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 Mexico City it runs 83 km to Mexico City; allow about 1 h 54 of riding. It goes by way of Xochimilco 2, Xochimilco 3 and back through Xochimilco 2. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In February 1978, electricity workers digging a trench near the Zocalo struck a huge carved stone disc, and the city found out what lay under its feet. The stone showed the dismembered goddess Coyolxauhqui, and it marked the base of the Templo Mayor, the double temple at the heart of Tenochtitlan. That accident changed Mexico City's idea of itself, and the colonial streets around the cathedral have since been opened up to reveal the Aztec capital below. The historic centre and the canals of Xochimilco, to the south, were inscribed together on the World Heritage list in 1987, because between them they tell how a lake civilisation became a colonial city.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi is where the day begins. Next is Xochimilco 2.
Before the Spanish arrived, the Valley of Mexico was a land of lakes, and the people who lived around them developed an ingenious way to farm the water. They built chinampas, artificial islands of mud and vegetation anchored by willow trees, separated by canals, and grew maize, beans, squash and flowers on them. In Xochimilco, in the south of Mexico City, a remnant of that world survives, with a network of canals and chinampas that is still farmed and navigated today. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco, and the most famous image of the area is the trajinera, a brightly painted flat-bottomed boat that carries visitors along the canals, often accompanied by mariachi bands and floating food stalls.
Read the complete Xochimilco 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Xochimilco 2 comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
Read the complete Xochimilco 3 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Xochimilco 3. Next is back through Xochimilco 2.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Xochimilco 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Xochimilco 2, late in the day. Next is Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi. That is the ride.
Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi → Xochimilco 2 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Xochimilco 2 → Xochimilco 3 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Xochimilco 3 → back through Xochimilco 2 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Xochimilco 2 → Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimi is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.