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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Unidad Habitacional José María Morelos y Pavón it runs 368 km to Unidad Habitacional José María Morelos y Pavón; allow about 6 h 29 of riding. The stops in between: Ancient Convent of the Nativity, Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th, Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio and Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
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 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.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity comes up 38 km in. 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.
77 km in you reach Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th. 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.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio, about halfway. 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 sits at 154 km, about halfway. 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.
back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio comes up 192 km in. 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.
230 km in you reach back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th. Next is back through 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.
back through Ancient Convent of the Nativity, 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.
The route ends here after 368 km.
Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc → Ancient Convent of the Nativity is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity → Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 37 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 42 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 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew → back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio is 36 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 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → back through Ancient Convent of the Nativity is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ancient Convent of the Nativity → Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalc is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.