CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Xochimilco it runs 399 km to Xochimilco; allow about 6 h 51 of riding. The stops in between: Ancient Convent of the Nativity, Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th, Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio and Historic Centre of Puebla. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Before the Spanish arrived, the Valley of Mexico was a land of lakes, and the people who lived around them developed an ingenious way to farm the water. They built chinampas, artificial islands of mud and vegetation anchored by willow trees, separated by canals, and grew maize, beans, squash and flowers on them. In Xochimilco, in the south of Mexico City, a remnant of that world survives, with a network of canals and chinampas that is still farmed and navigated today. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco, and the most famous image of the area is the trajinera, a brightly painted flat-bottomed boat that carries visitors along the canals, often accompanied by mariachi bands and floating food stalls.
Read the complete Xochimilco 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Xochimilco 2 is where the day begins. Next is Ancient Convent of the Nativity.
Tepoztlán sits at the foot of a wall of jagged volcanic cliffs in northern Morelos, and on the highest ridge above town, a small Aztec pyramid, the Tepozteco, dedicated to the god of pulque, clings to the rock. Down in the town, the Dominican convent of the Nativity, built in the mid-sixteenth century, is one of the monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl listed by UNESCO in 1994. Its massive church, with a facade carved with angels, the sun and the moon, and a large atrium, is impressive, and the cloister has remains of colourful mural paintings. Part of the convent houses a museum.
Read the complete Ancient Convent of the Nativity write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity comes up 45 km in. Next is Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th.
In the 1530s and 1540s, Augustinian friars arrived in the valleys below Popocatépetl to convert the local population, and they built churches that look half like cathedrals and half like castles. The convent of San Juan Bautista in Yecapixtla is one of the finest: a tall, fortress-like church with crenellated walls, a striking Gothic rose window over the entrance and a vast atrium where the indigenous congregation gathered for open-air services. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Earliest Sixteenth-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatépetl, a group of fourteen convents across Morelos and Puebla.
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.
90 km in you reach Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th. Next is 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.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio, 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 180 km, about halfway. Next is back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio comes up 224 km in. 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.
269 km in you reach back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th. Next is back through Ancient Convent of the Nativity.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancient Convent of the Nativity write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Ancient Convent of the Nativity, late in the day. Next is Xochimilco 2.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Xochimilco 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 399 km.
Xochimilco 2 → Ancient Convent of the Nativity is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancient Convent of the Nativity → Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 37 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 the Assumptio is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio → Historic Centre of Puebla is 58 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 the Assumptio is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Temple and Former Convent of the Assumptio → back through Temple and Former Convent of Saint John th is 42 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 Ancient Convent of the Nativity is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ancient Convent of the Nativity → Xochimilco 2 is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.