CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
A 108 km round trip from Unidad Habitacional José María Morelos y Pavón - roughly 1 h 58 in the saddle. It goes by way of Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio, Ancient Convent of the Nativity and back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,550 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Xochicalco sits on a terraced hilltop south-west of Cuernavaca, and from the top you understand immediately why someone built a city here: the view runs over the valleys of Morelos in every direction, to the lakes, the hills and, on a clear day, the snowy shoulders of Popocatépetl far to the east. The city rose after the fall of Teotihuacan, flourishing roughly between AD 650 and 900, a time of upheaval when fortified hilltop centres grew strong by controlling trade. It was protected by moats, walls and ramparts, and its people mixed influences from the Maya, the Gulf Coast and central Mexico in a way that makes it unique.
Read the complete Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc is where the day begins. Next is Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio.
The Franciscans arrived in Cuernavaca in the 1520s, just a few years after the Spanish conquest, and the fortress like convent they built here, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, is now the city's cathedral. Its massive church, with walls thick enough for defence and an open chapel for preaching to crowds of indigenous converts, is one of the earliest sixteenth century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl listed as a World Heritage Site in 1994. Inside, murals uncovered in the twentieth century show the martyrdom of Christian missionaries in Japan in 1597, a striking reminder of how far the Franciscan world reached; one of the martyrs, Felipe de Jesús, was born in Mexico City.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio comes up 21 km in. Next is Ancient Convent of the Nativity.
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.
42 km in you reach Ancient Convent of the Nativity. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio, late in the day. Next is Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc. That is the ride.
Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc → Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio → Ancient Convent of the Nativity is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity → back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio → Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.