One of the best things about living here in Oaxaca is that the town is surrounded by beautiful countryside in every direction, AND is small enough to make a bicycling excursion out into it feasible and accessible in a fairly short amount of time.
Yesterday (Sunday), I went on my longest Mexican ride yet--over 4 hours, and 26 miles total (and all this, on my low-end, clunky-funky mountain bike! A far cry from the HIGH-end bikes of my compadres). WHAT a feeling of accomplishment it was! And worth every minute, despite achy shoulders, hands and back (we covered some very rugged terrain, as you will see in the photos--very jarring to all body parts!)
The weather was complicit in making it the most perfect day for riding: It was comfortably cool the entire time, with the blue sky and varying cloud formations presenting a never-ending show for us along the way. Because there was a heavy rain the previous night, we sloughed our way through many mud puddles and had two impressive stream crossings. All of this added to the thrill of the grand adventure!
The photos will tell the rest of the tale below...
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| The second of two river crossings. My fellow cyclists all rode across, with varying degrees of success...while yours truly did the sensible thing: I took off my shoes and WALKED my bike across! |
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| The first river crossing: the tamer of the two! Still had to take off my shoes to get across it, though.... |
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| A lot of silt from heavy rain turned this creek into a muddy rivulet... so nice to see everything in Oaxaca starting to turn green at last! |
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| Taking the photo while pondering where to cross... was a bit unnerving, but turns out that it was actually rather shallow in the middle part...so no problema! |
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| Though most of our riding was on dirt roads, they had largely dried out by this time--late morning-- and they were, rather ironically, less wet and muddy than the streets we started out on. |
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| The never-ending display of lovely clouds perpetually changed as we rolled along. |
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| Who were we to complain of mud puddles and crossing streams, when this hard-working fellow was peddling up the road with this huge load?! |
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| NOT hard-working themselves, these two gentlemen were making their poor OXEN do all the work for them! Magnificent creatures, no?! |
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| A rest and snack break, with no real comfortable place to sit... so, we stood and snacked in the middle of the road. No worries, though... no traffic except bicyclists, bullocks pulling carts, and an occasional motorcyclist! Peace, indeed.... |
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| From left to right: yours truly, Kara, Ron and Larry (our most fearless leader!) |
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| Larry and Kara chat with this local who was trundling along the road with this load of firewood in his wheelbarrow. I presume that many homes on these farmlands probably lack electricity and running water... hence, the firewood for cooking, no doubt. |
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| A selfie op... the others, gone on ahead. They were all faster and stronger (and the two women, much younger!) and on better bikes...and thus it was that I frequently got left behind. No matter; they eventually stopped and waited. In the meantime, I took photos when/where they were warranted. |
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| Fearless-leader-Larry plunges across the second river, managing to stay upright the entire time! MOST impressive! (Remember, I took off my shoes and WALKED my bike across!) |
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| Intrepid Kristina's turn: she too made it across without plunging into the muddy waters. Good for her! (Ron is in the foreground, also documenting her feat!) |
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| After the second river crossing, we had to fight our way up this tremendous uphill track. You see Ron riding on the left, but Kristina--like me--walking up the slope. Glad I wasn't the only one! |
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| One woman, one bicycle, and nature all around. Perfection! |
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| Yes, gorgeous countryside surrounded us, with those fabulous skies above. |
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| More remarkable vistas from the top! |
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| Clear & clean air, vast views in every direction.... |
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| Larry, framed against the brilliant sky... |
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| Kara and Kristina, young upstarts! Incredibly strong women, but very nice (they humored me in my relative slowness, not at all impatient.) |
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| We passed by this adorable calf...another reward at the top of the steep incline! |
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| And then, baaa baaa black sheep... with no wool at all... (sheered for summer?) |
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| Looking off another direction: only rolling hills and occasional farms. |
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| Kristina poses in front of this amazing vista... rarely have I seen it SO clear here... and HOW we were all relishing the moment! |
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| Larry encounters a farm woman at her hovel of a farm, mostly made of wood and corrugated tin. A very poor family, to be sure, but with prime real estate! |
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Last view, taking it all in, before plunging downward, back into the nearby pueblo, then rolling steadily back toward home... glorious, indeed!
Next up.... a mystery! (No, really... I don't as yet know what it shall be!) |
Wow that’s awesome and what an accomplishment all those miles in! I’m inspired. Ty for sharing! Love and light , Grace
ReplyDeleteThe view at the top was so cool how far you could see. I’d walk across those river crossings too.! And interesting folks you meet along the way add to the experience.
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