Sizzling Hot May and a Oaxaca Catchup

Despite the tantalising promise of the rainy season a couple of weeks ago, it’s now as hot as Hades here in Oaxaca and the city is hitting 38c/99f temperatures daily. Between the country’s second heat wave this year (at a time of year that it should be raining), associated power outages, and the ongoing water crisis (that sees 10,000L water trucks bruising around town and trundling up and down its hilly roads), it’s enough to think the world might be collapsing… Cue early morning trail rides and late afternoon Huesos walks, and the floor fan on full blast for all the hours in between.

Speaking of water crisis, our landlord Ruben installed a dry compost toilet in our apartment. It’s a pretty simple system – a toilet that separate pee from poop, a plastic bucket, and some sawdust. Ruben already has an outhouse on his property, with an area for human waste that will eventually transform into garden compost for trees and shrubs. Soon, we hope to have water catchment system going as well. As outsiders, I figure the least we can do is minimise our impact here.

Our dry compost toilet ‘closet’ doubles up as a gear storage area!

I’m pleased to report that we’ve already reduced our trash down to the bare minimum (waste disposal is another area where the city is struggling) , thanks in part to a local market that’s abundant with produce. And with an e-bike at our disposal, we can scoot around town, dripping paletas in hand, without adding unduly to the traffic! Our efforts may not be having much of a global impact, but at least we’re doing our bit locally.

We’re lucky enough to have a pop up market in the neighbourhood’s basketball court 3 times a week! For the most part, this allows for plastic-free shopping, as well as lots of great Oaxaca-grown fruit and veg.

Speaking of bikes… I’ve been riding the Merida Big Trail almost every morning on my local singletrack – Escalones – and using the Jones on dirt road day rides or around the city. With the aforementioned intense heat, however, I’ve been pressing the e-Jones into service more regularly, mostly because we have an especially steep climb to get back home.

I guess it’s a testament to the reliability of the Bafang BBSHD, as it’s never overheated, nor was it bothered by the initial downpours we experienced a couple of weeks ago. I do wish it was a torque activated system, though – like the Xtracycle RFA I was riding in Santa Fe – if only for a bit less of a ‘motorbikey’ feel, as fun as that can be. Still, I love the way the e-Jones handles, and its big tyres are just perfect for the broken city streets of Oaxaca, and the potholled terracería affair that leads to our home.

Somewhat controversially, I run a throttle on the bike as well as pedal assist, and I’m glad I have one fitted. I find it really useful for getting a burst of initial speed out of the traffic lights, like a ‘Boost’ mode, and get a jump on all the water trucks and buses kicking out thick clouds of exhaust fumes. Plus, the streets are becoming so busy here now, and the cars ever larger and drivers more distracted, that I’ll take all the advantages I can…

Just when I fitted a rear fender to the e-Jones… it stopped raining.

In terms of recent rides, we celebrated Dhruba’s birthday with a pedal out to always-lush San Agustín Etla, joined by Scott, a Coloradan cyclist based in Tule for the last couple of months. I managed to track down our favourite eatery there and Dhruba, a discerning enthusiast of memelas, approved.

Happy 50th, Dhruba!

(You can find more backyard, dirt road day rides here)

But for the most part, it’s been mostly morning trail rides on the Big Trail, and popping down to the market on the Spaceframe or the e-Jones.

Because we have a network of dirt roads and trails our doorstep, I’m also trying to incorporate some running into my days. After buying a second hand Garmin Forerunner 235 (for $45!), I’m aiming to trail run once or twice a week. My goal: 6 miles (9.5km) at a 10 minute mile pace, more or less.

I am now the gatherer of data.

My loop starts with a trail and dirt climb, then it rolls around a bit, descends, then a short climb on pavement, rounding it all off with a dirt stint back to the house. Invariably Lula and Sparky, the neighbours dogs that roam the area during the day, like to come too.

Another little life detail. On the way home from the market or the city, there’s a great little restaurant that sometimes lures us in.

This little spot is just a few minutes away by bike, en route into the big city.

It sells handmade tortillas, memelas, and comida corrida. Their fresh salsa is especially tasty, and at this time of year, a big jug of icy cold lime water always hits the spot!

But when it’s Barbacoa Sunday… there’s nowhere quite like Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural, which is also a relatively short ride from the house.

Fancying things up on Sunday. Obispo’s tacos blandos are the best in town, in our humble opinion!

In gear talk, Emma embroidered my Patagonia Nanopuff with this beautiful mushroom motif before leaving for work in the US.

Behold, the mushroom motif! It was supposed to take a couple of hours, but it ended up taking a few days (-;

Emma also left a vat of fermenting tepache on the go, which I bottled and popped in the fridge!

Tepache is a bit like kambucha… but way more affordabl! This local ferment is made with pineapple skin and a sweetener of some kind, like panela.

My Merida Big Trail. With its long reach and 140mm fork, it’s the diametric opposite of my Jones!

And here’s the current state of Merida Big Trail. I’ve added SQLabs’ inner bar ends to Stooge’s Moto bars, which feature a 17 degree backsweep, and swapped out the original 50mm stem for a 35mm one. Although this bike’s geometry can’t match the Jones for all day riding comfort, these mods have made it way more bikepacking friendly for me. It’s still very much a trail rig – which is what I wanted – but I’m now way happier mix and matching trails and dirt roads. A few thought nuggets:

The slack head angle (65.5 degrees) is incredibly confidence inspiring on steep descents. As is 140mm of Fox travel!
The steep seat angle (75.5 degrees) is fantastic on techy climbs, and really helps to prevent the front end from lifting, which at 6′ tall or so, is something that I’ve also had to battle with mountain bikes. But… it does mean there’s more weight on my hands on flatter terrain. Hence the inner bar ends helping so much, as they allow a change in hand position.
Stooge’s 17 degree Moto bars have a 38mm rise, increasing stack and general comfort. They have more rearward sweep that the bars this came with, which I really like.
The low bottom bracket on the Big Trail makes cornering super stable, but allied with the forward placement of my foot on Pedaling Innovations’ Catalyst pedals, I sometimes catch my toes on rocks when climbing out of the saddle. I’d like to try this bike out with standard pedals, and see how that feels.
Overall, I’m thrilled with this bike, and just love riding it hard and fast on my local rambunctious trail, called Escalones, in a way that I can’t do on the Spaceframe. Steering wise, it really lives up with some speed. And as someone who enjoys climbing as much as I do descending, I find it super capable on all the steps and hop-ups that are synonymous with this trail (Escalones means stairs, after all!) I can clean challenging lines that I’d struggle with otherwise.

Huesos and Lula. Lula is the neighbour’s dog, but she likes to sneak into the house and crash out, especially after joining us on our morning ride.

For the most part though, I’ve felt like I’ve been treading water these last couple of weeks. It’s too hot to do much beyond 10am, so I’ve been housebound with Huesos until the late afternoon, on the days I don’t leave him at home and drop into town. I wish we had a shady garden… I’m really looking forward to travelling again on my bike. I’m not quite sure when this will be. Hopefully over the summer…

Pan Con Madre, a fine purveyor of coffee and baked goods.

Lastly, here are a few of my recent indulgent discoveries in the city. It’s mango season right now, so this mango treat from Pan Con Madre is especially tasty.

Mango tart, with added chocolate. Next level Yum.

As is this hot-espresso-poured-over-vanilla-ice cream at Mama Pacha! The ice cream is made locally, and the beans are grown in the Sierra Norte and are roasted in house.

Aside from making super delicious small batch chocolate, owner Antonio is really upping his pastry baking game too, and I got to sample one his new ‘cruffins’ (part croissant, part muffin) drizzled with strawberry preserve, also from the Sierra Norte. Woah!!