Happy Holidays!

I sure did enjoy getting back out and riding some dusty, honest to goodness valley dirt roads these past few days! In my opinion, right now is ‘👌’ for valley riding, so I recommend getting out there too if you’re bopping around town!

At this time of year, it’s hot in the day, but not too hot. As in, it feels good to get some of that Mexican sun dappling the mind, body, and spirit, but it’s not yet so hot you’ll physically melt into a pool of nothingness by midday, unless you hang with the goats in the shadows of prickly acacias.

It’s dusty, but not too dusty. As in, it’s dusty enough to earn that oh so chic travel patina, but not too dusty that you need to mummify yourself every time a beaten up pickup truck passes you by. I’d say the dust levels are just about perfect right now, a light and fine Oaxacan dust that you’ll want to put in a bottle and sprinkle over yourself and your bike in a UK winter to remember the good times. 

Speaking of which, it’s good to be back after six months away from this land. Its dusty dirt roads have become so familiar to me that I’m grateful to have given them a break, returning with renewed appreciation now that some space and time has passed between us. This first trip back has been a refreshing reminder to savour all the classic, day to day micro scenes that drew me to Oaxaca in the first place.

Micro scenes? I’m talking about the frenzied dog chases. The cacophony of brass bands. The avenues of organ cacti. The bizarre village snack resupplies (a tube of Japanese peanuts and a pack of waffery Cremex, maybe?) The handmade memelas and tlayudas (served with dollops of fresh, homemade salsa, each as flavourful but distinct as the next). The near endless fields of agave plants (all so very pointy and geometrically perfect) destined to be distilled into mezcal. The line of donkeys parked up under a tree by the roadside, until reved into life to get their owners home. And even the trail-squashed avocados splattered in my framebag, or getting poked in my sandal-toes by jumping cholla cacti. I’m talking about all the little things that make bike touring here in countryside Oaxaca so darn charming. (see blog for more!)

Ben, Scotty and Mason did the full loop, riding up the mighty climb of La Reina to Ixtepeji and the Sierra Norte, tacking across to Benny Juarez, then bouncing down the Mil Rios singletrack to Tlalixtac in the valley again. I just joined them there for the Yagul, Hierve and San Baltazar segments, which included a 2-3 hour hike a bike to a remarkable waterfall, Las Salinas, that I’ve wanted to see for ages. I’ve shared the route below, as a kind of ‘bonus adventure’ alternative to an Hierve el Agua out ‘n back. Last time I tried this connector we got horribly lost, so I’m extra stoked we made it this time!

A few thoughts and experiences stood out to me after all this time away:

First, it brought back completely dreamy it is to follow dirt roads in Oaxaca, and how, with a little map time and some patience, it’s often possible to edit out all evidence of asphalt completely and rarely have to deal with much more than a farmyard pickup truck every couple of hours.  On my opinion, it’s definitely worth the effort, as there’s no better way to enter into the Oaxacan Dream State than by giving yourself fully to its dirt roads. “Though shalt not pavement” was my incantation when putting together the San José del Pacifio Grand Dirt Tour and I was glad I was as zealous as I was. When we hooked into the last day of the route as a conduit back into the city, it traces such a delightful series of dirt roads, lightly scratched into the valley side, that it’s hard not to want to give all of rural valley Oaxaca a big hug.

Another was Mason’s amazingly tall and tottering espresso making contraption, which he fired up by the roadside at every opportunity, generously plying us with shots of dark and strong coffee, a bag of which he sniffed out in Mitla. In short, we were rarely non caffeinated on this trip. And, talking of contraptions, Mason’s customised Crust is something of an engineering marvel with its gas bottle holder and homemade dynamo light. But I’ll have to save that for another time.

Another was Ben’s klunker-style Stooge, aptly named the Dirt Tracker. When he built this bike up in the distant lands of the New Forest and we first splattered it with Purbeck mud, he’d talked about bringing it out to Oaxaca, and how good it would look against those brightly coloured, crumbling walls, or sliding around loose mountain corners, saddle down and knuckles white. It’s always satisfying to turn words into reality, and that bike, as envisaged, sure did look sharp under a jacket of dirt!

And another was the mezcal buying procedure in Xaaga, a dusty village of broad streets lined with fence post cacti, at the head of the Oaxaca valley. In the corner of a shop on a dirt floor, it was poured out of a glass gallon container into a 500ml Fanta bottle for measuring sake, and then decanted one more time into an old plastic electrolyte bottle that was lying around…

Lastly, there was the elderly potter, with her beautiful braided black hair, at the red clay workshop in San Marcos Tlapazola. And specifically, her expression when she found out that Scotty had ridden all the way here from far-away Mexico City. It was a pure brain explosion emoji moment. Apart from making me smile, it reminded me that yes, riding a bike across the mountains from Mexico City IS brain-explodingly amazing. It’s so easy to nod and smile and forget to appreciate what an experience like this really means, both on a physical level and as a life journey. But just stop for a moment and try and imagine all the hills that have to be pedalled up and over. All the people that have been interacted with along the way, and all the connections that have formed. All the unique-to-you experiences that would stamp themselves indelibly into your mind, perhaps even shifting your outlook on the world as a whole. And all the challenges, big and small, that have to be figured out in the moment to complete such a journey. Oaxaca is a rugged place. Travelling across it is a special undertaking, and people who are connected to the land understand this.

As a gear aside, I only took my little Fuji x100v on this trip. It’s such a great little camera to capture vibes and moments, some of which you can see here, split into these day by day by galleries below:

Day 1 (Oaxaca to Yagul)

Day 2 (Yagul to Hierve el Agua)

Day 3 Hierve el Agua to prickly agave field camp

Day 4 Prickly agave field camp to Oaxaca

Let’s play spot the rig!

Answer: Stooge Dirt Tracker, Surly ECR, Crust Evasion, Jones LWB.

What a combo!

The Route

Here’s the valley route I did. I’ll add in the full loop too via La Reina, as I think it’s a good option if you want to get a real feel for this part of Oaxaca (which happens to be my favourite part!)

That’s it for now. Any questions, fire away!