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.
A 345 km round trip from Buenavista - roughly 5 h 20 in the saddle. It goes by way of Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro, Historic centre of the city of San Juan de, Town of Aculco and Bridge of Atongo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,650 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
North of the city of Querétaro, the land rises into dry hills dotted with cactus, mesquite and the remains of old haciendas. These estates were the economic engines of colonial Mexico, producing grain, livestock and pulque for the cities and mines of the north. The chapel of the former Hacienda of Buenavista stands in this landscape near the village of the same name, close to Santa Rosa Jáuregui, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
Read the complete Chapel of the former hacienda of Buenavist write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chapel of the former hacienda of Buenavist is where the day begins. Next is Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro.
Santiago de Querétaro's skyline is defined by its aqueduct, seventy-four tall stone arches striding across a valley into the city, built in the early eighteenth century at the expense of the Marqués de la Villa del Villar del Águila to bring fresh water from the hills. Legend says he did it for love of a nun; the more prosaic version says he wanted to improve public health. Either way, it is one of the great engineering works of colonial Mexico, and the view of the arches at dusk, lit up against the sky, is unforgettable.
Read the complete Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro comes up 51 km in. Next is Historic centre of the city of San Juan de.
San Juan del Río grew up as a stop on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road that ran north from Mexico City to the silver mines of Zacatecas and on to Santa Fe in New Mexico, and its historic centre is one of the sites along that route listed by UNESCO in 2010. For centuries, mule trains, wagons and travellers passed through here, stopping at inns and crossing the river on the stone bridge built in the early eighteenth century, which still stands. The centre has plazas, churches, convents and colonial houses of pink and grey stone, and a relaxed provincial atmosphere, despite the city's growth as an industrial centre.
Read the complete Historic centre of the city of San Juan de write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
103 km in you reach Historic centre of the city of San Juan de. Next is Town of Aculco.
Aculco is a quiet stone town in the northwest of the State of Mexico, on the high plateau at well over two thousand metres, where the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the colonial road to the north, passed through on its way from Mexico City. The town was a staging post, and its well-preserved centre, with a broad plaza, the Franciscan church and convent of San Jerónimo and old houses built of pinkish stone, is part of the UNESCO listing for the route. It was here, in November 1810, that royalist troops defeated Miguel Hidalgo's insurgent army, an early setback in the War of Independence that people still mention with a kind of local pride.
Read the complete Town of Aculco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Town of Aculco, about halfway. Next is Bridge of Atongo.
Silver came out of the mountains of the north, and everything else came back the other way: wine, cloth, tools, tobacco and soldiers. The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was the road that carried it all, running from Mexico City to Santa Fe, and it opened in the late sixteenth century and remained in use for roughly three hundred years. It crossed rivers and ravines, and where it did, the Spanish built bridges, a number of which have survived. The bridge of Atongo is one of the stone bridges along the road in the state of Mexico, close to Jilotepec.
Read the complete Bridge of Atongo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bridge of Atongo sits at 206 km, about halfway. Next is back through Town of Aculco.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Town of Aculco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Town of Aculco comes up 257 km in. Next is back through Historic centre of the city of San Juan de.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic centre of the city of San Juan de write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
308 km in you reach back through Historic centre of the city of San Juan de. Next is back through Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro, late in the day. Next is Chapel of the former hacienda of Buenavist.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chapel of the former hacienda of Buenavist write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 345 km.
Chapel of the former hacienda of Buenavist → Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro → Historic centre of the city of San Juan de is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic centre of the city of San Juan de → Town of Aculco is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Town of Aculco → Bridge of Atongo is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bridge of Atongo → back through Town of Aculco is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Town of Aculco → back through Historic centre of the city of San Juan de is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic centre of the city of San Juan de → back through Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro → Chapel of the former hacienda of Buenavist is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.