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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in and Huacuri Quitenie

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
601 km
Riding-time estimate
13 h 40
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.

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Why this ride

From Villa González Ortega it runs 601 km to Villa González Ortega; allow about 13 h 40 of riding. On the way it passes Huahuatsari, Nihuetaritsié, Uxa Tequipa and Huacuri Quitenie. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. 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

    Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in is where the day begins. Next is Huahuatsari.

  2. 2. Huahuatsari

    Every year, Wixárika pilgrims, the people often called Huichol, walk or travel hundreds of kilometres from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental to Wirikuta, a sacred desert in San Luis Potosí, where they gather peyote and make offerings at sacred places along the way. Huahuatsari is one of the sacred sites on this route, in the high desert near Villa de Ramos. The pilgrimage route has been placed on Mexico's tentative list for World Heritage, and the sites along it are places of prayer, not tourist attractions.

    Read the complete Huahuatsari write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Huahuatsari comes up 44 km in. Next is Nihuetaritsié.

  3. 3. 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

    87 km in you reach Nihuetaritsié. Next is Uxa Tequipa.

  4. 4. Uxa Tequipa

    In the high desert of northern San Luis Potosí, among creosote bush, yucca and endless sky, lies a landscape that is sacred to the Wixárika, the people outsiders often call the Huichol. Every year, pilgrims walk or travel hundreds of kilometres from their homes in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Jalisco and Nayarit to Wirikuta, the place where, in their cosmology, the sun was born. Along the way they stop at a sequence of sacred sites, springs, rocks and hills, each with its own name, offerings and rituals. Uxa Tequipa is one of these places, and the route as a whole has been proposed for the UNESCO list as Huiricuta, the Wixárika sacred route.

    Read the complete Uxa Tequipa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Uxa Tequipa, about halfway. Next is Huacuri Quitenie.

  5. 5. Huacuri Quitenie

    Somewhere in the creosote flats north of Charcas, in San Luis Potosí, the land that the Wixárika people call Wirikuta begins to feel different, even to a visitor who knows nothing of its meaning. The horizon widens, the mountains of the Sierra de Catorce rise to the east, and on a clear morning the whole desert seems to hum. Huacuri Quitenie is one of the sacred places along the Wixárika pilgrimage route to Wirikuta, where pilgrims stop to pray and leave offerings on their way to Leunar, the hill they call Cerro Quemado, where the sun was born.

    Read the complete Huacuri Quitenie write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Huacuri Quitenie sits at 175 km, about halfway. Next is back through Uxa Tequipa.

  6. 6. back through Uxa Tequipa

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Uxa Tequipa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Uxa Tequipa comes up 218 km in. Next is back through Nihuetaritsié.

  7. 7. back through 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

    262 km in you reach back through Nihuetaritsié. Next is back through Huahuatsari.

  8. 8. back through Huahuatsari

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Huahuatsari write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Huahuatsari, late in the day. Next is Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in.

  9. 9. 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

    The route ends here after 601 km.

Leg by leg

Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in to Huahuatsari

Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in → Huahuatsari is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Huahuatsari to Nihuetaritsié

Huahuatsari → Nihuetaritsié is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Nihuetaritsié to Uxa Tequipa

Nihuetaritsié → Uxa Tequipa is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Uxa Tequipa to Huacuri Quitenie

Uxa Tequipa → Huacuri Quitenie is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Huacuri Quitenie to back through Uxa Tequipa

Huacuri Quitenie → back through Uxa Tequipa is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Uxa Tequipa to back through Nihuetaritsié

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

back through Nihuetaritsié to back through Huahuatsari

back through Nihuetaritsié → back through Huahuatsari is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Huahuatsari to Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in

back through Huahuatsari → Temple of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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