Why this ride
The stops in between: Mission of San Rafael, Mission of San Miguel and back through Mission of San Rafael.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mission of Santa Ana and Mission of San Miguel
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 127 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 00
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mission of Santa Ana
Santa Ana is a tiny village in the lowlands of eastern Bolivia, in the Chiquitania region, and its church is considered by many to be the most authentic of the Jesuit missions of Chiquitos. The missions were founded by Jesuit priests in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among the indigenous peoples of the region, the Chiquitanos, and became thriving communities centred on large churches built of wood and adobe, with vast roofs supported by carved wooden columns. Six of them were listed by UNESCO in 1990.
Read the complete Mission of Santa Ana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mission of Santa Ana is where the day begins. Next is Mission of San Rafael.
2. Mission of San Rafael
The Jesuits who came to the lowlands of eastern Bolivia in the late seventeenth century did something remarkable with the forest, the heat and the people they found, the Chiquitano. Between 1691 and 1760 they founded a string of mission towns, and six of them survive, with churches built of wood and adobe, painted inside and out with floral patterns and trompe-l'oeil columns. San Rafael de Velasco, with its church finished in the 1740s, is one of the prettiest, a white and ochre building with a deep porch and an open bell tower, set in a village square with red earth and big shade trees. The missions were listed by UNESCO in 1990.
Read the complete Mission of San Rafael write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mission of San Rafael comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mission of San Miguel.
3. Mission of San Miguel
Deep in the Bolivian lowlands, the Chiquitania is a land of dry tropical forest, red earth and granite outcrops, a long way from the Andes. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Jesuit missionaries gathered the Chiquitano people into settlements here that blended European Baroque with local craft, and six of those mission towns survive. San Rafael and San Miguel, a short distance apart in the east, are among them, and UNESCO listed the group in 1990.
Read the complete Mission of San Miguel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Mission of San Miguel. Next is back through Mission of San Rafael.
4. back through Mission of San Rafael
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mission of San Rafael write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mission of San Rafael, late in the day. Next is Mission of Santa Ana.
5. Mission of Santa Ana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mission of Santa Ana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Mission of Santa Ana. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Mission of Santa Ana to Mission of San Rafael
Mission of Santa Ana → Mission of San Rafael is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mission of San Rafael to Mission of San Miguel
Mission of San Rafael → Mission of San Miguel is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mission of San Miguel to back through Mission of San Rafael
Mission of San Miguel → back through Mission of San Rafael is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mission of San Rafael to Mission of Santa Ana
back through Mission of San Rafael → Mission of Santa Ana is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.