Texmelucan (Puebla), 10.02.08

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel !

Texmelucan (Puebla), 27.05.07

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


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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 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.

Tecaltzingo + Texmelucan (Puebla), 25.03.07

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


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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 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.

Xochitecatl Archaeological Site (Tlaxcala), 26.03.06

Map Navigation: This dynamic Trackmap shows the GPS track (red line) of the cycling tour. Click on any point in the map to center it on that point. Wheel up and wheel down to zoom in or zoom out. Or just drag the map with your mouse.

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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 102 Km, Ascent: 1174 m, Time: 4:29 hr, Avg Speed: 23.1 Km/hr, Max Speed: 61.6 Km/hr

Travel Report:

I do not remember exactly at what time did I start this particular ride, but I do remember it was very late, about 10:30 maybe ? This ride is of the time of my beginnings as a humble cyclist, so sometimes I used to start the cycling ride not in my house, but instead in the eastern terminus of the suburban train. That saved me of cycling about 20 Km ! Cheating, eh ? But please don't forget that everyone of us has been once a beginner :-)

I don't have the exact hour I started that ride in the eastern terminus of the suburban train (named La Paz: the Peace), but it must have been about 12:00. In that time I used to start to ride a lot later, for reasons still unknown to me. I rode my way to the paid highway to Puebla (a deviation to the right before the entrance arc of Ixtapaluca). I merged with the paid highway at Km 21. From here I continued to the toll collect station at Km 35 (alt: 2250 m), where the ascent to the Llano Grande summit (alt: 3200 m) starts.

This paid highway is really a jewel to the cyclists. Although it is a paid one, and consequently cyclists have to ride on the sideway, the sideway of this highway is exceptionally flat, at least compared with other paid highways (i.e. to Cuernavaca and Toluca, for example). Another advantage is that there are several commercial stops along the highway, where you can buy water or food, if needed. Other paid highways (again, to Cuernavaca and Toluca) have seldom shops along the road.

So I made that 1000 m climbing to Llano Grande, and later, of course, its descent to Texmelucan (alt: 2250 m), reaching it at Km 75 of my route.

After Texmelucan (Puebla) I took the road to Villa Alta, which is the first town located in the state of Tlaxcala, being the frontier between both states in some point between Texmelucan and Villa Alta. In reality, the human and geographic mosaic changes very little :-) I rode later towards Tepetitla, and finally to Xochitecatitla, being this one the last town before arriving at my destination: the Archaeological Site of Xochitecatl. But before I could reach the site, I had to climb a really steep ascent of 100 m in less than 1 Km (a grade of 10 %). I finally could arrive at the archaeological site entrance at about 15:45. I left my bike at the entrance of the site as its entrance was not allowed, told me the site guards.

The first pyramid I visited was a circular one ! In fact, this is the first pyramid with circular basement and body I had ever seen. Another curiosity is that this pyramid features no stairs ! Its tiers are separated by more than 1 m, and in some cases, even 2 m. It is speculated that a ramp circled around this pyramid (in a spiral fashion) in order to allow for its climbing. Nowadays an artificial metal stair is allocated over the pyramid building to allow the access to its top. Another curiosity is that two trees are firmly rooted in this circular pyramid :-)

But another surprise wait for us at the top of the circular pyramid: a big white cross ! Over the top of an ancient nahua pyramid ! Well, this site is full of surprises. Still in our days, this very cross is the destination of numerous pilgrimages of the local people, for some reason I don't know :-( All I can extract is that this is a powerful sample of the religious syncretism that resulted from the fusion of two believing systems: the indigenous and the spanish. I think the best way you could grasp the contrast between both cultures is by having a lot at its pictures in the photoset.

Once I has finished my visit of this pyramid, I climbed my way down and directed myself to the next big pyramid: the Flower Pyramid. This one is even bigger than the previous Spiral Pyramid, and housed in its top some kind of temple. Currently, only some stones of that temple remain. Between both pyramids another buildings remain, and also, two very big pots, about 2 m in diameter ! I don't know its purpose, as they are only labeled as ceremonial pots.

Another building that is present in the site is what is termed the Volcanoes Platform. It is of low height and stands in the middle of the plaza, hence it is estimated it was the platform of a ceremonial center, that is currently destroyed.

Once I climbed my way up to the top of the Flower Pyramid, an impressive vista appeared before my eyes. The whole valley is appreciable from here. Really, the view is astounding. 360 degrees of clear vision from the top of the heights of the highest pyramid in the region ! The neighbouring archaeological site of Cacaxtla is even visible from this position. Also, on the top is present what remains of a temple built there, although currently only some vestiges remains.

Once I had enjoyed that incredible vista, I climbed down and went to the entrance for my bike, as the site was now closing. It was really a beautiful visit to an extraordinary archaeological site.

I cycle my way back to Texmelucan, passing again: Xochitecatitla, Tepetitla, Ayecac, and Villa Alta. In Texmelucan I took the bus back home, arriving at Mexico City without incidents.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Cacaxtla Archaeological Site (Tlaxcala), 19.03.06

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GPS Cycling Data:







Distance: 120 Km, Ascent: 1419 m, Time: 5:29 hr, Avg Speed: 22 Km/hr, Max Speed: 65.3 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride started at the early hour of 08:30 at the sub-urban train eastern terminus La Paz. From this terminal, I merged myself with the paid highway to Puebla at Km 21, arriving later (at Km 35) at the toll collect station Huixtoco in something like 30 minutes.

As I had a little of time this occasion, I took some photos of a religious offering that stands in the highway at Km 40.8. I had always wanted to see that offering, but had never before time to stop and have a look at it. This offering stands to regret the loss of a young man at that very place, where he died at the young age of 19 :-( The offering was made by his parents. I believe the offering was made in the year 2000.

Continuing with the trend in this ride to explore places that I usually pass without stopping, I stopped to have a look at some Mirador (alt: 2800 m): a sightseeing point located just before the Medical Rescue Service. From this Mirador you can see ... nothing ! This place is better described as a trash dumpster, as there is a lot trash dumped in that very place. On the other hand, there is no vista to see in that place, as it is almost leveled with the rest of its surroundings. A proper Mirador is usually located very high above its surroundings level. But well ...

I continued climbing along the route, reaching the Llano Grande summit (alt: 3200 m) at 11:30. From there I started the descent all the way to Texmelucan (Puebla), where I took its deviation, abandoning the paid highway to Puebla.

I do remember that I lost my way after Texmelucan. The reason is that this was my first time in those regions, and I haven't still mastered the routes. So I deviated from the intended route and ended in Villa Matamoros, far far away from the correct route. But there, in Villa Matamoros, when I asked for Cacaxtla, a local driving its motorcycle with his kid promptly offered to guide me to the proper route ! That help represented for him a ride two towns away from its own, but he insisted ... so I gladly accepted :-) I must thank him here for his very kind and invaluable help :-)

Once I followed him trough two or three towns, I was finally on the right path, on the way to Tepetitla ! I entered Tepetitla by its rear side (since I was just incorporating myself to right track), There I could observe the vestiges of an ancient Hacienda (Ranch). Unfortunately, I did not get the name of that Hacienda.

After passing Tepetitla, Atoyatenco, and Xochitecatitla, I could finally arrive at Capula, town that houses the archaeological site. After climbing a final cruel ascent, I did finally arrive at Cacaxtla, target of the travel.

In Cacaxtla we can find several beautiful murals, i.e: paintings on the walls of the building complex (the Great Basement), dating back to 650 CE. This city was the center of the Olmec-Xicalanca culture. This culture was a mixture of another three cultures: nahuas, mixtecs and chocho-popolocas. The origin of this cultures was Xicalanco, in the present state of Campeche.

Cacaxtla is really a very sui generis archaeological site. It is the only one that I know, that is entirely under an immense artificial hood ! Really, the main building: the Great Basement, is entirely under a metal sheet roof of gigantic dimensions ! On a previous visit (albeit not in bike) the roof was still under construction, and visits to the site were not allowed for merely mortals. But now, two years after, the site was open for everyone. As any site is best described with pictures than with merely words, I kindly invite you to have a look at the photoset of the ride. I really do recommend you to have a profound look at the ancient murals shown in the pictures. They represent some of the best maintained and taken care of murals in the whole country.

Once I had finished my visit to the site, I rode back to Texmelucan, distant about 20 Km from Cacaxtla, This last leg of my trip was rode over relatively plain terrain. Once back in Texmelucan, I took the bus back home, where I arrived without incidents :-)

Thank you for reading :-) Till the next journey !

Texmelucan (Puebla), 19.02.06

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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 150 Km, Ascent: 1990 m, Time: 7:23 hr, Avg Speed: 20.6 Km/hr, Max Speed: 70.1 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride started and finished in the sub-urban train eastern terminus of La Paz, being made with the company of a fellow cyclist. The route used was the paid highway to Puebla, up to Texmelucan, both ways: cycling to Texmelucan (alt: 2250) and cycling back to Mexico City (2250 m). This route involved a double ascension to the Llano Grande summit (alt: 3220 m).

As this was a routine riding, mainly intended for training, there are no much things that could be related. At our arrival to Texmelucan, we headed to its market in order to have a delicious meal. We took some pictures of its beautiful cathedral and its stunning interior.

We cycled our way back to Mexico City, arriving at La Paz terminus with no problems at all.

Thank you for reading. Till the next journey.

Tepatlaxco Archaeological Site + Texmelucan (Puebla), 12.02.06

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

GPS Cycling Data:






Distance: 86.61 Km, Ascent: 1060 m, Time: 4:30 hr, Avg Speed: 18.6 Km/hr, Max Speed: 63.7 Km/hr

Travel Report:

This ride started at the late hour of 10:30 at the sub-urban train eastern terminus La Paz. From here I took my usual way to arrive at the paid highway to Puebla. Along the route on the highway I could observe several trucks with big religious images. This trucks belonged to a religious pilgrimage from some towns in Puebla to Chalma, in the Mexico State.

I cycled my way to the Llano Grande summit (alt: 3200 m), descending later to Texmelucan, where I branched out of the highway to Puebla, riding to Texmelucan.

In that city, I took the free highway to Mexico City, in order to reach the town of Tepatlaxco, 4 Km east of Texmelucan. I arrived at Tepatlaxco with no problems at all, but the ordeal hadn't still begonen :-(

The archaeological site of Tepatlaxco is located far far away from the town that bears the same name. In fact, the road to the archaeological site starts where the town ends. The track to the site is a tortuous road covered with a 20 cm deep, fine powder-like dust layer, that rendered futile any attempt to cycle in the road. So I had to walk in this almost incredible fine dust with only a pair of light sandals ... and pushing my bicycle :-( That was a nightmare. How in hell this 20 cm deep layer of fine dust could have appeared here along all the way to the site ? Only God knows ! But I was here and I didn't plan to retreat :-)

Adding insult to the injury, this road was a climbing one ! Hell ... I continued pushing my bike in this ascending path what seemed to me to last about one kilometer, until some label appeared from nowhere stating that the site was only 200 m ahead. The good news was that the terrain on the new road was firm, i.e. without that cursed dust layer. A dirt road, but walkable. My heart was obliterated with happiness now :-)

After following a zigzag altitude-wise road along rocks and other amenities, I did finally arrive at the archaeological site. This site houses two main pyramids. One is called The Palace, and the other the East Slope. Between both buildings stands an area that was probably used for the Ball Game. I would kindly recommend you having a look at both beautiful pyramids and also at the Ball Game area in the following photoset.

Curiously, when I was roaming over the site in order to study it and taking some photographs of it, arrived at the site about five youngsters in bike, I supposed from the nearby town. They just had a look (at a respectful distance) of me and my activities in the site. As I was the only one visitor in the site, I think they find it wise to act as chaperons while I was still in the site. As soon as I finished my visit and abandoned the site, my chaperons departed with me :-)

Arghh, the same way back, that bloody 20 cm dust layer track ... but at least it was downwards now :-) When I reached the town of Tepatlaxco, I headed for its center, and when I reached its church ... I was rewarded by a grateful surprise: a cycling pilgrimage was arriving back to the town, after having made a pilgrimage to Chalma ! This was really a superb experience !

I don't know exactly how many cyclist arrived at the Tepatlaxco church in the very moments I was photographing its facade, but I guess they exceeded one hundred. When they start to arrive at the church, the bells were singing uninterruptedly, as if the sky were falling to earth :-) In some instants, the whole church atrium was full of bicycles, its owners going inside the church to give thanks for the pilgrimage and the coming back to home.

Once the cyclist started to abandon the church, I left the town, cycling my way back to Texmelucan, the last 5 km leg of the travel. In Texmelucan I took the bus back home, arriving at Mexico City without complications.

Thank you for reading. Till the next travel.