Category: Countryside

Nitos Ride To Santiago Ixtaltepec

This Sunday morning dawned with clear skies, proffering the possibility of a ride through the countryside without afternoon showers. That turned out to be a false hope, as light rain was falling along a good part of the ride back to Oaxaca — but not enough to dampen the spirits or wash away the good feelings of the day’s outing.

Santiago Ixtaltepec is a small village not far from its more famous neighbor, Teotitlan del Valle; and both of them lie in the Tlacolula valley to the east of Oaxaca city. The terrain there is mostly flat, but we managed to find a few hills to climb on the circuitous route we took on the way out. At times the group navigated barely discernible trails across open fields, trying — unsuccessfully, it turned out — to avoid a multitude of thorn bushes that had previous claim to the territory. At least a dozen flat tires resulted from this crossing, but these were mainly discovered after the group stopped for lunch in Santiago, where it was possible to deal with all of them at the same time.

Today’s trek through the countryside totaled 28.9 miles (46.5 kilometers) for the round trip, with an elevation gain and loss of 1377 feet (419.7 meters) along the way. We crossed a series of hills to accumulate that much climbing, as the high point of the ride was only 5489 feet (1673 meters), just 365 feet (111 meters) higher than the Zocalo in the center of Oaxaca.

Nitos Ride At San Pablo Guila

Today’s outing was a massive undertaking. The Nitos group teamed up with Perros de la Montaña and Chapus Bike for this expedition to San Pablo Guila. The trip had seventy participants and required a caravan of vehicles to transport all the riders and their bikes the 42 miles (67.6 km) from Oaxaca to San Pablo. Pedro Martinez came along for the ride, as well.

The ride itself had two parts. First the group climbed 2.3 miles (3.7 km) up the steep dirt road from town to the capilla atop the hill overlooking the village. This proved quite a challenge, as the road was very rough and badly eroded, in addition to requiring a climb of 944 feet (287.7 meters) on a grade that consistently ran at 12 to 14 per cent.

After looping back to town (with some of the more adventurous riders taking the tricky singletrack trail rather than the road) and pausing there for a well-deserved break, the gang then did a 4.12 mile (6.63 km) out-and-back ride to a natural spring not far from town. Some in the group took advantage of the situation to play in the mineral water at the spring. Once back in town, the whole entourage was hosted for lunch at the home of Moises Lopez Cruz, who acted as our host for the entire day.

It was a tired but happy bunch of cyclists who returned to Oaxaca late in the afternoon.

Nitos Ride To Santo Domingo Tomaltepec

The ride into the mountain valley which serves as the source of water for the community of Santo Domingo Tomaltepec is a very scenic and enjoyable outing. That said, it might well be called “Trial By Water,” as the trail crosses the same stream seven times going both out and back. Even in the dry season the rider will likely get splashed. During the rainy season (which this was) the water is swift-flowing and sometimes a foot or more deep, which guarantees your foot gear – and sometimes more – will get thoroughly soaked.

Just as a black powder fuse will sputter and die when wet, our riders’ enthusiasm was considerably dampened by the water crossings. By the third stream crossing almost half the day’s group of 33 riders decided not to go any further, leaving it to the more intrepid bikers to push on to the end of the trail. Still, everyone was in good spirits and seemed to have a good time.

The ride out and back covered a total of 24.8 miles (39.9 km), and the total elevation gain and loss on the trip amounted to 1270 feet (387 meters). The ride began and ended at an elevation of 5113 feet (1558 meters). The high point on the trail hit 5696 feet (1736 meters), while the lowest point along the way bottomed out at 5084 feet (1549 meters).

Mountain Bike Race At Tule – Carrera de Ciclismo de Montaña en el Tule

It was a bright and beautiful morning for a mountain bike race near the town of Santa Marie del Tule in the Tlacolula valley not many miles east of Oaxaca city. Bikers young and old assembled for this cross-country contest, competing in friendly fashion for prizes and status. The race course was a loop running for 4.2 miles (6.76 km), utilizing existing country roads, field access routes and single track trail. There were no technical challenges on the route, but there was a total of 509 feet (155 meters) of elevation gain and loss. Some of the singletrack had an uphill gradient of 15% to challenge the contestants. The start/finish line sat at an altitude of 5223 feet (1592 meters), while the highest point of the trail registered 5475 feet (1668.8 meters) and the lowest was 5117 feet (1559.6 meters).

Fue una hermosa y brillante mañana para una grandiosa carrera de ciclismo de montaña, cerca del pueblo Santa María del Tule, en el Valle de Tlacolula, a unos pocos kilómetros de la ciudad de Oaxaca de Juárez, se reunieron los atletas para este encuentro amigablemente competitivo. El circuito fue de 6.76 km (4.2 millas) haciendo uso de carreteras rurales, accesos a plantaciones y un par de veredas. No hubo dificultades técnicas en la ruta, pero sí se contó con un desnivel de 155 metros (509 pies) entre ascensos y descensos. Una vereda contó con un gradiente de ascenso de 15% como reto especial para los concursantes. La línea de partida se ubicaba en una altitud de 1592 mts (5223 pies), mientras el punto más alto registrado fue de 1668.8 mts (5475 pies) y el más bajo fue de 1559.6 mts (5117 pies).

Nitos Ride To San Dionisio – Salida del Grupo Nito Hacia San Dionisio

The rainy season arrived early this year, and Oaxaca received over 10 inches (64.5 cm) of rain in the past two weeks. However, the Weather Gods smiled on us for the Nitos ride today to San Dionisio Ocotlan. The sky this morning was relatively clear after overnight showers, opening the way for a pleasant ride in the country. However, rain clouds chased us home from Ocotlan, and the group got back to Oaxaca just as another batch of evening showers began pelting the city.

The day’s destination was not so much the village of San Dionisio itself as the nearby “Rancho Las Fresas” where the group enjoyed a tasty lunch and then dispersed into the fields to look for fresh strawberries for dessert.

As for the ride itself, the group covered 52.7 miles (87.8 km) in the course of the day, logging a total of 2395 feet (730 meters) of elevation gain and loss along the way, with most of the uphill associated with crossing the ridge that separates the Oaxaca valley from Ocotlan. It was a long day – we left at 8 AM and got back to Oaxaca at 6 PM – but it was quite satisfying.

Las lluvias llegaron temprano este año, Oaxaca recibió más de 64.5 cms (10 pulgadas) de descenso pluvial en las pasadas dos semanas. Sin embargo, el Dios del Clima nos mimó para la salida del grupo Nito hacia San Dionisio Ocotlán. El cielo esa mañana estaba relativamente despejado después de la fuerte lluvia de la noche anterior, abriendo un agradable camino para un ciclopaseo en la zona rural. Igual, al final del día, Oaxaca nos recibió con su imperdible lluvia.

El destino no era el pueblo, San Dionisio, sino  el cercano “Rancho de las Fresas”, dondo el grupo disfrutó de una deliciosa y nutritiva comida, para luego buscar fresas frescas de postre.

En cuanto al paseo, el grupo recorrió 87.8 kms (52.7 millas) en el transcurso del día, datando un total de 730 metros (2395 pies) de diferencia entre subidas y bajadas. El momento más exigente, por lo empinado, fue cruzar la división entre el valle de Oaxaca y el valle de Ocotlán. Fue un largo día, saliendo de Oaxaca a las 8am y regresando a las 6pm, pero definitivamente satisfactorio.