Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio and Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
329 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 43
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.
A 329 km round trip from Tochimilco - roughly 5 h 43 in the saddle. On the way it passes Xochimilco 3, Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan and back through Xochimilco 3. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio
Tochimilco sits high on the southern slopes of Popocatépetl, the great volcano that towers over central Mexico, and on clear mornings the snow-capped cone seems close enough to touch. Here, in the sixteenth century, Franciscan friars built a monastery dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, one of the early missions established to convert the indigenous population after the Spanish conquest. Its fortress-like church, with thick walls, battlements and a large atrium where crowds once gathered for open-air mass, is part of the UNESCO site of the Earliest Sixteenth-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl, listed in 1994. In the town square, an old aqueduct and fountain built by the friars still bring water from the mountain.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio is where the day begins. Next is Xochimilco 3.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Xochimilco 3 comes up about 92 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan.
3. Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
When the Aztecs came across Teotihuacan, centuries after it had been abandoned, they thought it must have been built by gods and named it the place where the gods were made. The city had reached its peak between about the first and sixth centuries, with perhaps well over a hundred thousand people, a grid of streets, apartment compounds and some of the largest pyramids in the Americas. The Pyramid of the Sun is a huge stepped mass, and the Pyramid of the Moon sits at the far end of the Avenue of the Dead, a long, broad processional road that makes the city feel grand even now.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio to Xochimilco 3
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio → Xochimilco 3 is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Xochimilco 3 to Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
Xochimilco 3 → Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan to back through Xochimilco 3
Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan → back through Xochimilco 3 is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Xochimilco 3 to Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio
back through Xochimilco 3 → Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.