Category: Mountains

GPS, Mountains, MTBing, Outing, Photos

La Cumbre to Huayapam – Cabeza de Baca & La Reina Trails

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What better way to spend a Sunday in mid-January than to enjoy a terrific downhill ride from the mountain trails at La Cumbre to the little town of Huayapam on the outskirts of Oaxaca city? While friends in Colorado are aching for spring and the chance to get their mountain bikes out of cold storage, it is warm and sunny in Oaxaca — perfect weather for a ride!

Today’s outing requires a shuttle to drop off riders and bikes in the high country of La Cumbre. The bike ride can commence at the entrance to the forest preserve on Highway 175, if you like, or at the point where a mainly-singletrack trail intersects the road that leads to the ecotourism camp (which is what the map below shows). 

Breaking the ride into segments, the outing goes like this:

0.0 to 2.3 mi – Road from entrance station to start of trail  /  817′ up & 50′ down over distance of 2.3 miles

2.3 to 4.1 mi – Cabeza de Baca Trail through the forest  /  710 ft up & 163 ft down /  mostly singletrack that winds for 1.8 delightful miles

4.1 to 7.1 mi – Logging road winding gradually uphill to high point of 10512 ft  /  954′ up & 244′ down  /  clock another 3.0 miles for this segment

7.1 to 14.7 mi – La Reina Trail  /  Screamer descent on rough service road with loose scrabble ends at church in Huayapam /  4895′ down & just 56′ up in the course of fast 7.6 miles

14.7to 20.1 mi – Gradual downhill to center of town in Oaxaca  /  698′ down & 150′ up  /  paved highway and city streets add another 5.4 miles to finish the ride

The stats for the whole adventure: 20.1 miles (32.3 km) with 2687 feet (819 meters) of climbing and 6050 feet (1844 meters) of downhill. The entrance station at La Cumbre sits at an elevation of 9288 feet (2831 meters); the high point on the ride tops out at 10512 feet (3204 meters); the church in Huayapam is at 5680 feet (1731 meters); the Zocalo at the center of Oaxaca city sits at 5124 feet (1562 meters).

 

Countryside, Foothills, Mountains, MTBing, Photos, Trail Work

Trail Maintenance

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The San Felipe trail network needs occasional maintenance. Once or twice a year the brush along the trails needs to be trimmed back – especially the shrubs and trees sporting thorns and needles! Steps also must be taken to minimize erosion. Drainage channels can be created in strategic spots to keep rainwater from washing out the trail. In places the trail needs to be rebuilt, either to moderate the gradient or to change the side slope so that water coming down the mountainside in a rain storm can flow across the trail rather than being captured by it and then creating nasty gullies that eat away at the trail itself. Finally, there are places where culverts need to be placed under the trail and/or rock barriers put in place to keep flowing water from eating away the very mountainside. All the work is done by volunteer labor following the suggestions found in “Trail Solutions: IMBA’s Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack.”

GPS, Hiking, Mountains, MTBing, Ride Routes, Trail Info

Ixtlan Revisited

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In November of last year (2013) we visited Ixtlan de Juarez. Unfortunately, cold, rainy weather cut short our exploration of the miles of logging roads that create a maze in the hills above the town. We returned yesterday (5 January 2014) in excellent weather and rode a very satisfying 11 mile (17.7 km) loop, beginning and ending at the main church in town.

Except for the small portion on paved city streets, the entire loop is on dirt roads which are in relatively good condition and have decent gradient. There are numerous junctions with lesser trafficked logging roads (we stayed on what seemed to be the most-used road) along the route and a couple of single track trails that dropped off into the woods.

The loop can be ridden in either direction, but clockwise is recommended, as that way the grade going uphill is a  manageable 5.8%, whereas the descent averages a “Yee-haw!” 9% for a fast paced, brake-burning downhill run.

The ride begins in the center of town, at an elevation of 6505 feet (1983 meters) and tops out at 8556 feet (2608 meters). The total elevation gain pedaling 7.0 miles (11.3 km) to the top amounts to 2119 feet (646 meters), with a scant 33 feet (10 meters) of downhill along the way. The blistering 4.0 mile (6.4 km) descent is even more consistent, with a meager 20 feet (6 meters) of climbing thrown in for grins.

Give yourself a whole day to play in the forest and enjoy riding this and other nearby trails.

GPS, Mountains

La Cumbre Loop

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The forest preserve at La Cumbre Ixtepeji managed by the World Wildlife Fund is a terrific place for mountain bikers. There are many miles of logging roads and singletrack trails through the woods — all off limits to most vehicular traffic. There is a 50 peso fee to enter the preserve, but it is money well spent for the hours of pleasant riding to be had in the area. It is possible to ride a number of loops, go for an out-and-back ride on the same trail(s) or do a long-distance point-to-point ride (assuming you have a shuttle to drop you off or pick you up at your destination).

Today’s 11.3 mile (18.2 km) ride combines a very nice loop with an out-and-back ride. The loop section combines two sections of trail that are utilized by mountain bike racers competing in either a closed-course race or a cross-country marathon. The out-and-back segment mainly follows a road that — if selected for a long point-to-point ride — would take the rider from the high country at La Cumbre all the way down to the village of Huayapam on the outskirts of Oaxaca City. That would be a killer ride, and one we hope to report on at some future point when we can arrange for a suitable shuttle to the starting point.

The ride described here has an elevation gain and loss of 2053 feet (626 meters) and can be accomplished in about 3.5 hours at a leisurely pace, with time out to admire the scenery, take photographs and enjoy snacks or a lunch on the trail.

 

Countryside, Foothills, Mountains, MTBing, Photos, Uncategorized

New Bicycle Signs On Highway

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Highway 175 that leads from Oaxaca city into the Sierra Norte mountains seems to be a fairly popular weekend ride for roadies and mountain bikers. The climb to La Cumbre Ixtepeji is brutal, whether accomplished entirely on the paved highway or by detouring on the dirt road through Tierra Colorada. The highway is steep, curvy and has no shoulder at all. It also has heavy vehicular traffic — all of which makes it a dangerous place for a bike. In recent weeks (December 2013) a number of new signs have been erected along the route cautioning motorists of bike riders and reminding them to share the roadway. This, and the newly-completed bike path to Tule, indicates the state government of Oaxaca looks favorably on the biking community.

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