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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Nihuetaritsié and Town of Pinos

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
276 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 53
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.

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Why this ride

It goes by way of Cuhixu Uheni, Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in, Town of Pinos and back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Nihuetaritsié

    High desert stretches away in every direction here, dotted with yucca, nopal cactus and mesquite, under a sky that seems twice as big as anywhere else. For centuries the Wixárika have made pilgrimages from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental across these plains to Wirikuta, the sacred desert near Real de Catorce, stopping at springs, hills and other holy places along the way. This is one of those places, a spot that matters in their ritual geography even if, to an outsider, it looks like empty desert.

    Read the complete Nihuetaritsié write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Nihuetaritsié is where the day begins. Next is Cuhixu Uheni.

  2. 2. Cuhixu Uheni

    Every year, groups of Wixárika pilgrims, the people known to outsiders as the Huichol, walk hundreds of kilometres from their homeland in the mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit to Wirikuta, a sacred desert in San Luis Potosí. The route crosses a chain of sacred places, springs, hills and rocks, where offerings are left and ceremonies performed, and Cuhixu Uheni, near the small town of Villa de Ramos, is one of them. The pilgrimage route as a whole has been put forward for World Heritage status as a living cultural landscape.

    Read the complete Cuhixu Uheni write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Cuhixu Uheni comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in.

  3. 3. Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in

    Villa González Ortega is a small town on the high plateau of Zacatecas, in north central Mexico, and its church of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores is one of the sites recognised as part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Royal Inland Road. This was the great trade route that linked Mexico City with the silver mines of the north and eventually with Santa Fe in New Mexico, a journey of more than two thousand kilometres across deserts, mountains and plains. For almost three centuries, wagons, mule trains, soldiers, priests and settlers travelled this road, and the towns, churches, haciendas and bridges along it tell the story of the Spanish colonisation of the north. UNESCO listed the route in 2010.

    Read the complete Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 90 km into the recorded legs you reach Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in. Next is Town of Pinos.

  4. 4. Town of Pinos

    Pinos was a silver town before most of Mexico had towns at all. Founded in the late sixteenth century, after silver was found in the hills, it grew into an important mining centre on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road that ran north from Mexico City toward Santa Fe in New Mexico, carrying silver south and supplies and settlers north. The town is part of the UNESCO listing of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and it is also a designated Pueblo Mágico, with colonial churches, cobbled streets and old mining buildings.

    Read the complete Town of Pinos write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Town of Pinos, about halfway. Next is back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in.

  5. 5. back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in sits at 189 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cuhixu Uheni.

  6. 6. back through Cuhixu Uheni

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cuhixu Uheni write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Cuhixu Uheni comes up about 234 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nihuetaritsié.

  7. 7. Nihuetaritsié

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Nihuetaritsié write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Nihuetaritsié closes the day.

Leg by leg

Nihuetaritsié to Cuhixu Uheni

Nihuetaritsié → Cuhixu Uheni is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cuhixu Uheni to Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in

Cuhixu Uheni → Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in to Town of Pinos

Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in → Town of Pinos is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Town of Pinos to back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in

Town of Pinos → back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in to back through Cuhixu Uheni

back through Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in → back through Cuhixu Uheni is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Cuhixu Uheni to Nihuetaritsié

back through Cuhixu Uheni → Nihuetaritsié is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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