Central University City Campus of the Univ and Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
369 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 25
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
A 369 km round trip from Magdalena Contreras - roughly 7 h 25 in the saddle. On the way it passes Xochimilco 3, Temple and Former Convent of Saint William, Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic and Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Central University City Campus of the Univ
The main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, known as Ciudad Universitaria, is one of the great architectural achievements of the twentieth century. Built between 1949 and 1952 on a field of lava from the ancient eruption of the Xitle volcano, in the south of Mexico City, it brought together dozens of architects, engineers and artists to create a modern campus that would blend international modernism with Mexican traditions. Its most famous building is the Central Library, a tall block covered entirely in a mosaic by Juan O'Gorman, depicting the history of Mexico from pre-Hispanic times to the modern era. UNESCO listed the campus in 2007.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Central University City Campus of the Univ is where the day begins. Next is Xochimilco 3.
2. Xochimilco 3
San Andrés Mixquic sits on the southeastern edge of Mexico City, in the borough of Tláhuac, and it feels like a village despite being part of one of the largest cities on earth. It is famous throughout Mexico for its Day of the Dead celebrations, when the cemetery around the church of San Andrés fills with marigolds, candles and families who keep vigil through the night of 2 November, and the whole town turns into a festival of altars, music and food. The rest of the year, Mixquic is a quiet place of canals, chinampas and vegetable fields.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Xochimilco 3 comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint William.
3. Temple and Former Convent of Saint William
Totolapan is a small town on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Chichinautzin, in the state of Morelos, and its Augustinian convent of San Guillermo is one of the fourteen sixteenth-century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl that UNESCO listed in 1994. The friars who came to Mexico after the conquest built these fortress-like complexes to convert the indigenous population, with huge walled atriums where crowds could gather for open-air masses, chapels at the corners for processions, and austere churches with thick walls. Totolapan's convent is relatively modest, but its simplicity and setting give it a special charm.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Temple and Former Convent of Saint William. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic.
4. Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic
Hueyapan sits high on the southern flank of Popocatépetl, in the far northeast of Morelos, where pine forest and orchards climb toward the volcano and the air is noticeably thinner than in the valleys below. In the sixteenth century, Dominican friars built a convent here dedicated to Santo Domingo, with a simple church, a cloister and a walled atrium where the indigenous population gathered for worship. It is one of the fourteen sites in the UNESCO listing of the Earliest Sixteenth-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatépetl, and while it is more modest than some of its neighbours, its setting is one of the most dramatic.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic, about halfway. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael.
5. Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael
Behind a crenellated wall in the middle of Huejotzingo lies one of the earliest Christian buildings in the Americas: the Franciscan convent of San Miguel Arcángel, built in the decades after the Spanish conquest on the lower slopes of the volcanoes west of Puebla. The friars arrived here within a few years of the fall of Tenochtitlan, and the church, convent and walled atrium they raised are a textbook example of how the missionaries worked, with great open courtyards where crowds of indigenous converts could gather for teaching and mass. Huejotzingo is part of the UNESCO site of the Earliest Sixteenth-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatépetl, listed in 1994.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic comes up about 254 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint William.
7. back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint William
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 369 km.
Leg by leg
Central University City Campus of the Univ to Xochimilco 3
Central University City Campus of the Univ → Xochimilco 3 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Xochimilco 3 to Temple and Former Convent of Saint William
Xochimilco 3 → Temple and Former Convent of Saint William is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint William to Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic
Temple and Former Convent of Saint William → Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic to Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic → Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael to back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Michael → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic to back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint William
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Dominic → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint William is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint William to back through Xochimilco 3
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint William → back through Xochimilco 3 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Xochimilco 3 to Central University City Campus of the Univ
back through Xochimilco 3 → Central University City Campus of the Univ is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.