April 18, 2016
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Atotonilco de Grande, Hidalgo, Mexico
Destination: Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo, Mexico
23.82 km trip, 1:55 time, 53.3 km/h maximum speed, 12.4 km/h average speed
Route Description
The day starts with a slight climb out of town. Then you join a highway that has a wide shoulder. You turn left onto a small country road toward the Prismas. It’s a two lane country road with little traffic and no shoulder. It is paved. Then you arrive at the Prismas tourist attraction. The entrance fee is 50 pesos per person and worth every penny. It’s gorgeous! After you leave and head out toward Huasca de oCampo you ride on a cobblestone road for a short while. Then you are back on a country road into the town. This town is the first Pueblo Magico in Mexico and is quite nice. There are many expensive hotels, restaurants and stores.
Accommodations:
We found a hotel for 300 pesos for two people. Others were as high as 1500 pesos. If you can get past the expensive town we recommend it.
What happened…
Amanda writes:
We started the day with Jean and Gareth coming to our room to talk about the route. I was relieved that Gareth seemed to be a bit more at ease since yesterday. Yesterday he wasn’t really able to be around us without it being awkward. Them coming by was a real good sign and I was looking forward to the day. After some discussion we agreed on a plan and packed up bikes. The ride was pretty easy and after a short time we arrived at the Prismas tourist attraction – wow!
What an incredible natural wonder of Mexico. It really was amazing to see the landscape and waterfalls. We spent close to two hours just walking around, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. This really struck me as one of those things that is worth the side trip. We had also intentionally come on a Monday to try and avoid weekend crowds and that worked out well. While I could describe them in detail to you I’ll let the camera tell the story with the pictures below.
After leaving we rode into Huasca de oCampo and decided to just hang around the town square. People watching was fun and Andrew and I walked around the market for a bit and picked up a few things for dinner. After some time Jean and Gareth decided to check out a price on another hotel as Andrew had only found one for 1500 pesos. We joined them after they found out it was 300 pesos per night which is really the high end of the budget. We decided we’d keep riding and we’re just at the edge of town when Jean and Andrew felt a few rain drops. We all immediately threw on the brakes and declared we are fair weather riders. It’s actually kind of funny because the four of us are from Vancouver where it rains more days that it doesn’t. In any event we all quickly agreed to turn back and try and find a cheaper hotel. After stopping in at 3 other hotels we decided to suck it up and stay at the 300 peso hotel. We checked in, had dinner and the skies opened. I love storms and left the door to our room open to listen to the rain and thunder. I even noticed some hail balls on the ground. It was just lovely.
As the day came to an end I was left feeling that while Gareth wasn’t quite as angry as he was yesterday, he still wasn’t the same guy we knew before. While I hope time will heal the wounds it certainly isn’t going to happen overnight. In any event I’m still happy to be riding with them.
Andrew writes: I really enjoyed today. The prisms are such a unique natural feature, it’s small wonder I haven’t heard about it before. Why doesn’t something like this exist closer to home? Maybe it does, and like most of the truly beautiful wonders of the world, it flies under the radar.
There is definitely a focus on tourism in the area, as a lot of the towns are Pueblos Magicos, and the prices for food and accommodations end up reflecting this. Since I am playing “tourist” the last while, it’s really nice to have all of this accessible and available to enjoy.