April 29th, 2016
After a pleasant 30km downhill from Tehuacan, we start climbing….for four days. For the longest time, people we know or would meet would tell us how beautiful Oaxaca is. At first we didn’t believe all the hype, until today when we got to experience it fully. Wow.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico
Destination: Wild Camp MOFN (km 97), Oaxaca, Mexico
53.7 km trip, 4:27 time, 55 km/h maximum speed, 12 km/h average speed
Route Description
The entire day of this ride is on the pista highway. It includes a wide shoulder and the road is in good condition. You start with a small climb on the road followed by a massive downhill of about 30 kilometres. When you reach the valley bed with a big bridge that goes to the right, that is the beginning of the long uphill. The uphill is a consistent grade and includes less traffic than yesterday. There is no food or water available on the route. We had three flat tires and happened to stop for one near a house that turned out to have pop and beer for sale, although there is no signage and we don’t know if it is official.
Accommodations:
We wild camped near the highway at about the 97 kilometre road marker just past where the highway splits in the two directions. On your right there is a section of old highway that you can access most easily on the far side with no need to jump the guard rail.
What happened…
Andrew writes: It was a good reminder for me today that it is always important to take the time to make a proper repair when something breaks, rather than rush it and pay the price further down the line. That was hammered home today as we climbed through the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountains, and I experienced three flat tires in 3km.
Two of the three were on my rear wheel. Back when we were cycling with Gareth and Jean, near Metzitlan I put a nasty gash in the sidewall of my tire when it punctured on a barb-wire fence lying in the grass. I thought I had patched the hole properly, but now I know I could have done a better job. After my third flat today, I spent the time to first use needle and thread to sew up the inch long tear, then I covered it with super glue and finally installed a piece of cardboard to reinforce the damaged area. If only I had done this way back when, I wouldn’t have been faced with spending more than an hour in the hot sun, getting pissed off and sweating buckets. Amanda was a real trooper about it in the end, just giving me space and cycling on ahead (at my request).
At the start of the day I thought that we were in for a lot of desert riding, but as soon as we crossed the big bridge between Puebla and Oaxaca and began our climb, the true beauty of the surrounding area became apparent. The communities are smaller, just a collection of houses, with a small restaurant or store. None of them are marked on any of the maps that we have, but the availability of refreshments is welcome, especially after the flat tires. In the end, we found a beautiful campsite on a piece of the old highway, overlooking overlapping fields of mountain peaks. The sunset was spectacular. The company (Amanda) was breath-taking.