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.
A 97 km round trip from Polanco - roughly 2 h 06 in the saddle. The stops in between: 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. The line favours views over speed.
From the street, Luis Barragán's house looks like nothing. A plain facade in Tacubaya, a mixed and busy neighbourhood of Mexico City, with a wooden door and a few windows, gives no hint of the colour behind it. Barragán, the Mexican architect who won the Pritzker Prize in 1980, built the house in 1948 as his own home and studio, and he lived and worked here until his death in 1988. The UNESCO listing of 2004 recognised it as one of the key works of modern architecture, in which light, colour, silence and simple geometry do all the talking.
Read the complete Luis Barragán House and Studio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Luis Barragán House and Studio 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 27 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 47 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 Luis Barragán House and Studio.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Luis Barragán House and Studio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Luis Barragán House and Studio. That is the ride.
Luis Barragán House and Studio → Xochimilco 2 is 27 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 → Luis Barragán House and Studio is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.