Mexico City. For this return to be made, first thing to be done was to arrive at Cuautla. So, from Jantetelco I cycled to Amayuca (where I could take a couple of shots of its beautiful church), and then, I took the Cuautla highway, a nice asphalted and well painted mostly plain highway. At my arrival to Cuautla, I branched to out to the Mexico City free highway, via Chalco. This return leg to Mexico City involved a 1150 m climbing. Along the uphill road I crossed the Yecapixtla and Tlayacapan branches, arriving later back at Nepantla. Uphill I crossed Yecapixtla again, and a little later I could arrive finally in Amecameca, at 19:00.

As soon as I arrived at Temamatla, the darkness was complete. I had thought that once reaching back Amecameca, the return leg to Mexico City was almost completed, as all the climbing was now behind me. But alas ! I hadn't taken into account that darkness was looming, so what is under normal (diurnal) conditions a pleasant ride, turned out to be a highly extenuous and tiring cycling ride once the night had set on. Having no lights, I had to continuously try to guess and infere where I could find holes along the pavement. Determined to use as much public electric lighting as possible, I decided to cross the entire (urbanized) Chalco Valley. Once crossed the Chalco Valley, I could ride along the free Puebla highway trough Ixtapaluca and later Los Reyes, where I could finally reach the Zaragoza Avenue. Cycling along this road, I could finally arrive at the TAPO bus terminal, near the center of the city. From there all I required to arrive at home was a short ride south along Union Congress Av, and voilá: I was finally back at home's security, after a three hundreds kilometers long ride (and a three thousands meter climbing) !

As usual, all photographs are available in the photoset (just in case you still haven't seen them). And the GPS Track is also available in both formats: KMZ (Google Earth), or GPX (MapSource, et al).

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Yautepec Archaeological Site + Convents Route I (Morelos), 23.09.07

2007-09-25T02:25:00.001-05:00

This ride started at the late hour of 10:10. The final destination was the visit to the Yautepec Archaeological Site, in the southern state of Morelos. But along this ride, a visit to the Convents Route was also planned ! I could visit some of the most interesting Convents in Morelos, already declared World Heritage by the UNESCO, and located in the following towns (or cities): Totolapan, Tlayacapan, Oaxtepec and Cuernavaca.

In order to ride this route from Mexico City center, I took Tlalpan Av. to the south and later Division del Norte Av, which would take me directly to Xochimilco and later to San Gregorio Atlapulco, exit point to the Oaxtepec highway.

Once along this highway, and passing along the way Milpa Alta and Tlacotenco, a moderate ascent (grade: 3 %) starts towards La Loma summit (alt: 2900 m). In that sightseeing point I stopped a little to take the compulsory photographs, and later I continued the ride downwards. Six kilometers after passing the town of San FelipeNeri, I took a left branch that would lead me firstly towards Nepopualco (a small yet beautiful town lost in the middle of nowhere where I could take some cosy photos of its simple yet beautiful church), and later, to Totolapan.

In Totolapan I headed directly towards its magnificent Convent. It features an impressive facade and equally imponent atrium. Unfortunately, this convent presents no museum at all. After admiring its architecture, I decided to continue the ride. I went to the center of Totolapan where in its market I could finally eat some 3 kilograms of fruit (between bananas, apples and tunas), which was badly needed at this rather early hour.

In Totolapan I could finally have a glimpse of several people that use Nahuatl as their language ! Some of them even fancied their custom dresses. I sincerely hope I could find more of this towns where people still speak Nahuatl (the language the Aztecs used before the Spanish conquest) in my future rides.

I continued the ride this time towards Tlayacapan, a town largely know for its clay and ceramic pottery. I headed again directly to its center, where its magnificent Convent is located (in the same square the Convent, Municipal Palace and market can be found). The atrium there was even bigger, and the facade of the convent, simply monumental. And best of all, this Convent did feature a Museum. Although the entry was not free (fee: 10 pesos), taking photographs was not allowed, not even without flash. So I could not present you the beauties that are located inside the Convent's walls: precious frescoes, marvelous oil pictures, magnificent architecture and as a premium: some mummies from boys and girls (from the past centuries upper classes) buried in the gardens of the convent.

Once finished the visit, I proceeded riding towards Oaxtepec, arriving promptly (as the road is pure descent) at its Convent in the center of the town. Unfortunately, I arrived some 30 minutes later than the Convent's opening hours (it closes at 17:00). So I had to content myself with taking some pictures of its facade (not at all as imposing as the facades I had already seen in other convents in this very same journey, anyway). After paying a sort visit to the church adjacent to the convent, I abandoned Oaxtepec, riding this time towards Cocoyoc, where I took the right branch towards Yautepec.

Searching for the archaeological site I arrived unexpectedly first at Yautepec center, so I had to undo my path a little, finally arriving at the site at 18:40, again 40 minutes later than the closing hour. Fortunately, the site master was kind enough to allow me a short and quick visit to the site (once I exposed my motives and route), so I could finally present you the photographs of this beautiful and impressive archaeological site. The site features a royal Palace that whose use was reserved for the Aztec nobility. Basements of rooms and corridors are clearly visible. The site area is really big, as it comprises a whole block. In fact, the site is even bigger, withpre-Hispanic buildings buried under presently built houses.

At 20:00 (when I finish the visit to the site) and already under the cover of the night, I continued the ride, this time towards Cuernavaca (Morelos state capital), crossing in my way the famous Wolfs Canyon (Cañón de Lobos), a high-grade climb that would take me towards La Joya (where I could purchase a much needed water bottle) and later to Jiutepec and finally to Cuernavaca. The problem at crossing the Wolfs Canyon was not really the climbing (although a considerable effort was required), but that I had to made that ascent without solar light, guiding myself only by the passing cars lights. Once I arrived at la Joya (first town after the Canyon) I considered myself safe, since from there, I could ride aided by the occasional urban lights.

Once In Cuernavaca, I paid a short visit to its main square, where the Government Palace and Plaza are located. I headed then to the Pullman bus station to take the 22:15 bus back to Mexico City (fare: 63 pesos), which put me in Taxqueña South bus terminal at merely 23:25, which in turn enabled me to use the subway (closing hour: 00:00) to arrive at my house some half hour later.

As usual, all photographs are available in the following photoset. The GPS track is available in both formats: GPX and KMZ.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Olintepec Archaeological Site (Morelos) + Nepantla de Sor Juana (Mexico), 09.09.07

2007-09-10T14:36:00.002-05:00

This ride started last Sunday at the very late hour of 09:45. The two main places to visit in this journey were the Olintepec Archaeological Site in the southern state of Morelos, and Nepantla, a little town where the best writer of her time was born: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, in the south-eastern tip of the Mexico State.

In order to reach Nepantla from Mexico City center (elev: 2240 m), I had first to arrive at Amecameca. There are several ways to reach Amecameca. I took the one with the least traffic signals or road crosses: the Puebla toll highway (via the Zaragoza Avenue) up to the Chalco toll station, and then, using the Chalco bypass, I reached Tlalmanalco (alt: 2400 m). After a short climb (elev: 2550 m) I descended towards Amecameca. Using the Amecameca bypass, I headed directly to Tepetlixpa, last town before the descent to Cuautla starts.

Seven kilometers after Tepetlixpa is located San Miguel Nepantla, little town where in 1651 Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was born. Her house (or what is still left of it) is now surrounded by a luxurious, modern and beautiful Cultural Center, sponsored by the Mexico State government. After paying a 10 pesos fee, I was granted access to the two wings that conform the Cultural Center. The first wing houses the remains of Sor Juana house. The second wing presents a beautifully decorated Museum dedicated to Sor Juana. Unfortunately, taking photographs (even without flash !) is not allowed in both Museum wings interiors, so I can only present you photographs of the external garden of the Cultural Center, which in turn houses several statues of Sor Juana, beautifully placed along the green garden. The external walls of the Museum also present (printed on metallic plates), several sonnets, authored by Sor Juana. You can see all the pictures in the above linked Photoset Show.

The Museum wing that houses the Sor Juana exposition presents several portraits of the beloved female poet, as well as personal items, and most important: a chronological sequence of her life path and writings, from her birth in Nepantla, till her dead in the Sn. Geronimo Convent, in the (then imperial) Mexico City. This exposition presents the ordeals that Sor Juana must endure in order to satisfy her intellectual prowess, and also, how must she obey the final orders from the Catholic Church to sell all her four-thousand-books library and associated scientific instrumental, and refrain from continue writing and reading any other matter out of the clerical realm. So virulent was the attack the Catholic Church put upon her, that she signed her resignation letter (Answer to Sor Filotea) with the following words: "I, the worst woman of the world", written with her own blood.

As a tribute to her intelligence and courage, lets review one of her most famous poems: "Stubborn Men"

You mulish men, accusing
woman without reason,
not seeing you occasion
the very wrong you blame:

since you, with craving unsurpassed,
have sought for their disdain,
why do you hope for their good works
when you urge them on to ill?

You assail all their resistance,
then, speaking seriously,
you say it was frivolity,
forgetting all your diligence.

What most resembles the bravery
of your mad opinion
is the boy who summons the bogeyman
and then cowers in fear of him.

You hope, with mulish presumption,
to find the one you seek:
for the one you court, a Thaïs;
but possessing her, Lucrecia.

Whose humor could be more odd
than he who, lacking judgment,
himself fogs up the mirror,
then laments that it's not clear?

Of their favor and their disdain
you hold the same condition:
complaining if they treat you ill;
mocking them, if they love you well.

A fair opinion no woman can win,
no matter how discrete she is;
if she won't admit you, she is mean,
and if she does, she's frivolous.

You're always so stubbornly mulish
that, using your unbalanced scale,
you blame one woman for being cruel,
the other one, for being easy.

For how can she be temperate
when you are wooing after her,
if her being mean offends you
and her being easy maddens?

Yet between the anger and the grief
that your taste recounts,
blessed the woman who doesn't love you,
and go complain for all you're worth.

Your lover's grief gives
wings to their liberties,
yet after making them so bad
you hope to find them very good.

Whose blame should be the greater
in an ill-starred passion:
she who, begged-for, falls,
or he who, fallen, begs her?

Or who deserves more blame,
though both of them do ill:
she who sins for pay,
or he who pays for sin?

So why are you so afraid
of the blame that is your own?
Love them just as you have made them,
or make them as you seek to find.

Just stop your soliciting
and then, with all the more reason,
you may denounce the infatuation
of the woman who comes to beg for you.

With all these arms, then, I have proved
that what you wield is arrogance,
for in your promises and your demands
you join up devil, flesh, and world.

Once I finished the visit to the Museum and House of Sor Juana, I continued my way downwards to Cuautla, Anenecuilco and Ayala City (in that order), finally arriving in Olintepec at 16:30.

The Olintepec Archaeological Site is located in the homonymous town, 5.5 km after Ayala City. Although this site is not very impressive by its size, it is a peaceful place to know, and one of the last archaeological sites in Morelos that I still remained unknown for me :-) The site features a pyramidal structure (Hill 1), where almost two hundreds ritual burials have been discovered. Although being populated since 1500 BC, the city of Olintepec was made tributary of the Aztec empire in the Late Post-Classic period (1350-1520 CE), tributing to the Tlahuica city of Huaxtepec. On the top of the pyramid stand now the vestiges of what resemble to me as a Christian building: namely a church. This custom of the Spanish conquerors of building a christian church over the top of pre-Hispanic temples, with the very same stones that were used to built the pre-Hispanic temple is one of their most recurrent themes. I had seen such custom in action in several other sites (Cholula and Tepapayeca, to name a few). Here we have seen another sad example :-(

After finishing my visit to the Olintepec site, I cycled upwards, now back to Cuautla. On my way back, I decided to pay a short visit to the Museum that presents the house where Gral. Emiliano Zapata was born. This Museum is located in Anenecuilco (between Ayala City and Cuautla). Zapata was the leader of the Southern Mexican Revolution (1910-1921). In the that exposition, a beautifully painted mural (fresco) can be appreciated, depicting Zapata's ideals and his motto: "The land belongs to those who work it with their own hands".

At my arrival at Cuautla (at 19:00) I could again observe the crowded Plaza that Cuautla turns itself each Sunday. Lots and lots of people ! The Sunday dancing (danzón) was in its place, in front of the State Government Palace. I spend some time enjoying the human spectacle, but after a while I decided that it was time now to get back home. Fortunately, since the last bus to Mexico City departed at 20:00 (74 pesos fare), just five minutes after I purchased my ticket ! After a couple of hours I arrived at the Taxqueña bus terminal, and then, using the subway, I promptly arrived back at the safety of home :-)

All the photos of this travel are available at the following photoset. And the GPS track is available in both formats: GPX or KMZ.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Cholula Archaeological Site + Texmelucan (Puebla), 26.08.07

2007-08-28T22:10:00.002-05:00

Photoset Map

Full Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 160 Km, Total Ascent: 1302 m, Total Descent: 1260 m, Time: 06:11 hr, Avg. Speed: 24.3 Km/hr, Max Speed: 73.5 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 26.85 MJ, Power: 302 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started last Sunday at 08:20, almost three hours later than intended, as I had hoped to be able to start cycling at 05:30. I took my usual route to Puebla from Mexico City center: Ignacio Zaragoza Av. to the southeast of the city, in order to reach the junction between both free and toll Puebla highways in Los Reyes. By the way, this time the road was closed to all automotive traffic at the junction, so it was a pleasure cycling alone in the beginning of the free highway. In fact, I could take some surreal photographs of the building site that is now located in both highways. After that point, I continued cycling along the free highway, crossing on my way the whole county of Ixtapaluca. Once this county ends, the mountain climbing towards the Llano Grande summit (elev: 3220 m) starts after passing the town of Zoquiapan (elev: 3260 m).

As this time I was being chased by several fellow cyclists, I could not take any photos of the landscape in the ascent. But anyway, you have already seen lots of pictures of that ascent in my previous reports of that route to Puebla. From Zoquiapan, where I arrived at 09:55, I needed 90 minutes to reach the Llano Grande summit. Along that climb I was fortunate enough to see several cyclists that were already riding the return descent from the summit towards the Mexico City Valley. Once at Llano Grande, I found another cyclist that was climbing from Texmelucan (Puebla) towards the summit (i.e. from the other side of the mountain). As I, once I had crowned the port, started my descent towards Texmelucan, that fellow rider (who happened to live in Tlaxcala) and me cycled together a good part of the ride towards Texmelucan. It was surely fun to talk and ride that descent at more than 60 km/hr, simultaneously, although a little bit dangerous.

At my arrival at Texmelucan and before continuing my trip towards Cholula, I could pay a long overdue visit to the beautiful white church of St Mary Magdalene, in Texmelucan. This precious all white church is located not in the center of Texmelucan, but along the highway to Huejotzingo. I was fortunate enough to arrive at the church just when the most revered moment of the mass was taking place, so I could see how all the people in the church, including also the ones that could not enter in the shrine (as it was already full) and were standing out of the church,kneeled down at the consagration . By the way, it was also fine to note that there were several bicycles standing at the front of the church. After finishing my visit to this church, I went to the center of the city to buy another liter of isotonic drink and something to eat.

Once cycling again, I took the highway to Huejotzingo, which is a beautiful road in pristine conditions. It even features a side line for bicycles ! At my arrival at Huejotzingo, I decided not to stop there, as I had already obtained photos from its enormous and beautifully orange painted church. But when I reached the town of Santa Maria Zacatepec, I had to made a due stop, since this town houses a beautiful blue church, an impressive clock tower built with orange bricks, and a simple yet stunning big kiosk, built with the same orange bricks as the clock tower. I had previously desired several times to stop in Zacatepec on my way to Puebla, just to have a look at that impressive architectural group, but I had been unable to do that before, as the whole architectural group is located in the top of a hill, which is accessed only by stairways ... and this ascent is very difficult to perform riding a bicycle :-)

Ten kilometers or so after Zacatepec, I could finally reach Cholula, and, after crossing its main square, I could arrive at last in the Cholula Archaeological Site, which houses the largest man-made structure by volume in the world ! First of all, I had to leave my bicycle in a secure place, as I (obviously) was not going to be allowed to enter in the Great Pyramid with it.

Inside the Great Pyramid we (the visitors) could roam across a network of tunnels that travel across the pyramid's interior. You can have a look of those dramatic pictures in the photoset. The corridors inter-connect via staircases with the different levels of the interior, as there are several pyramids, one built atop the other, in the interior of that Great Pyramid.

Once outside the pyramid (and after recovering the lost sight, owed to the stark contrast with daylight), the church of Our Lady of Remedies could be seen at the top of the pyramid. It was a custom for the Spanish conquerors to built a christian church at the top of the most importantpre-Hispanic temples, and this case, sadly, was no exception.

Outside the Great Pyramid stands the adjoining Archaeological Site. This huge site comprehends several impressive pre-Hispanic buildings: a Teotihuacan building, Stone Courtyard, Altars Courtyard, Mexica Altar, Building F, Buildings 1 - 6, and an Offerings Altar. As it is said that an image is worth a thousand words, I do sincerely recommend you having a look at the extensive array of photographs taken at the site, in the above linked photoset.

When I was almost exiting the site, at the foot of the Building F (the only staircase that has been restored to its initial state) I had the opportunity to observe a magnificent spectacle: the Papantla flyers ! It is really a unique chance to observe that aerial dance !

After finishing my visit to this incredible rich site, I went for my bicycle and, after crossing the center of Cholula, and its beautiful arches and Cathedral, I started the return leg of my journey. Please note that owed to the extension of the archaeological site, it was now 17:30, so my priority was now to arrive at Texmelucan, since the whole return to Mexico City in bicycle was now impossible given the hour.

But the big problem started as soon as I was leaving Cholula: a diluvial rain started to fall ! In just some minutes the whole highway to Texmelucan had been converted into a river ! I was riding in a stream of water of half meter (yes, 50 cm) deep ! I had never cycled inside that kind of water stream. And worst of all, it was an uphill road. But it was not even a road now: the water had covered the whole road (both ways) with a stream of more than half meter of deep. As the rain continued to fall, as soon as I found a place where to take cover from the rain, I stopped my insane riding. But the water level continued to rise, facing me with the possibility that the very place where I was standing were soon covered also by water. What course of action should I take ? If I rode downhill towards Cholula I was going to face more water, but at least a big city. If I choosed to ride uphills, I could find less water, but the ride was going to be a lot harder for the slope, and the next big city (Huejotzingo) was more distant than Cholula. What should I do if this crazy rain continues ?

Fortunately, after half an hour the rain stopped as by magic, so the stream over the road stopped to rise. I decided then to continue my ride uphills, towards Huejotzingo and Texmelucan. I still had to ride inside that half meter deep water stream, but it was only in the following couple of kilometers, since as far as I continued ascending, the volume of water that I found on the road diminished with the height, up to a point where, happily, no more water stream was on the road ! I can not imagine what those kind of rains could do to human settlements if the rain would last several hours, as is the case with hurricane rains.

From that point it was a piece of cake the return to Texmelucan, although a slight rain continued, there were no more rivers on the highway. In this way I could safely arrive at Texmelucan at 19:50, where I purchased my return bus ticket (AU lines, 54 pesos fare). The bus departed at 20:10, arriving in Mexico City a couple of hours later at the TAPO bus terminal. From there a short subway trip and I was again in the safety of home, albeit wet all the way to the marrow !

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Teotihuacan Archaeological Site + Acolman Ex-Convent (Mexico State), 19.08.07

2007-08-21T12:59:00.001-05:00

Photoset Map

Full Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 108 Km, Total Ascent: 550 m, Total Descent: 525 m, Time: 04:03 hr, Avg. Speed: 25.80 Km/hr, Max Speed: 57.90 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 20.21 MJ, Power: 346.60 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at 12:20 (since I had to attend some previous appointments that Sunday's morning). Being so late, I decided to make a long due ride that I had not made because its destination is relatively too near from Mexico City: the cycling ride towards the Teotihuacan Archaeological Site !

This archaeological site is only 50 km distant from Mexico City center. I had been there a lot of times before (once with the companion of fellow cyclists), but I had never gone cycling to Teotihuacan and entered in the archaeological site, in order to ascend the Sun Pyramid. Well, now I had opportunity to change this fact, and pay my debts :-)

I took Eje Central Avenue (to the north) in order to gain access to Insurgentes Norte Av. Insurgentes put me directly at the Pachuca exit highway. There were (as usual) two roads to ride towards Teotihuacan: the free and the toll highways. As I have already rode a number of times on the toll highway, I decided that this time I would use the free highway, an unknown route for me :-)

So, in Ecatepec I branched out to take the free Pachuca highway, passing soon by Venta de Carpio, where I could find a gigantic second-hand automotive market. There were kilometers of second-hand autos looking for a new owner. Next town on the route wasTepexpan . Along the ride I entered in the town of Acolman. I was already passing by it, when a fortuitous look made me realize I was going to miss something serious: the Augustine Ex-Convent of Acolman.

This Ex-Convent (a national museum) is located at the exit of Acolman, in Teotihuacan direction. I could have really missed it. Just the sheer quantity of autos trying to find a place to park made me look in the right direction. I didn't have all the time in the world, but somehow I arrived to the instantaneous conclusion that maybe I was not going to have the time and opportunity to re-visit thatimponent and enormous convent. So, making a U-turn I entered in the parking area of the site.

When I entered in the convent's atrium, I was mesmerized by the size and elegance of the building. Its sheer size imposes immediately upon the visitors. But it is its simplicity and cleanliness of lines that blow up its stunning image. It is difficult to imagine such a big yet simple religious building. And, on top of all, the Ex-Convent is located in the middle of an immense atrium, beautifully decorated with a green carpet of grass. An idyllic scene, indeed.

The facade of the convent depicts several religious images (saints and angels) beautifully sculpted in stone and built on the top of columns ofplateresque style. The arch of the door of the temple is also beautifully sculpted with religious images. A significant fact of this convent is that it is still in almost pristine conservation conditions, in spite of being built between 1539 and 1560. It really seems as the time had stopped its march on this convent. I have seen modern churches which look older than this preciously preserved Acolman Convent.

Once inside the Convent's Museum, a lot of colonial religious oil paintings can be appreciated, along with an extensive exposition of objects used by the Augustine monks that once inhabited the walls of that Convent. Not only religious items can be appreciated, but alsochapells, adoratoriums and monk's cells can be seen there. The convent features several interior halls, which house orange trees and sometimes, a water spring or a stone cross. The corridors of the convent are impressive by its elegance and size, flanked by columns and arches ofplateresque style. The jewels of the convent are the frescoes that depict some scenes of Christ Passion. Those frescoes are still admirably well preserved, as you can observe in the photographs shown in the Photoset.

After such a magnificent visit to the Acolman Ex-Convent, all that was still required was to cycle at top speed non stop ... in order to arrive at a decent hour at the Teotihuacan Archaeological Site, where I arrived at 15:50 (last entry hour is 17:30).

The Teotihuacan Archaeological Site is by far, the biggest site in Mexico, having covered in its cultural apogee a total of 38 square kilometers. with a population if 170,000 inhabitants. It houses two enormous pyramids: Sun's and Moon's, a big avenue (Dead's Avenue), several temples (to Quetzalcoatl, between them) and residential buildings. The Sun Pyramid is one of the biggest in America (second only to the GreatCholula Pyramid).

Once in the site, I swiftly proceeded to take some pictures of the Dead's Avenue, the Moon Pyramid, and of course, of the Sun Pyramid. The bad news was that rain had started to fall at my arrival at Teotihuacan ... never stopping while I was roaming around the site. So I had to made the whole visit under rainfall. Having no other course at hand, I started to climb the Sun Pyramid. I was fortunate enough to obtain some precious pictures of the vistas at the top of the pyramid, although I had towhitstand the rain and strong wind at the top of the building. I would strongly recommend you having a look at the photos of the site at the above linked Photoset show.

Owed to the rain, I had to shorten my visit to the site, so as soon as I climbed down the pyramid, I decided it was time to start the return leg of the trip, since rain was not going to stop any moment now. I cycled back towards Mexico City, riding in the toll highway up to the toll station, where I had to take a bypass, since this is the one and only toll station where bicycles are not allowed to pass. From there I took the road through Ecatepec, taking later Centenario Avenue in order to ride towards the center of Mexico City, using at the end Congreso de la Union Av, which finally delivered me (after branching out in Boturini) to the safety of home, which I reached at 19:30, with full solar light (at last) !

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Jonacatepec Las Pilas Archaeological Site + Cuautla (Morelos), 12.08.07

2007-08-14T02:00:00.003-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 155 Km, Total Ascent: 822 m, Total Descent: 1,633 m, Time: 05:44:12 hr, Avg. Speed: 26.60 Km/hr, Max Speed: 64.70 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 23.47 MJ, Power: 284 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at the very late hour of 10:00 (sadly). I guess that as I knew beforehand that this particular ride was not going to be one of extraordinary difficulty, I subconsciously decided to start it late. Well, that momentarily suited to me, as I had a previous hard Saturday, being able to go to sleep only at 02:00 on Sunday :-(

The purpose of this ride was to visit the Las Pilas Archaeological Site, in the town of Jonacatepec, in the southern state of Morelos. Jonacatepec is located 30 km south-east of Cuautla. So I had first to arrive in Cuautla. I decided to take to least-effort path from Mexico City: cycling first towards Amecameca, and from there, descending to Cuautla. The other route involves first arriving at Cuernavaca (Morelos capital), and from there riding again to Cuautla. But the route to Amecameca only involves a light ascent to 2,550 m (in Amecameca) from the 2,250 of Mexico City level. In contrast, to arrive at Cuernavaca, La Cima summit (3,000 m) must be reached first. So, the route selection was a no-brainer, although in the past I had once taken the Cuernavaca path, since I didn't know about the Amecameca route.

To reach Amecameca there also (at least) two routes. One involves crossing the south-east sector of Mexico City, reaching Tlahuac, and from there exiting the city in Amecameca direction. This is a picturesque route, since a lot of interesting city neighbourhoods are visited, being them one of the most intriguing quarters inhabited by the indigenous population of Mexico City. But this route has also the disadvantage of being too slow, since it comprises cycling along the usual city inter-quarters streets, with stop lights and traffic-negotiating corners. The other route involves arriving in Amecameca using the paid Puebla highway. This route is much less glamorous, since it only features a big and wide inter-state highway, and the associated landscapes which can be appreciated along the route ... but it is fast. No traffic lights, no corners to be worried about its traffic ... and no topes (asphalt protuberances on the road's asphalt carpet, built to deliberately slow down the traffic, in order to protect the pedestrians from speeding cars).

I took then the Zaragoza Avenue, in order to exit from Mexico City center to the toll Puebla highway. Fortunately, the gigantic traffic jam (owed to the construction of a big traffic distributor) that is usually in the place where both the free and toll Puebla highways diverge was not present at this time. I hope I had the same luck in my fore coming rides towards Puebla. This time I took the toll highway, since the Amecameca highway starts just before the Huixtoco toll station, along the Puebla toll highway.

Just at beginning of the toll highway, at Km 18, a 2 % slope opens the welcome, it is just an 80 m climb, but there was where I could reach some cyclists that were riding before me. Once again, I could ride with companion, although merely momentarily. A cyclist and me were trying to outdo the other, with this little race lasting up to the Huixtoco toll station (km 33), beating me in the last 500 meters or so. But anyway, it was a hell of fun riding against a fellow cyclist :-)

At the Huixtoco toll station I branched out of the Puebla highway, entering in the Chalco highway. The road to Chalco is a plain one, since Chalco was once a lacustre region, up to not much time ago. Fun starts at the Chalco exit, passing Tlapala, with a moderate ascent towards Tlalmanalco (2,400 m)n and later on the road to Amecameca, where a small summit of 2,550 m must be reached before descending to Amecameca (2,450 m). But heck, that was all the ascent I had to do in order to arrive in Cuautla, since from Amecameca there is only descent towards Cuautla.

In Amecameca (where I arrived after 2 hours of cycling) I took the by-pass to circumnavigate the city. I always choose the by-pass (if available), since they avoid me the ungrateful task of slowing me down passing by the center of a town I had already visited. But when the center of a town is located along the highway, I try not to lose the opportunity to pay a short visit to its main square.

Along the route, I reached Tepetlixpa, last town before the real descent towards Cuautla starts. It is a very commercial town, very apt for cliche-filling tourists. A lot of restaurants along both sides of the road offering cecina, a sort of dried and salt cooked cow meat, a really recurrent dish on that region. It seemed to me that the most appreciated cecina comes from Yecapixtla, a town in the neighbourhood. Why from Yecapixtla ? I really don't know (neither care).

I descended then from Tepetlixpa (2,333 m) to Nepantla (2.056 m) where Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was born in 1651. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was the best writer of her time. She was also a nun and a poet. I curse myself for not stopping in Nepantla in my route to Cuautla, but honestly, I was unaware of the fact that I was passing by Nepantla along the descent. I promise next time I remake the route towards Cuautla (hopefully, in two weeks time), pay a much obliged visit to the town that saw birth the tenth muse, America's phoenix.

I arrived at the Cuautla entrance just before 14:00. There is an impressive welcoming arch at the entrance of the city, decorated with a mural depicting Morelos and Zapata, both national heroes of Mexico. Morelos was the chief architecture of the Independence War (1810-1821) after Hidalgo hanging by the spanish, and Zapata was the leader of the southern Revolution War (1910-1921), assassinated by orders of fellow revolutionary Carranza. Sad history, indeed.

After buying water at Cuautla entrance, I took the by-pass in order to avoid the havoc of traffic in the city center. After 7 km of by-pass, I could finally enter in the Izúcar de Matamoros (Puebla) highway. This road is a well pavemented, clearly marked road, decorated with stunning vistas alongside: a cyclist paradise, albeit full of up and down-hill swings. After 16 km, having passed by the towns of Tlayecac, I reached Amayuca, where the Jonacatepec deviation stands. From Amayuca, it's only a 3.5 km down road what was left to me before finally reaching the Las Pilas sites, arriving there at 15:40.

Las Pilas archaeological site (which has been inhabited since 1,000 BC) is unique is some interesting way: it is the only site (up to my knowledge) that is housed in a swimming pool recreation center ! Really ! In fact, I was just hoping that I would have to pay to 30 pesos required by the swimming pool administration (although on Sundays, there is no fee for the archaeological sites), but no. The door that gives access to the archaeological site is a different one, being it run by the INAH (National archaeology sites administration). Curiously, both doors (swimming pool and INAH) gave access to the same track :-) Man ...

Once being admited, the track that leads to the site passes by the pools :-) I guess that you could just jump into the water, if you were inclined to do (and avoid paying the fee), but I had no time for such divertimentos, unfortunately, as I had a mission to run: the visit to the site :-)

The Las Pilas site is not a gigantic site like others (Cholula or Xochicalco, just for mentioning some), being rather one of modest dimensions. But it is interesting in its own way, as the site features channels, as a unique water collecting system. In fact, must of the pyramids and temples in the region are associated with the water cult, which had its main religious deity in Tlaloc (rain god). The main function of those channels was to collect the water that came of the water springs, drive it to a central register box, and from there, conduct the water towards a big receptor located in the South-west bound of the plaza. From here water was diverged towards the population centers and agricultural fields. In fact, those channels (and associated water cult) were so important to the population, that some of the out-of-use channels were used to perform ceremonial burials. In those burials, the people was earthed in the channels in special positions, like the Lotus, accompanied by religious artifacts, as the small statuettes (Tepictocton) representing the Tlaloques: Tlaloc helpers. Aside from the engineering feats of this site, it was a beautiful place to be. The green grass put an idyllic touch to the scene, along the delicately modulated slopes of the hills that built the site.

Once finished the visit, I proceeded to visit the downtown, where a beautiful yet abandoned Augustine St. August Ex-Convent can be appreciated in all its past glory. It certainly give its viewers an impossible feeling of melancholy. You can have a look at it in the photoset.

It was time now for the return leg of the journey, although merely to Cuautla. I rode back towards Amayuca (a gentle uphill slope), where I could buy a much needed water replacement, since those places are really hot indeed, and the sun had been the Highness it is accustomed to be, with no rain or even clouds that interfere with its power. From Amayuca I cycled back towards Cuautla, reaching its downtown at 18:30.

The Cuautla's downtown was absurdly full of people ! More people per square meter than in the Mexico City Zocalo ! I asked a local if there was some festivity in town, just to explain myself the cause of so much people, and he told me that no special fiesta was hold on that Sunday, It was just that every Sunday was the same. There was a Danzón public ball between the kiosk and the municipal palace. A lot of elder people were taking part. It was an interesting show to witness. After taking some pictures of the beautiful and imposing Cathedral, I decided to return to Mexico City.

At 19:30 I took the Estrella Roja bus (74 pesos fare), which, owing to the rainful weather conditions along the highway, a trip that is usually made in 2:30 hours, this time was accomplished in 5 hours ! Arriving in Mexico City at 00:30, there was no more Metro (subway, closes at 00:00) to take this time to arrive home, so a modest ride from the South Bus Terminal (in Taxqueña) to the center of the city was all that was required to arrive back at home's safety :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tepexi de Rodriguez + Tecali de Herrera (Puebla), 05.08.07

2007-08-07T03:20:00.003-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 228 Km, Total Ascent: 2,056 m, Total Descent: 2,469 m, Time: 9:43 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.4 Km/hr, Max Speed: 64 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 39.12 MJ, Power: 280 W.

Travel Report:

Alas ! At last, a ride that starts early ! At 05:55 I was already taking the first picture of the journey. This means that at 06:00 I was already cycling towards my destination: the Tepexi el Viejo Archaeological Site, in the eastern state of Puebla.

From my house (near Mexico City center) I took Fray Servando Av., in order to gain access to Ignacio Zaragoza Av., a very long avenue that drives directly to both (free and toll) Puebla highways. I choosed to take the free highway, reaching the start of the Puebla free highway (and the end of the urban zone) at 07:15. According to this timetable, I could start the next time the ride half an hour before, at 05:30, since at 06:45 there is already sunlight on the road.

The landscapes along the route at that early hour, just when the sun has still not risen, were breath taking. It was almost phantasmal the combination of light in the sky and darkness on the mountains. The sun behind the mountains gave a strong contrast between day and shadows. It is maybe because I am not really accustomed to get up before the sun that those landscapes seemed strangely alien for me, just as if I were in another planet :-) You can have a glimpse of those precious vistas at the photoset show.

From Mexico City level (2,240 m) I continued the ascent to Avila Camacho (elev: 2,900 m), and later, up to the Llano Grande summit (elev: 3,200 m). On my way up to the summit, I was blessed with the companion of several fellow cyclists, die-hard ones. They were climbing this summit with one-speed bicycles ! You have to have legs if you want to climb this 1,000 m ascent along just 20 km (grade: 5 %) with just one gear ! And I have still to say that I was overrun by some of those formidable cyclists (but not by all).

A fellow cyclist and me reached the Llano Grande summit at 09:00, from where a steep descent drove me to Rio Frio, and after the Potrero Bridge, also to Santa Rita Tlahuapan, first town on the road once the Zoquiapan National Park ends.

Continuing the descent, I crossed several towns like: San Matías Tlalancaleca, San Lucas, San Rafael Tlanalapan, finally arriving in San Martin Texmelucan at 10:10. In Texmelucan I made a short stop in order to buy some fresh fruit and water.

From Texmelucan I took the road to Huexotzingo. This free highway is superbly pavemented, it even features a side lane, of the same quality as the car lanes ! A God gift. Besides, along the road some impressive vistas of the volcanoes could be appreciated. Reaching Huexotzingo at 11:30, I decided to pay a short visit to its beautiful church, decorated with a stunning and incredible beautiful orange color.

Later on the road I reached Cholula, home of the imposing Cholula Archaological Site, already visited (if you are interested, you could review my previous Cholula report). I could not enter in the city, since time was a scarce resource, so I continued by the Quetzalcoatl boulevard (painfully bad pavemented) towards Puebla City.

In Puebla City, again, I could not enter in the center of the city, since I had already been there, and more important: the clock was ticking. So I by-passed the center using the Circuito and soon gained access to the Valsequillo Boulevard, road that would take me directly to the Africam (an open-air Zoo), in the Valsequillo Dam. From the Valsequillo branch, the route took me towards Tecali de Herrera, a place which reputedly was once the house of Quetzalcoatl.

In Tecalli de Herrera a beautiful church can be appreciated but, its main attraction is the Franciscan Ex-Convent (properly a Basilica: three naves separated by columnades with semicircular arches), built between 1540 and 1569. It is an enormous and gigantic ruin, that in this day consists merely on its mail walls, columns and arches, since the rest of the building is no more ... even its wood roof was taking apart, for making a bull rodeo in 1920. Could you imagine that ?

I would certainly recommend you having a look at the imposing views of that gigantic Ex-Convent in the photoset. Those views are certainly a kind of its own. In fact, this was the first time I had ever seen such a magnificent opus, turned down to its mere ruins and vestiges.

From Tecali and before I reached Ahuatepec, only cruel desert awaited me. The landscapes of those desert places made me remeber the phrase that Dante (in the Divine Comedy) put at Hell's entrance: Abandon all Hope all You who enter here. Man ... the desert is indeed a desolated place. I was just hoping nothing bad occurred me (as a broken chain or whatever other mechanical failure) in those desolated realms. At some point in the road I found the famous Sifon, an enormous aqueduct cliff bypass. It is really an imposing piece of architecture. I don't know when that Sifon aqueduct was built, or by whom, but certainly it's a breath-taking building, not just by its enormous size, but also by its location: in the middle of a desert.

In Ahuatepec the desert finishes and lots of water appears from no-where (as far as I could see). As soon as I was reaching Ahuatepec, the humidity of the air increased, and for a reason: there is an open water channel, that coming from Ahuatepec, I imagine, supply water to Tecali. In fact, there is so much abundance of water after Ahuatepec, that in Atoyatempan (the following town), I could observe fields being irrigated ... by aspersion ! Just a few kilometers after the desert. A strange land, indeed.

In Tepeyahualco (next town along the route) I decided to make a second short stop, because I was starving, and lacking water. After the renewal of my reserves, I cycled towards the last stop before reaching the destination: Molcaxac. Molcaxac is a picturesque town, last big town before Tepexi. I decided to pay a short visit to its simple yet beautiful church, painted with a pale blue color, and its adornments in white.

Just before I reached Tepexi de Rodríguez, along the road I could enjoy and indescribable view: A Saguaro forest. I had only seen once the Saguaros (on a previous car travel to Oaxaca), but this time I could stop along the road and breath its beauty. Being the saguaros desert plants that grow to an enormous size, the panoramic view was just incredible. The sheer beauty of those desert plants and the imposing silence of the valley gave the scene an almost surreal atmosphere. And in the background, my destination: Tepexi de Rodríguez.

I reached Tepexi de Rodriguez at 19:30. I went straight forward to the church, to have a look at it and to take the compulsory photograph. From the church the road to the Tepexi el Viejo archaeological Site could be observed. It was a 10-km off-road hill-crossing way. I needed at least a couple of hours to get to the site and return to the town, and I had only 30 minutes of light ... Man, what else could I do ? Nothing. I had to accept the fact that on that day, I was not being able to visit the site. Although I had started the journey at 06:00 and I had tried not to make too many stops, the full route (up to the archaeological site) proved to be, at the end of the day, too long to be made in only one day. I need two days for that visit.

So, after accepting that fact, I had to contempt myself with roaming around town and taking pictures of it. Another problem: the return to Mexico City: the last bus to Puebla had already departed at 19:30, with the following bus passing by at 04:00. I was tempted to pay one room in the town's hotel, but heck, I had never needed a hotel room (on my previous one-day cycling tours), so, I was not going to change this trend ! I went to the local market to eat some (ten) tacos de cabeza (only delicacy available in town), roamed a little more, and when I was so tired that I could stand no more, I went to the town's park, in order to rest at least three hours, just to wait the oncoming 04:00 bus to Puebla. I almost felt asleep, but then I remember the cost of my equipment, and somehow I lost the sleep, having to contempt myself with resting the body, although not the mind. At 03:45 I went to the junction were the bus was going to pass and waited.

The town at that hour made me remember Comala, the ghost town of the Pedro Páramo Rulfo novel. The town resembled in fact a ghostly town. I was just half-heartily waiting to appear some anima at the round of the corner :-) Anyway, the bus arrived punctually at 04:15, and for a fare of 65 pesos (plus a 10 pesos unofficial fare for the bicycle) I arrived in Puebla's CAPU (bus central station) at 06:30, from where I again took another bus, this time direct to Mexico City (82 pesos), which departing at 06:50, put me again in Mexico City (at the TAPO eastern bus terminal) a little before 09:00 (delay caused by lots of traffic at that rush hour). A 10-minutes cycling ride and I was again back at home's safety, but with a hard day oncoming ... and hardly any sleep. But heck, this is what cycling is all about, isn't it ? :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Huamango Archaeological Site + Acambay (Mexico). 29.07.07

2007-07-30T11:07:00.002-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 166 Km, Total Ascent: 1,840 m, Total Descent: 1,575 m, Time: 7:17 hr, Avg. Speed: 22.7 Km/hr, Max Speed: 72.2 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 32 MJ, Power: 306 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started past 07:00 (one hour later than expected). I took the usual route to Toluca (Constituyentes, and later, the Toluca free highway). On my way up to Las Cruces summit, I was lucky enough to find several fellow cyclists riding along the ascent ! As I am already accustomed to ride solo, this companion was a very fortunate coincide for me :-) I could take some photos of them after reaching the summit at 09:00.

After La Marquesa I continued descending towards Lerma and Toluca, where I took the Atlacomulco branch (just where the Tollo God monument stands) at 10:10. I knew that the Huamango Archaeological Site closes on Sundays at 15:00, so had to make few stops (if any) to take photographs along the route. This saddened me a little, as I love taking pictures of the landscapes and important landmarks of the road, but this time, I had no time for such divertimentos. From Toluca, I had less than five hours to reach the site, and the clock was ticking.

Fortunately enough, I had already made the same route (up to Atlacomulco) just a couple of weeks before, when I paid a visit to the Mazahua Ceremonial Center, so, if you are in the mood of having a look at the beautiful landscapes along the route, please check my previous Mazahua CC report.

The road between Toluca, Ixtlahuaca and Atlacomulco is a superb paid highway. It even features a good side lane (plus the two usual automotive traffic lanes). But as I had no time to lose, I decided not to use the side lane (a little bumpier), using instead the right side of the first traffic lane. In this way I could ride a little faster. I had thought that the autos would be honking me for using their lane (existing an available side lane), but to my fortune, the drivers along that highway were always courteous and polite, by-passing me using their left lane ! This was important, since cycling that 60 km ride on the cars lane is always an uneasy ride :-)

The 60 km highway to Atlacomulco is mainly a plain ride. The weather was beautiful: not a strong sun, no rain and no winds: a cyclists dream ! This allowed me reaching Ixtlahuaca at 11:30 and Atlacomulco at 12:50. (My self-imposed limit for reaching Atlacomulco was 13:00).

After stopping a little in Atlacomulco for buying water and some food, I started the required climbing along the road towards Acambay. This climbing consists of two peaks, the first of 200 m and the second of about 100 m, nothing to worry, but I had already started cycling with an eye in the clock.

I stooped once more in Acambay (reached at 14:11) to replenish my water bottle as I knew a good ascent was in front of me: an almost 400 m climbing in 7 km (grade: 5.71 %), with the last leg of the journey (after the site landmark in Dongú Puerto) being a cruel climbing: 150 m of ascent in only 1.5 km: a 10 % grade ! This road has even deep markings on the pavement, in order to avoid autos skidding !

Everything was going right, I passed Dongú, Dongú Puerto, Bovini ... and passing by the site entrance, I continued riding, this time downwards to La Florida, where a police man gave me the bad news: I had already passed the Huamango Site entrance. Man ! I was already 100 m down. So I had to re-climb those 100 m (with the clock against me) and from Dongú Puerto, take now the right path towards the site.

I managed to made those climbs and at 15:10 I could finally reach the Huamango Archaeological Site, situated at an elevation of 2,900 m (GPS coordinates: 19.978985796, -99.864121629).

After 160 Km and 1,850 m of climbing I had arrived ten minutes later ! Man ... but I had to do something. So I talked to the site guardian, whom by an extremely fortunate coincidence, was still at the site, picking some things on his truck. So I told him from where I was cycling, and the purpose of my visit. I politely asked him if, by any chance, he could allow me to enter in the site, just in order to take the compulsory photographs. After some tries, he acceded .. and I could finally enter in the site !

More than happy I roamed a little across the site, taking some pictures of the incredible beautiful Otomian buildings. Those buildings included a Palace, a Warrior Temple (with a christian cross at its top) and an Adoratorium. There are even still some vestiges of the stone wall that once protected the ancient city.

The guard had allowed me only a limited amount of time to visit the site, so I could not make a more detailed tour. I just could have a look at its more imposing features. But they were anyway imposing enough to stunne me. Besides, the whole site is covered with a beautiful green grass carpet :-)

After finishing my visit, I started a slalom descent (400 m in 5 km) towards Acambay, where I had planned a visit to its center and man square. But, the weather had thought otherwise, since as soon as I entered in Acambay, a cold diluvial rain (hail inluded) started to fall ... Man, is good to be in town when one of those rains starts to fall !

I waited for half an hour, hoping the rain would soon disappear and let me make my visit to the town's main square, but after waiting almost an hour, with the rain showing no signs of weaning, I decided to take the bus to Mexico City.

I had previously planned cycling back towards Atlacomulco at least, since I had plenty of time in this ride, but no one with a healthy mind was not going to ride under hail, if he could avoid it :-) So I left this time the rain for the next occasion and, for a 85 pesos fare, I boarded the 18:00 direct bus, from Acambay to Mexico City, which promptly (after 2.5 hours) delivered me to home's safety :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tepapayeca Archaeological Site + Izucar de Matamoros (Puebla), 22.07.07

2007-07-23T18:56:00.002-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 210 Km, Total Ascent: 1,600 m, Total Descent: 2,470 m, Time: 8:56 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.5 Km/hr, Max Speed: 62.7 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 35.76 MJ, Power: 280 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at the very late hour of 08:45. From Mexico City center I took Zaragoza Avenue, and later the Puebla free highway, up to Ixtapaluca. From here I branched out to the Puebla toll highway. I cycled along it up to the Amecameca deviation (just before the Huixtoco toll station) and took the Chalco branch.

After reaching Tlalmanalco, I continued towards Amecameca. But I did not enter in town, as I preferred to take the bypass in order to save time. Riding south I reached soon the town of Tepetlixpa, last point before the descent towards Cuautla starts. Just before arriving in Tepetlixpa, the deviation towards Ozumba can be found in the corner of a gas station.

In Ozumba I paid a visit to the local market, a lively and colourful market place where I could purchase fresh fruit and a new litre of isotonic drink. The beauty of that place is remarkable. You can get a glimpse of this atmosphere in the photoset. I did also pay a short visit to its magnificent Church. Beautiful town indeed !

A little later down the road, the Atlaula town can be found. This is the last big town before Tetela del Volcán. So, if you need to buy food or water, please do it there. After Atlaula, a hilly criss-cross road starts. There were ominous signs of the previous day rainfall along the road. Fallen enormous trees, fallen big stones over the pavement, rivers crossing the road ... hair rising road conditions, indeed ! Along this road, I crossed the small towns of Tecomaxusco, Ecatzingo, Ocoxaltepec and Tlalmimilulpan. Each one of those curious small towns consists of no more than 20 houses scattered along the road, with no visible shops.

At my arrival at Tetela del Volcán, I was lucky enough to be present when a 15-year party was abandoning the church. There were lots of people, cheering and saluting the celebrated teenager. A northern (here ? in Tetela ?) music band was playing. The girl fancied a beautiful violet-white dress, with a big flower ensemble. She was being escorted by six young chaps, all dressed in black smart suits. Interesting arrangement, if you mind.

The purpose of my visit to Tetela del Volcán had been to observe the impressive vistas of the Popocatepetl volcano that this town is known to offer. Unfortunately, that day (and the day before) had been of a very pluvious nature, so those precious vistas were absent the day I were there, being replaced by an ominous white cloud that blocked the volcano view. Maybe next time I could have better luck.

At my exit of Tetela, I made a mistake that costed me 20 km of cycling. I asked for directions in town, and the locals directed me towards Cuautla, in spite of me having in the GPS the route marked directly towards Amayuca. Usually, I do prefer to follow the information given by the locals, over the route I have stored in my GPS, since the information received by the locals is usually better (owed to the fact that they actually live in the place). But this time, for an unknown reason, the locals directed me to Cuautla, and I forgot to check my route in the GPS. Obviously that was a mistake on my side, since I must always check both my path and the route of the GPS. But this time I forgot to enforce the proceeding. End result ? Cycling down towards Cuautla, instead of Amayuca, losing 20 km (and associated time). Man, I do promise to always check my course in the GPS !

From Cuautla, I cycled south-east direction, towards Izucar de Matamoros. On my path I crossed the towns of Tlayecac, Amayuca (where I could have a look at the impressive mountains that guard the Olmec Chalcatzingo Archaeological Site) and finally Tepexco, this last town already in the state of Puebla.

In Tepexco I purchased water and food, since this is the last town before the small sierra (range of mountains) that forms the geographical boundary between Morelos and Puebla starts. After crossing the towns of Calmeca and Rijo, I found finally Agua Dulce, a small house gathering, where the Tlapanala deviation stands. Five kilometers along this road I finally arrived at the Tepapayeca Archaeological Site, at 20:00 !

But alas ! It had already been closed ! Something fully comprehensive since the site closes at 18:00. But asking the locals I was directed towards the responsible of the site: Don Teófilo Hernández. So I went to his house and asked him I he could give me the chance of getting inside the site a few minutes, just to take the compulsory photographs. Up to my big surprise, he accepted and escorted me to the site ! My luck does not abandon me :-) Once inside, the guide insisted in escalating the pyramid, something I was less than convinced, since I was wearing only my carbon-fiber SPD shoes, and also owed to the fact that we had to make that ascent in the complete absence of light. But anyway: orders are orders ... and we climbed the pyramid, only to find a jewel on the top of it: the ruins of a christian chapel at the top of the ancient pre-hispanic pyramid.

Don Teófilo Hernández told me that those chapel ruins compose what is left of an intent of the spanish to erect a christian church over the pre-hispanic and pagan (in their eyes) pyramid. It was only the War of Independence (1810 - 1821) that avoided they had their way, interrupting the chapel construction. The building remnants is what is left of that unfortunate purpose.

Once finished the visit to the archaeological site. I had the tricky task of arriving cycling in Izucar (a 7 km ride), under the cover of the no-moon night, safely. In fact, this was easier said than made, but some how I managed to arrive in Izúcar at 21:30, in one piece.

I had already missed the last bus to Mexico City, which departed from the Sur bus terminal at 20:00. The next bus was an en-route bus that came from Tlapa (in the southern state of Guerrero). This bus pass at 01:30, in the outskirts of the city (1 km from the center). So I decided to roam across town meanwhile, taking photos of the Cathedral, Municipal Palace, the Red House and other Main Square buildings. To my surprise, the local market was still open, so I had the opportunity of palating the cocido, a local dish composed of meat, just like a barbecue, but obtained from cow meat (instead of ram), and at only 80 pesos per kg: a real bargain !

After that delicious delicacy, I continued roaming the center of the town, noting that up to midnight, the center of the town resembled like midday: lots of people walking and talking in the park, as if the next day were Sunday, and not Monday. Lots of people in the streets at midnight, just walking, chatting or laughing. Man, this was a curious town.

At 01:00 I abandoned my position at the Izucar Zocalo and cycled towards the bus stop, waiting for the Tlapa bus, in Mexico City direction. It arrived punctually at 01:30, and for 85 pesos (plus a 15 pesos unofficial fare for the bicycle, but anyway: who is going to argue at this hour ?), I could board the bus that would take me back home, arriving in Mexico City at 04:30. From the TAPO bus station, a 15-minutes ride and I was again back at home's safety, where a couple of sleep hours awaited for me, at last ! :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Mazahua Ceremonial Center (Mexico), 15.07.07

2007-07-17T03:57:00.001-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 230 Km, Total Ascent: 2,360 m, Total Descent: 1,971 m, Time: 10:21 hr, Avg. Speed: 22.2 Km/hr, Max Speed: 73.1 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 42 MJ, Power: 282 W.

Travel Report:

At 08:30 (I know, too late), I started this ride towards the Huamango Archaeological Site, in the northern extreme of the Mexico State. I took, as usual Constituyentes Avenue (just 4.7 Km from home), in order to have access to the free Toluca Highway, reaching the Tres Cruces summit (elev: 3,200 m) 1:45 hr later. From here comes a fast descent to Lerma (2600 m), and then a gentle slope towards Toluca, capital of the Mexico State.

At the Tollo God Monument, I took the Atlacomulco branch. After this beautiful bypass, I entered in the toll Atlacomulco highway, a superbly pavemented road linking those important cities: Toluca and Atlacomulco. The highway is full of impressive vistas, and, in spite of the late hour, I could found two more fellow cyclists along the road. The terrain of the road towards the city of Ixtlahuaca is painfully plain, honouring the Ixtlahuaca name, nahuatl for In the Plains.

Between both toll stations I could have a look at the Pasteje Hacienda entrance. This Hacienda, now a site of the IUSA industrial complex, is also a famed bull (and horse) breeding ranch.

At my arrival at Atlacomulco, I had to re-check my possibilities. Although my stated goal for this cycling ride was to reach the Huamango Archaeological Site (25 km north of Atlacomulco, after passing Acambay), this site closes at 15:00 on Sundays ... and it was already 14:05 ! That was the moment I cursed myself for starting the ride almost three hours later than intended :-(

So I had to re-think my route. I decided then to visit instead the Mazahua Ceremonial Center ! I had already heard something about this ceremonial center. That it was the Mazahua equivalent of the Otomi Ceremonial Center, also in the Mexico State (both built by ex state governor Jiménez Cantú, in the 70's), but I had not the faintest clue about how to arrive at it ! That is the problem that aroses when you make changes along the route. But I had at least the old and proven method of navigation by asking ... Just ask the locals :-) You know: asking for directions can lead you to Rome.

So, after asking some locals in the way, I took the Atlacomulco bypass, and then ride back to the south, in order to reach a town named San Felipe del Progreso (picturesque name, if any). From there, I continued my way to San Agustin Mextepec, and then, leaving behind those plains I had started to love, a new ascent started: the climbing towards San Pedro el Alto.

The visit to San Pedro el Alto paid by itself all the hardships of the travel. Its Church is beautiful, but the lucky point was a religious pilgrimage made by the inhabitants of the surrounding of San Pedro el Alto to the church, carrying a full-size image of the Carmen Virgin (the one with a kid on her arms) across all the quarters of the surrounding towns.

I found the procession at my exit of San Pedro el Alto, and they were already coming from uphills. I did not get their starting point, but it must be really uphills. The procession was entirely composed of women, as just women seemed to be allowed to carry the religious images and flags. Those women were fully dressed in a yellow (and sometimes blue) ceremonial dress, complete with a special hat, and each of them carried a small religious image on their dresses. I should mention that I found quite beautiful those yellow dresses.

Once the vividly coloured procession had passed my position, it stopped in front of a house and the owner of that house kneeled down in front of the Carmen Virgin image ... and started to pray to it, on the street ! I was 15 meters away from that meeting, when a man directing the procession invited me to get into the meeting and continuing taking photos ! He also instructed the people to make me a little spare room in the middle of the meeting, in front of the Virgin image. An best of all, he told the people: This is our culture ! That was my lucky day :-) I really do suggest you to have a look of the photos of this religious procession at the Photoshow link.

Once the procession moved on, I continued my way uphills, towards San Jerónimo Navati and Santa Ana Nichi. As you can see, the names of those towns are no more in nahuatl laguage, but instead in Mazahua language, so that meant I was nearing the destination of my ride :-) Just before the Santa Ana Nichi deviation, I took the branch that would take me directly to the Mazahua Ceremonial Center, located at al elevation of almost 2900 m (GPS coordinates: 19.573214594, -99.960342441).

Once there, I was lucky enough to be granted the entrance (after paying a 12 pesos fare). This Mazahua Ceremonial Center is not as impressive as the Otomi Ceremonial Center (being it certainly not as extensive as the Otomi), but it certainly has its own dignity. It has three buildings that resemble big huts (they house the Museum and Exhibits Collection). In front of the buildings stands a stoned plaza, with stone-made stairways. The Museum had already closed, but I managed my way for taking photos of some Museum exhibits ... across its big glass windows :-) Once I roamed a little bit across the site, I decided to leave, as rain was looming.

At the Mazahua CC exit, I was confronted with the big question: How do I get out from here ? Having not planned this route beforehand, I did not know which way did I have to take in order to arrive back at home. I asked a local woman (just at the Mazahua CC exit) and she presented me two options: one was to remake my path towards Ixtlahuaca, and then ride the toll highway to Toluca. The other option was to continue cycling uphills towards a town named Yebucivi, and then descend to the highway to Toluca (I intended to take the bus back to Mexico City from Toluca). She made me clear that getting back to Ixtlahuaca was far more harder since there were a lot more climbings along that road. So, I choosed to continue my upward road towards Yebucivi and Toluca. It was a completely unknown route to me, but, at the end of the day, it proofed itself as the most reliable way to arrive at Toluca.

15 km later, I arrived at the highest point in the route: Yebucivi (elev: 3000 m), a Mazahua town lost in the top of the hills. I must comment that on my ride on those heights, I did always find towns and people, in spite of the height and apparent solitude. It seemed to me that those towns were in place since hundreds of years, and that its people just liked them so much, that abandoning their hometown was just an unthoughtful action.

After Yebucivi comes a steep descent towards San Joaquin del Monte, at the junction with the 15 federal highway to Toluca. At least in the civilization ! But from here I still had 45 km to go, with rain, and darkness looming, as it was already 20:10 ! The great advantage was that the strong descents were already behind me. Under the cover of the rain I cycled my way towards San Miguel Almoloya and San Luis Mextepec, riding also under full cover of the night. The weather conditions (rain + night) were so dangerous, that a SUV driver stopped along the highway and offered me a lift ... invitation which I politely declined, just because I was sure I could finish this ride without motorized help :-) Talk about nonsense ! But anyway, I would like to thank the SUV driver for his offer.

At the end of the highway, I found an Oxxo shop (best cyclist's friend) where I could purchase chocolate bars and a big Moka coffee, which enabled me regain my body heat, previously lost in the rain. A little later, I arrived at the Toluca Center at 22:10, where I was lucky enough to take a couple of nocturnal shots of the Cathedral and Government Palace. After that I cycled my way towards the bus station in order to take the bus back home (last bus to Mexico City departs at 22:30, fare: 34 pesos).

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tejupilco (Mexico), 08.07.07

2007-07-09T12:03:00.001-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 188 Km, Total Ascent: 2,228 m, Total Descent: 3,068 m, Time: 8:16 hr, Avg. Speed: 22.4 Km/hr, Max Speed: 76.4 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 35.56 MJ, Power: 300 W.

Travel Report:

Upsss, I did it again ! Another cycling ride that starts at the early hour of 07:30 ! We are again back on the right track :-), although still an hour and half later than intended ...

This ride had the stated purpose of arriving at the San Miguel Ixtapa Archaeological Site, but as we will later discover, it proofed impossible to make the visit to the site on Sunday, and get back to Mexico City in the same day

I took Constituyentes Avenue (less than 5 km from home) in order to exit Mexico City and gain access to the free Toluca highway. This is an interesting ascent of 1,000 m up to the Tres Cruces summit (alt: 3,220 m) in 25 km (4 % grade), where I arrived at 09:20. From here comes a descent all the way to La Marquesa and Lerma, from where a gentle slope took me up to the state capital: Toluca.

I couldn't pay a visit to the Toluca center, as I took instead the highway to Temazcaltepec (Pacifico Avenue), in order to save time ... and started the second summit of the day: the ascent to Buenavista.

This road climbs up to a pass between La Calera and San Antonio mountains, reaching a higher altitude than Tres Cruces at 3,300 m. And the climbing is hard, as it is also a long way, from Toluca to the Buenavista summit. But the landscapes are superb ! You are riding near the Xinantecatl (Nevado de Toluca), an impressive broad volcano. As the sky was clear (owed to the previous night rainfall), the vistas of the volcano left me speechless. Man, it is great to ride early and have a clear sky ! I would recommend you a visit to these superb panoramic views at the Photoset Show link, above posted.

From this second summit, comes a slalom descent all the way down to Temazcaltepec (alt: 1,700 m). It is a 1,600 m descent in 45 km (3.5 % grade) ! Temazcaltepec is a picturesque town lost in the sierra, with beautiful roofs made of teja (red colored curved bricks) ... and weather more akin to tropical states like Tabasco or Guerrero. Really, once in Temazcaltepec, you could feel the hot and humidity that is usually found in southern Mexican states, but alas ! I had not get out still of the Mexico state :-) I could even say that the people also started to resemble more akin to the tropical towns in Mexico, meaning with that that they were becoming friendlier and happier than its northern neighbours. Needless to say, Temazcaltepec has no problem at all with water: they have lots of it.

From Temazcaltepec to Tejupilco the road is a sierra-crosser, as I had to climb two summits more, albeit less higher. The highway between this two towns is in pristine conditions. I imagine it has just been re-pavemented, or it is being expanded to a 4-lane highway. Besides, the vistas along the highway are wonderful: you can admire the magnificence of the sierra that was just being crossed. Lots of vegetation, hills, mountains, and a beautiful silence.

Once I crossed those small summits, a descent comes, which enabled me to arrive at Tejupilco at 16:00. Tejupilco is a beautiful town like no other one. Its Cathedral, Main Square, Market and Municipal Palace are so loaded with tradition, that you could swear you were standing in a town of a century ago. It looks so old, yet in a very sustained condition, that it gives the illusion of being aboard a time machine. I loved this town ! I roamed a bit around the Main Square, just admiring the beauty and tradition of its main buildings. What I liked most was its Cathedral, all in white painted, and located at the top of what appeared to me as a hill. It is accessed by stairs. The whole Main Square of Tejupilco made me ask myself if, by any chance, Macondo (the eternal town in One Hundred Years of Solitude) would be a lot different from what I had in front of my eyes. I was waiting (just half-hearted) to see appearing from the corner to Jose Arcadio Buendía :-)

But the show must go on, and I had to take a decision whether continuing or not the trip to San Miguel Ixtapa. Problem was: the archaeological site had closed 1 hour ago (really, that site closes at 15:00 on Sundays !), and there were no buses taking me back from Ixtapa to Tejupilco (being it a 400 m ascent), and the last bus to Mexico City departed at 19:00. If I went to Ixtapa, just to know the town, I would not be able to climb the last ascent back and be in Tejupilco before the last bus to Mexico City departed. So I decided not to go to Ixtapa, leaving that visit to the next occasion I come to Tejupilco. Instead I choosed to roam around town, visiting for example the road to La Estancia Ixtapa, just before the descent road to San Miguel. I also looked for the house were Miguel Hidalgo, the founding father of Mexico, was born, but up to my dismay, not even the police was able to tell me were in hell the house was located !

At 19:00 I reached the bus central, and tried to take the bus, but ... the bus had no big luggage boxes, and I was not able to load my bicycle. I had to wait for the next bus (that came from Altamirano City, Guerrero, at 19:30, fare: 80 pesos) in front of the Church, but again, no big luggage boxes. But this time I was in no mood for waiting for the next (if any) bus, so I had to take off the frontal wheel and ... voila, here we go in the bus :-)

The return bus trip back home took nearly 4 hours, arriving at Observatorio Terminal at 23:00. A short subway trip and I was finally back at home's safety.

Final thougths: Tejupilco represents the first leg of a three day cycling touring from Mexico City to the coastal fishing town of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero (old nahua Cihuatlan: Place of Women), target of a cycling ride that I have already in mind. The second leg is Altamirano City, in the southern state of Guerrero. So, simply stated, stay tuned ... :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tula Archaeological Site (Hidalgo). 01.07.07

2007-07-02T14:44:00.001-05:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 152 Km, Total Ascent: 975 m, Time: 7:23 hr, Avg. Speed: 20.5 Km/hr, Max Speed: 51.8 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 31.51 MJ, Power: 300 W.

Travel Report:

Cycling from the center of Mexico City, I reached the center of Tlalnepantla at 08:20, rendezvous point with the fellow cyclist: Michaela Lochova, a determined touring cyclist from the Chezc Republic. Let me state that she was able to cycle the whole round trip, from Mexico City to the toltec Tula Archaeological Site (and back to Mexico City), without stating a single complaint, fierce desert sun and dilluvial rain notwhistanding.

We took the road to Cuautitlan, via the free highway, since It had been previously agreed to use as few high traffic highways as possible. We continued up to the Tepotzotlan deviation, but we took instead the road to Coyotepec, a beautiful town which I had always passed by the paid highway to Queretaro, without having entering in it once. I had now the opportunity to know its beautiful Cathedral and Convent, so we made a little stop at that location.

In order to arrive at Jorobas, we took a secondary road that circles the hill after Coyotepec. The road conditions were one of the worst I had ever seen. In fact, this road was closed to the traffic, as it was under maintenance. Some parts of this road had no asphalted carpet at all, as it had been removed to put another, I guess. So the floor of this road was sometimes plain ground. And as the previous night had been one of thundering storm, you can imagine the quantity of mud that covered this road.

Well, it was in this road that I broke my Dura-Ace chain ... just at our arrival at Jorobas. At least I broke it in a town ! Unfortunately, the only mechanic that was in town was an automotive one, and he was unable to fix the chain, as he lacked the right tools for the job. From here we weighted our choices, and decided to take a bus to Tula (via Tepeji del Rio), where I hoped I could find some bicycle mechanic.

At the arrival at Tula, and aided by the directions given by a fellow cyclist, in 5 minutes I had found a cycling repair shop, and in less than 3 minutes, my chain was fixed. Alas ! The wonders of civilization ! From here we could continue cycling to the nearby Tula Achaeological Site, arriving at the site at 12:45.

The site is really impressive. It houses several buildings: three pyramids, a whole palace, an immense ball game court, a tzomplantli (skulls wall) and also: two museums ! I think that the best way to describe you the site is to show you the photos I obtained there. You can have a look at them in the photoset show link posted above.

We roamed through the complete site. Some of the visited buildings were: the Burned Palace, Pyramids B and C, Ball Game Court, and of course, both museums. Of particular interest were the two museums of the site. Each one of these houses an impressive collection of archaeological findings. Stone sculptures representing Chaac-Mol and Tlaloc (rain gods), atlantes (toltec warriors), reliefs, ceremonial pottery, stone stellaes, ceremonial flag carriers, etc.

Once the visit to the site was concluded, we started cycling the return leg of our journey. It was 15:00, and the sun was at its hottest point. At the exit of Tula we bought water bottles, as in front of us rested 40 km of desert, as we had decided to take the Refinery road, which drives back to Jorobas, crossing mountains in the midst of the desert, with barely a town along its route.

The desert has always been something that fascinates me. Its profound silence, its climatic hardness, its endless landscapes. I think I have started to love the desert, having previously disliked it a lot. But sometimes I believe to find poetry in its hardships.

At our arrival back at Jorobas we took a rest there, and enjoyed the town's speciality: ram barbecue. Not being great fans of eating lots of meat (neither Michaela or me), but being it the only available food in town, I think we could learn to appreciate the dish :-)

Resuming the ride, we took the paid highway to Mexico City (in order to save time), and branched out of it at Cuautitlán, where we paid a visit to its beautiful Cathedral and Convent. Taking the free highway to Mexico from there, we rode to Tlalnepantla, but at La Quebrada, the sky started to fall in pieces. What a rain, man ! And, worst of it: it didn't stop raining the whole night. From La Quebrada to Satellite City, we cycled an hour under a fierce rain. Well, it had rained so much that water was felling down from the elevated bridges along the route, fabricating occasional immense urban waterfalls, some of them felling above us.

Michaela and I parted ways in Satellite City, from where I resumed my way back home with a 50 min, 20 km long ride to Mexico City center under a dilluvial rain, arriving back at the safety of home at 20:45. All I can say is that this ride, performed under inclement weather conditions (heat and rain) was one of those rides that makes you remember why you are a cyclist: to challenge the elements ! :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tula Archaeological Site (Hidalgo), 24.06.07

2007-06-27T02:45:00.001-05:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 193 Km, Total Ascent: 1100 m, Cycling Time: 8:02 hr, Avg. Speed: 24 Km/hr, Max Speed: 57.1 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 36 MJ, Cycling Power: 311 W.

Travel Report:

Owed to the fact that on the previous day I had to attend a late-night compromise, this ride started at the insane late hour of 12:00 !

I had decided for this ride to the Tula Archaeological Site, not to take the paid highway to Querétaro (as I had taken a lot of times this highway), riding instead by the old (and free) highway. Starting from Mexico City center, I rode towards Tlalnepantla, Cuautitlán, Teoloyucan, Huehuetoca, and Jorobas.

From Jorobas, I had to take a choice between 2 different paths: the paid highway (that I had used a lot of times), or the free road passing by the Tula Refinery. I choosed the last one, always wanting to know something new. But the road conditions were less than ideal. The asphalt carpet is eroded and full of holes, caused by the big trucks that roam freely on this highway.

The landscapes along the Refinery road are speechless ! Full desert ! I seldom ride on the northern side of Mexico City, but each time I do it, I always feel struck by the incredible vistas along the desert ! Accustomed as I am to the humid landscapes of the south and east part of my country, being in in the northern deserts resembles me like travelling in an entire different planet !

Unfortunately, my camera stopped working in Huehuetoca, since I was carrying it in the handlebar bag (lots of vibration), so I am not able to offer you a glimpse of those beautiful desert vistas.

Following the road ahead, after good 100 km, I could finally arrive at the Tula Archaeological Site, just 15 minutes later than last allowed entrance time (17:00). So, after crossing some words with the guard, I cycled my way back to Mexico City, arriving past 22:00 hr, under full night cover.

I hope to remake this travel next week, but departing now at 07:00, so I could finally enter at the beautiful Tula archaeological site. And now, with a working photo camera !

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tlaxcala Regional Museum (Tlaxcala), 17.06.07

2007-06-18T14:31:00.001-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 143 Km, Total Ascent: 1200 m, Cycling Time: 6:18 hr, Avg. Speed: 22.6 Km/hr, Max Speed: 70.7 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 27 MJ, Cycling Power: 300 W.

Travel Report:

Owed to the fact that on the previous day I had to attend a late-night compromise, this ride started at the late hour of 10:00, sadly.

I took the usual way of Zaragoza Av to the usual gigantic traffic jam that already was in its position, at the junction between the free and paid Puebla highways. I cycled all the way up (by the free highway), passing the town of Avila Camacho, to the Llano Grande summit (1000 m ascent), and later, descending all the way down to Sn Martin Texmelucan (Puebla).

From Texmelucan I took the free highway to Tlaxcala, an easy plain 25 km long ride, that gently took me to the heart of that beautiful city. Once there I headed directly to the Sn Francisco Ex-Convent, site of the Tlaxcala Regional Museum, located in the top of a hill, near the center of Tlaxcala.

The museum has several exhibition rooms. The first of them houses several pre-hispanic archaeological findings, unearthed from all the state of Tlaxcala. From this exhibition are worth mentioning the sculptures of Camaxtli and Teocipactli, Tlaxcallan indigenous gods, that were worshipped only there (and not by the rest of the nahua cultures). Several poly-chromated ceramics are also shown, which were used in religious rituals. I could even see a couple of Olmec artifacts ! These Gulf Culture ritual axes were found in Huamantla, and are thought to have been made in Veracruz. The rest of the Museum is devoted to the exhibition of colonial and contemporary art works. You can have a glimpse of the items exhibited in the Museum in the above linked PhotoSet Show.

After finishing my visit to the Museum, I had to wait at the entrance of it, since the heavy rain that had started one hour ago had still not finished. Once the rain stopped, I could start the return leg of my journey, this time cycling back to Texmelucan.

Unfortunately, the road was still wet, so I had to accept the fact that I was going to arrive at Texmelucan made a soap. But heck, this was better than last ride full sun, from which I still carry the solar burns on my skin.

Arriving at Texmelucan at about 20:00, it was a no-brain choice taking the return bus to Mexico City, which for only 54 pesos took me and my bicycle back home :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tizatlan Archaeological Site (Tlaxcala), 03.06.07

2007-06-04T16:14:00.001-05:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 160 Km, Total Ascent: 1400 m, Cycling Time: 7:28 hr, Avg. Speed: 21.4 Km/hr, Max Speed: 60.3 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 30 MJ, Cycling Power: 280 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at about 08:00 (or 3 hours later than self-proposed). From the center of the city I took the Zaragoza Av. all the way to the eastern terminus of the city, but just arriving to the bifurcation between the free and paid highways to Puebla, the whole road was being blocked by the police, as reparation to the road were being made. Fortunately, as I was taking a picture of the gigantic traffic mess, the police opened the road, so I could say that I was the first one to take the free highway, at least that day. Why ? Because I, as soon as I heard the police order to continue, I was able to position myself in front of all the traffic that was just beginning to advance to the free highway :-) Life is made of simple things, isn't it ?

I continued inside of Ixtapaluca, where I could see several cars and pickups with cyclists waiting. I guessed at that moment they were waiting for more cyclists. And in fact, I was able to see them later on the highway, as they were part of a cycling race, which departed from Ixtapaluca and ended in the Llano Grande summit. At the end of the urban Ixtapaluca I could see more cyclists waiting.

Nonetheless, I started the ascent, passing firstly the town of Zoquiapan. On my way to the Llano Grande summit, I was reached by the cycling race that was taking part. Remembering my last week broken chain I reminded myself about the importance of a good cadence in cycling, so this time I was not able to match this cycling race. I had to accept the fact that those cyclists were better cyclists than me :-)

At my arrival to Avila Camacho, I was so hungry that I stopped for some bananas and apples. After that short gastronomical stop, I continued the ascent. Almost reaching the summit, I could enjoy the breath-taking panoramic views that the volcanoes that surround the Mexico City Valley offered to my eyes. In the crystalline air of the morning, and having shorted the distance to the volcano. it offered and impressive vista, with its top covered in snow.

At my arrival at the Llano Grande summit, I could have a glimpse of what a strong cycling group looked like :-) There were more than 50 racers that were celebrating their winning ceremony. I crossed some words with one of the racers, and after that, I continued my journey to the other side of the mountain, towards Texmelucan.

Arriving at Texmelucan, I took the 25 km long, plain road that would take me to Tlaxcala, the state capital of the Tlaxcala state. At my arrival at Tlaxcala, I took the deviation to Tizatlán, about 5 km north-east of Tlaxcala City. In Tizatlán I had to climb the steep hill where the town's church is located to finally arrive at the Tizatlán Archaeological Site. Tizatlán was the head of government of one of the four city-states that formed the Tlaxcalan Republic, etern enemy of the Nahua Empire. Xicotencatl was its ruler, and old and wise king, whose son, Xicotencatl Axayacatzin (the younger) fought bravely the spanish conquerors, until its execution by Cortes.

The point of this archaeological site is that it houses an interesting collection of pre-hispanic frescoes painted on several basements, which are in fact poly-chromated altars. You can have a look at these stunning paintings in the above linked photoset show. It is really interesting seeing how, in spite of having being painted more than seven centuries, the frescoes are still trying to tell us, its spectators, a story that still wants to be told.

Once finishing my visit to the impressive frescoes, I paid a short visit to the site museum, which houses several descriptions of the history and richness of the site.

In the same site, there is a beautiful open chapel, which also happens to have a lot of beautifully painted frescoes housed in its interior. The open chapels, which covered only the altar, and used no roof for the rest of the Cathedral, were erected in the first years of the colonization, with the purpose of being more attractive to the numerous indigenous population, still to be converted to the cristianism.

After taking some pictures of a monument erected to Xicohtencatl Axayacatzin, with the impressively beautiful La Malintzin volcano in the background, I started the returning leg of my journey, cycling firstly back towards Tlaxcala, by the paid highway to Tlaxcala. After that, I took the free highway to Texmelucan.

It was 18:30 when I arrived back at Texmelucan. Realizing that a cycling return to Mexico City would paramount to suicide (I don't want more nocturnal descents from Llano Grande), I took the wise (as in: coward) decision to abort the cycling return to Mexico and instead, I took the AU bus, which for 54 pesos took me safely back home :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Texmelucan (Puebla), 27.05.07

2007-05-29T17:54:00.001-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 180 Km, Total Ascent: 2050 m, Total Descent: 2050 m, Cycling Time: 7:55 hr, Avg. Speed: 22.6 Km/hr, Max Speed: 65.2 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 35.43 MJ, Cycling Power: 311 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at about 08:00 (or 3 hours later than self-proposed). On my way out of the city, I crossed with the first Cicloton ! What is that ? It is a city-sponsored Sunday 8 hours 30 Km long cycling circuit around Mexico City, that will take place once in a month. The streets are closed along the path of the Cicloton, so the cyclist can ride alone on their lanes. I don't know if it is going to be the best of the ideas, but there we go :-)

After an hour or cycling I arrived at the beginning of the free highway to Puebla, where I could see several fellow cyclists also riding up the steep ascent to the Llano Grande summit (elev: 3200 m) from the ground level (2250 m) of Mexico City. There was also in fact, a cycling race, from Ixtapaluca to Rio Frio, both locations in the state of Mexico.

Somehow I could manage to insert myself along this race, trying not to be the last man in the race. But I had to pay the price. As I had five weeks of not having cycled, my so called technique was in bad shape, so I wasn´t cycling efficiently, putting instead too much force on the pedals in each stroke, resulting in a very bad cadence. The end result ? A broken chain :-(

Yep, I broke my chain 4 km before (and just 150 m under) the highest point at the Llano Grande summit ! My God ... Why me ? This new chain (Shimano DuraAce) has only a couple of rides on it ! I decided to walk to the highest point at Llano Grande, and from there, glide towards Rio Frio, a town on the other side of the mountain, where I could probably find a bike mechanic. Please do not forget that this day was Sunday ... God.

What else could I do ? I had no chain cutter, I (almost) always ride solo, there were no towns nearer than Rio Frio ... f*ck. It was lovely to see how the rest of the race cyclists were passing by me now ... After a short stop in Llano Grande to look for mechanics, I started gliding my descent to Rio Frio.

Once in Rio Frio, I looked for a bike repair shop, but all were closed ... yes, that was Sunday. But, in a stroke of luck, a local instructed me to talk to one music CD seller, as he was ... the bike repair man, in his Sunday office ! Luckily enough, he was eager to fix my chain :-)

In this way I could continue my way to Texmelucan, in the state of Puebla, just 22 km west of Tlaxcala, the capital of the homonimous state.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Chiautla Ex-Hacienda (Puebla), 15.04.07

2007-04-17T01:15:00.001-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 180 Km, Total Ascent: 2050 m, Total Descent: 2050 m, Cycling Time: 7:55 hr, Avg. Speed: 22.6 Km/hr, Max Speed: 65.2 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 35.43 MJ, Cycling Power: 311 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at 09:15 hr, a little late, but without consequences, as last week :-) This ride took me to the interesting Chiautla Ex-Hacienda, a beautiful XIX century pulque Hacienda, which with its symmetrical gardens and artificial lake (a dam, in fact) clearly resembles the Versailles palace. The Chiautla Hacienda is located 4 km before Sn Martin Texmelucan, in the eastern state of Puebla.

In order to arrive at Chiautla (Puebla) from Mexico City center (elev: 2240 m), I took Fray Servando and later Zaragoza Av. In the messy junction where the free and pay Puebla highways diverge, I could lastly take the right path, riding the free highway from its very beginning, something I was previously unable to make, due to the gigantic traffic jam that the junction is nowadays converted in.

Entering in Ixtapaluca, I ride all that avenue that crosses this big county. Ixtapaluca stretches up to Rio Frio, on the Puebla border. The road is mainly plain up to the town of Zoquiapan, where the road starts to elevate at a grade of more than 5 %. As usual, the landscapes along the route were stunning, albeit with a little more smog owed to the later hour.

At Avila Camacho (elev: 2900 m) I stopped as I was already starving, buying there some fruit. In Ávila Camacho I could observe several cycling groups that use to rest or eat in town, before continuing their climbing to the Llano Grande summit. Once I re-assumed the ascent, I reached Llano Grande (elev: 3210 m), and paid a visit to the lonely blue guadalupean church that crowns that location, a humble and small church where a group of cyclists from Chimalhuacán were resting from the hard climbing and sunny weather. After we exchanged some words, we departed, as they returned to Mexico City, and I continued to the other side of the summit, in Texmelucan direction.

After Rio Frio I found a cycling race on the highway. After having a look at the photos I took of some of those racers, I believe they were riding one-speed bikes. A hard way to climb the highway towards Llano Grande, if you mind.

I continued my descent, crossing Sta Rita, Sn Matias, and Sn Lucas. The road to the Chiautla Ex-Hacienda is located after the town of Sn Lucas (elev: ca 2300 m), to the left. There is a big sign there, so you can not miss the entrance. After almost 2 km of dirt road, I finally arrived at the gates of the Hacienda.

But alas ! I found myself confronted with two big problems there:

I could not enter with the bike, so I had to walk, and I had only my carbon-fiber SPD cycling shoes, not really a pleasure to walk with, and
I had to pay an entrance fee ! Any Mexican can visit the biggest national archaeological sites and museums free of charge on Sundays, and there, I had to pay 40 pesos to have a look at some small porfirist pulque Hacienda ! Unbelievable but true :-(

As I was not willing to pay the entrance fee, since I had never have to pay for any entrance on my Sundays travels to archaeological and historical sites and museums, I had to content myself taking some photographs of the Hacienda gates. On my way back to the highway, I could also take some shots of the facade of the hacienda, albeit a little covered by the trees, conveniently planted (in order to difficult the view, I assume) on the hacienda perimeter.

Once in the highway, I decided (in order to avoid last week hellish nocturnal no-lights 1000 m descent from Llano Grande to Mexico City) not going to Texmelucan, to finish the first leg of my journey, although it was distant only 4 km from that location. Instead, I decided to immediately return to Mexico City, so I could arrive at Llano Grande with light :-)

Starting now the second climbing to the summit, I stopped at Sta Rita (elev: 2600 m), last town before the Zoquiapan National Park, for buying water. From Sta Rita there are no towns until Rio Frio (elev: 3000 m), which I passed by, reaching again the Llano Grande summit at 17:10 :-)

Continuing the descent with no further delays, I rode along the free highway, this time in Mexico City direction, arriving at the bottom of it in Ixtapaluca (elev: 2300), at 17:54. From here its rested only a 32 km long plain ride back home, finally arriving at the center of Mexico City at 19:17, fully under the cover of the light :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Ocotelulco Archaeological Site + Tlaxcala (Tlaxcala), 08.04.07

2007-04-09T16:35:00.001-05:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 250 Km, Total Ascent: 2400 m, Total Descent: 2400 m, Cycling Time: 10:48 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.15 Km/hr, Max Speed: 65.2 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 44 MJ, Cycling Power: 283 W.

Travel Report:

This ride started at 07:30, although I had intended to start it at 05:00. I would later discover that I should had really started it at 05:00 ... the hard way :-(

In this cycling ride I could visit the Ocotelulco Archaeological Site, a place located a couple of km north of the city of Tlaxcala, the capital city of the eastern Tlaxcala state. The interesting part is that the return leg had also to be cycling. Taking into account this detail, the total distance cycled on this Sunday was 250 Km ! Additionally, I had to climb twice to the Llano Grande summit, obtaining with this a mere 2500 m of total ascent :-)

Tlaxcala is located 25 km east of Texmelucan (Puebla). The road between both cities is basically plain. The only region that could be of worry is the climbing of Llano Grande (elev: 3200 m), both from Mexico City (elev: 2240 m) or Texmelucan (elev: 2250 m), both cities located on the western and eastern sides of the Llano Grande summit, itself a pass between the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes.

The road from the center of Mexico city to Ixtapaluca is basically a 35 km long plain ride. The only matter of preocupation are the holes in the pavement :-) After Ixtapaluca (2250 m), fun starts, with a steep 15 km ascent to Colony Avila Camacho at 2900 m, with an average grade of 5 %, and later to the Llano Grande summit at 3200 m, a 6 km ascent with an average grade of also 5 %.

The vistas and scenics from the free highway to Puebla are incredible. Both big volcanoes that surround Mexico City, the Popocateptl and the Iztaccihual are highly visible, and in the cristalline air of the morning they look fabulous. On the other hand, as soon as the road gets more and more elevated, the ladscape of the Mexico City valley becomes more visible, showing an incredible vista of what once was the Anahuac Lake. In fact, what today look like hills in this valley, five centuries ago were only islands, in the enormous Lake of Anahuac.

Additionally, the free highway to Puebla is incredible beautiful, well traced and surrounded by the forest pine trees. You can have a glimpse of the beautiful scenics of this climbing at the photoset. Nowadays, I reckon that I should had always taken this highway on my previous rides to Puebla; but well, everybody had always been a begineer, some day.

As I passed the town of Colonia Avila Camacho, I found a group of cyclists resting in the town. I don't know to where this group was cycling to, but it looked like a numerous group. Maybe they were heading for some kind of pilgrimage.

Climbing upwards I reached the summit (Llano Grande), where I could finally take some photographs of a blue church that I had always seen from the paid highway to Puebla, but was unable to photograph. Now, as I was riding on the free highway, at last I could pass near that lonely blue church, on the top of the summit.

It was time now to cycle downwards. First town: Rio Frio. A little after this town the free highway crosses by above the paid highway, via the Potrero Bridge. A beautiful vista of both highways can be appreciated from this bridge.

On my way down to Texmelucan I passed along the following towns: Sta Rita Tlahuapan, Sn Matias Tlalancaleca, Sn Lucas and a couple on lesser known towns. As soon as I reached Texmelucan, I opted for the highway to Tlaxcala. Not bothering myself with a full visit to the market, I decided to pass along the center and eat something along the road. By miracle, I could find a fruit shop where really tasteful fruit was sold. So, after a delicous breakfast of almost 5 kg of fruit (between bananas, apples and oranges), I could contine my way to Tlaxcala :-)

On the highway to Tlaxcala I somehow missed a junction, so I had to make a small turn around the town of Ixtlahuixtla. After reincorporating myself with the right road, I proceeded directly to Tlaxcala.

Once arriving at Tlaxcala, I headed for Ocotelulco, a couple of kilometers north of Tlaxcala. This town is located on a hill. In fact, Ocotelulco was the main pre-hispanic city in this region. I mean, Ocotelulco was once the pre-hispanic city that later, at the spanish conquest, would become the city of Tlaxcala. As was a custom in pre-hispanic times, the cities were located atop of the hills, in order to be able to have to have a early warning of any enemy incursion, and also to be able to better defend an elevated position. Building cities in the plains, and not on the top of the hills was made a custom only since colonial times.

At my arrival at Ocotelulco, I headed immediately to the archaeological site, just to discover that it was closed and with no visible adverstising ! Just by asking the locals I could arrive at the site, located aside from the church. I was told by the locals to knock in the door of the so-called site. I did as instructed and surprise ! A guardian came out of the blue and allowed me to enter !

He told me that as the archaeological site is currently still not offitially opened, there are no visible advertisment out of the site (not even a single label), but that the entry is allowed for the ocassional visitors, whatever that means. Well, at least I was inside the site (after 125 km of cycling).

Once inside the site, the guide proceeded to give me a fully detailed account of the main findings of the site. The first thing I saw was the paintings (little murals) located in a small pyramid, housed in an adobe building (for the paintings preservation). The paitings depict mainly Tezcatlipoca (nahua death god) and Cacamaxtli (native talxcaltecan god). Curiously, when I asked for permission to take some photographs of those paintings, I was denied the required authorization, because, as the guide told me: as the site was still not public, the archaeologists were vey zealeous about their precious findings ! I love my surreal Mexico :-)

But the guide offered me a visit to the site museum, where a lot of very interesting findings could be appreciated. Some of the artifacts shown in the museum are: vestiges of more tlaxcaltecan pre-hispanic paintings over adobe, remains of gods sculptures, several poly-chromated ceramic vases, and ritual sacrifitial offering items: like bezotes (lips piercing items), orejeras (same for the ears) and other adornments. In the exposition can also be seen several ritual and common-usage plates, painted with representation of the Tezcatlipoca god, along with several amate-paper paintings, also depicting the mentioned god. I would recommend you having a look at the precious riches of this site museum at the following photoset.

A special mention require the stone statues, representation of the flower wars prisioners. They are depicted as figures with a solar disc in his breast (taken with both hands), and curiously, beheaded in the sculpture, a reminder of the sad destiny that awaited those prisoners.

Once the guided visit at the museum concluded, I took some photographs of the surrounding pre-hispanic builduings and of the exterior of the site musem. After that, my visit to the archaeological site concluded. I should thank profoundly the guide of the museum for having given me a fully detailed explanation of the museum riches. After that I paid a quick visit to the adjacent Ocotelulco church.

I headed then towards the center of Tlaxcala, a couple of kilometers distant. The city of Tlaxcala is indeed a beautiful colonial city, even its buildings colors harmonize between them. The impressive Govenrment Palace, which is located in a full block is a jewel to eye. Its central park or alameda also captures the imagination. The portales house the finests restaurants in the city. And its beautiful and colossal Cathedral is a sample of the good taste of its inhabitants.

After my visit to the city of Tlaxcala, I started the return leg of my journey, a 125 km long ride, with a second ascention to the Llano Grande summit. The problem is that it was already too late, almost 16:00 when I left the city of Tlaxcala ! In an hour or so I arrived back at Texmelucan, leaving it behind at 17:20, taking the free highway to Mexico to make the ascent. The climbing to Sta Rita Tlahuapan probed to be an exhausting one, so I stopped there for buying some food (in a shop full of high spirited fellas), restarting the ascent to Llano Grande after a short break at 18:40, arriving finally at the summit at 20:15.

As you could imagine, it was already dark (20:15) when I had to decide how to descend to Mexico City from Llano Grande: a 1000 m steep descent. As I had once descended also under the cover of the night by the paid highway, I decided to switch highways in Llano Grande and leave the free highway, as a nocturnal no-lights 1000 m descend by the free highway paramounted to suicide.

With a lot of cold and extremely tired I started to cycle down. I couldn't feel my hands, my wrists were aching like cut by a knife, and I could barely see a thing. Above all, I had to undertook a descent speed of 50 - 60 km/hr in full darkness. It was hell (or insanity), but it had to be done. I was cursing myself for not waking up earlier. I promised not to do this once again, but time will tell ... And the cherry on the pie: the last kilometer before the descent finishes was under repairing, so the asphalt was severily damaged. I thanked God my bycicle has frontal suspension.

At my arrival at the Huixtoco toll station, after that half an hour hellish nocturnal descent, I stopped for warming. My full body was shaking. I don't know if it was due to the extreme cold I was feeling, or by the fear I felt on that nocturnal descent. I could barely walk for some minutes, so I prefer just to sit down and eat the last apple I had. That helped to recover my warm. Once I could again walk, I mounted on my bike and headed towards Mexico City.

I took the first deviation after the toll station to Ixtapaluca, as it was safer to cycle inside the city, than the highway, now in the darkness. I cycled my way back to home in a slow 35 km long plain ride, since it was already full night, I had no lights and I could barely see a thing at all on the pavement.

Once at home, arriving with no problems at all, I thanked all the Olymp gods for allowing me to return home in one piece, and promised myself next time to wake up earlier. Only time will tell if that comes true :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Tecaltzingo + Texmelucan (Puebla), 25.03.07

2007-03-26T13:21:00.001-06:00

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.

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 204.25 Km, Total Ascent: 2238 m, Total Descent: 2229, Cycling Time: 8:38 hr, Paused Time: 0:55:27 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.4 Km/hr, Max Speed: 63.4 Km/hr, Energy Expended: 38.47 MJ, Cycling Power: 309.42 W.

Travel Report:

Wow ! At least a ride that starts at a moderately early hour ! I started to ride at 08:30 ! Well before my usual rides :-) As I had plenty of time, I decided to go to a town near Texmelucan (in the eastern state of Puebla), return in bike included :-)

The whole journey comprehend at least 200 Km, since only to arrive at Texmelucan 95 Km are required, along an ascent of at least 1000 m. At the end of the day, my GPS receivers recorded 204 Km and more than 2200 m of total ascent ! No wonder why my knees are aching a little today :-(

In order to arrive at my destination, I took the Zaragoza Av., and continued all the way along the paid highway to Puebla. I had decided to take the free highway, but somehow I missed the cross where I should had deviated to take the free highway to Puebla, instead of the paid one. The bifurcation between both of them is currently a mess, as some kind of traffic bypass is being constructed as we speak. As this cross is a gigantic traffic jam, I lost the junction and had to continue over the paid highway.

But when I arrived at Rio Frio, passing the Llano Grande summit (alt: 3200 m), I branched out of the paid highway, and merge myself with the free one ! This was my first time on this road ! I have cycled a lot of times along the paid one, and now it was time to know this new road to me. I can say that this road (the free one) on the side of Puebla is excellent. Good carpet conditions, and superb scenics. But on the side of Mexico State, it is much less exciting, as the asphalt carpet is abandoned, showing a lot of holes :-(

The target of my travel was a town called Tecaltzingo, 5 Km to the southwest of San Martín Texmelucan. San Buenaventura Tecaltzingo (complete name) houses, in its main square, in front of its church, five big stones with carved drawings, i.e. petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are usually associated with pre-historic cultures. They are considered to be a symbolic pre-writing communication system. The oldest petroglyphs are dated 10,000 - 12,000 years back. Being symbolic in nature, petroglyphs usually display some kind of animal figures (humans included).

The petroglyphs located in Tecaltzingo show in fact, antropo- and zoo-morph figures. I believe I could recognize the figures of a deer, a rabbit and a dog. Somehow I missed the human figures. But you can judge yourself in the following photoset. I do not have the exact date these petroglyphs were made, but they do certainly look pretty old to me. They are estimated to belong to the phase Cholula III (500 - 700 CE).

What really saddens my heart is viewing how some of those ancient petroglyphs have been vandalized, since two of them show drawings and labels painted on them :-( A propo, I forgot to mention that the church and atrium of this town are ... pintoresque, at least.

After paying my visit to Tecaltzingo, I returned to Texmelucan (main city in the region). I went to the center of this city, to have a look at its beautiful cathedral. Curiously, this one is of the only cathedral I have seen that allows the parking of autos inside its cathedral atrium ! The facade of this cathedral is really beautiful. It features a lot of lovely barroque reliefs.

The park in the center of Texmelucan houses a Hidalgo statue (Hidalgo is the funding father of Mexico), along a sympathetic kiosk adorned with talavera (blue ceramic).

Once I had finished my cultural excursion, only rested the last half of my trip: the return to Mexico City :-) I took the free highway for my return. I passed, on my way back to the Llano Grande summit: Tlalancaleca, Tlahuapan and Rio Frio. In Rio Frío I made a little stop to eat something (as I was starving) and to take some photos of its curious church.

I don't know why, but the maintenance of the church building in Rio Frio appears to be neglected, as its facade (and associated building) is literally falling in pieces :-( It is really a lovely church, but sadly, abandoned to the elements force ... and with no restoration.

After my visit to Rio Frio, I continued my way to the top of the summit: Llano Grande. When I was arriving there I took some photos of this new vista in front of me: Llano Grande as seen from the free highway. It is curious to see a summit from above, but I reckon that the free highway is a little higher at this point than the paid one.

From Llano Grande I started my descent using again the free highway. Man, this road is dangerous ! Bad asphalt carpet conditions and a lot of U-turns along the road (as the ones seen in the Tour de France). I should have taken photos of this U-turns along my descent in the highway, but my mind was so focused with the terrain and curves, that I forgot to stop and took some pictures. I hope next time, during my climbing up of this road, I could be able to stop and take some photos of those multiple U-turns that I hadn't see before in my previous ridings. I swear that they look just like the U-turns in the climbings of the Tour de France !

At the end of the steep descent (from 3200 m to 2250 m) I entered in Ixtapaluca, a metropolitan town with a lot of people, traffic jams and little organized traffic :-( On my way back home I cycled the avenue that crosses all Ixtapaluca, entering later in the Zaragoza avenue, that took me straight to the center of Mexico City, just aside from our House of Congress. A couple of kilometers later I was safe at home :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Cuauhnahuac Museum, Cuernavaca (Morelos), 11.03.07

2007-03-13T14:55:00.001-06:00

Photoset Map

Photosset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 82 Km. Climb: 1064 m. Time: 3:06 hr, Average Speed: 26.2 Km/hr, Energy expended: 15.52 MJ, Cycling Power: 347 W

Travel Report:

This ride started at 10:30. I took the free highway to Cuernavaca and reached the Cuauhnáhuac Museum, in the center of Cuernavaca (Morelos state capital) at 13:10. Once there I proceeded to enjoy a detailed (and photographic) visit to this incredible Museum.

The Cuauhnáhuac Museum is housed in the oldest civil building in the whole country, with more than 450 years of existence. Another peculiarity is that there are three buildings built on the same site, one atop the other. First the Tlatlocayacalli temple, built by the indigenous Tlahuica people. Then came the Aztec conquest, which built the Cuauhnáhuac temple, over the Tlahuica building. Finally came the spanish conquest, which built the Cortés Palace (spanish conqueror Cortés residence), over the Aztec temple.

In the first room of this museum there are exhibited the bones of some prehistoric animals and also some obsidian prehistoric tools. In the following rooms are displayed a lot of pottery artifacts and ceremonial figures.

In the exhibitions are also presented stone buildings, as a Ball Game, religious statues, stellas, petroglyphs, sculptures, sacrificial offerings, paintings and even some Codex strips.

In the upper floor the murals painted by the famed muralist painter Diego Rivera can be appreciated. They are beautiful :-)

I think that all the Cuauhnáhuac museum riches can be best seen than talked, so I would kindly invite you to see them in the photos (and associated descriptions) lovely taken this time, at the following:

Photoset

On my way back to Mexico City, when I was reaching the Zapata Monument in order to take the free highway to Mexico, I decided that it was too late to attempt to return by bike, as it was almost 17:00 (I had taken a lot of time to visit the Museum !), so I aborted my cycling ride at that position and instead took a bus to Mexico :-(

(If you would be interested in a round Mexico City - Cuernavaca Center - Mexico City cycling ride, please have a look at my last week ride)

Thank you for reading :-)

Cuernavaca Center (Morelos), 04.03.07

2007-03-06T02:11:00.001-06:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 153 Km. Climb: 2600 m. Time: 6:14 hr, Average Speed: 24.57 Km/hr, Energy expended: 32.84 MJ, Cycling Power: 366 W

Travel Report:

This ride started at 10:30 (really late). The special feature about this experimental ride is that I was carrying no more than the cycling essentials (a new tube, the pump and tools to extract a tube), as I was trying to take the time required to make this ride to Cuernavaca, both ways on bike (going to the center of Cuernavaca (Cortes Palace) and _returning_ to Mexico City on the bike).

So this time I left back at home: my digital camera, my trusted Garmin 60 CSx GPS receiver, 6 AA batteries (2 of backup), my camera tripod, the hiking bag where I use to carry my electronics, a triple-sensored watch, the jacket and alternate shoes (for places where I can not walk with my carbon SPD cycling shoes), the handle-bars bag where I carry the jacket and shoes ... Ufff, a lot of stuff !

As you can see, I was riding really light :-) And this arrangement really paid off: I required only a little more than six hours to make the whole route ! From the center of Mexico City to the center of Cuernavaca, cycling return included ! As you can see: this route is 153 Km long, with a climbing of 2700 m. Nothing bad :-) But I had several problems with this experimental ensemble:

I couldn't take photos (as I wasn't carrying a decent digital camera)
My GPS track altimetry is not as precise as I am accustomed (as I was carrying only the wrist-watch Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS receiver, and not the de facto outdoor standard Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSx [Garmin dixit])
I couldn't visit the upper floor of the Cuauhnahuac Museum in the center of Cuernavaca (as my carbon sole and plaques of my SPD shoes were too hard to the recently re-newed wooden floor, or at least that was stated by the museum security) in order to admire the murals of Diego Rivera.

Of course, once I had re-made this route, these nuisances will be no more of concern, but now, I have to address these problems. How ? Re-making the route with at least the digital camera, the Garmin 60 CSx GPS receiver, required batteries, tripod, and some sort of disposable ultra-light shoes for the wooden floor of the museum, i.e. a couple of plastic bags :-)

So, here are the partial times of this experimental ride:

Mexico City Center - Cuernavaca Center: 2:38 hr
Cuernavaca Center - Zapata Monument: 0:23 hr
Zapata Monument - Tres Marias: 1:32 hr
Tres Marías - Parres: 0:37 hr
Parres - Mexico City Center: 1:03 hr

Of course, I won't be able to replicate those times once I am again fully loaded with the electronic equipment, but anyway, it was fun taking those times. Farewell to them :-)

Now, let's go back to the Cuauhnáhuac Museum (target of the travel), located in the center of Cuernavaca. This museum is housed in the oldest civil building in all Mexico, with more than 450 years in existence ! This building was constructed over an even older Aztec temple (the Cuauhnahuac), which in turn, was also built over an even older Tlahuica temple: the Tlatlocayacalli !

I mean: this place has three buildings, one built over the other: first the Tlahuica temple (Tlatlocayacalli, erected by the original natives), the came the Aztec conquest of this territory and built the second (Cuauhnahuac) temple, over the Tlahuica one. Then came the Spanish conquest, which built the Cortés Palace, over the Aztec Temple, as we can see it nowdays. A hell of conquests, isn't it ?

This building is also known as the Cortes Palace, because it was the selected place of residence of Hernán Cortés (spanish conqueror of the Aztec empire), after he moved from Mexico City, in order to take hands on his then newly given (by the spanish crown) Marquesado (little kingdom).

The Cuauhnahuac Museum houses an impressive collection of archaeological findings, from pre-historical times, recovered from the whole Tlahuica culture (Morelos native people), as stone monuments, paintings, pottery artifacts, even mammoth bones ! On the second floor I was told there are exhibited the murals of Diego Rivera, but as I can not step on the wooden surface of the floor, I am unable to talk about them :-(

I will soon (hopefully next week) remake this route, taking into account my previous problems, so I will be able to give you a detailed (and photographic) account of the Cuauhnahuac Museum riches. Stay tuned :-)

Images (of the Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS track) ? In the link above. Thank you for reading.

Tepoztlan Archaeological Site (Morelos), 25.02.07

2007-02-26T12:52:00.001-06:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 170 Km. Climb: 2615 m. Time: 7:15 hr, Average Speed: 23.45 Km/hr, Energy expended: 31.38 MJ, Cycling Power: 300 W

Travel Report:

Starting at 09:20, this ride was a long one. Certainly starting at a late hour, I decided not to stop before reaching Tepoztlán (the destination). So, I took Tlalpan and later the free highway to Cuernavaca. On Tres Marías I changed paths and took the paid highway to Cuernavaca. After La Pera curve there is the deviation to Tepoztlán (where I arrived at 12:12).

I headed immediately to the Archaeological Site, a hill known as the Tepozteco Hill. Rode the bike up to where it was possible (where the stone stairs start) and left the bike in the last food shop (delicious fruits and juices), where I could leave (attended) the bike. I started the ascent to the Tepozteco Hill, 400 m over the Tepoztlán valley, finishing it in 30 min. After taking some shots of this small archaeological site (and having a look at the incredible vista of the valley from the Tepozteco Hill), the descent was carried up (caveat: the track to the hill, the archaeological site of the Tepozteco Hill, and the whole town of Tepoztlán are packed with tourists !)

I went to the center of the town, and enter at Our's Lady Mary Convent of Tepoztlán (official name), to pay it a rewarding visit. This Convent is really impressive for its just restaurated frescos and arches. There is also a beautiful archaeological museum in its interior.

It was now time to get back to Mexico City. At 15:40 I started the ascent from the center of the town. Unfortunately I took the wrong way and was descending again to Cuernavaca ! After a kilometer or so, I turned back to Tepoztlán and was now in the right direction at the gas station at 16:20. At 16:57 I finished that infamous ascent to the paid highway to Mexico. I reached Tres Marías at 18:36, no without some minor physical nuisances as I was now mildly de-hydrated :-( Under the cover of the night I reached La Cima summit and started the descent to Mexico City (800 m below). I arrived safe at Tlalpan and took it to get back home at 21:00 :-)

Photos ? In the links above. Thank you for reading.

Coatetelco Archaeological Site (Morelos). February 18th, 2007

2007-02-19T16:14:00.001-06:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 160 Km. Climb: 1816 m. Time: 6:28 hr, Average Speed: 24.74 Km/hr, Energy expended: 28.2 MJ, Cycling Power: 302 W

Travel Report:

This ride started early, before 09:00 ! Took the free highway to Cuernavaca, and after crossing it I headed to Alpuyeca, where I could see a Chinelos (carnival) dancing. Headed towards Miacatlán, where two beautiful lakes could be admired (El Rodeo and Coatetelco). Once in town, I proceed to visit the archaeological site and Museum in Coatetelco. The return was for a different route, this one shorter to Alpuyeca. From here I ran the last ascent from the tour, heading again to Cuernavaca (this time uphills).

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Teotenango Archaeological Site (Mexico). February 11th, 2007

2007-02-12T14:12:00.002-06:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 165 Km. Climb: 2350 m. Time: 7:01 hr, Average Speed: 23.4 Km/hr, Energy expended: 33.36 MJ, Cycling Power: 329 W

Travel Report:

This ride started at the relatively early hour of 07:00, but, as I was starting to climb Constituyentes in order to have access to the free highway to Toluca, I broke my chain, because one of its links opened itself, so I had to start looking for a bike repair shop at that early hour :-( Fortunately, I discovered a repair shop (in front of Parque Mexico) at about 2 km of the place where I broke my chain, so I could have repaired it. The tricky part was walking all that way with my carbon fiber SPD shoes ... :-(

After repairing my chain and proofing it (since the road was going to be pure ascent to the Tres Cruces summit, climbing: ca 1,000 m), at 09:50 I could restart the ride towards Toluca. Originally this ride was intended to visit the Archaeological Site of Huamango, but since I had already lost 3 hours, it was now impossible to arrive on time at Huamango, since it closes at 15:00. So I had to re-plan the ride, and after arriving at Toluca, I had to make up my mind. To where from here ?

I asked a police officer in the street about archaeological sites nearby Toluca. He offered me 2 options: Teotenango and Calixtlahuaca, but he recommend me Teotenango for its historical riches and museum. OK, so I decided to ride to Teotenango (Place of the divine wall). The road after Toluca is a little bumpy, since there are a lot of holes in the pavement, a world of difference with the streets of Toluca. Although the ride is mainly plain, I was starting to asking myself when I could arrive at Tenango del Valle, which is the name of the town that hosts the site. Somewhere in the middle of the road (later I knew this place name is Sta Maria Rayón) I found a big religious procession that was heading to visit the Guadalupe Basilica, in Tepeyac, Mexico City. This walking march would take them to this big religious sanctuary in three days ! And in the same town, I discovered an ancient dancing custom, where the kids of the travellers stayed at home, but dancing at the sound of indigenous musical instruments ! Wow, that was my pic of the day :-) It is very interesting knowing that even in presents days, five centuries later than the spanish conquest, there are still indigenous traditions, alive and kicking ! I hope I could find more of this really interesting and capturing traditions on my travels by Mexico :-)

After this dancing, I continued the ride and found along the road a fellow cyclist, with whom I could talk a little, since our destination was the same: Tenango del Valle, in fact, he guided me to the center of the town (he most ride back to his hometown: Toluca). I went to the market of Tenango, where I could eat some fruits (mainly citrics) in order to continue to the Pyramids.

The archaeological site is just a couple of minutes after the downtown. Once inside, I was recommended to visit the museum first, since it closed earlier than the rest of the site. So, I followed the guardian's suggestion and paid a due visit to the site's Museum. Inside the museum a myriad of sculptures and ceramics artifacts can been appreciated. There is even a room dedicated to the display of stone sculptures of nahua gods, really interesting. Its collection of pottery and ceramics is astounding. There are even paintings and some ancient musical instruments displayed. As a curiosity, in the museum are displayed some mammoth bones ... and tools for hunting and eating them, mmhh :-)

Once I had finished the visit to the museum, I started the climbing to the proper archaeological site. It is an almost a 100 m climb from the entrance, over a big-stone paved way, really tricky terrain to make a very steep ascent, if you mind. Some how I could finish it and at its end, the magnificent pyramids !

I took over my bike with me along platforms and pyramids, so I could access most of the site. This site is enormous ! And the weather could not be better, just sun and sun in sight, no hint of rain or stormy clouds :-) So I climbed to the plazas ... and discovered a lot of kids just plainly playing soccer on the plains of the site. I got the impression that people come to this site as a camping day (more that to study history), but well, this is _their_ place. I missed more signboards alongside the monuments, plazas and pyramids, telling the visitors the history and purpose of the buildings. Once I climbed to the top of one Pyramid, the vista was superb, as you can view all the surroundings in one clear shot. Along the stairs of one Pyramids, some reliefs can bee seen where the representation of an eclipse is depicted (represented by a sitting jaguar eating a flower or heart, in the year 2-rabbit).

After finishing this short visit to the Teotenango Pyramids, I went to the town of Tenago del Valle, where could know its Main Square, and its church, where I found the curious detail that the church had on its top our national flag, but with the national shield changed, from the eagle and serpent ... to an image of Christ ! My God, this is an illegal behaviour, but ... who is going to say a word about it (and mix up with the customs of a town) ? :-)

I had now to return as fast as possible to La Marquesa, since I had only a couple of hours with solar light. In my return to Mexico City, instead of returning via Toluca (which proved to be a big turn), I choosed to ride directly to La Marquesa. This road passes through Texcalyacac, and the deviation to Tianguistenco and Xalatlaco. After the last town of Texcalyacac, a 600 m climbing starts that will take us to La Marquesa, where I arrived at the late hour of 18:38. From here another ca. 200 m climbing remained in front of me before reaching again Tres Cruces, which I arrived at 18:54. Light was almost off now, so I had to descent almost 1000 m (elevation), again in darkness. As I have done this nocturnal descent a couple of time before, I lost no time and went for the last leg of my journey, reaching the end of this travel at 19:40 in Mexico City, again safe and sound :-)

Till the next ride, and thank you for reading :-)

Huamango Archaeological Site (Mexico). February 4th, 2007

2007-02-05T17:13:00.002-06:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 160 Km. Ascent: 1810 m. Time: 6:40 hr, Average Speed: 24 Km/hr, Energy expended: 30.92 MJ, Cycling Power: 322 W, Specific Power: 4.27 W/Kg

Travel Report:

This ride started two hours earlier than last week, but (as I will explain later), it was not sufficient :-(. At 10:00 I started the ride to the archaeological site at Huamango, in the north of the neighbouring state of Mexico. I took Alvaro Obregon in order to reach Constituyentes, so I could take the free highway to Toluca, first leg of my journey. I started this climbing from an elevation of 2250 m all the way up to the summit at Tres Cruces, at an elevation of ca. 3200 m, 25 km later (4 % grade). After Tres Cruces comes an interesting descent all the way down to Lerma (alt: 2600 m, 15 km later). I continued the route to Toluca (state capital), arriving at this city at km 60.

In the monument to the god Tolo, on the Tollocan Boulevard, I took the deviation to Atlacomulco. This highway is a paid one, but there were no problems at all when crossing the toll stations. Once on this highway, I entered the Ixtlahuaca region, the name meaning: "in the plains", arriving at the city of Ixtlahuaca at km 96. Here is a gas station where you can refill the isotonic drink. Ahead on the road I could know the famous Hacienda Pastejé. After passing the second toll station, I arrived at Atlacomulco at km 125.

The following leg of my journey awaited in front of me, with an ascent of 200 m in 5 km (4 %). Although this ascent was not so demanding, being performed at km 130, it started to hurt the legs. After those climbings, Acambay was already in sight :-), arriving at this picturesque town at km 147, and with an elevation of 2550 m.

But, and as I have started to recognize as a proven custom, the archaeological site of Huamango is located uphill the nearest town, so I still needed to climb another 350 m in only 5 km (7 % grade), but all this at km 150 on my route. Additionally, the weather had changed extremely rapid, and now on the top of the mountain that lied ahead was already an enormous gray cloud that threatened to evolve into rain. I weighted my chances, but I hadn't rode so far to this point only to be taken back in the last 5 km for a rain warning. It would take a lot more than that ! So, I continued my ride to the mountain.

The problem (and the biggest problem so far) was the extreme cruel wind on the ascent, and worst of all, the wind came from the right, threatening to take me to the left side of the lane, meaning to the area where the 18 wheelers and cars were bypassing me. I felt horror just thinking in the case where the wind could blow me to the left side of the lane and a big truck were passing by at the very same moment. But I had to arrive at the archaeological site. The wind blowed and blowed really strong, but somehow I could manage to maintain control on the handlebars of my bike (coupled with my own weight, 75 kg, which also could have played a role in my equilibrium).

When I arrived at Dongú (middle point in the ascent to Huamango), the wind started to blow with less force, so I could continue my climbing without such macabre thankings. Later, at 2700 m elevation, I arrived at the landmark signaling the _start_ of the proper road to the archaeological site. This road is another cruel ascent of 200 m in only 2 km (10 %). The pavement of this road is even featured with anti-skid markers, in order to avoid automobile accidents ! After climbing this road, making "S"s, I finally arrived at the archaeological site entrance, at 2900 m.

But, and as in the Greek tragedies, the site had already closed ! It even closes Sundays at the really early hour of 15:00 ! Additionally, there was an extreme freezing cold (although i carry a termometer-sensored watch, I forgot to take a thermal reading) and a eally dense fog, which rendered optical vision useless after 10 m. What a pity ! And the web page of the INAH (national administration of historical sites) stated that the site closed at 18:00 ! But anyway, what more could I do ? I checked if the site's door was locked ... effectively it was, and with a big lock ! So I could not do anything more than took a few shots, and undertook the return to Acambay. On the top of that hill the cold and moisture were so extreme that I got my crank locked with the chain ! I was only so lucky dicovering that I got the crank locked for the ice in the chain (and was unable to change plates) _before_ I started the descent :-)

At the landmark I took the last photo of the site, wondering if this last shot couldn't cost me my descent to Acambay (350 m), again, under the cover of the night. Certainly, it did. I had to manage my descent partly in darkness, arriving to the safety of Acambay without solar light. I must thank the car drivers that drove after me in that nocturnal descent, for having behaved extremely courteous, by driving behind me at my speed and with their intermittent lights on :-) Thank you guys !

Once in Acambay, and after having checked the time for the last bus to Mexico City, I decided to pay a very short visit to the Main Square of this town, visiting its Cathedral and Elementary School, both located face to face (?), a little bit like the Atlacomulco downtown, where the Municipal Palace stands between the Cathedral and the School. Interesting urban arrangements :-)

I returned to the bus station in Acambay (it is an euphemism, since a real station is non-existent, as passengers have to wait on the highway), where I could take the last bus to Mexico City (en route from Queretaro), which arrived at 19:30 (cost: 85 pesos), arriving at our destination 2:15 hrs later.

But: between Huamango and me, we still have unfinished business ... so I plan to remake this route next week, with the additional detail of departing my house at 06:00 next Sunday. I think it is the only way to assure an entrance to the archaeological site. The problem is: how could I wake up next Sunday at 4:00 (when I usually go to bed at that hour on Saturdays) ? That is the big question :-)

Till the next travel ! And thank you for reading :-)

Atlacomulco (Mexico) by Jilotepec (Hidalgo), 28.01.07

2007-01-29T14:11:00.002-06:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 148 Km. Ascent: 1152 m. Time: 6:19 hr, Average Speed: 23.3 Km/hr, Energy expended: 26.94 MJ, Cycling Power: 296 W, Specific Power: 3.94 W/Kg.

Travel Report:

This ride was intended to arrive at Acambay, but as I started to cycle at almost 12:00, there was no so much time to arrive at the proposed destination, so I needed to cut the route short and land in Atlacomulco, instead of Acambay (which will be the destination of my next journey). I really _need_ to wake up early on Sundays, man ...

OK, so I decided to cycle the route (not withstanding the hour) and took Marina Nacional, Parque Vía, Puente de Vigas in order to arrive at Tlalnepantla. Then took the free highway to Cuautitlán, joining the paid highway at Tepozotlan (just at the toll station). Continued on this highway to Coyotepec, Tepeji del Río (Hidalgo state, alt: 2150 m), up to Km 82 where I found the deviation to Jilotepec. Nice ascent by the way (300 m from Tepeji), and carried out in the merciless heat of the desert. Compared to the south, the cycling travels to the north of the city have always resembled me like travelling in a desert. Dry air, no water in sight, and not template temperatures (and very few people and towns, by the way).

The ascent continued all the way to the unheard (to me) towns of Rincón de Bucio, Tlazapan and Acuitzilapan, arriving at an altitude of almost 2800 m. Somewhere between this towns I got a flat tire (my first one in more than two years of cyclotouring), but as the air was escaping very slowly, I managed to put more air in the tire in Sn Marcos (at a car repair shop), so making no more stops I could manage to arrive at Atlacomulco without having to change the tube :-) As it was already late and light was now a luxurious asset, I desperately needed time.

After Sn Marcos I lost solar light, so I had to cycle again in darkness (cursing myself for not having waked up earlier). The problem started in the next town: Acuitzilapan, because in this town, the road reached its maximum height (ca 2800 m) and started the descent all the way to Atlacomulco (2550 m). The tricky part was that I had to ride this descent in the darkness, and without lights ... in a two lane road. Well, I have made worst no-lights nocturnal descents (from Llano Grande at 3200 m to Mexico City at 2250 m, on the paid highway to Puebla), but they have always made me feel nervous.

At my arrival at Atlacomulco (at 19:30) I went to the Main Square, where the Cathedral, Municipal Palace and School of the city can be appreciated. After taking some photos, I went to the bus station to take the last bus back home (78 pesos), which departed at 20:30, arriving in Mexico City a couple of hours later.

Some strange thoughts. When I was cycling the route between Jilotepec and Atlacomulco, a rare countryside appeared before my eyes. At least this was my perception. That countryside resembled to me like an alien land: another country. That landscape was full of endless plains, no water in sight (except from a couple of ojos de agua: seasonal micro-lakes), no people, no towns, dry air, extreme temperatures (burning hot or chilly wind). I don't know if this is normal in the northern part of my country, but anyway, it was an alien view of some part of the countryside that surrounds Mexico City. I have never seen such a sad view of my country's landscapes. The absence of big and inhabited towns, along with its small vegetation (due to the lack of water) made a great impression to me. I guess that this is how a dessert is supposed to look, but being more accustomed to the trips to the south of Mexico, I should definitively take note of another kind of eco-systems in northern Mexico.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Mexico City - Cuernavaca (Morelos) - Mexico City, 21.01.07

2007-01-22T16:56:00.002-06:00

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 147 Km. Ascent: 2360 m. Time: 6:37 hr, Average Speed: 22.1 Km/hr, Energy expended: 29.3 MJ, Cycling Power: 308 W, Specific Power: 4.1 W/Kg.

Travel Report:

This ride started a little bit late (at about 11:00). Unfortunately, I couldn't take my digital camera with me this time, so I was unable to record some photographs of this tour. This was in part due to the nature of the ride, intended as a training ride, and not considered as a touristic one, owed to the fact that this route was not new to me (having done this route a number of times before). And taking photographs only of the Zapata (in the entrance of Cuernavaca) starts to appear a litte boring :-)

There was no traffic in the first leg of our journey. The route taken was the free highway to Cuernavaca. At 13:30 I reached the town of Tres Marías, and after that, it was all descent to Cuernavaca, arriving there half hour later. After resting another half hour there, I started the ascent to Tres Marías, arriving at this point at 16:15. After refuelling there my isotonic drink, I continued the remaining ascent to La Cima. After this point, the road is only descent to Mexico City, albeit a little bit dangerous for the high speeds attainable on the turns of this free highway. At the entrance of the city (full of traffic, by the way), I missed somehow the turn to take Tlalpan, so I had to make a big turn to Insurgentes and Periferico :-(

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Xochicalco Archaeological Site + Cuernavaca (Morelos), 14.01.07

2007-01-16T11:39:00.003-06:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 160 Km, Ascent: 1827 m, Time: 6:48 hr, Average Speed: 23.5 Km/hr, Energy: 26.95 MJ, Cycling Power: 275 W, Specific Power: 3.66 W/Kg.

Travel Report:

The road to the Archaeological Site of Xochicalco (House of the Flowers), in the neighboring state of Morelos, was our usual road to Cuernavaca: the free highway. After arriving at the equestrian statue of Zapata at the entrance of the city, I took the Libramiento in order to turn around the city (avoiding its traffic jam). Once surrounded, I retook the free highway to Acapulco, passing Temixco and Acatlipa, arriving at Alpuyeca. In Alpuyeca I turned to the right in order to arrive at the town of Xochicalco. The entrance of the archaeological site is located just a few kilometers after this town, but after a step ascent of ca. 15 % !

This archaeological site is really fabulous. For starters, its size is overwhelming. The visit to the site starts with a corridor that sides with a big pyramid. There is a small palm hut where a label with the name of the site can bee seen, along with a beautiful vista of the Lake El Rodeo. Raising the stairway appears the astonishing view of the Plaza of the Two Glyphs Stela. The two glyphs depicted in the stela erected in the middle of the Plaza (10 Acatl and 9 Reptile Eye) are related with the cult of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. The Plaza is an imposing ritual and ceremonial center, which is surrounded by the four sides by impressive religious and civic temples. The stela is located in the middle of the plaza, on the top of a square basement.

Continuing our tour on the left side of the Plaza, we arrived at another enormous stair cased pyramid, which will enable us to arrive at the following upper level of the site. It is a pity that I did not get the name of this last pyramid. After finishing climbing up, I arrived at the following level, where is located (among other buildings) the magnificent Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent). It features frizies (on all lateral slopes of the pyramid) depicting the Plummed Serpents (eight of the in total) colling around the sizes. There are even representations of Mayan peoples in the frizies of this pyramid ! I think this shows the clear influences (or even its creation) of the Mayan cultures (Olmecs-Xicallancas) in the building of this city. There is a recurrent glyph represented on the pyramid's slope: the 9 Reptile Eye, which is related to the New Fire. The New Fire was a ceremony performed every 52 years here, that symbolized the cyclic nature of the Universe, and its re-starting every 52 years, in the Aztec cosmogony.

Going to the end of the site, I arrived at the Acropolis, its highest area. This place was the residence of the rulers of the city. The Acropolis is clearly divided in two areas, one residential (where rooms and beds can be appreciated) and another ceremonial area (with four large areas and a central courtyard). After this points, I started walking back my steps in order to gain access to the exit of this beautiful and enormous archaeological site.

At about 17:00 I left the archaeological site, cycling now towards Xochicalco, Alpuyeca, Acatlipa, and Temixco, arriving finally at the city of Cuernavaca (Morelos state capital) at about 19:00, after an interesting ascent of more than 600 m, my last leg from Alpuyeca. I took the bus back home (at the Pullman Centro bus station, 63 pesos) at 20:00, after sightseeing some of the city, arriving safely 2 hours later in Mexico City.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey !

Friendship Race + Malinalco Archaeological Site + Chalma (Mexico), 07.01.07

2007-01-08T17:31:00.002-06:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

GPS Cycling Data

Distance: 135 Km, Ascent: 2018 m

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

Travel Report:

This cycling race started in the main square of the city, the Zocalo of Mexico City, at about 09:15 (altitude. 2240 m). I have no official participants count, but they were a lot ! We took Pino Suárez to head to Tlalpan, all the way south of the city, taking later Periferico in order to arrive to Picacho. Up to this point the pace was calm. But at the arrival to Six Flags, the race was declared open! Man, they were serious cyclists! I couldn't ride at the same speed as them all the climbing. I reckon that there are a lot of far superior cyclists in this races.

So, I continued climbing my way up to the finish line, at my pace, meanwhile riding astonished by the strength and cycling capacity of the rest of the competitors. As this was my first time that I made this route to the Ajusco, I was delighted by the landscapes and vistas that were present along this road. The pavement is in pristine conditions. There are no holes and the lines of the pavement are well painted. Being it my first time on this route, at 3200 m (altitude) I began to feel nervous about the remaining distance and elevation I had to gain in order to arrive at the finish line. We passed a lot of restaurants, camping clubs and recreational valleys, but the Cantimploras Valley (end of the race) continued out of sight.

Finally, the finish line appeared from nowhere, crossing it at the late hour of 12:04, after 48 Km of ride (and 2:50 hr of cycling), at an altitude of 3460 m (and an ascent of 1350 m). There were a lot of participants that had already arrived, but others continued arriving after my arrival. I found my friend Luis Rojas (who had arrived half an hour before) and we took some pictures. There was also a religious service.

I had decided beforehand to continue my touring after the race to the archaeological site of Malinalco, in the neighbouring state of Mexico. So, after an hour of resting, having observed the arrival of the rest of competitors, I continued my travel to Xalatlaco. This road continues the climbing to the border of the state of Mexico at 3620 m. After this summit, I descended all the way to Xalatlaco. After this town I took the road to Chalma, passing Coatepec (2750 m), and heading for the climbing to Santa Martha. In Santa Monica, I took the road to Tezontepec, in order to avoid going to Chalma before arriving at Malinalco. The disadvantage of this route is that it is required to climb almost another 300 m in order to arrive at Tezontepec. After this town, the road is all descent to Malinalco :-)

Once I arrived at Malinalco, I headed immediately to the archaeological site, since this site closes early, due to its big extension. I must comment that this was my third travel to Malinalco, having arrived twice before too late in order to get access to the site. But that Sunday was my lucky day, and I could enter into the archaeological center.

After passing the entrance, it is required to climb 400 steps (65 m) carved in stone in order to arrive at the ancient nahua temples. There are even labels referring to the history and geography of the place along the climbing steps in order to amuse the public and to encourages the visitors to continue all the way up.

When we finally arrive at the top of the ceremonial center, several magnificent ancient building emerged from the top of the hill. Malinalco was the military center that was used by the nahua army (ca. 1476) to make the initiation ceremony of its elite caste of warriors: the eagle and jaguar warriors. On the top of an extraordinary monolithic building called the Cuauhcalli there is a circular room where the heads (sculpted in stone) of an eagle and a jaguar can be seen.

Behind the Cauhcalli stands the Temple IV, which is considered to have been a Tecalli: a place for council meetings. Between both buildings stands the Cuauhtinchan, a pyramid that faces the whole Malinalco Valley, where beautiful vistas can be observed. We have to interrupt our exploration because the guards told us gently that it was time to leave.

On my way to Chalma (where I could take the return bus back home), I took some pictures of the main square of the town of Malinalco (we have been there before). Now, it was 18:06, and I have less than an hour to arrive at Chalma, if I want to take the last bus to Mexico City (19:00). Somehow I managed to arrive at Chalma at 18:50, only to realize that the last bus had already departed! Not desiring to pass another night at Chalma bus station (last visit accommodation), I rode uphill behind the bus, being finally able to catch it up in the town, where a traffic jam helped me to board the bus :-) We arrived safe at Mexico City (Observatorio terminal) at 21:00, using the subway for the last leg of our return travel.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey!

Zacatepec (Morelos), 26.11.06

2006-11-27T14:54:00.001-06:00

Travel Report:

It is a pity that I can arrive early only to others invitation to ride. This travel to Zacatepec (in the southern state of Morelos) started at 13:00, because as usual: I had to sort some things on Sunday morning (things that must get sorted the day before). This route to Cuernavaca is becoming our most beloved route. It usually offers good weather, provides a good elevation (if rided both ways) and its free highway has a lot of towns along the road in case of need. It even offers some 17 km as "jogging" before the ascent starts. The only drawback I notice is that the summit top is a little flat, compared for example against Llano Grande, on the road to Puebla, so you can't know where the hell is the real summit. That is why I have decided to mark it on Km 44.

First thing in this route is to take Tlalpan, a big big avenue that cuts the city in two parts, north-south direction. Its big advantage is that it has no traffic signals, so you can ride on this avenue at 40 Km/hr with no problem, the only limitation are your legs :-). You have to save them for the oncoming ascent to La Cima. Again, this summit has an altitude of only 3020 m, 200 m less than Llano Grande, but well, you can not always ride to Puebla :-)

Tlalpan was full of traffic, owed to the late hour and to a soccer match that was being played in a big stadium along this street. Police forces were present in every corner ! I guess in order to prevent vandalism. Once we took the free highway to Cuernavaca, the traffic diminished, and now our only concern was the sun. We had lots of it. But i do not make any complaints. After last Sunday's ride to Puebla under heavy rain for the most part of the day, a ride under an unobstructed sun is always welcomed. This time we decided not to stop is the Mirador, a sightseeing points at 2700 m, because the traffic negotiation in that point gets always a little complicated, and we have been there over 4 times (in past rides), so we decided it was time to forget that custom.

So we headed direct to our first stop (to take a picture): summit La Cima. We passed Parres (last town in the city), leaving behind the DF. But just before we reached La Cima, there was an accident on the highway, involving a motorbike, whose driver had crashed against the contention wall in a curve. The motorbike was on the floor (with big apparent damages), but its driver did not appear near. Other motorbikers were looking for him in the surrounding area. It was really a sad view. At that time, I did remember the motto: "Speed kills". In fact, after La Cima, there was a second accident, this time involving a car, which rested on its roof ! 2 accidents in a couple of kilometers. The ambulances were arriving at both sites. After taking our mandatory picture at the summit La Cima, we started our descent to Cuernavaca.

I can not say a lot of the descent, as my five senses were fixated in the road conditions and traffic (in both lanes). When I arrived at the Zapata (alt: 1800 m) I couldn't stop there to take a picture, because there was a lot of traffic, so I continued to La Paloma (the Dove), in order to gain access to the Libramiento (a big big turn around the city of Cuernavaca, in order to avoid its traffic jam). Once we took a picture on the Libramiento, we started giving the city a turn, just to take the free highway to Acapulco, once we encounter it at the other side of Cuernavaca.

We rided to Temixco and to Acatlipa, two towns along the road to Acapulco. In Acatlipa we took a road that enabled us to cross the autopista (paid highway) to Acapulco, since we were heading to Zacatepec (which was on the other side of this highway). The route that we have decided to take was a new one, shorter that the conventional one, but now i reckon it was more hilly. We headed to Tepetzingo and Acamilpa. These town appeared like phantom towns as they are far of the bigger cities of the region, but anyway, they were calm and peaceful. On our way we passed the Cementera Cuauhtemoc (a concrete factory). I didn't know it ever existed, and I have been a lot of times in this state (albeit in car). The road was hilly, ups and down, between green fields and running rivers :-) It was an idyllic scene, if it were not for the hurry I was for having started this ride so late.

Along the route we reached Pueblo Nuevo, and later Tlaltizapan, where I could pass to salute some friends. After a short stop (because it was now 18:00 and night was looming), I continue the ride, this time to Zacatepec (a city where we could board the bus to get back home). In Tlalquitenango, the darkness took reign and we have to ride the last leg again, under the cover of the night. The good thing was that there was no much traffic, and we could finally arrive at Zacatepec with no surprises. Here we decided to have a look at the Ingenio Emiliano Zapata (sugar cane processing plant, main economy activity of the city) and to the main square, were we could observe its Cathedral, a beautiful high-towered Gothic-styled church, in the middle of this tropical city :-) After taking a couple of shots, we rided to the bus station, where for 73 pesos, we could purchase our home ticket, for the bus that was departing in just three minutes. We arrived at Mexico City 2 hours later (21:30), so I could even took the subway to arrive safe at home :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Cholula Archaeological Site + Puebla (Puebla), 19.11.06

2006-11-20T15:18:00.002-06:00

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 140 Km, Ascent: 1173 m, Time: 5:20 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.9 Km/hr, Max. Speed: 66 Km/hr.

Travel Report:

This ride was performed under rain for the most part of the journey. In fact, the rain started when we were leaving Mexico City, and did not not stop until our arrive again to the city ! But anyway, it was a beautiful ride, made to visit and know the stunning underground Great Pyramid of Cholula (Puebla). We have intended to take the free highway to Puebla, but somehow in the middle of the ride, we lose our path and had no alternative but to take the paid highway.

There were no many cyclists on the road, only a pilgrimage to San Miguel (I must thank them for its delicious free tostada that they gave me to eat _over_ the bike). On our ascent to Llano Grande (+3200 m) the body generated heat was able to keep us warm, but at our arrival to the summit, it was damn freezing ! We ate some snacks and started the descent to Texmelucan. This was real cold. Temperature was 5 C + raining ! Even in this weather we managed to reach speeds over 65 km/hr. Arriving to Texmelucan, we left the paid highway, taking now our way to the free highway to Puebla. On the road we passed by the town of Huejotzingo, where we could observe some chinelos dancing on the main square (i think we are in festival mood).

Half an hour later we could finally arrive at Cholula, where the rain made us had a hard time finding a place to leave our bicycles. After eating some exquisite tacos + quesadillas in the local market, we could enter the Archaeological Site and its underground Great Pyramid. You can judge by the photos that this is an experience of its own kind. There are even corridors inside the pyramid that lead to God knows where, as they are closed by the site administration. There are a lot of niche-like pathways that lose itself into the darkness. After taking some shots, we leave this magical place.

We decided to climb up our way to the church of Los Remedios, built on the top of the hill that hides the pyramid (this was a tricky part due to my carbon cycling shoes). The rain made this little ascent a though one. But finally, at the top waited for us a beautiful vista of the Cholula and Puebla valleys. After briefly taking shelter in the church, we started our return to the bikes. But meanwhile, Luis decided to have a look to the surrounding pyramids, so I waited for him where we leave our bikes.

Lastly, only the final leg of our journey (12 km) remained between us and our final destination. At our arrival to the CAPU (central bus station of Puebla) we purchased our return tickets (90 pesos by ADO) and patiently awaited 15 minutes for our home bus :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

La Marquesa (Mexico), 29.10.06

2006-10-30T00:55:00.003-06:00

Teopanzolco Archaeological Site (Morelos), 22.10.06

2006-10-23T15:09:00.001-05:00

Map Navigation: This dynamic Trackmap shows the GPS track (red line) and some geo-referenced photos (red dots) of the cycling tour. Drag the map with your mouse. To see the photos, click your mouse over the little red dots. Click on the photos to go to the picture page.

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 90 Km, Ascent: 938 m, Time: 3:41 hr, Avg. Speed: 24.1 Km/hr, Max. Speed: 59.6 Km/hr.

Travel Report:

Against all author's wishes, this cycling tour started again late (around 12:30). Due to this late hour, it was decided to rode to the Archaeological site of Teopanzolco, in the city of Cuernavaca. We took Tlalpan all the way south, in order to get out of the city. But before reaching the Aztec Stadium, there was a traffic cut on Tlalpan. The reason for this traffic cut was a religious festival in the urban town of Santa Ursula, inside Mexico City. We could observe a beautiful flower carpet in front of the Church of Santa Ursula, and also the Chinelos, some disguised dancers, whose origins and identity can be traced back to Morelos ! What is interesting to me is how a tradition of the neighbour state of Morelos is firmly rooted in a urban town inside Mexico City. Well, after passing this festival, we continue our tour to the south to the free highway to Cuernavaca, reaching the town of San Pedro Martir, and at a height of 2,700 m, we reached the Restaurant El Mirador, where there is a sightseeing point that covers all the Mexico City Valley. We continue our ascent to the town of Parres (3,000 m), last town in the Federal District, just a stone throw of the border with the southern state of Morelos.

We reached the summit, named La Cima (for a meteo station, Km 44) at 3,050 m after 2 hours of riding. Here we could observe (and photograph) a curious guy, who lied down in this spot, observing with a broad smile all the traffic between the cities of Cuernavaca and Mexico. Great way to amuse yourself in this high spot ! Descending now, we arrived at the town of Tres Marias (2800 m), a touristic attraction famed by its cuisine. We continue our descent to Cuernavaca, arriving at the Zapata, an equestrian statue in the entrance of Cuernavaca of this famed revolutionary of the past century. After this point, we took the paid highway to Acapulco, in order to avoid the burden of riding across the city. When we arrived at a big commercial house (Liverpool), we took to the right in order to arrive at the Archaeological Site of Teopanzolco, no without loosing our way for some minutes (regretfully, descending more than was required).

At the site, we could observe the twin temples of Tláloc (rain god) and Huizilopochtli (war god), also with a group of minor temples. There was also a pyramid at the back of the twin temples. We took some photographs of this temples, and would like to pass more time in this place, but the rain had decided otherwise. We waited for the end of the rain until the closure time of the site (17:30) and we took our way to the center of Cuernavaca.

Happily, there was the Cervantine Festival ongoing in the main square of the city. This Festival is a cultural one that shows for free a lot of cultural expressions, including but not limiting to music, dance, theater, etc. This Cervantine festival of Cuernavaca runs for all this week and this edition is dedicated to Japan ! I roamed through this Festival, went to visist the Cuauhnahuac Museum, the Cathedral and the Borda Garden, where there was starting a free Theater function called: "A really lively Death", in reference to the coming Deaths Day in México. It was really a pleasure having been able to assist to this free theater function, because it was very enjoyable. After that, I took the return bus to Mexico City and later the subway back home. Another line to the tiger ;-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey !

Parres (DF), 15.10.06

2006-10-16T01:12:00.000-05:00

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Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 82.4 Km, Ascent: 824 m, Time: 4:45 hr, Avg. Speed: 17.28 Km/hr, Max. Speed: 62 Km/hr.

Travel Report:

This ride was intended to arrive to Cuernavaca, capital city of the neighbouring southern state of Morelos, but the weather conditions of that day proved otherwise. After taking Tlalpan and later the free highway to Cuernavaca, the weather started to change to a rainy one. In fact, when I passed to a restaurant called "El Mirador", a sightseeing point located 500 m above Mexico City valley level, I could capture the image of a beautiful double rainbow over the city ! But above this point (2700 m), rain started :-(

At the beginning of the rain, I supposed I could cope with the rain as long as it occurred in the climbing part of the ride, but soon the rain started to acquire bigger dimensions. When I was approaching Parres (last town in the Federal District of Mexico City), the rain was so intense that visibility was null at 5 m ! All my body now ached by the cold. Particularly, my knees were hurting so bad, I had to change of mind about the destination of the ride. Firstly I decided to arrive to Tres Marías, but after seeing the rain intensity, and feeling the cold associated pain in the knees, when I arrived at Parres I decided that enough was enough.

So at my arrival at Parres (with a 5 m visibility owed to the rain) I decided to cut short that ride at this point and took a bus to return to Mexico City, as this was a descent of 800 m that I could not ride under that strong rain and poor visibility conditions. So I took a bus that took me to the Aztec Stadium, from where I rode back to my house. It was certainly not the most glamorous cycling ride in my life, but I had to protect myself :-)

Before arriving to my house I passed to the Zocalo (Main Square of Mexico City) where I could capture some images of Aztecs dancing and offering their prayers to their gods :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.

Xochicalco Archaeological Site + Cuernavaca (Morelos), 08.10.06

2006-10-10T19:33:00.002-05:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 150 Km, Ascent: 1760 m, Time: 6:29 hr, Avg. Speed: 23.2 Km/hr, Max. Speed: 62.7 Km/hr.

Travel Report:

This journey was started by the author in Mexico City (2,240 m alt) at 12:20, a relatively late hour. But anyway, it is always a pain in the neck getting up early on Sundays ... The route we took was Tlalpan to the south, and later, the Free Highway to Cuernavaca. The plain terrain lasts about 15 Km (it was a little boring), but once the ascent starts, things got funny. The initial part of the ascent is the most demanding: But the traffic on the highway was smooth. The landscapes in this time of the year are beautiful, since the rain season has made all the hills greener and the tree foliage denser.

At 2,700 m elevation, we arrived at the Restaurant El MIrador, a place with a beautiful vista of the Mexico City Valley. Unfortunately, this vista was obstructed by a dense smog layer that impeded us from having a clear view of our valley, sorry. After taking some pictures, we continued the ascent to the summit, named La Cima (for a weather station in the surroundings), reaching it at 3,025 m, after 2 hours of cycling. This summit is nearly unimposing, because there is no clear indication where the peak is, so lets say that the Km 44 would mark the summit.

Descent starts and nothing could stop us before reaching the Zapata, in the entrance of Cuernavaca. This Zapata is an equestrian statue of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who fought (among others) Porfirio Díaz, the perennial president of the Mexican republic between 1876 and 1911. Zapata's motto was: "Land and Freedom". He is also quoted as stating: "The land belongs to those who work it". After taking some picture of his statue, i took the Toll Highway in order to avoid the bulk of Cuernavaca, preferring giving a big bypass to this city.

We took the road to Temixco, and Villa de las Flores, because I have planned the route to the archaeological site at Xochicalco going through the way to the airport and Tematla, preferring this route to the classical route to Alpuyeca first and then to Xochicalco. Now, I am not sure if this was the best approach. After a town named Acatlipa, we took the road to the airport, and then to Tetlama. This way was really hilly. Just ups and downs between hills and rivers. But heck, what else could i do but continue cycling ? At the end i arrived at Tetlama, a curious town in the middle of nowhere and at the top of a mountain. The cattle (big cebus) roamed here freely on the highway! I have never had to pass so near from a big cebu (1 m, and in a bike) so it was frightening to me, but somehow i managed to declare myself harmless to the big cebu that was standing in the middle of the road, so I could pass with no problem at all :-). At the end of Tetlama there is a road that took me straight to the archaeological site of Xochicalco.

I visited the museum and the entrance to the pyramids, but i could not continue further because i had arrived 20 minutes later than the last entry allowed hour. So, again, i took some photos of the place and decided to continue ahead the return tour to Cuernavaca. Taking now another path, this time I decided to go back to Cuernavaca using the road to Xochicalco and Alpuyeca. This one is a beautiful descent (300 m descent) with a highway in previous conditions. In the exit of Alpuyeca we stopped for some food (as i was starting to feel hungry). Alpuyeca has an elevation of 1,050 m, so we need some calories before we made the following ascent to Cuernavaca (at 1,550 m). The good news were that for this 500 m ascent we needed to ride 20 Km, so the slope would be only of 2.5 %. Certainly, something needed after 125 km and more than 1,500 m of gain ascent. Bad news was that again, we were losing solar light. The night loomed and it would be dark before we could arrive at Cuernavaca. But, what the heck, this wouldn't be our first (or last) ride in the night: alone and with no lights ...

This last leg of our journey was a little tricky, because there was a lot of traffic in Temixco, so i needed to bypass the cars using the middle "lane" (between both directions), but after Temixco, there was no more car jam. Our arrival at Cuernavaca was at 21:00 hrs, just in time to take some nocturnal photos of the Cuauhnahuac Museum in the center of the city. I proceed later to the Pullman Bus Terminal in order to take my bus back to Mexico City, arriving at 23:30. I could even manage to take the subway in order to be comfortably at home at 00:00 :-)

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Malinalco Archaeological Site + Chalma (Mexico), 01.10.06

2006-10-05T05:34:00.002-05:00

GPS Track Video

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 110 Km. Ascent: 1560 m. Time: 5:22 hr, Avg. Speed: 20.8 Km/hr, Max. Speed: 58.4 Km/hr

Travel Report:

I started this tour at 12:30 (local time), a little bit late, but anyway, I had thought this journey would be an easy one. Things got mixed on the way. The ascent to Tres Cruces was a routine ascent of one thousand meters. No problems here so far, having employed 1:45 hr to perform this fist leg of the journey. Problems start arising at Tres Cruces, because after i had passed this summit (ca 3,200 m), a strong and cold rain fell all the way. Obviously the descent to La Marquesa is a dangerous one under rainy conditions, but there was no way to avoid it. It didn't seem as if the rain would last just a few minutes, so i decided to descent very carefully.

After La Marquesa I started the second ascent, with the advantage that the rain had now just a medium intensity. Finally, after the Conejo Valley, rain stopped. Then we started a rapid descent that would take us to the first town in the area of the Toluca Valley: Texcalyacac. Here, in Texcalyacac I had to stop because (maybe caused for the cold and rain) I had a tremendous hunger, and I was starting to fell tired. So in this town we looked for some place where to eat, and finally found a spot where big roasted chicken were being sold. After devouring one, i continued this travel.

Next town is Techuchulco, another quiet town in our path. After Techuchulco the last strong ascent awaited for our tired legs. The last hills before Joquincingo represented a 200 m ascent, but with a 5 % slope, and after 1,250 m of total ascent. I can still remember how I was strongly breathing in order to maintain a certain pace in this ascent. After finally reaching this summit, Joquincingo was in sight. After Joquiningo, started now a strong and continuous descent that would take us straight to Malinalco (we descent 1,100 m in this slope). No big problems in this stage :-)

The exit road to Malinalco is paved with river stones (I have a great dislike for stone paved streets), so the driving now had to be very careful in order no to visit the ants. After arriving at Malinalco main square, we went to the Arqueological Site. Unaffortunately, I had arrived 1 hour later than the last allowed entry, so we could only took a couple of photos at the site's entrance. We returned to the main square, where we could take some shots of the Augustine Convent (and also from the running mass inside). I liked a lot the cross in the atrium of the convent, because to me it looked old and loaded with symbolism.

But it was time to head to Chalma. At about 19:30 we left the town in order to head for this mythic and religious town, destination for numerous pilgrimages. It is only a 10 km ride, but i was too late, and half of this leg of the journey had to be rode without solar light. When i arrived at Chalma, it was almost 20:00 with no light. But at least i had reached my final destination :-)

Problem was: the last Mexico bus had departed 1 hour ago (when i was taking photos back at Malinalco). Next bus runs at 03:30. What the hell. I went to the market to make some calls back home to my wife (in order to prevent hell unleashing) and decided to wait in the bus station. Heck, it was my fault i did not arrive in time, so, i was not going to give me a prize staying in a hotel. No way sir. So i returned to the bus station. But, good news ! I was not alone. there were other pilgrims there :-) We talked for hours, and as the weather favoured us (dry, 25 C) we could wait talking until almost 02:00. After a little more waiting, our return bus appeared and i got my home ticket. Bus arrived in Mexico City at 05:45, resting only a shot ride to my house in order to be home again :-) Uffff, that was really an adventurous Sunday !

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Teotenango Archaeological Site (Mexico), 03.09.06

2006-09-05T17:48:00.003-05:00

GPS Track Video

Photoset Map

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 80 Km. Ascent: 1225 m. Time: 3:43 hr, Avg Speed: 20.6 Km/hr, Max Speed: 65.9 Km/hr

Travel Report:

Este domingo 3 de septiembre 2006 decidimos rodar hacia la Zona Arqueológica de Teotenango, en el Estado de México. Iniciamos algo tarde (13:00 hrs, para variar), sin embargo, pudimos ir cruzando los puntos intermedios de la ruta sin problemas: Tres Cruces, Valle del Conejo. En éste último punto decidimos que el tiempo si nos alcanzaba para llegar hasta Teotenango. Nos seguimos por toda la ruta hacia Tenango, evitando pasar por Capulhuac y Tianguistenco (que quedan pendientes para otra visita). Pasamos por Texcalyacac.

Al llegar a Sta Maria Jajalpa nos encontramos con la agradable sorpresa de que había un festival en preparación a la fiesta del pueblo, que será el próximo domingo 10 de septiembre (están invitados). Las fotos de los trailers alegóricos son precisamente de Jajalpa. Adelante de Jajalpa se encuentra ya Tenango de Arista. Sólo hay que rodear el poblado para arribar a la Zona Arqueológica de Teotenango.

Una vez en la Zona Arqueológica hay que subir unos 70 m (de altitud) por una cuesta de puras piedras que está tremenda y con bastante pendiente. Bueno, pudimos llegar al final de la cuesta para poder observar la magnificiencia del conjunto arqueológico.

Definitivamente, carezco de palabras para expresar la belleza de las construcciones, así como de la amplitud del espacio ocupado por la Zona Arqueológica. Es increiblemente grande. Pudimos observar pirámides, basamentos piramidales, un juego de pelota, casas habitación, etc. Hay inclusive hasta petroglifos en la Plaza del Jaguar.

El conjunto arqueológico se encuentra asentado sobre un peñón (esos 70 m de ascenso), que lo convierten en prácticamente una fortaleza. A partir de aquí, se tiene una vista preciosa del valle de Matalcingo que rodea a Tenango.

Tomamos algunas fotos, recorrimos parte del plaza, pero no toda, debido a que no había nadie que nos cuidara la bici :-(. Para el retorno rodamos hacia Tenango donde abordamos el autobús de regreso, pues ya era muy tarde.

Para la próxima rodada, espero poder visitar la Zona Arqueológica de Malinalco, nuevamente en el Estado de México.

Capulhuac (Mexico), 20.08.06

2006-08-21T09:59:00.002-05:00

GPS Track Video

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 44 Km. Ascent: 1070 m. Time: 2:35 hr, Avg Speed: 16.7 Km/hr, Max Speed: 60.8 Km/hr

Travel Report:

Les quedo a deber más fotos, pues al llegar a Capulhuac me di cuenta que las pilas de la cámara estaban agotadas :-(. Creo que no las cargué lo suficiente. Por otro lado, les comento que la pista asfáltica de la carretera federal a Toluca está de lujo, pues recién la acaban de asfaltar :-)

Al llegar a Capulhuac apenas nos dió tiempo de comer algo, pues la lluvia se vino como auténtico diluvio. Espero repetir la ruta en 8 días, para ahora si llegar a Teotenango, sólo que deberé salir temprano :-)

Realmente esta fué una rodada muy corta (aunque con 1,100 m de ascenso). La verdad fue un calentamiento para tomar condición, después de mes y medio de no subirse a la bici. Sorry :-)

Tepeji del Río (Hidalgo), 02.07.06

2006-07-02T15:55:00.001-05:00

GPS Track Video

Photoset Map

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

GPS Cycling Data:

Distance: 140 Km. Ascent: 560 m. Time: 4:52 hrs, Avg. Speed: 29.2 Km/hr, Max Speed: 64 Km/hr

Travel Report:

Although this ride was planned as a collective one, I had to start it late. So I could not join my friends at the rendezvous point and have to ride alone from my house along the route, with the hope of reaching them later.

I had luck and after the toll collect station, at Km 45 of the highway to Querétaro, I took notice (via mobile phone) that my friends were behind in the highway. As I took a short way to reach the highway, I had overcame my friends :-) So I waited in that position for them, arriving no more than 10 minutes later.

On the road I could observe a lot of cyclists ! I guess that as this road in relatively plain (compared against the roads to Toluca, Puebla or Cuernavaca), it is one of the beloved routes by a number of cyclists. I missed a lot the climbings, anyway ... A propo, on the Hidalgo statue I saw some friends of another cycling group (the Tezozomoc group), maybe changing a tube. As I was riding downwards, I couldn't stop to greet them :-(

After Km 57 comes a descent of almost 200 m to the city of Tepeji del Río. In the entrance of the city, 2 of our friends (Gabriela and Daniel) decided no to enter in the city. Instead, they decided to turn back immediately to Mexico City (just as most of the cyclists that ride to Tepeji). So, we (Luis and me) said farewell to them and continued the trip to Tepeji, arriving there at Km 66.

Tepeji is a small but beautiful city that still retains its old atmosphere. After a short visit to its Municipal Palace (beautiful indeed), we headed to the Franciscan convent, which badly deserved a visit. It is huge and precious ! After taking some shots, we decided it was lunch time, so we cycled to the local market, where a tasteful meal was well appreciated :-)

After our meal, we decided that it was time now to ride back to Mexico City. So we climbed those 200 m in order to get out of Tepeji. Obviously this is not any hard climbing, but the hardness of the sun at that particular hour, certainly didn't make it a walk in the park. Once we arrived at the Hidalgo statue, that hard part was behind.

On the return leg of the trip, we rode this time by Cuautitlán and Tlalnepantla, an easier way to get back home, as the climbings are here almost non existent. We arrived at Mexico City without any trouble.

Thank you for reading . Till the next journey.

Chalma (Mexico), 25.06.06

2006-06-25T13:57:00.002-05:00

Photoset Map

Photoset Show

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.

Zirahuato Archaeological Site + Zitacuaro (Michoacan), 18.06.06

2006-06-18T13:28:00.001-05:00

GPS Track Video

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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.