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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
390 km from Cuernavaca to Cuernavaca, about 7 h 14 of riding. The stops in between: Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th, Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew, Historic Centre of Puebla and back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
The Franciscans arrived in Cuernavaca in the 1520s, just a few years after the Spanish conquest, and the fortress like convent they built here, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, is now the city's cathedral. Its massive church, with walls thick enough for defence and an open chapel for preaching to crowds of indigenous converts, is one of the earliest sixteenth century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl listed as a World Heritage Site in 1994. Inside, murals uncovered in the twentieth century show the martyrdom of Christian missionaries in Japan in 1597, a striking reminder of how far the Franciscan world reached; one of the martyrs, Felipe de Jesús, was born in Mexico City.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio is where the day begins. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
Tlayacapan lies in the north of Morelos, among dry hills, with Popocatépetl, the smoking volcano, standing in the distance. Its convent of San Juan Bautista is one of a number of fortress-like monasteries built by Augustinian, Franciscan and Dominican friars in the sixteenth century, within a few decades of the Spanish conquest, and they are among the earliest European buildings in the Americas. UNESCO listed the group in 1994. The church has a plain, heavy front and an open-air chapel, where the friars preached to crowds who were not yet used to indoor services.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
Tetela del Volcán lives in the shadow of Popocatépetl. The town sits at about two thousand metres on the southern slope of the volcano in the state of Morelos, and the snow-capped cone, often trailing a plume of steam and ash, looms over everything. In the middle of town stands the sixteenth-century church and former convent of San Juan Bautista, founded by Dominican friars in the decades after the Spanish conquest. Its cloister has some remarkable murals, painted in muted reds and blacks, showing saints and friars of the order. It is one of the fourteen monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl that were added to the World Heritage list in 1994 as a group.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew.
Calpan is a small town on the lower slopes of Popocatépetl, and in its centre stands a sixteenth-century Franciscan convent that is one of the masterpieces of early colonial art in Mexico. Built soon after the Spanish conquest, when friars were racing to convert the Indigenous population, the church is set within a huge walled atrium where crowds could gather for open-air Mass. In each corner of the atrium stands a posa, a small chapel used for processions, and the four posas at Calpan are covered in astonishing carved reliefs: the Last Judgment, the Annunciation, saints and symbols, carved by Indigenous craftsmen who mixed European designs with their own style.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew, about halfway. Next is Historic Centre of Puebla.
Puebla was founded in 1531 as a Spanish city from the start, laid out on a grid between the volcanoes and the road from Veracruz to Mexico City, and it grew into one of the richest towns of New Spain. Its historic centre is a World Heritage site, and walking through it you see why: dozens of churches, palaces and mansions, many covered in the hand-painted Talavera tiles for which the city is still famous. The cathedral, with its two tall towers, dominates the main square, and a few blocks away the Rosary Chapel of the church of Santo Domingo is a dazzling space of gilded stucco and carved angels that has to be seen to be believed.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Puebla write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Puebla sits at 162 km, about halfway. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew comes up about 226 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 300 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th, late in the day. Next is Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 390 km.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio → Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew → Historic Centre of Puebla is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Puebla → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint Andrew → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th → Temple and Former Convent of the Assomptio is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.