Hi All...

Just fours pics in this delivery. More will come.

The Monolito is a place where there's, uh, a monolite. A man sized rock with some writings on it. It's in a place which sits at about 9800ft. Our climb started at around 7900ft.

It's a hillclimb all the way up for a distance of about 8mi. I walked a part of it as I'm doing for crap on the bike lately.

Temp was great, bike was great, friends were great, beer was fine. Life is good. Trails are dry and clouds were forgiving.

Once topping at the Monolito it's all the way down thru some nice rolling hills singletrack inthe middle of the forest. Differently from other Chiluca trails, motos or other bikers are a rare occurence here.

Adrian had THREE chain breaks which robbed us some riding time but in return we got some cowbell. Some cows with bells passed by us while we were fixing the second chain break. Vids to come.

Pic 5 - Panoramic of kind of a high valley.
Pic 2 - The Three Compadres in this journey at the Monolito.
Pic 3 - Oscar and me near some country "cabin".
Pic 4 - Oscar and me by some maguey
Pic 5 - Access trail to the cabin in Pic 2


More pics and vids to come.

A couple more views from our photo spot...

cuz that's the biggest damn asparagus I've ever seen!

cuz that's the biggest damn asparagus I've ever seen!

Actually, that maguey was happy to been in a picture...

Actually, that maguey was happy to been in a picture...

Yeah... that darn thing was showing up. It was not that big before the picture :eek:

Im I right? Hmm, actually I think I answered my own question - been a few year since being around all those Spanish speaking people in Phoenix but if I remember 'maguey' was the translation for agave. So can you make good tequila or mezcal from this kind? :D

Anyways nice post. I really want to do some long rides south of the border if I ever find myself back in Phoenix.

Cheers

Im I right? Hmm, actually I think I answered my own question - been a few year since being around all those Spanish speaking people in Phoenix but if I remember 'maguey' was the translation for agave. So can you make good tequila or mezcal from this kind? :D

Anyways nice post. I really want to do some long rides south of the border if I ever find myself back in Phoenix.

Cheers

Very close!!!

Maguey and Agave are different plants. I can't tell the difference though. I guess the Maguey is smaller and more like Aloe Vera while Agave is bigger and just like the one in the pics. But I'm only guessing.

One thing I'm sure on, not all agave/maguey is good for either Mezcal, Pulque or Tequila. It's just like not all grapes are good for wine.

I worked at Hermosillo once and wanted to go to Phoenix, but never had the chance. There might be some terrific places to ride very close to the border. Hermosillo is too flat and desert to freaking near.

Hi All...

Just fours pics in this delivery. More will come.

The Monolito is a place where there's, uh, a monolite. A man sized rock with some writings on it. It's in a place which sits at about 9800ft. Our climb started at around 7900ft.

It's a hillclimb all the way up for a distance of about 8mi. I walked a part of it as I'm doing for crap on the bike lately.

Temp was great, bike was great, friends were great, beer was fine. Life is good. Trails are dry and clouds were forgiving.

Once topping at the Monolito it's all the way down thru some nice rolling hills singletrack inthe middle of the forest. Differently from other Chiluca trails, motos or other bikers are a rare occurence here.

Adrian had THREE chain breaks which robbed us some riding time but in return we got some cowbell. Some cows with bells passed by us while we were fixing the second chain break. Vids to come.

Pic 5 - Panoramic of kind of a high valley.
Pic 2 - The Three Compadres in this journey at the Monolito.
Pic 3 - Oscar and me near some country "cabin".
Pic 4 - Oscar and me by some maguey
Pic 5 - Access trail to the cabin in Pic 2


More pics and vids to come.

with the apes going ape shlt around the monolith...spooky stuff. Looks like a great ride, so where about are you in mexico?

with the apes going ape shlt around the monolith...spooky stuff. Looks like a great ride, so where about are you in mexico?

I didn't get that stuff on the apes.... was that a film??

I'm at Mexico City. The city has a rather nice mtb scene and as there are mountains all around the city, except some part at the northeast, we have trails all around.

You start riding at 7200ft or higher and from there basically you have to start climbing.

I didn't get that stuff on the apes.... was that a film??

2001: A Space Odyssey

Nice pics Rene. Looks like it was a beautiful day.

I spent the weekend cleaning the remains of Oaxaca off our bikes and a quick test ride round the Condesa. Leg feels good, but I'm not ready to return to SPDs quite yet.

Matt

2001: A Space Odyssey

Nice pics Rene. Looks like it was a beautiful day.

I spent the weekend cleaning the remains of Oaxaca off our bikes and a quick test ride round the Condesa. Leg feels good, but I'm not ready to return to SPDs quite yet.

Matt

Thanks Matt.

Yup it was a very nice day for riding. You should've loved it.

Nice to know you're back on the bike. Take it easy and do what the docs say.

Take it easy and do what the docs say.

I'm under strict Doctor's orders to be on a full-susser by the end of the year.

I'm under strict Doctor's orders to be on a full-susser by the end of the year.

too bad my Warp ain't an "L" size... :D

Those are some good pictures, is this on the outskirts of Mexico City? I was in Mexico City a couple of years ago, I had a really good time. Except for the incident in the taxi cab with the gun and me not giving over any money....

Those are some good pictures, is this on the outskirts of Mexico City? I was in Mexico City a couple of years ago, I had a really good time. Except for the incident in the taxi cab with the gun and me not giving over any money....

All the decent riding is at the outskirts. There are some Pine forest areas down south Mexico City and up north you have more like Sierra (as you can see in these pics).

Don't grab taxi cabs on the streets next time. Always take them from a "Sitio". Those are safe. Maybe a tad more expensive but worth the expense.

I need to get down to mexico city and do some of that riding looks insane, some buddies and I did riding in baja which is fun but mexico city would be a fun place to ride. How are the rentals down there?

Yeah we were in a rush and hopped in what I thought had been a taxi cab, but next time I will go to one of the sitios. I have been to other countires were it was advised to go to central taxi stands or have the hotel call a taxi, but lesson learned.

I need to get down to mexico city and do some of that riding looks insane, some buddies and I did riding in baja which is fun but mexico city would be a fun place to ride. How are the rentals down there?

Yeah we were in a rush and hopped in what I thought had been a taxi cab, but next time I will go to one of the sitios. I have been to other countires were it was advised to go to central taxi stands or have the hotel call a taxi, but lesson learned.

Unfortunately rentals aren't that good here in Mexico.

I need to get down to mexico city and do some of that riding looks insane, some buddies and I did riding in baja which is fun but mexico city would be a fun place to ride. How are the rentals down there?

Yeah we were in a rush and hopped in what I thought had been a taxi cab, but next time I will go to one of the sitios. I have been to other countires were it was advised to go to central taxi stands or have the hotel call a taxi, but lesson learned.

What rzozaya said... your best bet is to hook up with us. We can get you a ride. Between us forumites I think we have Large and Medium bike sizes available. Those aren't Turners, but they'll make the trick.

Only 2 chain breaks I think..One early and one to the accompanyment of the bovine salsa band...

Only 2 chain breaks I think..One early and one to the accompanyment of the bovine salsa band...

Sorry I lost the count after the first... :D

Glad you chimed in!

When can we have the vid of the bovine salsa band (known better over here as COWBELL!!)

Only 2 chain breaks I think..One early and one to the accompanyment of the bovine salsa band...

Good to see you online Adrian.

Guys... we have to re-do our math.

I've been playing with Google earth and the Chiluca Trailhead sits at a good 8435ft. (2570m)

By the time we get to "Colosio" we already climbed to 8705. The Eses goes from that altitude to as low as 8337ft... in roughly one mile. That's 368 ft or 112m. That is why it feels a little bit tough on the legs on our way back.

Espiritu Santo sits at some 9000ft (2740m) ... but that's from eye-guessing as the map isn't digitalized up to that area.