This post ended up growing into a more rounded story for Bikepacking.com, read it here!

Over the last couple of months I’ve mostly been finding myself on the ‘Mitla Side’ of Oaxaca City, and apart from using La Mesita to access the high country of the Sierra Norte, kind of overlooking the ‘Etla Side’ – or at least, the town of San Agustín Etla itself.

So it felt good to get back into this zone again and ride a route I posted to Bikepacking.com – Excursiones en Etla – some time ago. I always thought it would make a great family ride and it was fun to put this to the test with Sage.

Despite leaving late in the day and feeling the sun beat down hard on our helmets as we hurdled the Libramento Norte out of the city, we made it to San Agustín Etla in good time, ridge riding to the soft hues of the late afternoon light. We were even treated to glorious views of the Sierra Norte, revealing itself with the ebb and flow of the high country clouds that are typical at this time of year.

Hurdling the car-free Libramento Norte – an abandoned bypass project – was the main climb of the day.

Getting out onto the good stuff. Sage has been showing some real grit and determination, insisting on riding every little stretch of rocky road.

Once there, we camped in the gardens of El Rincón de San Agustín, cooked up mac ‘n cheese on the stove (a little sludgy for me but Sage gave it the Camping Chef Double Thumbs Up), made a twig fire for marshmallows (malvavisco, new word alert!), then watched one of our favourite films, the Willoughbys, from the comfort of our sleeping bags. As an aside, Sage taught me a new marshmallow roasting technique:

• carefully roast the outer layer
• consume the crispy skin
• roast the next outer layer
• consume once more
• repeat again
• and again if possible

Think of it as marshmallow roasting crossed with… a Russian doll?!

When it came to bedding down for the night, I sacrificed my enormous inflatable mattress so Sage could sleep in the lap of luxury. I hoped my old bones could find some comfort on a minimalist Z-Lite… to mixed success, if I’m being honest. Luckily Sage insisted we swap on night 2, bless his (dusty) cotton socks.

Camping out (and doing homework) at El Rincon.

Experienced cyclists can ride this loop in a day, but still, it’s likely to be a squeeze if you want to savour the cultural sights that are sprinkled all around it. I think an overnighter is best, or even spending a day in San Agustin Etla as we did, if you want to linger, eat great food, see amazing and thought-provoking art, and generally soak up the lush, almost jungly vibes of this artistic, well-watered little town.

As we’d decided to spend a full day exploring the area, we had plenty of time to peruse the old textile factory, now an arts centre of international repute – the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín. Right now, there’s a fantastic exhibition on the Mexican political activist and printmaker Leopoldo Méndez and the work of his contemporaries.

Centro de las Artes de San Agustín, beautifully converted into an artistic space and housed in an old textile factory.

Truly an inspiring space that’s worth revisiting anytime a new exhibition is hosted.

We also visited the nearby paper mill, housed in a former hydroelectric plant. There, we were given a fascinating demonstration on how paper is made, using all kinds of locally sourced plants and minerals, including maguey and carrizo.  

The beautiful Taller Artesanal De Papel. We bought notepads and inspired by what we’d seen, pressed some flowers into them.

Profits from Taller Arte Papel are reinvested into reforestation, nurseries, and cultural and educational programs.

Factor in memela feasting, mango smoothie drinking, and homework (with a view), and it was somehow already time for another twig fire and more malvavisco (our rations: 5 per night, each).

Malvaviscos by night. Coffee by day.

NB: Always factor in time for memelas. These delights are never to be rushed.

And a reminder of another Oaxacan Rule Of The Road: Never pass up an agua del dia.

Or a good mural…

For the ride home, we dropped down the valley to cross the highway and retraced the old Oaxaca-Puebla railway line back into the city, diverting onto dirt roads when pavement covered the old tracks – and stopping for agua de coco and crema de coco to temper the afternoon heat. Now that the rains have mostly come to a close, the wildflowers are really popping, and this flowery corridor is a great place to catch them in their full splendour.

Taking a break at the Mogote archaeological site.

Classic Oaxaca campesino sights. Maguey plantations to make mezcal. Corn fields in every direction. Overloaded VW beetles bouncing along dirt roads. And Empanadas de Amarillo for hungry bellies.

Operation Avoid the Highway At All Costs.

As much as we love the mountains, sometimes flat roads are good roads...

Mostly bereft of hills, it was the perfect cruise home, one that afforded us the opportunity to chat in depth about remote control cars and the club we’re forming – Monkey Magic’s RC Club. I loved my Tamiya RC car when I was Sage’s age and I’m thrilled he’s now into this hobby too. More on that later, as we just finished building up a Tamiya Hornet!

A litter of four street pups that we saw on a roadside verge. A dog-lover to the fingertips, it was hard for Sage to leave them there. He’s now hatching plans on how we could save some next time.

Mexico, Land of Topes, aka sleeping policemen. Or if you’re a cyclist, Land of Hops and Jumps!

LHS: Sage is 10 next week. RHS: Is this him in 38 years?!

Almost home sweet home… This new mural was recently finished on our street, in time for the neighbourhood to celebrate el Día de Muertos. I’ve been chatting to the artist as he’s worked on it over the past weeks – apparently, it’s his very first.

And one last little photo montage… Sage leads a very different life when he’s with his mum and I’m so proud of the way he throws himself into these challenges when we’re together. I know he enjoys the satisfaction of completing them, even if they can be tough at the time, both mentally and physically. From my perspective, it means so much to share these experiences with my son and build up a bank of memories we can look back upon together. I hope we can share journeys like this for years to come.

More on our bikepacking setups soon!