CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Tepoztlán it runs 313 km to Tepoztlán; allow about 5 h 55 of riding. On the way it passes Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th, Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio, Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew and Historic Centre of Puebla. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Tepoztlán sits at the foot of a wall of jagged volcanic cliffs in northern Morelos, and on the highest ridge above town, a small Aztec pyramid, the Tepozteco, dedicated to the god of pulque, clings to the rock. Down in the town, the Dominican convent of the Nativity, built in the mid-sixteenth century, is one of the monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl listed by UNESCO in 1994. Its massive church, with a facade carved with angels, the sun and the moon, and a large atrium, is impressive, and the cloister has remains of colourful mural paintings. Part of the convent houses a museum.
Read the complete Ancient Convent of the Nativity write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity is where the day begins. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
In the 1530s and 1540s, Augustinian friars arrived in the valleys below Popocatépetl to convert the local population, and they built churches that look half like cathedrals and half like castles. The convent of San Juan Bautista in Yecapixtla is one of the finest: a tall, fortress-like church with crenellated walls, a striking Gothic rose window over the entrance and a vast atrium where the indigenous congregation gathered for open-air services. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Earliest Sixteenth-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatépetl, a group of fourteen convents across Morelos and Puebla.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio.
Tochimilco sits high on the southern slopes of Popocatépetl, the great volcano that towers over central Mexico, and on clear mornings the snow-capped cone seems close enough to touch. Here, in the sixteenth century, Franciscan friars built a monastery dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, one of the early missions established to convert the indigenous population after the Spanish conquest. Its fortress-like church, with thick walls, battlements and a large atrium where crowds once gathered for open-air mass, is part of the UNESCO site of the Earliest Sixteenth-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl, listed in 1994. In the town square, an old aqueduct and fountain built by the friars still bring water from the mountain.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew.
Calpan is a small town on the lower slopes of Popocatépetl, and in its centre stands a sixteenth-century Franciscan convent that is one of the masterpieces of early colonial art in Mexico. Built soon after the Spanish conquest, when friars were racing to convert the Indigenous population, the church is set within a huge walled atrium where crowds could gather for open-air Mass. In each corner of the atrium stands a posa, a small chapel used for processions, and the four posas at Calpan are covered in astonishing carved reliefs: the Last Judgment, the Annunciation, saints and symbols, carved by Indigenous craftsmen who mixed European designs with their own style.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew, about halfway. Next is Historic Centre of Puebla.
Puebla was founded in 1531 as a Spanish city from the start, laid out on a grid between the volcanoes and the road from Veracruz to Mexico City, and it grew into one of the richest towns of New Spain. Its historic centre is a World Heritage site, and walking through it you see why: dozens of churches, palaces and mansions, many covered in the hand-painted Talavera tiles for which the city is still famous. The cathedral, with its two tall towers, dominates the main square, and a few blocks away the Rosary Chapel of the church of Santo Domingo is a dazzling space of gilded stucco and carved angels that has to be seen to be believed.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Puebla write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Puebla sits at 153 km, about halfway. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew comes up about 190 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 235 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th, late in the day. Next is Ancient Convent of the Nativity.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient Convent of the Nativity write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 313 km.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity → Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio → Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew → Historic Centre of Puebla is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Puebla → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew → back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → Ancient Convent of the Nativity is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.